Jim Martin, “Sometimes important innovations in our lives are not the glitzy, glamorous events that grab media headlines, such as the TAG initiative”

(Alexandria, Virginia) — The 60 Plus Association, America’s largest center-right seniors group with over 7.2 million supporters, today issued a statement praising a coalition of leading organizations in the advertising industry for creating a voluntary initiative to combat ad-supported Internet piracy.  Ad-supported piracy is a lucrative business for online thieves. A recent study concluded that online criminals made $227 million in annual revenue selling ads against stolen content. This robs American creators, entrepreneurs and consumers by chilling investment, innovation and jobs.

Said 60 Plus Chairman Jim Martin, “With so much deceit, fraud, false information and piracy festering on the Internet, it is critically important that good faith actors in the Internet ecosystem, such as the advertising and marketing community, come together to combat the growth of piracy and illegitimate commerce conducted on fraudulent websites.  As the leader of a group committed to representing seniors and helping protect their security and quality of life, I can say we are grateful for this initiative.”

America’s advertising leaders voluntarily formed the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) which is constructing a framework to ensure that marketers and businesses can better control how and where their products are advertised on the Internet.  TAG will serve as an industry standard so advertisers can have some assurance their brands will not appear on sites selling illegal goods. This helps content creators by making it harder for thieves to profit from their hard work, as well as advertisers who don’t want their brands associated with illegal activity, malware, or the often illicit advertising that gravitates to websites trafficking in stolen content.

Added Martin, “Seniors may be wise in years, but like everybody else we can be duped and defrauded by criminals who invest an immense amount of energy around the clock to find ways to deceive people, separate them from their money, and undermine their personal and financial security.  Seniors especially are targeted by Internet scammers. TAG is an important partnership that will help light the path for more open, honest, and safer e-commerce that truly protects seniors and all consumers.”

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