The Email Sender and Provider Coalition and Microsoft to Conduct Sender ID Summit

Full-day Meeting Focuses on Email Authentication Issues Facing Email Service Providers and the General Industry

Washington, D.C., August 5, 2004 -- Today, the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC) announced a full-day Summit on the Sender ID Framework, to be held at Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus on August 12th. The Sender ID Summit demonstrates strong consensus within the legitimate email community towards authenticated email solutions to the spam problem.

"This Sender ID Summit will be an important step forward in the implementation of authenticated email and the ESPC firmly believes that Sender ID is key to combating the growing spam epidemic," said Trevor Hughes, Executive Director of the Email Sender and Provider Coalition. "Our organization has been focusing on the need for authenticated email for nearly two years and we're thrilled to offer this Summit as a forum for our members to participate in the launch of workable solutions."

The Summit will be conducted on August 12th at Microsoft headquarters and will include the over 50 ESPC members who provide mail delivery services to an estimated 250,000 clients, in addition to leading companies and organizations, such as mail transfer agents (MTA), reputation and seal providers, and anti-spam vendors.

During the summit, attendees will gain valuable information from speakers and industry panels which include representatives from Microsoft, the ESPC, Brightmail, Cloudmark, Meng Wong of pobox.com, IronPort, TRUSTe, Sendmail, Tumbleweed and VeriSign. Topics will include:

• Detailed Information About the Sender ID Framework
• Spam & Phishing Trends & Technology Updates
• ESPC Progress and Best Practices Update
• Legislative and Enforcement Updates

"The ESPC represents a significant portion of legitimate email today and their dedication to authenticated email solutions is a critical component in finding more complete technological solutions to spam and phishing scams," said Craig Spiezle, Director of Industry & Partner Relations, Microsoft Safety Technology and Strategy Group.

"We introduced Project Lumos, our blueprint for sender accountability and email authentication, early last year in an effort to promote better technological solutions to the spam problem," said Margaret Olsen, Co-chair of the ESPC Technology Committee and CTO, Constant Contact. "We see authenticated email solutions such as Sender ID as a crucial first step towards a spam-free future and are eager to roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work necessary to implement such solutions."

If you are interested in learning more about the Email Sender and Provider Coalition or the Sender ID Summit, please contact Peter Kosmala, Assistant Director, ESPC at (207) 351 1500, or peter@espcoalition.org. Additional information on the Sender ID Framework may be found at www.microsoft.com/senderid.

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.