Lotus Software Group will include new, server-side tools to reject spam before it hits an end user's mailbox in its upcoming Notes R6 software, the next version of the IBM subsidiary's e-mail and collaboration software, the company announced today.

According to Ed Brill, manager at IBM Software Group, R6 will offer the ability to automatically block e-mail from Internet Protocol addresses such as those listed on Mail Abuse Prevention System LLC's (MAPS) Realtime Blackhole List (RBL). MAPS, a nonprofit operation run mostly by volunteers in Redwood City, Calif., vets complaints from individuals and companies about bulk, unsolicited commercial e-mail, colloquially known as spam. If MAPS finds a individual or company is responsible for sending spam as it defines it, the organization places the associated IP address on the RBL. Service providers and companies can then subscribe to the list and set blocks so their servers won't accept e-mail coming from those IP addresses.

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