The Certified Senders Alliance - initiated by eco[1] and the German Direct Marketing Association (DDV)[2] - constitutes the central German whitelist since 2005.
The CSA whitelist is a positive list for email bulk senders. With ISPs and email-providers participating in the whitelist, solicited email does not need to enter the ISPs' spamfilter any longer - the chances of false positives (legitimate email erroneously tagged as spam) are supposedly reduced. Bulk email senders can apply for certification for the whitelist. They have to comply with the admission criteria, which assure that legal norms are fulfilled. A control committee monitors that participants adhere to the admission criteria. ISPs sign a licensing agreement setting the rules for the implementation of the whitelist.