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  OPENWAVE BRINGS TOGETHER WORLD'S LEADING CARRIERS TO DEVELOP PLANS FOR AN ISP MESSAGING ANTI-ABUSE WORKING GROUP
  

  REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - January 14, 2004 -- Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), the leading provider of messaging software products and services for the communications industry, has taken a leadership role along with Abranet, Adelphia, Bell Canada, BellSouth, Cox, Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ), IIJ America Inc., NII Holdings, Inc, NTL, TELUS and 9 other communication services providers and ISPs -- representing in total 80 million subscribers and 40 million e-mail accounts -- in bringing together a group of global operators committed to developing a plan for collaborating on the growing issues of carrier-class Spam protection and anti-abuse.

Specifically, the working group will address collaborating on cross-operator communications, best practices and technology to combat messaging abuse, as well as developing a cohesive point of view on public policy.

Openwave will help facilitate forums for service providers to share best practices, and negotiate agreements to help address inter-operator messaging abuse, and has already held an initial kickoff forum.

"Messaging abuse poses an enormous threat to all forms of Internet communications," said Rich Wong, general manager, Openwave. "We must move from reactive to proactive approaches to solving these issues, and tackle this collaboratively to create a unified front to make systemic progress."

In the kick-off meeting, the companies discussed a number of potential ways to collaborate on this shared enemy of anti-abuse, including:
  • COLLABORATION
    • Developing an ISP code of conduct for accepted behavior on how to handle operator abuse
    • Developing a trusted inter-carrier network for messaging (e.g.: SMTP Trust)
    • Developing and sharing industry best practices for various forms of messaging abuse including spam, denial-of-service attacks, malicious virus attacks and undesired content
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • Developing and defining a reference architecture and network standards-based technologies for combating messaging abuse, including the reduction of spoofing and prevention of identity forgery
  • POLICY
    • Building effective interfaces to key standards and legislative bodies
Expanding this collaboration from the initial working group to a broader coalition of global carriers, Openwave and key global operators intend to hold a summit in the spring to discuss progress and next steps along the three areas defined: Collaboration, Technology and Policy. For more information about the companies mentioned and the working group, please visit http://www.openwave.com/messaging-anti-abuse-working-group

"Spam is a constantly evolving problem that impacts nearly every individual or company using email and the Internet in addition to the burden of handling large volumes of undesired traffic faced by carriers and ISPs including BellSouth," said Dale Malik, director of Communications Product Development for BellSouth. "As part of the consortium, BellSouth is taking a leadership role in joining forces with others in the industry to thwart the plague of Spam. We've heard the concerns of our Internet customers and will work to effect change as a cohesive group that far exceeds what we could accomplish individually.

"As part of an industry committed to improving online users' experiences, we must partner to find solutions for eliminating spam and viruses," said Todd Dean, Director Data Operations and Support of Cox Communications. "This collaboration will make it easier for us to address the issues more efficiently and defend our customers from messaging abuse."

"Spammers are united, sharing ideas and technology. We need to do the same thing--to unite and aggressively raise the bar in our opposition," said Nick Jacobs, Director of Data Services at NII Holdings, Inc. "Together we have the opportunity to effect change and we will make a far greater impact as a group than we ever could individually."

"At NTL we are always working to improve our customers Internet experience. With spam emails and viruses becoming an increasing concern, we are pleased to be a founder member of this inter-operator forum to combat the abuse of email", said Bill Goodland, Director Internet, NTL.

About Openwave
 
Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) is the leading independent provider of open software products and services for the communications industry. Openwave's breadth of products, including mobile phone software, multimedia messaging software (MMS), email, location and mobile gateways, along with its worldwide expertise enable its customers to deliver innovative and differentiated data services. Openwave is a global company headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information please visit visit www.openwave.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
 
This release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans or prospects for Openwave Systems Inc. that are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Openwave's management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements: (a) the ability to make changes in business strategy, development plans and product offerings to respond to the needs of our current, new and potential customers, suppliers and strategic partners; (b) risks associated with the development and licensing of software generally, including potential delays in software development and technical difficulties that may be encountered in the development or use of our software; and (c) the ability to successfully partner with other companies.

For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003, and any subsequently filed reports. All documents also are available through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov or from Openwave's Web site at www.openwave.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this document.

 
Openwave and the Openwave logo are trademarks and or registered trademarks of Openwave Systems Inc. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

For further information:
 
Contact Openwave Worldwide Public Relations

  



 
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