Gates on spam: "It's still a major problem"

In an 'executive email', Microsoft boss Bill Gates highlighted several steps the software maker is taking to thwart spam and updated subscribers on the problems of unsolicited email which now eclipses legitimate messages at a rate of three to one.

"It's still a major problem - an invasion of privacy, a costly drain on time and resources and, as a carrier of worms and viruses, a significant threat to computer security," Gates wrote in a message labeled "progress report".

He also touted Microsoft's success with its anti-spam innovation to date. Microsoft's Hotmail, for example, blocks about 95 per cent of incoming junk email.

Despite its popularity in some camps Gates used this opportunity to knock the idea of paying per email, as people do for postal services.

"We firmly believe monetary charges would be inappropriate and contrary to the fundamental purpose of the internet as an extremely efficient and inexpensive medium for communications," Gates wrote. "The goal instead is to thwart spammers' misuse of the internet, so that everyone else can continue to enjoy its enormous benefits."

Gates ended his email on a positive note. "As we work to help isolate and block spammers, we're also helping to build an infrastructure that will enhance the reliability, efficiency and safety of email, of the internet, and of computing in general," he said.

Gates and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer send periodic email to subscribers who sign up at the company's website.

Stefanie Olsen writes for News.com