SAN FRANCISCO, CA - January 26, 2004 - The Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy ("ISIPP") announced today that its national "Spam and the Law" conference drew nearly twice the expected number of attendees, with a stellar lineup of speakers playing to a crowd which was at times standing room only. Internet service providers, online marketers, attorneys, and even a few acknowledged spammers, crammed into a crowded room last Thursday to listen to the nation's leading experts tell them about the state of the law with regards to spam, and what it means for email marketers.

From the keynote address by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, to a lively discussion of best email marketing practices with marketing guru Guy Kawasaki, the message was clear: the new Federal CAN-SPAM law is not going to stop all spam, and it's up to legitimate online mailers to distinguish themselves from the spammers by doing the right thing.

"To say that some people are not thrilled with CAN-SPAM would be an understatement," said Anne P. Mitchell, Esq., President and CEO of the Institute for Spam and Internet Public Policy. "Still, there are some who think that in the right hands the law can be applied effectively, and we are already working on ways to help ensure that happens."

Opinions on the CAN-SPAM law, which took effect on the first of this year, ranged from hopeful to skeptical to downright cynical. Other subjects covered at the conference included using other types of legal tools such as trademark and trespass laws to go after spammers, suing the advertisers along with the senders, and keeping one's own mailings from running afoul of the new law.

Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig called the new law an "abomination", explaining that in his opinion the new law is "ineffective and it's affirmatively harmful because it preempts state legislation."

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, whose own state's anti-spam law was preempted by the new Federal law, pledged to continue the fight to protect consumer inboxes from spam, while acknowledging that "the resources we have to enforce the act are modest."

Michael Goodman, the Federal Trade Commission attorney whose job it is to oversee the implementation of the CAN-SPAM law, pledged to move as quickly as possible to bring the first spammers to justice under the new law. "The FTC has been charged with both enforcing and interpreting the law," said Goodman, "and we'll be doing both at the same time." Goodman also explained that much of this was new territory, and that his office welcomed feedback from industry experts.

Addressing the importance of one's Internet image, Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist and current CEO of Garage Technology Ventures, told the attendees that spamming is not only illegal, but can hurt your company's bottom line. "This conference proved that online marketers must consider more than the letter of the law. The impact on a company's image and the morals of society are as important."

Award-winning journalist and founder of the Politech technology and politics mailing list, Declan McCullagh, explained to the audience that CAN-SPAM "encourages Congress to extend the federal government's reach into the Internet," and added that "it imposes additional requirements on legitimate, truthful speech."

"Unfortunately, the spammers are not afraid of CAN-SPAM in the least," explained Mitchell. "On the other hand, legitimate emailers are very concerned about it."

For mailers who are trying to figure out what they need to do to comply with the new law, ISIPP offers an ebook entitled "CAN-SPAM and You: Emailing Under the Law", which is available through their website at http://www.isipp.com. ISIPP is also making available an audio recording of the conference along with the speakers' presentations.

"This conference far exceeded my expectations in terms of the quality of the information, and the knowledge and expertise of the speakers," said Meng Weng Wong, a founder of Internet service provider Pobox.com, and chief proponent of an emailer identification system known as 'SPF'. "I am more encouraged than ever now that we may have some usable legal weapons in our arsenal, along with the technological weapons such as SPF."

The "Spam and the Law" conference, which was co-sponsored by Ironport Systems, WhatCounts Email Technology, TalkBiz.com, Skylist Email Solutions, MessageGate Enterprise Messaging Management, and Informz Integrated E-Marketing Solutions, attracted attendees from across the country, and from as far away as Australia. The first in a series for 2004, ISIPP's next conference will be their "International Spam Law and Policies" conference, scheduled for the end of July.