Email Sender and Provider Coalition Updates Email Marketing Pledge and Issues Best Practices Guide

Pledge and Guide Reflect New Terminology and Permission Definitions While Reinforcing Industry Best Practices

YORK, ME—December 13, 2005—Today, the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC) released "The ESPC Best Practices Guide," a list of guidelines that reinforce industry best practices for email communications, and an updated version of "The ESPC Email Marketing Pledge." The Guide covers areas such as permission, disclosure, address collection, content relevancy, unsubscribe practices and referrals.

"It is important to the email industry as a whole to establish this framework," said Trevor Hughes, executive director of the ESPC. "We need to help regulatory agencies and ISPs enforce legislation and restore consumer trust in email. These guidelines have been embraced by our members, and we look forward to establishing them as industry standards for all senders."

To preserve the viability of email communications in the age of spam and fraudulent scams, mailers should follow a standardized set of regulations and best practices. The Guide is a reference of these practices, designed to improve consumer trust in the email channel and uphold industry best practices for senders.

Email Marketing Pledge Now Reflects New Terminology and Permission Definitions
As part of the process of creating the Guide, a standardized set of permission definitions was developed to provide consistency for reputation systems and international discrepancies in terminology. The ESPC's "Email Marketing Pledge," originally issued in 2003, reflects the new terminology which is in line with U.S. and E.U. laws. The Pledge provides a clear path towards distinguishing legitimate uses of email from spam by giving concrete definitions as to what constitutes spam, prior business relationships, informed consent, and various forms of opt-in.

These efforts were spearheaded by the ESPC Receiver Relations Committee under the leadership of StrongMail Systems Inc. and CheetahMail-an Experian company, with additional contributions from Topica Inc. Many ESPC members contributed their specialized expertise and insight to create the guidelines.

About the Email Sender and Provider Coalition:
Formed in November 2002 to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email, the ESPC boasts a membership comprising many of the brightest and most innovative minds in the email industry, including Email Service Providers, Mail Transfer Agents, Internet Service Providers, application and solution developers, and deliverability solutions providers. The ESPC is composed of 75 members including CheetahMail, an Experian Company; Constant Contact; Digital Impact; DoubleClick; ProspectivDirect; Return Path Inc.; SKYLIST and StrongMail Systems, Inc.