E-Malt.com News article: USA: Anheuser-Busch announces the agreement with Aristotle for online age-verification on Bud.TV

Anheuser-Busch Inc. announced on its press room, January 22, it has selected Aristotle Inc., based in Washington, D.C., as the vendor to implement an independent age-verification system for its new online entertainment network, Bud.TV, which will launch on Feb. 4 following the Super Bowl broadcast.

Bud.TV will feature programming similar to late-night network and cable television. By April, the age-verification technology also will be implemented on all of the company’s beer-branded Web sites, such as www.budweiser.com. This initiative makes Anheuser-Busch the first alcohol beverage company to use an independent age-verification system for its Internet sites.

“We chose Aristotle because of its experience in implementing cutting-edge identity verification systems that work quickly,” said Tony Ponturo, vice president of Global Media and Sports Marketing, Anheuser-Busch Inc. “Aristotle’s Integrity system will enhance our ability to admit only those adults of legal drinking age to our beer-branded Web sites.”

Web site visitors will be asked to provide their first and last name, date of birth and zip code, which Aristotle will then attempt to verify against its database of public records in real time. Users who are verified may then create a password that will give them on-the-spot and future access to Bud.TV, as well as to Anheuser-Busch’s other beer-branded Web sites.

“Going the extra mile to do the right thing is the very definition of good corporate citizenship. And Anheuser-Busch’s use of robust age-verification technology in this manner is further proof of the company’s commitment to corporate responsibility,” said John Phillips, chief executive of Aristotle, Inc. “This is a key reason we are so pleased to work with America’s leading brewer in helping deter access by underage site visitors so that only those who can lawfully drink visit Bud.TV and the company’s beer-branded Web sites.”

Recognizing the powerful influence parents have with their children, Anheuser-Busch’s Ponturo cautioned that online age verification cannot take the place of parental oversight. “Just as with television, music or movies, parents must be vigilant in monitoring the Internet sites their teens are visiting, and they should establish rules for Internet usage,” he added. To assist parents with this important task, Anheuser-Busch regularly gives Internet-screening software companies information on all of its beer-branded sites.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser Busch is the leading American brewer, holding a 48.8 percent share of U.S. beer sales. For a quarter century, Anheuser-Busch and its nationwide network of 600 independent wholesalers have led the alcohol beverage industry in promoting responsibility and respect for the law, investing more than a half-billion dollars in alcohol awareness and education programs and partnerships. In 2006, for the third year in a row, the company ranked first in the beverage industry for social responsibility in FORTUNE magazine’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” and “Global Most Admired Companies.” More information about the company’s responsibility efforts is available at www.beeresponsible.com.

Aristotle is a global software and data services firm dedicated to facilitating communication between citizens and companies, non-profits, elected representatives and government agencies with whom they chose to do business. Aristotle’s IntegritySM is the most widely accepted identity- and age-verification service deployed for instantly verifying government-issued ID’s for citizens of 152 nations. The service operates on a variety of platforms, including Internet, interactive voice response, mobile and handheld devices.

Aristotle has provided age-verification services that have enabled major tobacco companies to comply with the multi-state Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and its provisions that prohibit marketing to minors. In addition, the members of the Motion Picture Association of America that have promoted their studio’s releases that include “R” rated content have used Aristotle to limit minors’ online access to those promotional Web sites. Similarly, Aristotle works with more than 30 Fortune 500 companies to verify age and identity for purposes of fraud prevention.


24 January, 2007