The practice is widely used by spammers, who use spider software to search internet sites for email addresses.
The addresses are then added to mailing lists the spammers use to email millions of unwanted emails each day. The call follows research that in July showed that some 83% of Americans want a government-sponsored Do Not Email Registry to block the daily deluge of spam email, it was announced yesterday.
By stopping spammers from harvesting email address, the process of spamming would become much more costly and would likely put some spammers out of business.
The call was made by Maggie Wilderotter, senior vice-president of business strategy at Microsoft, who was addressing the Progress and Freedom Foundation Summit in Aspen, Colorado.
Wilderotter also called for a new US law to make it easier for internet service providers to take legal action against spammers.
Wilderotter's calls for new rules flew in the face of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a think tank that campaigns against government regulation of technology and the communications.
However, Wilderotter said that the situation had changed and now technology and public policy "go hand-in-hand".
"Three or four years ago, many of us in the tech world would have said that the best thing government could do for the industry is leave us alone.
"Today, that is changing. Government clearly has a critical role to play in defining the landscape that enables economic development and quality-of-life improvements through technological advances," she said.
Last month, Microsoft filed 15 lawsuits in the US and UK against companies and individuals alleged to have sent billions of spam messages in violation of state and federal laws.
The company is also stepping up its efforts to fight spam through technological innovation and cooperation with government and industry leaders.
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