SoftLock.com, Inc. announced that it has acquired Chili Pepper, Inc., an advertising agency and consulting firm. The acquisition enables SoftLock.com to leverage Chili Pepper’s online marketing expertise to further expand SoftLock.com’s existing eMerchandising capabilities. SoftLock.com will capitalize on Chili Pepper’s expertise in strategic brand consulting, direct marketing, consumer research, media buying and creative services, intensifying SoftLock.com’s position as a market maker for premium content. The integration of Chili Pepper’s marketing services with SoftLock.com’s existing services, digital rights management and commerce-enabled distribution, positions SoftLock.com to be a comprehensive solution for publishers of premium content. Packaging, positioning and promoting digital goods online requires highly targeted direct marketing expertise. The SoftLock.com market making approach allows customers to merchandise their premium digital goods to highly targeted consumer segments quickly and efficiently. SoftLock.com’s patented combination of technology and services provide a comprehensive solution to marketing valuable digital goods, combining content security, targeted content merchandising and a complete multi-channel eCommerce distribution system. The combination of SoftLock.com and Chili Pepper teams will result in a strategic fusion that increases the bandwidth of the total organization and further differentiates SoftLock.com as a market maker for premium content versus its technology-based, security-focused competitors. www.softlock.com