The Direct Marketing Association has launched an online e-mail authentication help center to help e-mail marketers comply with the DMA Board of Directors mandate requiring all DMA members to authenticate all outbound e-mail.

"The help center simplifies the e-mail authentication process," said in a statement Pat Kachura, senior vice president of ethics and consumer affairs at the DMA.

Aside from direct e-mail, lists being distributed online must be authenticated; along with customer service messages, fulfillment orders and shipping confirmations distributed online.

Any e-mail lacking an authentication certificate, which the DMA likens to postal return address, has a higher risk of being filtered and blocked as spam. Several authentication systems are available from various providers.