New York-Qpass, Seattle, a Web-based transaction and customer service network, introduced the Qpass Content Transaction Network at the Jupiter Consumer Online Forum held here yesterday. The network will allow companies to sell premium digital content via the Internet.
Qpass also unveiled four members that are currently using the network, including the Wall Street Journal, Morningstar, The Industry Standard and the U.S. Department of Commerce STAT-USA.
Online users register for the service the first time they buy from a Qpass enabled site. They are then given purchasing privileges at any other site in the Qpass network. No additional client software or encryption technology is required. According to Qpass, the network supports the sale of any type of digital product or service including pay-per-view video, magazine subscriptions, music, virtual trade shows, standardized certification tests and more. Publishers in the network will share a common set of network services such as business process technology, customer service infrastructure and payment processing.
“With content being free on the Web it kind of devalues what it is that we do,” said John Battelle, president of the Industry Standard. “By doing this we are now given the opportunity to see what people will pay for.”
