The Direct Marketing Association is among a few dozen organizations and firms underwriting the Email Authentication Implementation Summit 2005 planned for July 12 at New York Marriott Marquis Hotel.
The show will highlight IP-based verification methods like Sender ID Framework and Sender Policy Framework. Complementary signature-based initiatives like Yahoo Inc.'s DomainKeys and Cisco Systems Inc.'s Identified Internet Mail also will be discussed.
“While there has been some confusion in the marketplace about standards, this summit will drive the message home that there are interoperable, low-cost, easy-to-implement solutions already in the marketplace that can be implemented today,” said Louis Mastria, the DMA's vice president of communications in New York.
“The DMA was able to authenticate its e-mail in under one hour,” he said. “There is every reason to authenticate today. At the very least, marketers should be publishing their SPF records, which will make them compliant with both Sender ID and SPF solutions.”
Authentication offers the promise of protecting brands, preventing consumer fraud and ensuring trust in the e-mail channel by cutting phishing and spoofing attacks.
“This summit was born from a need to set self-regulation efforts around e-mail authentication into full motion,” said Al DiGuido, CEO of Bigfoot Interactive Inc., a New York-based e-mail marketing services firm that is a summit host.
“We have a host of viable solutions and technologies in front of us,” he said. “What we need now is close orchestration and a rallying of key industry stakeholders in a push for widespread adoption. This event sets the stage at the broadest industry level to ensure the integrity and reputation of legitimate e-mail from sender to ISP to recipient.”
More than 300 IT professionals as well as marketing and e-commerce executives are expected to attend. Esther Dyson, editor of CNET Networks Inc.'s Release 1.0 newsletter, will moderate the event. The show's other hosts include Bigfoot, Microsoft Corp., Symantec Corp., Sendmail Inc. and the E-Mail Service Provider Coalition.
According to the DMA, legitimate commercial e-mail generated about $39 billion in sales last year, including $9 billion in small business sales. Those figures can grow if the incidence of e-mail scams is cut.
“We can't effectively contain the threat of e-mail scams if we don't question its validity before it reaches the inbox,” DiGuido said. “Authentication technologies checkpoint e-mails' origins to make sure every sender is who they say they are. When used, we're able to remove the guesswork and facilitate valuable, safe interactions between businesses and customers.”
Mickey Alam Khan covers Internet marketing campaigns and e-commerce, agency news as well as circulation for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
