Value added Web: integrating WWW with a TINA service management platform

One of the most spectacular developments of this decade is the enormous growth of the Internet. One of the most popular services of the Internet is the World Wide Web (WWW). It may be expected that the Web will be used to provide more sophisticated services, e.g., video on demand. Customers will be prepared to pay for such services, because of the exclusive content and the quality of the (broadband) transport network needed to transfer the information. Consequently, we need a way to manage these services, without violating the ease of use provided by current WWW. In this paper we present a solution based on TINA's business model. We introduce the value added Web (VAW), which is an integration of the WWW with TINA service management. This combination adds the benefits of the TINA business model to the WWW. A VAW session appears as a normal WWW session, except that it allows charging for specific content and the setup of connections with an agreed quality of service. The VAW business model assumes that users only have a direct relation with a retailer and that the retailer is responsible for charging. This paper describes the rationale behind VAW and the design and implementation of a prototype of VAW.