FAQ

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📌 For Businesses, Professionals & Organizations

Why should my company publish a certified press release?

Because certification provides legal proof of publication, strengthens brand credibility, and protects against disputes or misinformation.

How does certification support compliance?

Every press release is timestamped and signed according to eIDAS standards, ensuring international legal validity and audit-ready evidence.

Can I prove priority of my announcement?

Yes. A certified press release proves you were the first to publish a statement, protecting you from competitors or false claims.

How long do certificates remain valid?

Certified press releases maintain their legal validity indefinitely. The eIDAS-compliant timestamp and cryptographic signature create permanent proof of authenticity that cannot expire, ensuring your documents remain legally verifiable for years to come.

What are the costs associated with certification?

Our certification pricing is transparent and scalable, with options for individual press releases or volume packages for regular publishers. You can view our complete pricing structure and choose the plan that best fits your needs on our pricing page (see the menu --> publish)

How can I demonstrate certificate validity to third parties?

Each certified press release includes a unique verification link and downloadable certificate files (.tsr and .json formats). Third parties can independently verify authenticity using these certificates, ensuring complete transparency and trust in your communications.

For Journalists & Authors

How does certification protect my work?

Certification locks your text with a cryptographic hash, preventing unauthorized alterations or plagiarism.

Can I use certified press releases as references?

Yes. Certified press releases are tamper-proof sources, which makes them highly reliable for citations and professional reporting.

What happens if someone modifies my content?

Any modification invalidates the certificate. This makes it easy to prove which version is authentic and protects your intellectual property.

Can I certify multimedia content like photos, videos, and audio files?

Currently, our certification service focuses on text-based press releases and documents. However, you can include descriptions, metadata, and references to multimedia content within your certified press release, creating a verifiable record of when and how you published multimedia materials. For dedicated multimedia content certification, we recommend our partner site www.contentprotector.eu, which specializes in protecting photos, videos, and audio files.

How does certification help protect my intellectual property rights?

Certification creates an immutable, timestamped record of your original work, providing legal evidence of when you first published your content. This eIDAS-compliant proof can be crucial in copyright disputes, plagiarism cases, or when establishing priority for breaking news stories and exclusive content.

Can I certify interviews, quotes, and source attributions?

Absolutely. Our certification service is perfect for protecting interview transcripts, recorded quotes, and source attributions. This creates verifiable proof of what was said, when it was documented, and by whom - essential for maintaining journalistic integrity and defending against misquotation claims

What's the process for certifying breaking news or time-sensitive content?

Our certification process is designed for speed - you can certify breaking news within minutes of publishing. The timestamp proves exactly when you first reported the story, which can be crucial for establishing journalistic priority and defending against competitors who may claim earlier coverage.

For Readers & the General Public

How do I know if a press release is genuine?

🔐 How to Verify the Timestamp

Every certified press release includes a verifiable .tsr timestamp file. To confirm authenticity:

Visit our verification tool: tsr viewer
Upload the .tsr file provided with the press release
Compare the displayed hash with the hash published alongside the PDF
If they match → the document is authentic and unaltered ✓

Privacy: All verification happens locally in your browser – no data is sent to our servers.

💡 Advanced: Independent Verification with OpenSSL (command-line)

For maximum independence and transparency, you can verify the .tsr file yourself using OpenSSL (available on Windows, macOS, Linux):

Step 1: Read the Timestamp File

openssl ts -reply -in your_file.tsr -text

This command displays:

Time stamp: The exact date and time when the document was certified
Message imprint: The SHA-256 hash of your original document (look for the hex value after "Message data:")
TSA information: Time Stamping Authority details and certificate chain
Serial number: Unique identifier for this timestamp

Step 2: Calculate Your Document's Hash

Compute the SHA-256 hash of your original PDF file:

On Linux/macOS:

sha256sum your_document.pdf

On Windows (PowerShell):

certutil -hashfile your_document.pdf SHA256

On Windows (Command Prompt):

certutil -hashfile your_document.pdf SHA256

Step 3: Compare the Hashes

The hash from Step 1 (in the .tsr file's "Message data") must exactly match the hash from Step 2 (your document's calculated hash).

✓ If they match: The document is proven to have existed at the timestamp date and has not been altered since.

✗ If they don't match: Either the wrong document is being compared, or the file has been modified after timestamping.

Example Output

The openssl ts -reply command will show something like:

Status info:
Status: Granted.
Status description: unspecified
Failure info: unspecified

TST info:
Version: 1
Policy OID: 0.4.0.2023.1.1
Hash Algorithm: sha256
Message data:
    0000 - d2 be 81 54 43 7f e2 96-44 cd ad 1c 35 22 35 20   ...TC...D...5"5 
    0010 - b6 c2 58 ca ff ab 36 0b-cf 9f cf d4 7e 21 49 dc   ..X...6.....~!I.
Serial number: 0x4735538544214581483
Time stamp: Oct 5 07:40:39 2025 GMT
...

Note: The "Message data" hex values (in this example: d2be81544...) must match your document's SHA-256 hash.

Why should I trust certified content more?

Because unlike standard press releases, certified ones cannot be retroactively edited or manipulated, ensuring full transparency.

Can certified press releases prevent fake news?

They help reduce misinformation by giving readers direct proof that the content is authentic, original, and published on a specific date.

What does it mean when I see a "certified" badge on content?

A certified badge means the content has been cryptographically secured with an eIDAS-compliant timestamp, proving exactly when it was published and that it hasn't been altered since. This gives you confidence that you're reading the original, authentic version as intended by the publisher, not a modified or fake version.

Can anyone fake or manipulate certified content?

No, it's mathematically impossible to fake or alter certified content without detection. Our cryptographic hash technology means even changing a single character would create a completely different hash value, immediately revealing any tampering. The eIDAS-compliant timestamps are issued by trusted authorities and cannot be backdated or forged.

Understanding the basics: hash, timestamp, .tsr and .json files

Before diving into the FAQ, here are some key concepts that will help you better understand how CertifiedPressReleases.com works:

What is a hash?
A hash is a unique digital fingerprint of a file or text. Even the smallest change in the file creates a completely different hash. We use the SHA-256 algorithm to guarantee authenticity and integrity.

What is a timestamp?
A timestamp is a digital proof of date and time, issued by a trusted authority under the European eIDAS regulation. It proves when a press release (or any digital file) was created or certified, and prevents backdating or manipulation.

What is a .tsr file?
A .tsr file (TimeStamp Response) is the official evidence provided by the certification authority. It contains the timestamp, the hash, and the signature of the trusted authority. This is the legally valid proof of certification.

What is a .json file?
A .json file is a structured text file containing all technical details of the certification, such as the hash, timestamp, and metadata. It is machine-readable and can be verified by forensic experts or legal authorities.

CertifiedPressReleases.com – The trusted platform for certified, tamper-proof press releases

+39-377-1151946

Via Vaccaro 5Bologna, ITALY

info@certifiedpressreleases.com

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