Anti-spam watchdog lives on in UK

By PETER GRIFFIN IT writer

A controversial anti-spam watchdog developed in New Zealand has been reborn in the UK, much to the chagrin of its New Zealand founder.

The new owner of ORBS, anti-spam campaigner Paul Cummins, is single-handedly running the service out of a bedroom in the UK, and has vowed to overhaul the database that was abandoned by former Palmerston North owner Alan Brown.

ORBS (Open Relay Behaviour-modification System) is a published list of servers that have open relays, which spammers can use to send out hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mails.

Last month Mr Brown was forced by a High Court injunction to remove the e-mail servers of internet providers Telecom Xtra and Actrix from the ORBS blacklist.

The companies claimed that they did not host open relays, and were being targeted by Mr Brown for personal reasons.

The collapse of Brown-run Manawatu Internet Services sealed the fate of ORBS. But the reincarnation of the database has riled Mr Brown, who has asked Mr Cummins not to use the ORBS name.

"Alan Brown and I are in dispute," said Mr Cummins. "He is saying I'm not to use the name ORBS. I'm saying get stuffed."

He offered to buy the intellectual property associated with ORBS off Mr Brown, but was greeted with his refusal to discuss the matter.

"I said fine, I'm going to do something off my own back with what I've got and if you don't like it, sue me."

The formation of ORBS III in Basingstoke does not necessarily spell the end of New Zealand's association with the database.

Mr Cummins is talking to New Zealand-based parties who are interested in setting up a mirror site.

Similar sites are being set up in the Netherlands and Hong Kong.

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