Critical Path Speaks Out Against Spam-Friendly Bill; Leading Email Services Provider Calls H.R. 3888 a License to Steal.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 5, 1998--Critical Path, a leading provider of outsourced email services, today decried the spam-friendly language written into H.R. 3888, a U.S. House Telecommunications subcommittee bill that addresses spam, or junk email, among other telecommunications topics.

Critical Path markets its email service solution -- including comprehensive spam-blocking services -- to ISPs, Web hosting companies, Web portals, and corporations.

Critical Path learned today that Title 4, the section of the bill that focuses on spam, contains language that gives spammers (individuals who specialize in sending junk email advertisements) a legal framework in which to operate. The language requires that the body of junk email messages must state, "This message is unsolicited commercial email."

"This bill effectively gives spammers a license to steal free transport for their unwanted advertising," said Wayne Correia, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Critical Path Inc. "What the legislators don't understand is that someone has to pay for spam transmission -- the extra hardware, Internet connectivity, and bandwidth required to handle the huge inflows of spam is a major expense for Internet service providers (ISPs) and network providers. These costs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher monthly fees."

"The real issue here is privacy," said J.D. Falk, Critical Path's Special-Agent-In-Charge for Abuse Issues. "In the case of mail sent through the U.S. Postal Service, the recipient knows before opening it whether or not it is junk mail by looking at the stamp and outward appearance of the envelope. If our customers and partners request a spam-free service, we couldn't provide it without opening and reading their messages.

"Under the provisions of this bill, asking your ISP to filter your mail would be the email equivalent of asking your local postmaster to open all your mail, read it, and determine which messages you should receive in your mailbox. As a service provider, we shouldn't have to make the ethical or moral decision to invade someone's privacy."

As the language currently stands, states would be prohibited from passing their own, stronger anti-spam laws, should state-level legislators choose to do so. The final markup of H.R. 3888 is scheduled to be completed tomorrow, Aug. 6, 1998.

Critical Path urges ISPs and consumers to get more information about the bill and call their congressional representatives to voice their opinions. For more information and for the telephone and fax numbers of representatives on the drafting committee for H.R. 3888, contact the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE) at www.cauce.org.

About Critical Path

Critical Path is a privately-held, venture-backed corporation founded in 1997 by David Hayden and Wayne Correia. With a mission to "handle the world's email," the company has built an industry-leading global infrastructure with data centers connected to key Internet exchange points, and is currently under contract to host over a million mailboxes for ISPs, Web hosting companies, Web portal sites, and corporations.

Critical Path provides virtually unlimited scalability, the fastest access to the Internet via multiple direct connections, SSL-based security, and the reliability of redundant, load-balanced hosts. Critical Path is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, please call Critical Path at 415/808-8800, or visit the Critical Path Web site at http://www.cp.net.

Note to Editors: Critical Path and the Critical Path logo are trademarks of Critical Path Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their holders.

    CONTACT: Critical Path
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