> If you use the ISP's spam filter, it is very likely that at some
> point some e-mail you should, and want to, receive will be
> misidentified and filtered out as "spam."

I subscribe to a spam and virus filter through my ISP. It costs an
additional $1.50 per month in addition to the $15 base ISP charge. The
filter allows you to choose 1 of 5 levels of spam sensitivity. I have it
set on the most sensitive level and it intercepts virtually all of the spam.
Yes, it catches some legitimate mail, but it doesn't delete it. Every day
or every other day, I check the "quarantined" mail on the web. If I see a
legitimate piece of mail among the Viagra advertisements and Nigeria
get-rich quick schemes, I can have that mail delivered and put that senders
name in an "approved" list so it doesn't get caught in the spam filter
again. So an ISP spam filter doesn't mean you lose virus-infected mail or
legitimate mail; it just keeps them going to your private mailbox.

I have had miserable experiences with PC virus filters that screwed up the
computer clock, caused email download problems, and that were generally
worse than the standard virus. So, I went without any virus protection
(other than not opening any attachments and not sharing disks, etc) until
the ISP filter. I love it. I don't have to worry about updates,
installation, operational problems, etc. I highly recommend that solution.
It's really reduced my level of spam irritation and kept my computer from
being infected with the Blaster worm and Sobig viruses.

Kelly