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J2 Global

J2 Global, Inc. was an American technology holding company based in Los Angeles, California. The company provided Internet services through two divisions: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media.[3]

History

J2 Global was founded in December 1995 as JFax.com by Jaye Muller and Jack Rieley.[4] The company changed its registered name to J2 Global Communications, Inc. in August 2000,[5] and again to J2 Global on December 7, 2011, dropping "Communications" from its official name to reflect "…expansion from phone-number-centric services…into complementary lines of non-phone-number-centric services."[6]

On November 12, 2012, J2 Global launched its digital media division with the acquisition of digital publisher Ziff Davis for $167 million in cash.[7] On February 4, 2013, J2 Global acquired IGN Entertainment from News Corporation.[8] Terms of the IGN acquisition were not publicized.

On March 18, 2013, the company announced it had acquired MetroFax, a Bellevue, Washington, provider of Internet faxing services.[9] On April 17, 2013, the company acquired Backup Connect BV, a Dutch provider of online backup services.[10] On 19 November 2013, its media division Ziff Davis announced it acquired electronics aggregating website TechBargain.com.

In February 2014, J2 Global announced the acquisition of several companies: City Numbers, a UK-based worldwide provider of inbound toll-free numbers in over 80 countries;[11] Livedrive, a UK-based provider of online backup;[12] and Australian companies OzeFax and Faxmate.[13] On 3 April[14] 2014 J2 Global announced that it acquired Business Critical Software (also known as iCritical), a UK-based email security and management company.[15] In July 2019, J2 Global acquired the SaferVPN brand, bringing its total number of consumer VPN services to five.[16]

In April 2021, J2 Global announced its intent to spin off part of its cloud services business as a new publicly traded company known as Consensus, with the remainder of the company (consisting primarily of its media assets) being retained under the J2 Global name.[17] It was later announced that J2 Global would be renamed Ziff Davis Inc. upon its completion of the spin-off: the transaction was approved by J2 Global's board in September 2021.[18]

Brands and subsidiaries

The company operates two divisions; the "Business Cloud Services" division includes firms such as eFax, Onebox, eVoice, VIPRE, FuseMail, Campaigner, KeepItSafe, VaultLogix, Callstream, Yotta280, Mailout Interactive, GDV, BackUp Solutions, SugarSync, Nuvotera, UnityFax, Firstway Digital, Excel Micro, Web24 Group, MXSweep, City Numbers, IPVanish, Livedrive, Moz, MetroFax, FoneBox, TrustFax, RapidFax, Send2Fax, SFax, SRFax, and Fax.com. The company's digital media division, Ziff Davis, includes brands such as Mashable, PCMag, IGN and Everyday Health.

MyFax

MyFax is an Internet business communication tool launched by the Ottawa-based software company Protus IP Solutions in 2009.[19]

An alternative to fax machines, it enables users to send and receive faxes from any location through the internet,[20] as well as directly from Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft Windows-based applications including Google Docs, OpenOffice.org, and Intuit QuickBooks.[21] A program was released that allows for iPhone and BlackBerry applications to be fully compatible with smartphones.[22]

MyFax has grown to over 400,000 subscribers,[23] with approximately 20,000 new customers subscribing to the service each month.[19] Before its acquisition by J2 Global, MyFax had received a few favorable reviews[24] including an Internet Telephony magazine product of the year for 2009.[25]

On December 6, 2010, MyFax announced that it had been acquired by J2 Global Communications, Inc., owners of eFax,[26] which subsequently imposed restrictive terms and conditions on the client's right to local number portability. Among the restrictions is a $40 US charge per number if J2 permits the number to be ported out; the company imposes many arbitrary restrictions on portability and has attempted to claim the numbers as its own property, in some cases imposing inflated penalties and unilaterally taking numbers back after they've been ported to another provider by clients.[27]

StrongVPN

StrongVPN is a commercial VPN service owned by J2 Global. It was founded in 2005,[28] and is one of the oldest VPN services.[29] It supports various protocols, including IPsec, OpenVPN and WireGuard. It was acquired by J2 Global in 2019 from its former owner StackPath.[30]

ZDNet described StrongVPN as "a clear and easy-to-use VPN ideal for coffee shop use".[31] Meanwhile, Tom's Hardware considered it strong and simple but noted the lack of information on its no-log policy.[32] PC World considered it "a good VPN for most people".[33] [34]

StrongVPN has not directly answered questions about logging, but they are able to match an IP address to a customer.[35]

Awards

  • 2012, InformationWeek 500 list of technology companies.[36]
  • 2013, ranked number 39 in Forbes' list of "America's Best Small Companies".[37]

Litigation

J2 Global has filed patent litigation cases against several companies, including CallWave,[38] Comodo, EasyLink Services International Corporation,[39] OpenText, Packetel, Protus, Venali and Zayo Group. Some of the companies filed counterclaims, some of which alleged antitrust violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Act and California's Business and Professions Code §§ 16720 and 17200.[40]

External links

References

  1. J2 Global Inc. 2019 Form 10K United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2020-03-02, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  2. About Ziff Davis retrieved 2024-03-18^
  3. j2 Global Communications, Inc. Hoovers www.hoovers.com, 2011-12-13, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  4. The Fax Of Business Life Forbes, 2004-02-04, retrieved 2023-04-13^
  5. J2 Press Release: JFAX.COM Evolves to Become J2 Global Communications; Company is Launching New Business Services, New Website, and New Name. August 10, 2000, Retrieved on May 23, 2012. JFAX.COM Evolves to Become j2 Global Communications; Company is Launching New Business Services, New Website, and New Name 2000-08-10^
  6. j2 Global Communications, Inc. Becomes J2 Global, Inc. Ziff-Davis, 2011-12-07, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  7. j2 Global Acquires Ziff Davis, Inc. 2012-11-12, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  8. Erik Kain. IGN Entertainment Sold to J2 Global 2013-02-04, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  9. j2 Global Acquires MetroFax 2013-03-18, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  10. j2 Acquires Dutch Online Backup Business Backup Connect BV 2013-04-17, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  11. j2 Global Acquires UK-Based Phone Number Provider City Numbers Yahoo! Finance, 6 February 2014, retrieved 30 September 2014^
  12. j2 Global Acquires Livedrive; j2's Online Backup Annualized Monthly Run-Rate Exceeds $40M Yahoo! Finance, 10 February 2014, retrieved 30 September 2014^
  13. j2 Global Acquires Australian Companies OzeFax and Faxmate Yahoo! Finance, 11 February 2014, retrieved 30 September 2014^
  14. VCPost Staff Reporter. Ziff Davis acquires TechBargains.com Venture Capital Post, 21 November 2013, retrieved 30 September 2014^
  15. j2 Global Acquires UK Email Security and Management Business Critical Software Ltd. Yahoo! Finance, 3 April 2014, retrieved 30 September 2014^
  16. Tech Giant J2 Global's NetProtect Acquires SaferVPN www.top10vpn.com, 25 July 2019, retrieved 2019-08-20^
  17. Levi Sumagaysay. J2 Global to split into two publicly traded companies MarketWatch, 19 April 2021, retrieved 2022-02-24^
  18. J2 Global board approves spin-off, announces record date (NASDAQ:ZD) seekingalpha.com, 22 September 2021, retrieved 2022-02-24^
  19. 2009 INTERNET TELEPHONY Product of the Year Awards - Tmcnet.com, http://www.tmcnet.com/voip/0210/2009-internet-telephony-product-of-the-year-awards.htm^
  20. Protus Launches MyFax, an Internet-based Fax Service for SOHO Market protus.com, May 20, 2004, retrieved December 2, 2010^
  21. Online Fax Service Award Winning Features MyFax.com, retrieved December 2, 2010^
  22. Best VPN for iPhone Safelyo.com, August 11, 2025, retrieved April 8, 2026^
  23. Putting 400,000 Subscribers into Perspective - Inside MyFax blog, http://blog.myfax.com/2009/11/putting-400000-subscribers-into.html^
  24. MyFax Review 2016 2016-07-09, retrieved 2023-07-10^
  25. MyFax and my1voice Receive INTERNET TELEPHONY® Magazine's Product of the Year Award MyFax.com, February 22, 2010, retrieved December 3, 2010^
  26. j2 Global Acquires Protus IP Solutions, Inc. December 6, 2010, retrieved March 18, 2013^
  27. MyFax - Customer Agreement retrieved October 31, 2014^
  28. Vladimir Malygin. How We Started StrongVPN.com, 2022-09-02, retrieved 2024-03-18^
  29. Mohammad Taha Khan, Joe DeBlasio, Geoffrey M. Voelker, Alex C. Snoeren, Chris Kanich, Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez. Proceedings of the Internet Measurement Conference 2018 ACM, 2018-10-31^
  30. Desire Athow. IGN owner J2 Global snaps up major VPN brands TechRadar.com, 7 May 2019, retrieved June 14, 2021^
  31. David Gewirtz. StrongVPN review: A clear and easy-to-use VPN ideal for coffee shop use ZDNet.com, September 16, 2019, retrieved June 14, 2021^
  32. Sead Fadilpašić. StrongVPN Review: Strong and Simple Tom's Hardware, July 24, 2019, retrieved June 14, 2021^
  33. Ian Paul. StrongVPN review: A good VPN service for rookies PC World, June 11, 2018, retrieved June 14, 2021^
  34. Eleanor Vance (Mar 25, 2026). "StrongVPN review: might only suit an existing, long-time user who is already familiar with its interface and only uses it for the most basic, non-sensitive web browsing on a local server". Safelyo. Archived from the original on March 25, 2026. Retrieved April 8, 2026^
  35. Giovanni Ziccardi. Resistance, liberation technology and human rights in the digital age Springer, 2013^
  36. j2 Global, Inc. Once Again Ranked Among Top Technology Innovators by InformationWeek finance.yahoo.com, 12 September 2012, retrieved 2021-09-05^
  37. Robehmed, Natalie. Darwin's Digital Darlings: How These Web 1.0 Companies Survived And Thrived Forbes, 2013-10-09, retrieved 2022-03-11^
  38. j2 Global Files Patent Infringement Suit Against CallWave, Inc.^
  39. j2 Global Files Patent Infringement Suits Against Protus IP Solutions, Inc, Captaris, Inc. and EasyLink Services International Corporation^
  40. J2 GLOBAL, INC. - FORM 10-K - February 23, 2010 retrieved October 30, 2014^