Chief Marketer Staff

• SEC Cracks Down on Excessive Telephone Commissions

  A sweeping crackdown on investment fraud and bloated boiler room commissions was launched Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• Alloy Buys YouthStream Media Networks for $7 Million

  Alloy Inc. has acquired assets of Youthstream Media Networks Inc. for $7 million.

• USPS Taps AuthentiDate for Electronic Postmarks

  The U.S. Postal Service has signed an agreement with AuthentiDate to be the provider of its Electronic Postmark (EPM) service. Under the terms of the

• Jon Miller Appointed Chief of AOL

  AOL Time Warner Inc. has hired Jon Miller to lead the company’s America Online division, reports said. Miller will replace Robert Pittman as chief of

• Dawn Zier to Run Reader’s Digest’s Circulation Operations

  Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., has named Dawn Zier vice president and circulation director for Reader’s Digest, its flagship publication. Zier had

• Standard & Poor’s to Monitor Interpublic Group’s Credit Ratings

  Standard & Poor’s has placed The Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc., on its CreditWatch list. The announcement came the day after Interpublic said it would

• Minnesota AG Investigating Fingerhut Credit Program

  The Minnesota attorney general is investigating whether Fingerhut Cos. Inc. improperly imposed late fees on customers after changing installment payments to a revolving credit plan, reports said.

• Standard & Poor’s Lowers Deluxe’s Long-Term Credit Rating

  Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its long-term corporate credit rating for Deluxe Corp. to single-‘A’ from single-‘A’-plus. Deluxe maintained

• Short Cuts

  Costa Mesa, CA-based Experian has formed a new division dedicated to providing fraud prevention and detection systems for financial services companies.

• Mail Stream: A Report on Incoming Direct Mail

  Terry’s Village The gifts cataloger Terry’s Village kicks off the Christmas season in the dog days of summer with its Holiday Preview 2002 issue.Featuring