Hotmail users slam spam filter

Users of Microsoft's Hotmail service are complaining that a new controversial junk-email filter does not appear to be working.

Hotmail announced last week that it had subscribed to the Mail Abuse Prevention System's Realtime Blackhole List, which filters out messages from servers known to generate unsolicited commercial email, or spam.

While Microsoft claims the RBL has reduced spam by thousands of emails a day, some Hotmail users say the amount of spam flowing into their inboxes has not only continued, but may even be increasing.

Meanwhile, other critics say Hotmail has aligned itself with a "vigilante" group exercising inappropriate and possibly illegal control over Internet communications and business transactions.

A detailed report can be found at www.news.com.