The news drew a mixed reaction from Wall Street. VeriSign has been the most visible issuer of digital certificates for the Internet but has recently experienced heightened competitive pressures. PKI systems issue and manage digital certificates, which serve as electronic IDs for online use. At the end of the day, it's all about Internet identity.
Digital certificates are equally important to e-commerce.
NSI was the sole registrar of Internet addresses from 1992 until last spring, when the Commerce Department approved the creation of new registrars to compete with NSI in the booming market. The testing period for the new competitive system ended in November, opening to consumers more choices and better prices for obtaining an online identity. As part of its deal to dissolve its relationship with the government, NSI maintained sole control of the Net name registry, which serves as the master database for all Internet addresses. With one company in control of the database, an address cannot be registered twice. NSI's shares were on a rocket ride even before the VeriSign deal was announced.