Users of SpamNet, a popular peer-to-peer unsolicited e-mail filtering service, had grown accustomed to virtually junk-free inboxes.

So when spam suddenly started pouring in last week, SpamNet users weren't very happy.

Some even began to suspect that SpamNet was nothing more than a scam intended to gather e-mail addresses that could then be sold to spammers.

But SpamNet hasn't brokered a deal with the e-mail devil. And the service, which is still in beta-testing, doesn't appear to be permanently broken.

According to CEO Karl Jacob, the problems began when Cloudmark -- the company that developed SpamNet -- made some changes to its backend systems. The intended upgrades brought down the show