VeriSign Acquires P2P Firm Kontiki

Verisign said Monday that it had entered into a definitive agreement to purchase file-sharing firm Kontiki. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company was bought for $62 million, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of the month.

The technology acquired from the deal would power VeriSign's new Broadband Content Services platform, which would aim to deliver rich media content to personal computers, television sets and portable devices.

Kontiki's P2P technology is already being used by AOL as part of its upcoming download service called In2TV. The technology would allow AOL to serve up high-quality videos without putting a great deal of strain on its own servers, while respecting the copyright protections of the content's owners.

"Kontiki immediately enters us into the broadband content market so we can help carriers and others compete in today's digital world," VeriSign's Communications Services vice president and general manager Vernon Irvin said.

The purchase of Kontiki continues VeriSign's recent Web services push. The company bought mobile application maker 3united Mobile Solutions in February, and Web log ping site Weblogs.com last October.