The Windows Live Solution Center just opened last week. The url is: http://windowslivehelp.com/. This is the introductory text of the forum:
Welcome to the Windows Live™ Solution Center, a Community for Windows Live™ products and services where you can find Microsoft Certified Solutions, post your own questions in our forums, or help others by providing your answers. We look forward to hearing from you. Get started by selecting a product below.
This forum used to be concerned only with Hotmail. But, Spaces, as well as other Windows Live features were added to the forum which was renamed last week.
As Windows Live is very concerned about spam issues in Hotmail, I thought spam issues in Spaces should be brought to light, also.
I decided to take this opportunity to try (again) to get relief from the Spam situation in Windows Live Spaces. I posted the following discussion:
I explained the problem with the Spam situation in Spaces, as I have been doing for over a year is various ways as opportunities arise, hoping that Windows Live Administration would address the problem.
There are quite a number of other Windows Live users who are, and have been, looking to me to represent them in this situation.
Here is a copy of my first post in the discussion:
Dear Windows Live Administration:
I have been reporting Windows Live Spaces comment spam for over a year. The offending accounts do nothing except post miles of urls in blog comments. For those lucky enough to have this problem, here is a visual aid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL2ZX16KDa4
I get miles of spam comments like that two or three times a week. I have to delete all of the spam comments in order to see friends’ comments made before the spam was posted.
Months after the accounts are reported: (https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?productKey=wlprofileabuse&ct=eformts) the accounts are still open and actively spamming. Why are these accounts allowed to remain open?
It is too easy to get a "No Name" account. A spammer can get a "No Name" account and start spamming in one second.
Please, Windows Live Admin, put in place a way for us to report spammers and for you to close the accounts.
Thank you,
X
Here is my most recent post in the discussion. You can see the nature of the spam problem, and the lack of response to it, here (for clarity, my words will be in italics):
—-
Dear Windows Live Administration:
I just got a response from one of my recent spammer reports. First off, here is my abuse report:
Please enter the URL (Web address) of the Profile you are reporting. (Example: http://profilename.profile.live.com)
http://cid-eb0c3f0d25252134.profile.live.com/
Type of Abuse
Spam [Spam]
Location of Abuse (include exact link or cut and paste the content into the details section below)
Comments [Comments]
Please provide as much detail as possible regarding the abuse or offensive behavior you are reporting to help us investigate the issue quickly
This is a spammer. Please close this account immediately. X———
The response below asks for more details. But, there are no more details to give. All of the information to show the abuse that this account holder is doing is clearly shown in their profile. Each space shown in the profile received miles of spam.
I lobbied last year for "Spam" to be added to the drop down menu, and it finally was. It did not change the situation.
I’ve been told several times in this forum to be patient and await a solution. The problem is that I feel that you are not aware of the problem. I am sticking my neck out and representing everybody who this spam effects.
I am not a crackpot. I am a current Microsoft Most Valuable Professional. But, I am concerned about issues in spaces and I want to help bring about a solution.
Spaces has been my online home for five years. I am saddened that my beloved Spaces neighborhood has been allowed to become a garbage dump.
X
Hello X-Evolutionist,
Thank you for writing to Windows Live Profile Customer Support.
We appreciate your effort in reporting unacceptable activity in Windows Live Profile. However, in order to proceed with the investigation, please provide the following information:
– A clear description of the violation
– Profile name
– Profile URL (http://profilename.profile.live.com)
– Body of Comment / Date posted / Violation URL (if violation can be found on Profile What’s New)
– Body of Note / Date posted / Violation URL (if violation can be found on found on Profile Notes)
If your concern does not involve a Windows Live Profile, please specify the exact MSN or Windows Live Service (Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail, etc.) that your inquiry is related to, so we can direct you to the appropriate support channel.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Jo-ann F.
Support Specialist
Windows Live Support Team
My new blog: Life in Our Backyard
X-Evolutionist's Space 
When is the Windows Live Support Staff ever going to notice that the vast majority of people that seem to write comments on blog posts are Spammers. When is the Live Support Staff going to take this problem serious and PREVENT comment spammers by making it harder for them to open "No Name" accounts with blank profiles!? It is far easier for them to prevent this problem from occuring in the first place than it is to endlessly report he problem. The solution is so simple. All Microsoft need to do is implement a process that requires entry of a series of characters before allowing any comments to be posted that containi links and to block any comments that contain multiple links. Doing this would eliminate the comment spamming. In my opinion Microsoft doesn\’t seem to care about the safety of its Live Spaces environment or they would have already correctly all of this spamming and it\’s Very Sad.
Calvin: Thank you for expressing your similar experiences with spam! X
I\’ve given up on expecting Microsoft to take these report seriously. Even an option to allow comments only from people in one\’s network might help and if a bar could be put on anyone without an active space sending out invitations to join their network! grrrr …Calvin Croucher\’s idea "a process that requires entries of a series of characters … etc" (as is already used on sites like blogger could be a small step forward.
@Calvin and Malcolm: I\’ve found out that there is a service called: Akismet (http://akismet.com/). Some blog services use Akismet to block spam for their users. X
@Fellow Spam Haters: My spam thread on the help forum has been censored. http://windowslivehelp.com/thread.aspx?threadid=e87740ad-8c30-4ce4-9e2c-6f5dc02653cd&wa=wsignin1.0 "This thread has been locked by a moderator and no further activity can be performed on this thread." By the last response an admin gave, it is obvious that they do not understand what the problem is. Stay tuned. I\’m not giving up. X
Could it be that you\’re spamming the forum? 😉
@Greg: Har de har har. I started one thread about a current situation needing help from Windows Live support. I stayed on topic. If that is spam, then so be it. X
X – I actually received a reply to 2 of the 7 abuse reports I filed Wednesday! Three were about No Name and 4 were for Fast Battery\’s garbage. Both of the e-mail replies asked for more detailed information. The fact that everything they asked for was in the original report, a copy of which was attached to the replies, apparently isn\’t enough. In my reply I suggested they hire someone who knows how to read. While the sarcasm probably didn\’t help matters I\’m convinced the support staff is just as clueless as the spammers who hope to sell us their garbage by spamming us. I have filed my last abuse report. They\’re just a waste of time.
@Rocket: They don\’t read the Abuse Reports. They send automatic responses that are all the same. They are not individual to the Abuse Report. After I "send more information" I never hear back again. You are right. Reporting spam is a waste of time. I need to save the time for deleting the spam. I just thought I would try reporting again when they started the new help forum that I wrote about in this post. X
I\’ll bet they ignore that as well.
@Rocket: I got the automatic response on one of them, and nothing on the other one. Did you read the thread? I posted about that situation right before they closed the conversation. It\’s funny. They are blocking me talking about spammers. Oh, the irony. X