Age Verification Expert Named Senior Advisor to Aristotle CEO; NewsCorp General Counsel Joins Board of Directors
02 Décembre 2009 - 8:42PM
PR Newswire (US)
Appointments Create Opportunity for NewsCorp to Address Child
Protection Deficiencies WASHINGTON, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ --
Aristotle International Inc., the global leader in online identity
verification, announced today that age verification expert Michael
Colopy will rejoin the company as Senior Advisor to CEO John
Aristotle Phillips. Colopy, formerly Aristotle's Senior Vice
President for Communications and Government Affairs, will now aid
the company's efforts in promoting responsible online child
protection through use of robust age and ID verification
technologies. Aristotle also notes that Lawrence (Lon) Jacobs,
Senior Executive Vice President and Group General Counsel of News
Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSNASDAQ:NWSA) has joined the company's board
of directors. "We are pleased that Michael, a long-time advocate
and thought-leader on Internet safety and security, is returning to
Aristotle and being joined by Lon, an active member of the
entertainment and online industries," said Phillips, CEO of
Aristotle International. "Combining Michael's credibility as an
industry expert with Lon's experience as a respected executive of
NewsCorp's multi-billion dollar enterprise, which includes MySpace,
is extremely beneficial to Aristotle and serves to strengthen our
leadership position in the age and identity verification space."
Aristotle's technology platform, Integrity, is the most widely
accepted identity and age verification service deployed for
instantly verifying government-issued IDs for citizens of 152
nations. The service operates across various platforms, including
online, interactive voice response (IVR), wireless and other mobile
devices. "Michael will contribute to all Integrity business
operations with respect to improving online child protection and
reducing fraud across a variety of industries via adoption of
efficient and effective age and ID verification technologies," said
Phillips. "This also includes building mutually beneficial
relationships with non-profits and commercial organizations as well
as state and federal officials who share a common goal - the
protection of our youth." Jacobs' addition to the board follows
Aristotle's public questioning of NewsCorp over the handling of
more than 90,000 Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) on MySpace,
NewsCorp's flagship social networking site. Since that time, the
issue of sex offenders on social networks has continued to receive
media scrutiny - including yesterday's announcement by Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) that an additional 3,533 RSOs from his
state were identified on social networking sites because they used
email addresses registered in accordance with New York's Electronic
Security and Targeting of Online Predators Act (e-STOP). MySpace
had reportedly deleted the accounts of the first 90,000 registered
sex offenders. Rupert Murdoch, Lon Jacobs and NewsCorp received
numerous inquiries from parents, through an Aristotle-sponsored
website (http://www.childonlineprotectionservice.com/), asking if
their children had been contacted by sex offenders on MySpace.
"Attorney General Cuomo's announcement of thousands more sex
offenders just from New York alone, identified because they used
their registered email addresses, leaves open the question of how
many more New York state offenders are prowling these sites under
assumed names and unregistered emails. And because the newly
released number is only for New York, and also doesn't include
predators who aren't using their real names, it is obvious that
social networks are still infested with offenders nationwide."
Thus, said Phillips, "Aristotle renews its call for MySpace to take
the lead by notifying parents if their children have been contacted
by a registered sex offender, and by making all records available
for analysis by law enforcement and child safety researchers, to
the fullest extent permitted by law. Clearly, whatever MySpace did
before was not sufficient. Given the large number of predators
still trolling these sites, a full, coherent explanation of what
MySpace is doing with the complete records of any contacts these
predators may have had with children is required. A straight answer
from Rupert Murdoch on this is certainly the minimum that parents,
the public, and law enforcement are owed. MySpace will be closely
watched, and anything short of that standard this time is
inexcusable. This is such an important issue that if MySpace will
not do this, then I believe that government hearings or subpoenas
would be appropriate. The same goes for the other social networks."
"We are looking forward to Lon's continued input on how to protect
and increase shareholder value at Aristotle. Hopefully, this will
include a role for Aristotle in protecting minors on social
networking sites. Furthermore, as he is a representative of one of
the major American film studios, the board is eager to consider
Lon's ideas for keeping the eyes of children off of restricted film
trailers," added Phillips. The production of R-rated trailers, also
known as "red band" trailers, by film studios as an online
marketing tool has exploded in popularity in recent years. Although
the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rules prohibit the
screening of restricted trailers to minors, some trailers -
including Fox Searchlight's 2009 release Miss March featuring
extensive profanity as well as description and depiction of
numerous sexual acts - are posted on multiple sites online without
an age gate. "Fox is one of the few major studios not placing its
redband trailers behind age gates. Such widespread distribution of
Fox redband trailers with the full knowledge or approval of Fox
executives is particularly offensive in view of recent pleas to the
FCC for greater protection of content produced by his media
empire," said Phillips. "We agree with the MPAA that the FCC and
Congress 'cannot let the anonymity of the Internet become a cloak
behind which people think that unlawful conduct can continue
unabated.'" "While I am disappointed that his employer, NewsCorp,
has not done more in the past to protect children from sexual
predators and age-inappropriate material, Lon should be a valuable
addition to our board," added Phillips. "It is my expectation that
this regular, high-level contact between our companies will
encourage NewsCorp to be much more vigilant and forthcoming, while
creating value for Aristotle's shareholders." Aristotle is a
privately held company. A NewsCorp affiliate, EPartners, owns 13%
of Aristotle International. Mr. Jacobs was appointed as EPartners'
representative on Aristotle's Board of Directors. About Aristotle
International Aristotle is recognized as a global pioneer in
political technology, providing indispensable tools to those who
seek to use the Democratic process to influence decisions at the
ballot box. Every occupant of the White House -- Democrat and
Republican -- for more than 25 years has been an Aristotle
customer, as are many U.S. Senators, members of the U.S. House of
Representatives, and Democratic and Republican state party
organizations. For information about career opportunities or for
client inquiries, go to http://www.aristotle.com/. About Integrity
Integrity is Aristotle's Identity and Age Verification service
utilizing government-issued IDs, among other data sources, to bring
instantaneous age and identity verification to life. More than 50
million consumers have had their identities verified with Integrity
when transacting with global Fortune 1000 companies, government
agencies and merchants. DATASOURCE: Aristotle International
CONTACT: Alicia Moran, +1-703-739-2424 x110, , for Aristotle
International Web Site: http://www.aristotle.com/
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