BACK to Information Page COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- CompuServe (Nasdaq:CSRV) and Cyber Promotions, through a consent agreement, will petition the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to enter an order accepting that consent agreement. The order would prohibit Cyber Promotions from sending any unsolicited e-mail to CompuServe subscribers. The order would also require Cyber Promotions to prohibit any of its customers from sending unsolicited e-mail to CompuServe subscribers. Violators will be disclosed to CompuServe and could have their accounts with Cyber Promotions canceled and face possible legal action by CompuServe. Cyber Promotions will also pay $65,000 to CompuServe for legal fees incurred in obtaining the order and will also be liable for pre-determined damages to CompuServe if Cyber Promotions violates the order. Furthermore, CompuServe members who choose to receive e-mail from Cyber Promotions will do so under controlled procedures designed to ensure that only those subscribers who ask to receive Cyber Promotions' messages will receive them. Cyber Promotions will be permitted to purchase advertising on CompuServe describing its commercial message service to CompuServe subscribers. Such purchases may be used to partially offset Cyber Promotions payment of CompuServe's legal fees. ``CompuServe has taken an industry leadership position in combating unsolicited e-mail on behalf of all online/Internet users,'' said Denny Matteucci, president of Interactive Services for CompuServe. ``This precedent-setting victory will be cited in future cases by other access providers in the ongoing industry war on unsolicited e-mail. Most online subscribers do not want unsolicited e-mail and we're responding to those members' concerns to preserve both their time and money.'' CompuServe won a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Cyber Promotions in October, 1996, to prevent it from configuring its unsolicited e-mail messages to appear as though they were being sent from a CompuServe computer. The final consent order makes this permanent. In February, 1997, the TRO was extended to a preliminary injunction additionally prohibiting Cyber Promotions from sending any unsolicited e-mail to any CompuServe e-mail address, which is also made permanent under the final consent order. Founded in 1969, CompuServe Incorporated provides the world's most comprehensive online/Internet access through its two brands CompuServe Interactive and SPRYNET. Through CompuServe, its Japanese licensee NIFTYSERVE and its affiliates around the world, more than 5 million home and business users in more than 185 countries are connected online and to the Internet. CompuServe Network Services manages complex global data communications environments for more than 1,000 corporate customers. With world headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, the CompuServe organization includes offices in Reading; Munich; Utrecht, Zurich and Paris. SOURCE: CompuServe, Incorporated BACK to Information Page