Clearswift: Clarity of Terminology in Anti-Spam Law is Critical to Stemming the Spam Tide.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

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BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 2003

Content Filtering Leader Clearswift Issues New White Paper

Highlighting Importance of Precise Language in Anti-Spam Legislation;

Avoid Unanticipated Consequences

Clearswift (http://www.clearswift.com), the world's leading provider of software for managing and securing electronic communication with a 15% share of the global content filtering market, today announced availability of a new white paper, "Technical Issues Relating to the Drafting of Anti-Spam Legislation." This white paper, written specifically for federal and state lawmakers, their staffs, and legislative counsel at the largest U.S. corporations, contains information and insights not readily available from other sources. The opinions and examples it contains will assist these readers in crafting and contributing to legislation that helps businesses manage spam and prevents unnecessary litigation by using language that is clear, applicable, and unambiguous.

Controlling spam through legislation and/or regulation is necessary because the problem is so vast. In the United States alone, one in every 212 e-mails sent in 2002 contained a computer virus, one in three e-mails qualified as unsolicited spam in November 2002, and total spam exceeded total non-spam e-mail in July 2003. Federal and state legislators and regulators realize the magnitude of the problem, especially because it affects them as well as their corporate and citizen constituents. Several state laws are on the books, more are being drafted, and federal lawmakers are writing numerous bills.

It is in these latter efforts that Clearswift's white paper should prove especially useful. "Debates in spam hearings often center on whether anti-spam legislation should contain an opt-in or opt-out approach, a Do-Not-Email mail registry, an independent e-mail trust authority safe harbor, and/or permit consumers to have a private right of action against spammers," observed Jeff Jinnett, a partner with the law firm of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. (http://www.ebglaw.com), legislative advisor on privacy and security to Clearswift and co-author of the white paper. "While it is important to resolve these issues, it is equally important to enact legislation that will not have unintended adverse consequences. To ensure this outcome, the original bill language should be both technically accurate and susceptible of clear application."

In the course of analyzing currently pending federal anti-spam bills, the authors illustrate how imprecise wording in pending bills may make them either too narrow or too broad, difficult to apply with clarity, or liable to result in unforeseen adverse consequences, such as the following:

-- Would the bill cover only a spam sender who "hijacks"

consumer-owned computers connected to the Internet, or would

it additionally implicate the owners of the hijacked computers

as participants in the "initiation" of the spam and subject

them to punishment for not securing their computers?

-- If a consumer does not own a computer and accesses e-mail

solely through an Internet-enabled television set, would the

consumer be protected under a bill that covers only e-mails

received on a computer?

-- If lawmakers write a bill with the intention of covering only

Internet-based spam sent over wired networks, could overly

broad language cause the bill to be interpreted as also

including cell phone spam over a wireless network and junk

faxes?

-- If a bill is intended to cover only "public" networks, might

corporate extranets and intranets be unintentionally covered

due to unclear bill language?

-- If a bill provides a "safe harbor" for e-mails sent to

recipients with whom the sender has a pre-existing business or

employment relationship, would any protection be given to a

member of a non-commercial hobby club who sends a bulk e-mail

to the other members of the club concerning a product or

service of interest to the club members?

A July 2003 spam survey conducted by Clearswift and Infosec found that, despite serious concerns over reduced productivity levels, more than one-third (37%) of business organizations still do not have a policy in place to fight spam. Moreover, a recent Harris poll of more than 2,200 U.S. adults concluded that the vast majority of those surveyed thought that spamming should be made illegal. As Don Taylor, CEO of Clearswift, observed as Clearswift announced the availability of the new white paper, "Clearly, significant percentages of both the business and consumer sectors wish to rely on Congress to enact legislative solutions to help solve the spam problem. We at Clearswift hope that our white paper will help Congress produce more effective federal anti-spam legislation that is susceptible of clear application and minimizes unforeseen consequences."

ABOUT CLEARSWIFT

Clearswift is the world's leading provider of software for managing and securing electronic communications. Clearswift solutions ensure business compliance through safe messaging, secure boundaries and best practice in electronic communications. Clearswift delivers the capabilities for organizations to protect themselves against e-mail and Web-based threats, meet legal and regulatory requirements, implement productivity-saving policies and manage intellectual property passing through their network.

Clearswift's software portfolio includes Clearswift ENTERPRISEsuite(TM), a software infrastructure for managing e-policies in complex environments and Clearswift MIMEsweeper(TM), a product family for e-mail and Web e-policies. More information about Clearswift, its products and services is available at www.clearswift.com.

ABOUT THE WHITE PAPER'S AUTHORS

Clearswift's latest white paper was co-authored by Alyn Hockey, vice president of research at Clearswift, and Clearswift's legislative advisor, Jeff Jinnett. Hockey has spoken and written widely on the spam issue, including at Infosec 2002 and on U.S. and European television (CNN, MSNBC, and Bloomberg). Jinnett is managing director of Compliance Architect, LLC, a business consulting practice positioned to work with clients on privacy, security and regulatory compliance issues.

Attention Editors: The white paper co-authors and other Clearswift personnel will be available for interviews on request. For further information, contact: Susan Majerus, 480-354-4334, [e-mail].

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