PublishOne, a business-information publishing service offering secure digital content distribution and online marketing, has been acquired by InterTrust, a firm specializing in digital rights management technology and e-commerce applications.

Kirk Loevner, founder and CEO of PublishOne, said the acquisition would accelerate the development of new services for business publishing. "PublishOne will be able to have a far broader impact on the industry by combining its expertise and offerings with InterTrust's technology, partnerships and resources."

Launched in 1999 by Loevner, PublishOne (www.publishone.com) publishes and distributes business and professional information via the Internet. PublishOne offers publishers flexible and secure DRM (digital rights management) software that allows its customers to set variable restrictions on the access and pass-along of their digital content. The company partnered with Adobe Systems to support the secure distribution and sale of content in the PDF file format.

Prior to the acquisition, InterTrust (www.intertrust.com) was also a PublishOne partner. InterTrust, based in Santa Clara, Calif., developed and licenses a well-regarded, general-purpose DRM technology; it also initiated the MetaTrust Utility, an international network of InterTrust e-commerce partners using its technology.

David Ludvigson, president of InterTrust, said the deal "significantly expands our presence in publishing. PublishOne brings us an outstanding customer base as well as invaluable expertise in developing and delivering an end-to-end DRM service."