ISyndicate, SoftLock.com Partner To Secure Data On The Net

Some content providers refrain from using the Internet todistribute their premium information for a fee because the data run the risk of being copied and shared with nonpaying users. Now iSyndicate Inc., a content aggregator and distributor, has partnered with SoftLock.com Inc., a provider of security technology, to restrict documents from being accessed on the Web.

ISyndicate, which collects information from and distributes it to a network of more than 170,000 Web sites, wanted a way to offer premium information without causing content providers to lose revenue. The SoftLock technology encapsulates documents, restricts access, and prevents the redistribution of the information. Through their partnership, the companies intend to provide over the Internet premium information from analyst firms and publishers such as Standard & Poor's and G2 News, which until now could often only be accessed though monthly CD deliveries at up to $10,000 each, according to Keith Loris, CEO and president of SoftLock.

"Typically we sell subscriptions only by the year, and some people want to buy specific copies. We didn't have a good way of doing that," says Charles Hall, president of G2News.com in Long Island, N.Y. "This becomes newsstand sales for us."

Affiliates using the SoftLock protected content will be required to install a Java script from SoftLock.com to their Web page.