Washington, DC-based Deskgate Technologies launched its VIApublisher E-Commerce Suite that allows for publications, music and video to be received, paid for and read at a user’s e-mail inbox.
Publishers can produce e-mail editions of their hardcopy or online
publications that look and feel like the original allowing readers to view
pages 60 times faster than off the Internet, the company said.
CD-quality music can be delivered, complete with a copyright protection
system, user rights control and the look and feel of the actual CD box. The
VIApublisher “container” knows the price and terms of its contents and
protects them from unauthorized tampering and copyright infringement while
preserving the purchaser’s right to access the contents for repeated personal
use, the company said.
Content packed in VIA technology can be passed from computer to computer via
e-mail.
“Our VIA system is built around an intelligent electronic container that works
like a ‘traveling salesmen’ on the Internet,” said Pat Patterson, president of Deskgate. “Everything necessary to conduct an electronic commerce transaction is contained within the VIA.”
These VIAs can contain movies, books, magazines, newspapers, music, and
catalogues. They can feature promotional information acting like a roving
billboard as they move from person to person. When it’s time to buy, the VIA
perks up and collects the payment or use information directly from the
purchasers and knows exactly where to deliver the payment or use information.
When the transaction is finished, VIA returns to its “traveling salesman”
state.
“This electronic “hyper distribution model” is an electronic version of the
successful multi-level marketing models that built the Amway and Avon retail
empires,” said Chip Venters, vice president of marketing, for DeskGate.
The VIA Publishing Suite includes VIApublisher and Get It VIA, the electronic
news rack that lets people choose and pay for publications that are delivered
immediately via e-mail. DeskGate’s Send It VIA service distributes email-based publications to approved lists while documenting and managing the entire process.
The services are based on DeskGate’s proprietary electronic enveloping
technology that delivers large files, packaged publications, and multimedia
over the Internet with encryption and compression, using standard e-mail
systems. The envelopes can carry a portable commerce system that takes payment from the product itself and locks content to authorized computers. Products can be passed around by individuals, with copyright and payment guaranteed.
Pricing was not disclosed.
