VeriSign, Inc VRSN

RE: Court Certifies Class Action Against Nation's

[STOCK4U]

Businesses and Consumers Beware! Court Certifies Class Action Against Nation's Largest "Internet Security" Provider Sacramento, California - May 16, 2006 (PRN): A Santa Clara Superior Court has certified a nationwide class of potentially 400,000 class members against VeriSign, the nation's largest provider of Internet security certificates for violation of California's unfair competition and deceptive business practices law related to sale of its security software. Plaintiff, Southeast Texas Medical Associates, alleges that VeriSign, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, California, sells two versions of its security certificates, Secure Site and Secure Site Pro. Plaintiff alleges that in its advertising VeriSign represents that its Secure site Pro certificate provides a much higher level of Internet security than its less expensive Secure Site certificate, which is not true. Plaintiff alleges that the company charges $546.00 more for this higher level of security when in fact there is no practical difference between the security provided by the two certificates. Plaintiff further alleges that because of these false and misleading ads, VeriSign has been able to improperly extract a $546.00 premium from thousands of businesses throughout California and the nation for little or no additional value. VeriSign's security certificates use a protocol that encrypts data to ensure that the user's private information (like credit card, social security, and personal address information, etc.) will remain private, and are also intended to provide confidence that the user's site is legitimate. Plaintiff alleges that what VeriSign has done is to mislead businesses eager to protect themselves and their customers from identity theft and fraud into thinking that if they purchase the more expensive Secure Site Pro security certificate, they get more protection. With the Court's certification of this class of Internet users, VeriSign faces allegations of false and misleading advertising and must answer questions about the nature and levels of security it claims are provided by its security certificates. An exemplar of VeriSign's advertising over the past several years is as follows: SSL certificates are ideal for securing Web sites, intranets and extranets. Each of our Secure Site solutions delivers powerful SSL encryption and comes with VeriSign's industry-leading business identity Authentication Service. Choose Secure Site Pro to guarantee every SSL session will receive powerful 128-bit SSL encryption, the strongest encryption available, regardless of browser version. FEATURES Need help? Contact our Sales Team BUY NOW BUY NOW One Year $349 $895 (recommended) Two Year $598 $1,595 Core Features: VeriSign SSL Encryption 40-bit 128-bit Plaintiff alleges that VeriSign's advertising is deceptive and misleading because it leads a potential purchaser to believe that it can obtain 128-bit encryption only with its Secure Site Pro certificate, while its lower priced Secure Site certificate provides only 40-bit encryption, when in fact this is not true. The truth is that VeriSign's Secure Site certificate, priced $546.00 less than Secure Site Pro, provides 128-bit encryption to the user's customers over 99% of the time, and it is rarely, if ever, necessary for a business to purchase the higher priced certificate (Secure Site Pro) to obtain the higher 128-bit encryption. Plaintiff also alleges that VeriSign's advertising is false and fraudulent because the statement in its ads (or words of similar import) "choose Secure Site Pro to guarantee every SSL session will receive powerful 128-bit SSL encryption…regardless of browser version" is not true since many older Web browsers manufactured prior to the year 2001 and early versions of Windows 2000, are riddled with security flaws such that they can never be secure regardless of the level of encryption. For more information, contact: Attorneys for Plaintiff: William A. Kershaw Stuart C. Talley KERSHAW, CUTTER, & RATINOFF, LLP 980 9th Street, Suite 1900 Sacramento, CA 95814 Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Email: [e-mail] Christopher Coco PROVOST*UMPHREY 490 Park St. Beaumont, TX 77704 Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Marc Gravely Matthew Pearson GRAVELY & PEARSON, LLP 111 Soledad St., Suite 300 San Antonio, TX 78205 Tel: [phone] Email: [e-mail] Email: [e-mail] Attorneys for Verisign: Suzanne V. Wilson Victoria Shapiro ARNOLD & PORTER 777 South Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90017 Tel: [phone]