SpamCon Foundation offers free "Disposable Email Addresses"

SAN FRANCISCO -- August 28, 2001 -- The nonprofit SpamCon Foundation today started offering free, disposable email addresses ("DEAs") to help Internet users avoid receiving unsolicited email, or "spam". Spam forces unwanted and objectionable materials into Internet users' email boxes, impairs their ability to communicate freely, and costs billions of dollars annually.

Those who sign up at http://dea.spamcon.org can create up to 15 active DEAs for free. Mail sent to these DEAs is forwarded to a "Real Email Address" ("REA") provided by the user. Responses are anonymized, so users never have to give out their real email addresses.

A password-protected, Web-accessible system tracks email traffic into DEAs. If a mailbox holder starts receiving spam at a DEA, it can be jettisoned -- without affecting the user's ability to receive wanted email.

SpamCon Foundation DEAs are available through an agreement with ClicVU, Inc. (http://www.clicvu.com), using the ClicVU Disposable Email Address Service(tm). The agreement allows SpamCon Foundation to offer a "Private-Label" version of the service to its users.

"ClicVU's DEA service fits in well with our mandate," said SpamCon Foundation Executive Director Tom Geller. "It forces anyone who sends email to a DEA to act responsibly, or lose the privilege of reaching its owners. We'll continue to fight for an Internet where such measures are unnecessary; in the meantime, DEAs give recipients immediate power to control their email."

"Working with the SpamCon Foundation is the right thing to do for a company like ours" said Michael Cassara, one of ClicVU's Co-Founders, "We believe in their goals and are happy to provide the infrastructure to help meet some of them. Together, we can return value to email communications."