AOL Members Declare Spam "Public Enemy # 1" On Service Using New Features in AOL 8.0.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--December 16, 2002

Members Setting New Records for Reporting Spam to AOL,

Helping to Reduce Junk Email on the Service

AOL's Anti-Spam Filters Now Block Up

to Half a Billion Junk Emails Daily

Company Also Announces Significant Legal Victory in Federal Court

Against Adult Websites Generating Spam

America Online today announced significant progress on two fronts in its ongoing campaign to fight unwanted and unsolicited email - or "spam" - that is being targeted at AOL members from the Internet.

First, the Company stated its members were setting new records for reporting junk email using new anti-spam tools in AOL 8.0, thereby noticeably reducing spam on the service; and, second, the Company announced an important legal victory in federal court against senders of unsolicited emails advertising adult websites.

Millions of members are taking advantage of the easy-to-use and convenient anti-spam tools in the new AOL 8.0 software - such as the "Report Spam" button - to target, report, and delete spam on a daily basis, enhancing their online experience and that of all other AOL members on the service.

The Company stated that, since the launch of the new AOL 8.0 in October, the amount of spam email being reported directly to AOL by members has increased tenfold, from roughly 200,000 spam emails previously reported daily to as many as 2 million reported daily since the launch of the "Report Spam" button in AOL 8.0.

As a direct result of this valuable member feedback, AOL stated that it has seen a noticeable reduction in the amount of spam on the service recently by as much as 20%, bringing members a more positive and spam-free online experience. AOL continues to use and refine its effective anti-spam filtering technology on its email servers to block as many as half a billion (500 million) junk emails every day from being received by AOL's members.

"Spam is 'public enemy No. 1' at AOL, and we are working harder than ever alongside our members to reduce unwanted email. Spam-fighting continues to be a major focus in our effort to provide members with maximum value and satisfaction," said Matt Korn, Executive Vice President of Network and Data Center Operations at America Online. "We are getting incredibly positive feedback from our members about the new spam-fighting tools and email features in AOL 8.0. More importantly, members are using these tools in record numbers to do the right thing - report spam to us so we can update our spam filters and - in turn - reduce the amount of unwanted emails being targeted to AOL members by spammers. This is a new chapter in AOL's long-standing, ongoing battle against spam, and - with our members' help - we're turning the tide on unwanted email and spammers. The battle against spam is an ongoing process, and we will continue to be as vigilant as ever on behalf of our members."

This fall, AOL 8.0 introduced sweeping e-mail enhancements to help members deal with unwanted e-mails by: separating their incoming messages into four distinct email 'views'; introducing new colored email icons in inboxes that help members quickly and visually distinguish whether email is from someone they know, from a bulk email sender, or from an unknown sender; and placing a "Report Spam" button directly on members' email inboxes that - in one click - immediately sends the unwanted email to AOL for review and action and also gives the member the choice to instantly block future email from the address through AOL's 'Mail Controls' anti-spam tool.

AOL Announces Legal Victory: America Online, Inc. v. CN Productions

As part of its ongoing, comprehensive approach to fighting spam, the Company also announced a significant legal victory on behalf of its members in federal court.

In America Online, Inc. v. CN Productions, Inc. (No. 98-552-A), the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District in Virginia awarded AOL statutory damages totaling almost $7 million and broadened the scope of a prior injunction to effectively put an international spam ring out of operation. The spam ring named in the lawsuit targeted AOL members with unwanted e-mail advertising adult Web sites.

AOL stated that the ruling is important because it is the first case in which statutory damages have been awarded under the amended Virginia anti-spam statute. That law (Va. Code Ann. ss. 18.2-152.1 et seq.) provides that spammers can be assessed $25,000 for each day they send spam. The Company also noted that the damage award was the largest AOL had obtained to date in its anti-spam legal efforts, which have involved twenty lawsuits and over 100 defendants.

Randall Boe, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of AOL, said: "This is an important legal victory in the fight against spam and it sends a clear, distinct message to spammers: AOL is prepared to use all of the legal and technological tools available to shut down spammers who inundate the mailboxes of AOL members with unwanted and often offensive junk e-mail."

AOL previously won a monetary judgment against CN Productions, formerly of Rockford, Illinois, in a 1999 lawsuit. At the conclusion of that original suit, AOL also obtained an injunction permanently barring the company and its president, Jay Nelson, from sending any spam to AOL members.

Two years later, AOL asked the Court to hold the defendants in contempt, alleging the defendants had violated the Court's injunction by continuing to send spam to its members. According to AOL's complaint, the defendants continued for more than a year after the injunction to "transmit hundreds of millions of junk email messages advertising adult Web sites" as "part of a complex conspiracy designed to knowingly violate" the Court's injunction. In addition to naming the original defendants in its contempt action, AOL also named as co-conspirators more than a dozen other individuals, who, according to AOL's complaint, had conspired with Jay Nelson to violate the Court injunction.

In its complaint, AOL alleged that CN Productions and its conspirators had transmitted over 1 billion junk email messages to AOL and its members; had accounted for 25% of all junk email complaints about adult Web sites that AOL received over a two year period; had generated as much as $8 million in illegal gains; and had attempted to conceal their illegal scheme from the Courts and AOL through perjury, obstruction of justice, and elaborate, illicit, offshore financial transactions designed to purposefully circumvent U.S. laws and AOL's anti-spam filters.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.