interMute Uses 'Free' to Kill Porn Spam

Looking to promote its spam-killing software, interMute is giving away its porn-blocking modules as part of an effort to promote a “family-friendly” Internet.

The Braintree, Mass.-based interMute said customers that sign up for a 30-day trial of its SpamSubtract Pro software could continue using the porn-blocking aspects of the package, even if they don’t buy the whole product after the trial.

“Many people have told us the number one reason they want a solution to spam is to protect their computers from email with embarrassing and offensive images and language,” said Ed English, CEO of interMute. “People are extremely annoyed at misleading email which, when opened or automatically previewed, shows pornographic images. interMute is committed to protecting Internet users by blocking such spam forever. People should not have to put up with offensive spam.”

The offer from the company also comes as more and more free anti-spam software proliferates on the Web — much of it in response to the escalating amount of spam already circulating through Internet networks, and as anti-spam providers battle for mindshare.

SpamSubtract quarantines unwanted email in a spam control panel, where interMute said users can delete it without having to really ‘see’ it. Additionally, the software masks obscene words and suppresses offensive pictures.

To prevent it from filtering friends’ emails, the software includes an auto-detection feature which seeks out friends’ email addresses at set-up and when the user sends email.

The company said SpamSubtract supports the Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape and Eudora email clients and requires a POP3 email account.