Mar 25 2003
Following new limits, Hotmail should expect to see a sharp increase in the number of Email accounts it maintains

Redmond, Washington -- (OfficialSpin.com) -- 25/03/03 -- Microsoft Corporation has cracked down on Email spam by limiting the number of Emails users can send from its free MSN Hotmail account, the world's largest software company said on Monday.

Internet spammers sending mass Email advertisements—ranging from get-rich-quick schemes to instant loans to sex toys and online pornography—often use free Email accounts at Web-based Email services such as Hotmail to send their messages.

To limit such activity, Microsoft earlier this month initiated a rule that free Email users won't be able to send to more than 100 Email addresses in a 24-hour period, Microsoft MSN's lead product manager Lisa Gurry said.

"We're limiting the amount of Hotmail (based) Email that a person can send on a given day," Gurry said, adding that the current new 100 Email limit was "well within the level that an average person would be able to send via Email."

Paying users of MSN's Internet-access services have no Email limitations, Microsoft said.

According to Brightmail, an anti-spam software maker, at least two of every five messages sent over the Internet are spam.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, which made no formal announcement of the change, said the Hotmail limits were put in place nearly two weeks ago.