TIMELINE

April 17, 2006

THINK PARTNERSHIP, a provider of online and offline marketing and ad services, signed a letter of intent to acquire IceRocket, a blog-search engine founded by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Terms were not disclosed. IceRocket CEO Blake Rhodes will retain his post after the deal is complete. Think plans to combine IceRocket's blog-search capabilities with the ad-serving platforms operated by Litmus Media, which Think bought in early April for about $13 million in cash and stock.

April 14

THE DIRECT MARKETING EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION will honor Lee Epstein with its Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation will be made at DMEF's annual dinner June 20, during DM Days New York. Epstein was a founder and chairman of DMDNY until it was sold to the Direct Marketing Association in 2003. From 1980 on, DMDNY contributed more then $3 million to regional colleges and universities. During this time he was president and founder of Mailmen Inc., a Hauppauge, NY volume lettershop.

April 6

The FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION tightened rules governing the sending of unsolicited faxes as spelled out in the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. Specifically, the FCC said fax advertising could only be sent to parties with whom the sender has an established business relationship. Even if they have such a relationship, senders of fax ads must obtain the fax number directly from recipients or otherwise ensure that they voluntarily agreed to make the number available for public distribution. The FCC also is requiring fax ads to contain information on the first page identifying the sender and its contact information, including a way to opt out of the fax program. Senders have no more than 30 days to comply, and small businesses and nonprofits are not exempt. The amended rules take effect in June.