VeriSign moves to build its role as digital content retailer

VeriSign Inc., known mostly as a provider of Internet transaction security services and web domain name registry services, is moving to expand its position as a seller of digital content to consumers, the company says.

VeriSign, which acquired digital content provider Jamster last year, is taking several steps to expand Jamster’s offerings of digital music, digital games and other content. This week, VeriSign said Jamster is working with Melodeo Inc., a provider of digital rights management technology, to enable Jamster to begin selling full-track music downloads.

Customers of Jamster.com can already download ringtones, games and other digital content to their cell phones – a market VeriSign sees itself playing a larger roll in as it grows, a VeriSign spokeswoman says.

“Jamster is our first b2c offering, but we believe mobile commerce will take off in the U.S.,” she says. “We already enable and protect data and voice communications, so we want to leverage our expertise in e-commerce for m-commerce.”

Jamster charges a monthly subscription fee of $5.99, which lets subscribers download 2 ringtones, one game and three digital graphics, such as cell phone screen savers, each month. The subscription fee is charged to the subscribers’ cell phone bill, and VeriSign shares the fee with the cell phone carrier and the production company that provided the digital content.