The Japan E-mail Anti-Abuse Group, JEAG

Partnerships

TOKYO, March 15, 2005 -- Recognizing that spam e-mail is a serious problem that requires a concerted, industry-wide effort to resolve, Internet Initiative Japan Inc., KDDI Corporation, NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Panasonic Network Services, Inc., Plala Networks Inc., and Vodafone K.K. today announced that Japan's major Internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile telecommunication carriers have jointly established the Japan E-mail Anti-Abuse Group (JEAG) to examine and implement technological countermeasures against E-mail abuse. About thirty companies make up the founding members of JEAG and a partial list of these companies is included below.

Every year, mountains of spam are sent to users without their consent, and every year the perpetrators devise more devious and vicious methods to send even more. The problem has become so critical that more than 70% of the mail sent in the U.S. is spam. Spam not only eats up the resources of corporate mail servers and system administrators, it is also a primary source of viruses and an instrument of fraud and other unethical practices. In Japan, the damage caused by spam is only growing.

As the number of Internet-compatible mobile phones increases and Japanese mobile phone companies and ISPs grow to become truly global in scope, each company is working diligently to combat spam by rejecting it at the server or by providing users with options to set their own conditions for accepting or rejecting mail. They have had some success. However, as spammers become more devious and vicious, the potential damage and repercussions on society are becoming a serious concern. Japan has been lagging behind the U.S. in research and implementation of sender authorization and other technologies that stop spam at the source. While there are several groups in Japan that are attacking the spam problem from a legal angle, there were no groups working on a comprehensive technological solution that encompasses communications providers, software and hardware makers, and others in the industry.

The entire industry, including major Japanese ISPs, mobile phone companies and software/hardware makers, is currently banding together to defeat spam through JEAG. Through discussion and joint operations, the group is establishing a unified approach to countering spam, and their primary objective is to implement the agreed upon policies and technologies.

JEAG members will continue to share operational experience and expertise in mail systems to greatly enhance Japan's messaging environment.


Promoters
Internet Initiative Japan Inc.
KDDI Corporation
NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
Panasonic Network Services, Inc.
Plala Networks Inc.
Vodafone K.K.

Founding Members
@NetHome Co., Ltd.
FreeBit Co., Ltd.
IBM Japan, Ltd.
Internet Initiative Japan Inc.
IRI Communications, Inc.
IronPort Systems, Inc.
Japan Internet Exchange Co., Ltd.
JAPAN TELECOM CO.,LTD.
JPCERT Coordination Center
KDDI Corporation
Mirapoint Japan, K.K.
NEC Corporation
NIFTY Corporation
Nihon Openwave Systems K.K.
NTT Communications Corporation
NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
NTTPC Communications, Inc.
Otsuka Corporation
Panasonic Network Services, Inc.
Plala Networks Inc.
Sendmail K.K.
Softbank BB Corporation
Sony Communication Network Corporation
TOSHIBA SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
Vodafone K.K.
Yahoo Japan Corporation

Specific Countermeasure Proposals
- Evaluation of technological spam countermeasures
Outbound Port 25 Blocking
Sender authorization
- Anti-spam information and education for Internet users and service provides
- Evaluation and implementation of effective measures for eradicating spam to mobile phones

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