ISIPP Email Deliverability Industry News – 2003 Archives

2003 Email Deliverability Industry News Archives

An archive of Get to the Inbox by Suretymail deliverability services and parent company ISIPP news coverage, press, and related stories from 2003.

CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL LOCKYER TO ADDRESS SPAM AND THE LAW CONFERENCE

Top lawmaker to join all-star lineup of speakers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 16, 2003 The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”) announced today that California Attorney General Bill Lockyer will open and provide the keynote address for their upcoming national Spam and the Law conference. Other speakers include Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, author and marketing guru Guy Kawasaki, and Internet Privacy Attorney Ray Everett-Church.

“A lot of people mistakenly believe that with the new Federal anti- spam law, which preempts state law, the states will no longer have a stake in fighting spam” said Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., President and Chief Executive Officer of ISIPP. “However states can still bring their own anti-spam actions under the new Federal law; states are still very much in the game.”

California recently passed one of the toughest anti-spam laws in the nation, which was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2004, had it not been superceded by the passage of the Federal law.

“Attorney General Lockyer and the California legislature are strong advocates for consumer protection generally, and with respect to privacy and spam issues specifically,” added Mitchell. “The passage of the California anti-spam law demonstrated a commitment to the issues and to protection of consumer inboxes, and the passage of the Federal law in no way diminishes that commitment, as is evidenced by Attorney General Lockyer’s taking time out of his busy schedule to address the conference. We very much appreciate his involvement and concern for the issues.”

ISIPP’s national Spam and the Law conference is scheduled for January 22, 2004, at the Westin Hotel at San Francisco Airport, and is sponsored in part by WhatCounts, Informz, TalkBizNews, and eDeliverability.

A limited number of press passes are available on a first-come first- served basis. To request a press pass contact

pr***@is***.com











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NATIONAL “SPAM AND THE LAW” CONFERENCE ANNOUNCED

All-Star Lineup of Speakers to Explain Spam and the Laws of Sending, Receiving Email

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – December 8, 2003 – The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”) announced today its national “Spam and the Law” conference, to be held in San Francisco on January 22, 2004.

Featuring an impressive roster of speakers including Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, computer and marketing guru Guy Kawasaki, noted Internet attorney Jon Praed, Internet privacy expert Ray Everett-Church, Federal Trade Commission attorney Brian Huseman, and technology and law journalist Declan McCullagh, the conference is being billed as the “must attend” event for those in the email sending and receiving industries, including Internet service providers, online publishers, spam-filtering companies, online marketers, and email service providers.

“We’ve managed to put together an amazing group of speakers, and we are incredibly fortunate to be able to offer this first ever in-depth treatment of the state of spam and the law”, explained Anne P. Mitchell, President and CEO of ISIPP and herself an attorney and Professor of Law at Lincoln Law School of San Jose. “Anybody who is involved in any of the email industries should take the opportunity to learn from these distinguished experts as they explain exactly what one may, may not, should, and should not do with respect to email practices and the law.”

Although the planning for the Spam and the Law conference began prior to the passage of the new Federal anti-spam law, the need for the conference is even more critical now, added Mitchell. “If anybody thinks that the passage of the Federal law makes things simpler for email senders or receivers, they are sorely mistaken.”

Jon Praed, a founding partner with the Internet Law Group, added “Speaking as someone who regularly litigates issues relating to spam and the Internet, I can say that the issues are complicated and the pitfalls many. This conference is critical for anyone who sends, receives, or rejects email on a regular basis.”

“Congress has spoken,” explained Lawrence Lessig, a Stanford Law professor and prominent legal scholar regarding the Internet and cyberlaw, “and unless we deal with any mistakes now, spam will dramatically weaken the Internet for years to come.”

“Congress and many state legislatures are formulating strategies for the regulation of commercial e-mail. The law as it relates to the Internet and spam is in a constant state of flux, and the passage of the new Federal law is only a beginning not an end,” elaborated Michael Grow, Chairman of the Technology Department of Washington D.C. law firm Arent Fox, and also a conference speaker. Added Grow “Anyone involved in the sending or receiving of email would be well-advised to attend this conference to learn about their rights and responsibilities under the laws.”

Scheduled to address the conference regarding the importance of achieving and maintaining a sterling Internet reputation, noted author and marketing expert Guy Kawasaki added “There will be little distinction between spam and email marketing if we leave it to the politicians. The industry has to solve this problem.”

Other speakers at the conference, which is sponsored in part by WhatCounts, eDeliverability, IronPort Systems, TalkBiz News and Informz, include David Baker – Vice President of Law and Public Policy for Earthlink, Inc., Michael Osterman – President of Osterman Research, and Scott Frewing, – an attorney with Baker McKenzie and formerly of the United States Attorneys office.

Said David Geller, President of Seattle-based email service provider WhatCounts, “WhatCounts is excited to be participating as a sponsor in this very important industry event. The impact that fraudulently formed email has had for all of us has been staggering. It’s time we react to take back what is still the Internet’s only “killer application” by drafting and developing both legislative and technological solutions that address these problems.”

“IronPort is very pleased to be one of the sponsors of this conference,” explained Patrick Peterson, General Manager of Information Services for IronPort Systems. “Spam is an increasingly serious problem for both individuals and legitimate business trying to communicate on the Internet. IronPort, through support of events like this and our product and Information Services offerings, is committed to helping solve the spam problem.”

Added Paul Myers, publisher of online business journal TalkBiz News, “TalkBizNews.com is pleased to help sponsor the “Spam and the Law” Conference. This is a critical area for small publishers, and we’re thrilled that ISIPP has taken on the daunting task of clarifying this vital issue for them. Our thanks to Anne Mitchell, Ray Everett-Church and all the participants for their help in showing us all how to thread the maze of confusing and often contradictory information on this enormously important subject.”

Scott Frewing, who was a founding member of the nation’s first Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (“CHIP”) unit while with the U.S. Attorneys office, concluded “This conference provides an opportunity for all users of e-mail — essentially all of us — to learn about the recent changes in law impacting their lives on the Internet. Having prosecuted various types of cybercrime and having been involved in spam litigation, I know that a number of companies and individuals are not aware of the rapidly changing legal landscape. This conference is important for all commercial e-mail users to attend.”

For more information about the Spam and the Law conference, see HERE or send email to

co********@is***.com











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A limited number of press passes will be available on a first come – first served basis.

INSTITUTE FOR SPAM AND INTERNET PUBLIC POLICY PRAISES, ANALYZES NEW FEDERAL ANTI-SPAM LAW

ISIPP provides explanation and analysis of major aspects of new law

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – November 24, 2003 – The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”) today praised the United States Congress for its efforts in getting passed a new landmark Federal anti-spam law, expected to go to President Bush for signing later this week.

“We all knew that a Federal law was inevitable, next session if not this”, explained Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., President of the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (ISIPP), a California think tank and industry analysis organization focusing on the Internet and issues related to spam. “That this bill was able to get through both the Senate and the House in the timeframe which it did evidences a high level of bipartisan cooperation and a keen focus on the issues and concerns of an Internet industry and population mired in spam.” Added Mitchell “And of course it didn’t hurt that the recently passed California anti-spam law was nipping at their heels.”

The new California anti-spam law, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2004, and one of the toughest in the nation, according to Mitchell, will now be superceded by the new Federal law. Dubbed the “CAN SPAM” act, the new Federal law preempts all existing state anti-spam laws, and attempts to bring one unified legal scheme to the newly developing area of Internet and spam law.

An analysis of the primary aspects of the new law provided by ISIPP reveals that, among other things, the new Federal law:

1. Makes it illegal to misappropriate the computer resources of another for the purpose of sending email.

2 Makes illegal the use of any false or misleading information in an email header, such as the information contained in the “from” or “subject” fields.

3. Requires that a working mechanism for the recipient to unsubscribe from the mailing be present in every email, that any unsubscribe request be honored, and that the unsubscribing recipient may not be resubscribed or moved to another mailing list without the recipient’s express permission.

4. Makes illegal the enabling of spam by the knowing provision of goods or services that facilitate the illegal activity.

5. Provides that a vendor of products or services who knowingly uses the services of a spammer to have their goods advertised in spam is liable under the law as if they themselves had pressed “send” and injected the spam into the Internet stream.

6. Generally preempts state anti-spam laws and places the responsibility to enforce with the Federal Trade Commission, but vests in state agencies and state attorney generals the ability to sue in Federal court on behalf of the state’s citizens.

7. Provides that Internet access service providers may sue, on their own behalf, in Federal court.

8. Provides for statutory damages to be awarded to prevailing aggrieved parties.

9. Provides for attorneys fees to be granted to prevailing aggrieved parties.

10. Expressly states that the law does not impact an ISP’s ability to determine and enforce its own policies for transmission of email.

“This new law, while perhaps lacking certain key elements for which we had hoped, still has a lot of teeth in it”, said Mitchell, also a Professor of Law at Lincoln Law School. “In the right hands it can take a big bite out of the burgeoning spam problem”.

MAIL DELIVERABILITY SUMMIT SUCCESSFULLY DELIVERS FOCUS, COOPERATION, AND NEW INDUSTRY STANDARDS

Broad Support Among ISPs, Spam Filters, and Email Senders for New Standards

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 17, 2003 – The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”) announced today that the Email Deliverability Summit II which it sponsored yesterday in San Francisco was a resounding success.

Bringing together the CEOs and other executive decision makers from twenty top ISPs and spam filtering companies such as AOL, MSN, RoadRunner, CloudMark, SpamAssassin, and Ironport, and twenty top email senders including RappDigital Innovyx, SilverPop, YesMail, CheetahMail, and Digital Impact, the Summit was observed to be the first group to bring members of both the email sending and email receiving industries together in a manner which facilitated cooperative problem-solving regarding email deliverability.

“Even though we had more than three times the number of people as at Summit I, the level of focus and cooperation was just as high. It was absolutely incredible,” explained Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., CEO and President of the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy, and co-Chair of the Summit.

“The Summit was the most productive event of its sort that I’ve ever attended,” said George Bilbrey, Vice President and General Manager of Deliverability Services for ReturnPath. “It provided both senders and receivers a set of concrete steps they could take to improve the deliverability of the legitimate mail that end users want.”

“The Summit was a tremendous success,” agreed Kevin George, Vice President of Operations for SilverPop, and one of the organizers of the Summit. “It was a unique opportunity to have many of the brightest minds in the industry together in one room with the common goal of solving the issues of false positives and improving deliverability rates for legitimate e-mail, while helping receiving systems to be able to distinguish good mail from bad in order to help them in their efforts against spam.”

Organized by Mitchell, co-Chair Ian Oxman, Vice President of Email Consulting for RappDigital, and George, Summit II carried forward the work of the first Email Deliverability Summit held in July of this year, presenting and recommending new industry standards to both the sending and receiving industries.

“A total of five new industry standards were presented at Summit II,” said Mitchell, “and all five received broad support and commitment from those in attendance. Many of those present at the first Summit have already implemented these standards, and many more committed to doing so.”

The standards presented at Summit II related to bounce handling, unsubscribe requests, publication of email permissions requirements, and communication between the sending and receiving industries. With respect to the last, ISIPP debuted its new EDDB (Email Deliverability Database), the result of a collaboration among Summit I attendees.

“I think everyone present found out what we realized at the first meeting, that we’re all focused on the customer experience, and have far more in common than we thought,” said Summit veteran Derek Harding, CTO of RappDigital Innovyx. “For perhaps the first time in history the email senders, spam filter companies and the major ISPs, partners and competitors, rivals and friends, sat at one table and talked honestly and openly about the issues we face and what can be done to address those issues. Not just in a theoretical way but in a practical, “what can we do right now”, manner.”

Traveling from India to attend the Summit, Suresh Ramasubramanian, Security and Antispam Operations Manager for ISP Outblaze Limited, congratulated ISIPP and all of the Summit attendees “for what turned out to be a highly interesting, frank and open discussion of issues that concern both senders and receivers of email – the issues that will make email remain a usable communication tool, and drag it out of the morass of spam into which it is slowly sinking.”

“That was the most energizing meeting I have been to in a long time,” added Laura Atkins, CEO of Word to the Wise, a deliverability consultancy to both the sending and receiving industries. “It was amazing to watch the dynamics in the room — that everyone who was there was able to put aside their corporate competitiveness and work for the good of everyone. And not just everyone in the room, but looking forward and understanding that this impacts everyone — each group deeply understood that it was the end user, their experience and their mailbox that we were talking about. Everything was focused on making sure they, the end users, have the best possible online experience.”

For a detail of the standards presented at Summit II, and information about EDDB, see https://www.isipp.com.

Full text of release which includes additional quotes and list of attendees available here.

About the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy

The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (ISIPP) is a privately held corporation headquartered in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. ISIPP’s advisors provide expert analysis and consulting services to legislators, governmental and regulatory agencies, industry leaders, educational institutions, and the press. Founded in 2003 and privately funded, ISIPP sponsors such industry policy and working groups as the Email Management Roundtable, and the Email Deliverability Summit, and conferences such as the 2004 Spam and the Law conference. For more information see https://www.isipp.com

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.

EMAIL DELIVERABILITY SUMMIT TO BE HELD TUESDAY AT CLARION HOTEL, SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT

40 Executives from Top ISPs and Mailing Companies Sit Down to Discuss Industry-Based Email Deliverability Solutions

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 15, 2003 – The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”) announced today that Email Deliverability Summit II will be held on Tuesday, September 16th, at the Clarion Hotel near San Francisco Airport.

“The response from the email sending and email receiving communities has been fantastic,” said Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., co-Chair of Summit II, and President and CEO of ISIPP, one of the sponsors of the Summit. “We have executive level decision-makers from every single major national ISP, except one, and also from several others, both national and international, as well as from most of the major spam filtering companies.”

“Nearly all of the major permission-based email service providers are attending,” added Ian Oxman, Vice President of Email Consulting for RappDigital Innovyx, and co-Chair of Summit II. “The response has been overwhelming; everybody wants to be part of creating a solution to ensure that legitimate, wanted email gets delivered, while spam does not.”

As with Summit I, Summit II is by invitation only, and will be attended by 40 CEOs or other executive decision-makers from the email sending and receiving industries. The agenda includes recommendations regarding the processes of both sending and receiving legitimate email, and the formation of a formal cross-industry group addressing the issues of deliverability of legitimate email.

“The level of cooperation has been very encouraging; the recommendations alone will have a major impact in easing the strain spam has placed on delivering legitimate email,” said Kevin George, Vice President of Operations for Silverpop, and one of the presenters at the Summit.

About the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy

The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (ISIPP) is a privately held corporation headquartered in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. ISIPP’s advisors provide expert analysis and consulting services to legislators, governmental and regulatory agencies, industry leaders, educational institutions, and the press. Founded in 2003 and privately funded, ISIPP sponsors such industry policy and working groups as the Email Management Roundtable, and the Email Deliverability Summit, and conferences such as the 2004 Spam and the Law conference. For more information see https://www.isipp.com

EMAIL SENDERS AND RECEIVERS SIT DOWN TO TALK AT SECOND EMAIL DELIVERABILITY SUMMIT

40 Top Industry Decision-Makers Set to Discuss Email Policy and Practices

PALO ALTO, CA – September 9, 2003 – The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”) announced today that Email Deliverability Summit II will be held on Tuesday, September 16th, at an undisclosed location near San Francisco Airport.

“This is the promised follow-up to our original Email Deliverability Summit which was held in July,” said Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., co-Chair of the Summit, and President and CEO of ISIPP, one of the sponsors of the Summit. “Summit I was wildly successful, and we will be presenting the resulting recommendations regarding permission requirements, mailing list maintenance, and sender-receiver communications to the larger group on September 16th.”

As with Summit I, Summit II is by invitation only, and will be attended by 40 CEOs or other executive decision-makers from the email sending and receiving industries. Summit I was attended by twelve industry leaders, including RoadRunner, Mail-Filters, YesMail and CheetahMail. While the list of attendees for Summit II has not yet been made public, it includes several national-level ISPs, spam-filtering companies, and key email service bureaus and online marketing companies.

“We definitely have a forward momentum going here,” said Ian Oxman, Vice President of Email Consulting for RappDigital Innovyx, and co-Chair of the Summits. “In addition to the three recommendations which we will be making to the attending industries, we will be announcing the formation of a formal cross-industry group to follow through with and expand on the groundwork we laid at the original Summit. With both senders and receivers on board, and working together, we can at last really address and deal with issues such as email deliverability and spam.”

About the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy

The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (ISIPP) is a privately held corporation headquartered in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. ISIPP’s advisors provide expert analysis and consulting services to legislators, governmental and regulatory agencies, industry leaders, educational institutions, and the press. Founded in 2003 and privately funded, ISIPP sponsors such industry policy and working groups as the Email Management Roundtable, and the Email Deliverability Summit, and conferences such as the 2004 Spam and the Law conference. For more information see https://www.isipp.com

ANNE MITCHELL LEAVES HABEAS, MOVES TO INSTITUTE FOR SPAM AND INTERNET PUBLIC POLICY

Ex-Habeas CEO Sets Sights on Spam, Email Deliverability, and Legislation

PALO ALTO, CA – August 21, 2003 – Anti-spam attorney Anne P. Mitchell has left Habeas, the assured email deliverability company which she helped to found, and has stepped into a leadership role at the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy (“ISIPP”).

“While it is very tough for me to walk away from a company which I helped to found, and spent the last year of my life helping to grow, it was the right thing to do,” explained Mitchell. “The board advised me that they were replacing me with a new CEO, with a different background and focus, and asked me to stay on as senior strategist. However, while I am phenomenally proud of all that we have accomplished in the past year, it is unlikely that I would have been comfortable with any new direction which the company may take, and this would have been frustrating for all concerned. Working with ISIPP is a much better fit for me at this stage, and I’m incredibly excited about this opportunity.”

“In the year since it first opened its doors, Habeas has become an industry leader in the assured e-mail delivery space,” said Tony Basoglu, Chief Technical Officer for Outblaze Limited. “Habeas’s efforts have been both innovative and well-received, in large part owing to Anne Mitchell’s reputation and steadfast approach in securing the company’s position in the industry.”

Mitchell, who has provided advice to both state and Federal legislators on anti-spam policy and legislation, has taken the lead as President and CEO of the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy, a privately funded think tank and consultancy firm. ISIPP provides policy and procedure analysis and advice to both the public and private sectors, including legislators, regulatory agencies, email marketers, and ISPs.

“We have assembled an amazing group of expert advisors in Internet, email, and spam policies and procedures, including Internet expert and author John Levine, the California ISP Association’s Mike Jackman, and Internet intellectual property attorney Mike Grow,” said Mitchell, founder of the Email Management Roundtable and co-Chair of last month’s Email Deliverability Summit. “If you have questions relating to spam or email policy, we’re the ones to talk to.”