Anti-spammers issue junk e-mail warning

CHICAGO — The anti-spam group Spamhaus Project warned that more junk e-mail could be on the way as it prepares to lose its domain name, thanks to a company it has accused of sending spam.

Executives at the U.K.-based Spamhaus Project said Monday they expect a federal judge in Chicago will soon sign an order that would suspend the domain spamhaus.org because the U.K.-based group has refused to recognize the U.S. court and comply with a $11.7 million judgment.

Spamhaus warned that the order could unleash up to 50 billion junk e-mails a day on computer users worldwide, though legal and technology experts were skeptical the effect would lead to millions of clogged inboxes.

According to Spamhaus, more than 650 million Internet users — including those at the White House, the U.S. Army and the European Parliament — benefit from Spamhaus' "blacklist" of spammers to help identify which messages to block, send to a "junk" folder or accept. Losing the domain name would make it more difficult for service providers and others to obtain the lists.

But experts said even if the order filed Friday is executed, it's unlikely people would suddenly see much more junk mail. Experts note that Spamhaus' blacklist is already widely available online, and a suspension at most would provide a hiccup that Web-savvy systems administrators could easily work around.