verisign

• Verisign purchased German mobile content company Jamba in 2004 for $273M. Sold 51% stake for $187.5M in May 2007 joint venture deal with Fox Mobile Entertainment.
• The remaining 49% has been sold to News Corp for an additional $200M.
• Jamba aka Jamster made a splash with its ringtone business (Crazy Frog) but a series of lawsuits brought the company back to earth rather quickly. Apparently, people prefer to be told when they’re opting in for a subscription service.
• Verisign says:

We’re laser-focused on our three businesses (identity and authentication, SSL and naming)…Our involvement in mobile content helped us recognize what we’re good at.

While this makes sense for Verisign (economic downturn->focus on the core) what would News Corp/Myspace want with a washed out ringtone company.

MN

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