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FTC Wants Authentication, Email Industry Responds

Not too long ago, the Federal Trade Commission was worried at the snail's pace of authentication-standards adoption by the email industry, reports DM News. The FTC and Direct Marketing Association have viewed authentication - technologies for confirming the originators of email - as the best way to combat spam and email fraud, and both groups have opposed a national do-not-email list.

In recent months, the industry's response has finally gained momentum (see

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related stories, below). The Email Authentication Implementation Summit 2005, held this week in New York, urged widespread adoption of authentication methods, DM News writes. At the conference, emailers who already use authentication urged others to do the same. Only one-quarter of emails going to MSN Hotmail, for example, use Sender ID, according to MSN. Industry acceptance of email authentication could be critical to maintaining email deliverability rates. Authentication is important for protecting brands and consumer relationships as well, summit speakers said. Some spammers and phishers already have adopted email authentication, so the next step is to build a reputation network that can differentiate good emailers from bad ones, speakers stressed. Related stories: - Anti-Spam Tech Proposals Published - FTC Launches Email Authentication Site - Email Coalition Sets Authentication Requirement - Return Path Program to Score Emailer Reputation - MSN Requires Sender ID Email Authentication - Yahoo, Cisco Combine Anti-Spam Tech