Digital BW, The Print

I got an e-mail from HP yesterday morning, regarding a new service:

http://www.arttrustonline.com/

Yes, it's another "authentication" service for photographers and the galleries representing them. Not entirely sure what to think of this (or any of the other how-am-I-to-know-it's-really-real services around at the moment), but it piquéd my curiosity just enough to shoot them an e-mail for more info. The only possible catch is that they sort-of emphasize HP's Z-series printers using Vivera pigment inks; I, for an assortment of reasons, print my work on an HP Photosmart Pro 8750 using HP Vivera dye-based inks, and HP's Premium Plus paper. (Yeah, yeah, but I LIKE the print quality, especially in black-and-white, and the combo gets a thumbs-up from WIR, too, for what that's worth.) And, yes, I was thinking of Groucho Marx when I sent that e-mail, too.

Bu, getting back to this "authentication" stuff in general: since I've actually sold a few prints recently, I've wondered about the "market efficacy" of any of this. Has anyone here bothered to set up with another service like this? (I vaguely recall one or two others, including the Gicleé gang...damn, I have to fight off giggling when I use that word...) I grok the *idea*, mind you, I'm just not sure about the implementation.


- Barrett