Together with the German Direct Marketing Federation (DDV), eco has initiated a safe-list project, the so-called "Certified Senders Alliance".

What is the Certified Senders Alliance (CSA)?

Mass mailers, who regularly send marketing material with the permission of the addressee (Permission Marketing), have become increasingly grumpy about the substantial amount of requested material – which has the permission of the addressee - that no longer arrives, owing to spam filtering systems. The solution currently becoming favoured is the use of internal safe lists, administered by Internet service providers (ISPs), that mass mailers can apply to be inclued on.

However, this approach has some weaknesses. For instance, a mass mailer must negotiate placement on these safe lists with scores of ISPs. And ISPs are faced with the task of vetting a myriad of mass mailers based on safe list criteria, which, of course, vary from provider to provider and becomes an extremely onerous task. Constantly changing contacts at ISPs also makes the process even more difficult. This all highlights that a centrally administered safe list may been extremely useful to all concerned - with standard registration procedures for mass mailers, a consistently high quality of service and an efficient customer complaint mechanism.

A centralised safe list does not just constitute a “spam fence”, it also functions as the interface between mass mailers and Internet service providers, which could contribute to improving the quality of email as a commercial medium. But, above all else, it could ensure that emails, actually requested by the end user, and from respectable mailers, arrive smoothly at their destination, without the mailer having to worry about their mail being branded illegitimate.  

Participating in the Certified Senders Alliance means that server-side spam filters allow legitimate messages to pass through, and only individual user settings can block messages from list-approved mass mailers. This approach can save time and resources for both Internet service providers and mass mailers.

In addition to these motivators for mailer and ISP involvement, the joint initiative by eco and the German Direct Marketing Federation (DDV) will ensure buy-in from both the Internet industry and direct marketing companies. The DDV has recommended that its members participate in the project, and has supplied two of the four individuals who will run the 'Registration and Complaint Committee'. The service remains free-of-charge for Internet service providers.