SKYLIST Issues Industry Call-to-Arms to Implement Emerging Authentication Standards

Deliverability Leader Announces ESP-Independent Email Authentication Compliance Service For Companies Eager to Comply

AUSTIN, Texas - September 14, 2004 - SKYLIST, a leader of deliverability best practices and #2 ranked self-service email service provider according to JupiterResearch, today announced strong support for emerging email authentication and reputation standards as cornerstones in the foundation of trusted, spam-free email. To help companies navigate the quagmire of emerging standards including Sender Policy Framework, Sender ID and DomainKeys, SKYLIST also announced an ESP-independent Email Authentication Compliance Service allowing companies to quickly implement these standards across their email infrastructure-regardless of the email service provider or email platform the company utilizes.

"Email authentication, like CAN-SPAM, is only one piece of the total solution to annihilating spam and email fraud," said Joshua Baer, CEO of SKYLIST and steering committee member of the Email Sender and Provider Coalition. "Authentication provides the foundation for sender reputation - a concept that will allow us to stop wasting all this energy trying to identify the bad guys and dedicate all our focus on the good guys. We're moving to a 'guilty until proven innocent' model for email. If spammers continue to adopt authentication, it will only make reputation systems more useful."

Spam Filtering To Increase More than 60% for Non-Compliant Senders
SPF, Sender ID and DomainKeys are three emerging authentication and anti-spoofing standards that require pivotal technology changes to sending practices. Beginning with a thorough assessment of a company's current email infrastructure-including in-house delivery, third party spam filtering services, and email service providers-SKYLIST's Email Authentication Compliance experts assist in the implementation of all required modifications, including the publication of the appropriate DNS records and development of an email authentication plan for ongoing compliance.

With major ISPs, including AOL, Yahoo and MSN/Hotmail committed to these standards, senders that do not comply can expect to see increased spam filtering by more than 60% of their consumer recipients. According to Meng Weng Wong, originator of the SPF proposal and collaborator on Sender ID, "Neither SPF nor Sender ID has been formally adopted as a standard yet, but the standards process is well on its way. The number of senders and receivers that have already implemented these technologies is a testament to the serious momentum behind this movement. After finalization of the standards and implementation by major ISPs, full adoption will follow quickly. Its time to start publishing DNS records now"

#2 Self-Service ESP Enables Email to Cross the Deliverability Chasm
According to a recent JupiterResearch report, fully 61 percent of ESPs remove hard bounces from their delivery rate calculation, thus lowering the gross denominator and inflating their published delivery rates. Such a widespread practice makes it impossible to accurately compare ESPs on important metrics such as deliverability. SKYLIST is one of a small percentage of ESPs to provide transparent reporting and leads the market on bounce reporting, deliverability metrics and methodology - critical signposts on the road to the inbox.

For more information on SKYLIST's Delivery and Email Authentication Compliance Services, please visit http://www.skylist.com/authentication or contact SKYLIST sales at (877) 250-2922 option 1.

About SKYLIST:
Founded in 1996, SKYLIST is an email service provider that gives companies that rely on email marketing a distinct competitive advantage by enabling them to efficiently deliver highly-targeted, optimized, and measurable opt-in email campaigns. The SKYLIST StormPost email marketing automation system, available in license and hosted-form, is in use by marquis clients including Ediets.com, Matchnet, Sybase iAnywhere, the Ad Council and Anheuser-Busch Credit Union. SKYLIST is driving adoption of emerging standards such as Sender ID, SPF, and email sender reputation and actively engaged in dialogues and initiatives involving current and forthcoming legislation including CAN-SPAM. For more information about SKYLIST, please visit http://www.skylist.com.

Media Contact:
Kathleen Bagley Formidoni
blast! PR for SKYLIST
919-833-9975
kathleen@skylist.com