An end to spam — again

John Markoff of the NYT gives a big puff to a new anti-spam company called Mailblocks. It sounds like an intriguing idea, until you read the small print, which the incomparable Dan Gillmor did. He discovered that if you sign up for the Mailblocks service you are also giving them the right to send you, er, spam! Here is the relevant bit of the “Terms of Service”:

“You acknowledge that such Third Party Content is an inseparable part of the Services, and that furnishing such Third Party Content to you cannot be terminated unless the Services are terminated. All such Third Party Content will be understood to be requested by you through your use of the Services….”.

Sigh. It looked like a good idea initially….

UPDATE:Following Dan’s piece, the company changed its policy. Well done Mailblocks. And well done Dan!.