Online Trust Alliance to Host European Online Trust Town Hall Meetings

Market Wire, May, 2009

Today the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) announced it is hosting Online Trust Town Hall meetings in Copenhagen and Amsterdam to solicit input into the draft 2009 Online Trust Principles. Sponsored in part by Reputy Europe , Secunia , and EMMA-NL, these events are being held on Thursday, June 4 in Copenhagen and on Monday, June 8 in Amsterdam.

These draft Online Trust Principles are a major step toward establishing business practices that afford greater consumer online protection and the long-term vitality of online commence and interactive marketing. In addition to discussing the Principles, OTA will share adoption levels of key online safety protocols including email authentication and Extended Validation SSL (EV SSL) Certificates -- leading solutions credited with reducing spam and phishing attacks, and protecting consumers worldwide.

"Advancing these Principles is imperative in order to enhance consumers' peace of mind and the long-term prosperity of the Internet," said OTA Founder and Chairman Craig Spiezle. "We look forward to global input to help consumers worldwide realize a renewed level of trust with brands who are committed to consumer choice and online safety."

"Businesses have much to gain from building consumer trust and choice. Reputy Europe stands behind the draft OTA Online Trust Principles which empower consumers and reinforce the value of online advertising and email marketing," said Sander van der Blonk, Reputy Europe CEO. "Businesses need to adopt these measures and commit to online safety. Those that do will realize a competitive advantage."

"For years, businesses have been trying to protect customers from online exploitation with poorly coordinated and less than effective measures. Secunia contributes to, and fully supports OTA's Principles as they're an important framework for joint industry efforts against cybercrime," said Secunia founder and CEO, Niels Henrik Rasmussen. "Integrating these principles are essential factors for any online brand, ecommerce company or financial institution."

OTA's position is that adherence to these Principles should be mandatory for all companies engaged in ecommerce and online banking. They are consistent with regulatory mandates and guidelines that stipulate businesses apply "reasonable security" in protecting sensitive and personal information. These Principles exemplify industry and government collaboration and demonstrate a shared commitment to self-regulation and accountability in order to help provide consumer choice and protection. The draft Principles can be found at www.otalliance.org/resources/principles.html

Attendance of the OTA Town Hall Meetings is no charge to members of OTA and to qualified brands and businesses. To RSVP, email staff@otalliance.org and include your complete contact information. Event details are available at https://www.otalliance.org/events/index.html .

About The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) https://otalliance.org/

The mission of OTA is to create a trusted global online ecosystem and foster the elimination of email and Internet fraud, abuse and cybercrime; thereby enhancing trust, confidence, and the protection of businesses and consumers. Through its member companies and organization affiliates, OTA represents over one million businesses and 500 million users worldwide with regional chapters in Asia Pacific, Canada and Europe. OTA is a 501c6 IRS-approved non-profit, governed by a Board and Steering Committee including Bank of America, BoxSentry, Datran Media, Epsilon, Goodmail Systems, Iconix, Internet Identity, IronPort (a division of Cisco Systems), Intersections Inc, MarkMonitor, Message Systems, Microsoft Corporation, MX Logic, Publishers Clearing House, Return Path, Secunia, Symantec Corporation and VeriSign.

For media-related inquiries, contact: Liz Shambaugh Email Contact 1 425-785-7234 Reputy (Amsterdam) Casper Schoute Email Contact 31 (0) 6-54937579 Secunia (Copenhagen) Reidar Balstad Email Contact 46 705 52 52 18