Justice Department Ruling Boosts Aristotle's Integrity Solution

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Aristotle International, the leading provider of online age- and identity-verification today welcomed the new interpretation of the Wire Act, made public on Friday by United States Department of Justice.

The new opinion, drafted in September but released on Friday, clarifies that the 1961 law refers only to prohibition of online gambling on sporting events or contests, and not the use of the Internet to sell lottery tickets to adults.

"Aristotle applauds this important clarification as long overdue. We believe it will bolster legitimate internet gaming industry operators and give cash-strapped states the option to create online lotteries that will generate tax revenues," said Aristotle CEO John Aristotle Phillips.

While this is a major victory for the gaming industry, it also likely signals increased scrutiny and regulations for all online operators. Aristotle is urging managers in these companies who are not already doing so, to protect their sites from access by minors or self-described 'problem gamblers' by implementing proven age- and identity-verification systems.

Aristotle's "Integrity" system is used on secure sites world-wide to legally authorize online adult users, making the sites a safe gaming ground for the public and protecting the site operators and their brands. Integrity uses multiple sources of data and sophisticated algorithms for instant verification of legitimate adult customers while rejecting minors and fraudsters. With continuous direct access to a wide range of identity data, including government data spanning over 150 countries and 3.4 billion citizens world-wide, Integrity is the most comprehensive service of its kind. It also meets or exceeds U.S. federal requirements for age verification as stipulated by the federal PACT Act ("Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2010"), which incorporates the most recent single federal standard for online age verification without verifying the information through the use of a commercially available database or aggregate of databases, consisting primarily of data from government sources, that are regularly used by government and businesses for the purpose of age and identity verification authentication.

"For more than a decade, Aristotle has pioneered the development of widely accepted compliance and age verification technology for the commercial and government sectors," said John Aristotle Phillips, a co-founder of the company. "Integrity is the most comprehensive and cost-effective tool for online age- and identity-verification. We've tailored it to be available across multiple platforms including interactive video, or using mobile and hand-held devices at point of sale.

"From Apple to Zynga, there are thousands of websites that need to comply with age- or identity-verification laws or industry self-regulation in order to limit liability. Many sites, including social networks and membership organizations need to be certain they know who their members are. There are many, many websites that would benefit from an Integrity type of service."

Integrity has been providing accurate age- and identity-verification to state lotteries and licensed gambling operators in Alderney, France, Gibraltar, Isle of Mann, Malta, the U.K. and U.S. for as long as a decade in some jurisdictions.

According to Forbes Magazine, Integrity is the "market leader" in age- and identity-verification services. Aristotle's Integrity is the only such service that insures operators against any fines or legal fees stemming from unauthorized underage access to sites using its Integrity technology.

About Aristotle
For more than 25 years, every occupant of the White House - Democrat and Republican - has used Aristotle products and/or services, in addition to many U.S. Senators, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Democratic and Republican state party organizations.

About Integrity
Integrity is a proven, accepted, versatile and cost-effective global ID and age verification solution. In addition to I-gaming, major deployments include customers in tobacco, alcohol, government agencies, major motion picture studios, video gaming, financial services, events management, media and advertising, and consumer goods industries. More than 50 million consumers have utilized Integrity to verify their identity when transacting with global Fortune 1000 companies around the world.

Media Contact: Brandi Travis, (202) 903-4221

SOURCE Aristotle