Lyris Releases ListManager 8.0 Email Software

Major new version promotes email marketing best practices with frequency limits, SPF, and more

BERKELEY, CA - August 3, 2004 - Lyris Technologies, developer of the world's best-selling software for email marketing, announced today the release of ListManager version 8.0. This latest release promotes email marketing best practices not by sending more mail faster, but rather by targeting mail more responsibly. Improvements include recency and frequency mailing limits; multiple methods of email address suppression; and support for reading Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records, a key technology in the anti-spam "Sender ID" specifications currently proposed by America Online and MSN.

Lyris ListManager is a high-performance software application used by more than 3,000 businesses and other organizations for opt-in email marketing campaigns, announcement lists, and online discussion groups. Since its debut in 1997, ListManager has become the world's best-selling email marketing software due to its speed, scalability, broad feature set, and database integration support.

"We've always designed ListManager to promote permission-based contact, and it's done that very well," said John Buckman, chief executive officer of Lyris Technologies. "But now the rules are changing—even opt-in mail from a trusted brand can be seen as spam if it comes too often or isn't relevant. ListManager 8.0 addresses that issue head-on, and I'm confident it will raise awareness that 'less' is definitely 'more' these days."

Less: the new More
Recognizing that many marketers see an inverse relationship between the frequency of mailings and the value of recipients' responses, Lyris enhanced ListManager 8.0 with controls to limit the recency and frequency of email communication. Marketers can now institute rules to prevent over-mailing, such that list members who have reached a defined limit will not receive subsequent mailings until a specified amount of time has passed. ListManager also now offers additional means of suppressing the addresses of list members who do not want to be contacted, further aiding compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. Administrators may ban addresses permanently, suppress against third-party lists, and purge against previously sent mailings.

Sender ID: Best shot for a spam-free future?
Leading the list of new features in ListManager 8.0 is support for Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and "Sender ID" protocols. This technology enables servers receiving email to determine if a given incoming message is truly from its claimed source. Since a common spamming technique involves sending unwanted email from forged "From:" addresses, Lyris strongly believes that SPF technology may be one of the most effective means of reducing spam.

Lyris publishes SPF records for the outbound mail sent by its 1,200 list hosting clients, and encourages all of its software customers to do likewise from their own networks. Now, ListManager 8.0 reads the SPF records of incoming email—that is, messages sent to the ListManager server—and rejects those that it detects are explicitly forged. This function protects list members from inadvertently receiving spam and viruses.

RSS: Feeding frenzy
ListManager 8.0 also allows users to publish their content simultaneously as an email message and as an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. One of the hottest new ways to share information over the Internet, RSS is an XML format that helps subscribers frustrated by junk mail get the information they want without having to wade through spam-filled inboxes.

Pricing and Availability
Listmanager 8.0 software runs on Windows, Linux, and Solaris, and is compatible with Microsoft, Oracle, and Postgres databases. Licenses range from $500 for basic email publishing, to $100,000 for high-volume advanced email marketing. ListManager 8.0 is also available as a hosted (ASP) service. For more information, visit http://www.lyris.com/products/listmanager/.