Absolutely agree with the last couple of points - Any actor with integrity will NEVER lie about their credits and attainments in this day and age. Once upon a time, it might have been seen as helpful in allowing a young and inexperienced actor 'get a leg' up the ladder, but this was back in the days when the whole industry was somewhat more laid back about 'bending the truth' or otherwise - after all, how many budding actors had to work in Equity level productions without having Equity in order to gain the credits they needed for membership in the Union? Someone had to take a chance, and allow them in by the back door etc. Dare I say it, but the whole profession had a more 'dilettantish' feel to it, say, forty years ago, and 'bending the truth' was seen as something that was equal parts daring, mischevious and go-getting. Nowadays, it just wastes everyone's time and money, and is looked upon with contempt.
Blake's point is, of course, valid - that one can make things read better on a CV than perhaps they actually were - to give a character a name when they weren't given one in the script, say, or to make a tour sound a little more extensive than it was by failing to list how long it lasted...but I don't think this is an issue, really. This is *very* different from claiming proficiency in skills you don't possess, or taking parts in productions you were never involved in!
As to verification, I agree that it seems like a waste of effort to me - CCP appear to have introduced the function in an attempt to 'strengthen' the quality of their service for casting directors, but this actually says more about their inability to vet applicants in the first instance than it does about the actors' credentials.
I personally agree that there is something 'naff' about trying to verify that what you have placed on a CV is true - integrity should be trusted, and most directors do not want bothering about such irrelevances (I can have enough difficulty getting them to send me e.g. footage I've shot with them, for crying out loud!). From CCP's point of view, it is nonetheless much less of a drain on their resources to have us 'police' ourselves than it is to lay down stringent rules for application/doublecheck all references as they come in. Some systems *do* initiate elaborate background checks of this sort - I believe everything on IMDB is checked out before it is allowed onto the database for instance. Similarly, it can be argued that casting directors etc. do not have the time and inclination to doublecheck all references before pulling in a performer for audition, but I would say, if they are prepared to go through an open forum like CCP in the first instance, ignore warning signs in covering letters or CV's that not everything about an actor is quite as it seems, then they should expect to receive some questionable performances at the audition. If they are really that desperate to ensure all their actors' bona fides are valid, then they can spend more effort on researching the actors background.
Which brings me to my final point - which is that, particularly for recent performances (which are really the ones that matter), and especially for the younger generation, the greatest single tool for 'verification' of an actors credentials is the Internet itself. Online, you can discover for yourself where all my CV's are listed, and check that they all agree with one another; you can find the homepage of the agent who represents me; you can review my IMDB credit; you can check out a few reviews of the plays I have been in, and see listings for others; you can watch clips and shorts on Youtube in which I feature; you can see some of my pulicity stills and headshots; you can listen to the radio scripts I've written being performed; you can check where I went to Drama School etc. etc. etc. If I had a personal website, you could also go and see that. And what is true for me is also true for 98% of the modern acting population. Tools like these can very quickly sort the wheat from the chaff, even if they may take a minute or two to research and locate - you may quickly deduce, for instance, whether a film credit is a valid one, or simply a jumped up extras role.
But good casting directors have all these resources at their fingertips anyway - they know all the important current developments within the industry, and tell the difference between a solid credit and an irrelevant one immediately.
