NetBill: an Internet commerce system optimized fornetwork-delivered services
Sirbu, M.; Tygar, J.D.
Personal Communications, IEEE
Volume 2, Issue 4, Aug 1995 Page(s):34 - 39
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/98.403456
Summary:NetBill is a business model set of protocols, and software
implementation for commerce in information goods and other
network-delivered services. It has very low transaction costs for
micropayments (around 1 cent for a 10 cent item), protects the privacy
of the transaction, and is highly scalable. Of special interest is the
authors new certified delivery mechanism which delivers information
goods if and only if the consumer has paid for them. The article
discusses the design of the NetBill protocol and the authors' World Wide
Web (WWW) prototype implementation. As the explosive growth of the
Internet continues, more people rely on networks for timely information.
However, since most information on the Internet today is free,
intellectual property owners have little incentive to make valuable
information accessible through the network. There are many potential
providers who could sell information on the Internet and many potential
consumers for that information. What is missing is an electronic
commerce mechanism that links the merchants and the consumers. NetBill
is a business model, set of protocols, and software implementation
allowing consumers to pay owners and retailers of information. While
NetBill will enable a market economy in information, it is still
expected that there will be an active exchange of free information
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