Press Releases
Mailshell
Extends Its Free Anti-Spam Service to Protect Users From Any
Source of Junk Email
Email 'Caller ID' Guarantees
Unsubscribe Requests
SANTA CLARA,
CA., July 9, 2001 - Mailshell, the free service that prevents
junk email, today launched a major enhancement to its service
that makes managing email relationships and preventing junk
email easier than ever before.
Mailshell
users can now choose a custom email domain name to create
unique, spam-free email addresses wherever they go. For example,
a user can enter amazon@(personal domain).com for an account
with Amazon, ebay@(personal domain).com when using eBay, or
give out family@(personal domain).com for family-related email.
Incoming email is forwarded to the user's private email address
or saved on Mailshell's Web-based email system, whichever
the user prefers.
Mailshell's
patent-pending technology acts like a 'Caller ID' system for
email so people can 'unsubscribe' from any list, person or
company at any time. By creating a unique email identity for
each party with whom they do business, Mailshell users can
automatically recognize the sender of commercial email. If
users don't like what they receive, they can simply unsubscribe
by checking a box.
Among the
best ways of preventing junk email is to treat an email address
like a credit card number, revealing it rarely and judiciously.
To help users subscribe wisely, Mailshell offers a detailed
directory of more than 100,000 of the Internet's best email
newsletters, offers and services.
Mailshell
highlights, organizes, reviews and provides samples of each
so users are properly informed before subscribing. Mailshell
does not share the user's private email address with anyone.
Instead, it serves as a middleman between users and their
various email relationships, signing users up with an alias
to protect their privacy.
Mailshell's
new feature lets users enjoy this same level of protection
when sending or receiving email from any list, newsletter
or person even if it is not currently listed in the Mailshell
directory, essentially making Mailshell protection portable.
"Most
people either can't find the newsletters or content they want,
or can't easily unsubscribe from things they no longer want,''
said Tonny Yu, founder and CEO of Mailshell. "You can
spend hours sending emails, visiting Web sites and filling
out forms anytime you want to be removed from a list.
"Since
anyone who already has your email address can send you anything
they want at any time for any reason, even if you're eventually
able to unsubscribe from one list, spammers may already have
sold your email address to other spammers.''
The process
is similar to the old trick in which magazine subscribers
enter a different middle initial on magazine subscription
forms to track the source of resulting junk mail and telemarketing
phone calls. Some email users employ a similar tactic by creating
new free email addresses when their existing email box becomes
overwhelmed with spam.
Mailshell
makes this ad hoc process explicit, simple and manageable.
The service can also automatically unsubscribe users from
a list after a specified period of time. This allows users
to try a list or service for a few days.
"The
best way to prevent junk email is to use a new email address
every time you're asked for your email address,'' added Yu.
"Mailshell makes this simple, easy and free.''
The service
is free to users and the company charges marketers for long-term
subscribers and sales leads. Companies pay Mailshell for each
user that opts-in for a product or service. By providing samples
and reviews of commercial email content, Mailshell efficiently
matches commercial email senders to recipients, enabling a
more targeted exchange of information.
Users have
the freedom to receive only the content to which they wish
to subscribe, while senders have the confidence of knowing
they are gaining the attention of an interested, qualified
audience.
Mailshell
was recently dubbed "priceless'' by Forbes magazine and
among "the best ways to organize your email'' and "the
best ways to stop spam'' by The Wall Street Journal. In an
effort to promote a sustainable infrastructure for commercial
email, Mailshell created and advocates 10 'mailrights' (http://mailrights.mailshell.com)
designed to balance the needs of email users and marketers.
Mailshell
was founded in January 1999. The company is based in Santa
Clara, with an additional office in San Francisco.
# # #
Contact:
Stefan Pollack, Mailshell, (310) 556-4443, press@stefan.mailshell.com
