The Email Sender and Provider Coalition Focuses on Third-Party Accreditation, Reputation, and Accountability Services

Announces Formation of Vendor Relations Committee

WASHINGTON, DC -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 05/25/2004 -- Today, the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC) announced the formation of a Vendor Relations Committee to help facilitate better understanding and ongoing dialogue between the sender community and established third-party vendors that deliver email accreditation, reputation and accountability services to the marketplace.

Co-chaired by Dave Lewis, Vice President of Deliverability Mgt. and ISP Relations for Digital Impact, and Joshua Baer, Founder and CEO of email service provider SKYLIST, the committee is tasked with gathering information and generating analysis for the benefit of the broader ESPC membership and the email marketing community as a whole.

"We're committed to finding a broad-based, equitable solution that's consistent with the principles of sender authentication and accountability, stops spam and ensures the delivery of legitimate email," said Dave Lewis. "I have great confidence that the Vendor Relations Group will enable vendors in this space to develop stronger products by providing valuable insights and perspectives from the sender community."

The committee was formed under the principles of the ESPC's own "Project Lumos" framework. Its first initiative, just completed, is an in-depth analysis of IronPort's Bonded Sender Program (BSP). In addition, the Vendor Relations Committee has already begun conversations with other accreditation and reputation systems providers.

"We've worked closely with Bonded Sender for many months to provide consistent, well-constructed feedback and are expanding that role with similar programs from other vendors," said Joshua Baer. "The formation of a committee to specifically voice the perspectives of the sender community helps ensure that third party solutions are viable for all senders -- large and small, B2C and B2B, commercial and non-profit."

About the Email Sender and Provider Coalition:

The Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC) was formed in November 2002 to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email. The ESPC is comprised of 48 members including AdKnowledge, aQuantive, Constant Contact, Digital Impact, DoubleClick, Experian, IMN, GotMarketing, ProspectivDirect, and SKYLIST. The ESPC is currently working on solutions to spam and deliverability concerns through a combination of legislative advocacy, technological development, and industry standards. Its flagship initiative, Project Lumos, is an industry-authored solution to the spam problem. For more information on ESPC, please visit www.espcoalition.org.

Contacts:
Peter Kosmala
Email Sender and Provider Coalition
(207)351-1500 x103

Kathleen Bagley Formidoni
blast! PR for ESPC
919-523-0958