Critics of credit-card-payment-based age verification of online porn surfers call it as reliable a process as an honors-system cigarette basket in a maximum-security prison.
"What are the existing AVSes?" asks ChargeMeLater CEO Stephane Touboul. "By and large, you’re talking about a credit card. [But] Visa went into Congress and testified that they don’t want to be used as an age-verification process. Because they’re not."
Several age-verification software programs have been created to fill what threatens to be (thanks to the proposed so-called "porn tax bill") an increasing need for webmasters to verify the ages of members of their flock, and most of them insist that their particular system is way better than the others and provides what the others lack. I’d like to be able to tell you who’s lying, but they all make excellent points. Here, the ins and outs of what’s available to determine who’s in and who’s out of your websites.
BirthDateVerifier: This newly patented system,based on a combination of the E-Sign Act and the federal Declarations Act, requires the user to provide a sworn statement of his or her date of birth. This creates an electronic "affidavit," or an electronic signature, that verifies that the site visitor is over 18. "Unlike other ‘click here if you are over 18’ pages, there is a legal consequence for providing false information," explains developer and prominent adult entertainment attorney Lawrence Walters. "A minor would have to be willing to commit a federal felony to gain access to the site. That’s a critical point: If a webmaster were to be prosecuted for allowing minors onto the site, the government would have to produce a witness who gained access to the site while underage. Any such witness would be guilty of federal perjury if he or she obtained access to a site protected by the BirthDateVerifier. That’s not the kind of witness the government generally likes to put on the stand."
Another plus: The system doesn’t rely on databases such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, which are restricted to information about U.S. citizens.And, adds Walters: "The concept is being expanded into cell phones and ‘smart’ vending machines that provide access to age-restricted products or services."
ChargeMeLater Express Verifiable Authorization: CEO Touboul’s patented system of age verification was endorsed by the FTC after the feds lost their case against CML. An algorithm CML developed checks the site visitor’s phone number and the last four digits of his or her social security number against the databases of TransUnion, LexisNexis, Equifax, and other major credit bureaus to verify identity and age.
The system, Touboul says, "not only allows the consumer to make a purchase without a credit card, [but] the only information they’re providing, really, … is totally innocuous—no one can do anything with those four numbers; they cannot conduct any identity theft. Most importantly, what it does is eliminates all minor access to any improper content."
ElectraCash age verification: Checks the user’s date of birth, name, and last four digits of his or her social security number against credit bureau databases to verify that customers are over 18. "I think we’re the only check-processing company that’s offering this [to our merchants]," says Holly Moss, sales agent for ElectraCash. "Credit cards have always been pushed in online commerce, but because of laws and regulations going on with the adult market, adult has to look at alternative payment methods. And [with our system], you’re able to do recurring payments and mimic the business model of credit cards. It’s just good business to optimize."
IDLive, IDology: IDology’s algorithm checks a site visitor’s name, date of birth, and last four digits of the user’s social security number against 4,000-plus public records databases, such as voter registration, DMV records, and even hunting licenses to verify that users are at least 18 years old. Although CML’s system offers an edit page where users can fix info they might have gotten incorrect if they fail the first check, IDLive’s second-attempt "knowledge-based authentication" appears to be unique. The program is capable of issuing specific personal questions only the user would know to verify identity, if the check comes up inconclusive for whatever reason. "We can ask, say, what was the color of his mom’s Impala?" Raye Croghan, vice president of Idology group LLC, offers as an example.
KidSheriff/VerifyME, Aristotle: You might remember reading about Aristotle recently as well as around the 2000 election: The company was criticized by the New York Times, for one, for selling voter registration database info to the highest bidder. Make of that what you will, but KidSheriff reportedly relies on the same voter registration databases that Aristotle accesses for its government clients. Strange bedfellows, perhaps ...According to the company’s website, the program "integrates a government-issued ID database check, algorithms, and Web-based signature capture."
All the companies we spoke to say they’ve gotten positive feedback from clients, that they offer 24/7 tech support, and that age verification is fast becoming a crucial component for adult businesses.
"People are taking this business as a serious business more and more," Moss says. "Like five years ago, people were thinking, ‘Eh, let’s just get ’em in.’ [But] it’s not just a volume game anymore."
