JP2004506970A - Audit system for e-commerce via consumer electronics - Google Patents

Abstract

Receipt signature and receipt storage capabilities are integrated with consumer electronics and used to execute secure purchases or purchase contracts. For example, a set-top box with a "buy" button is configured to store a digitally signed receipt on each "buy" transaction. "Electronic" wallets commonly used on personal or palmtop computers to perform secure purchases are similarly configured to store digitally signed receipts corresponding to each transaction. Receipts are stored locally at the transaction device, or at a "receipt warehouse" site on the Internet. Each transaction device is assigned a public / private key location by the device manufacturer. The manufacturer of the transaction device can provide a digitally signed copy of the public key and thus verify its authenticity. When the transaction is completed, the transaction device receives a copy of the purchase receipt or purchase agreement, digitally signs it, and stores it for future access. If a problem arises, a digitally signed receipt or contract can be presented as evidence of the transaction. Because transaction devices automatically sign information as they receive information over a secure connection, digitally signed receipts and contracts provide a verifiable record of the transaction, saving time and money in solving the problem. May decrease.

Description

[0001]
[Background of the Invention]
1. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of electronic commerce, and more particularly, to an audit system that can smoothly carry out a solution when a factual discussion occurs.
2. Description of the Related Art E-commerce is becoming more and more popular, and various techniques are being developed to deter fraud and other fraudulent activities. For example, many financial transactions are conducted via "secure sockets", where the identity of each participant participating in the transaction is verified.
[0002]
One difficulty with e-commerce is the lack of a "hard copy" of a receipt or purchase agreement. The agreement is electronically concluded and electronic documents are generally exchanged between sellers and buyers, but such electronic documents can be easily modified on either side. When a discussion occurs between a seller and a buyer, the situation becomes more complicated without a verifiable receipt, and it takes time and money to solve the problem.
[0003]
Generally, various techniques are available to facilitate confirmation of the authenticity of an electronic document. Such techniques are commonly referred to as "digital signatures." If the parties to a transaction electronically sign an electronic document using a private key, the document can be verified as signed by the party to the transaction. Because only the parties to the transaction know the secret key. Digital signatures also depend on the content of the document as well as the private key. When the document is altered, the digital signature no longer corresponds to the altered document. Generally, a checksum, a hash function, and the like used when performing digital signature processing have the signer authentication and alteration detection characteristics as described above.
[0004]
Traditionally, digital signatures require explicit action. In a typical electronic transaction, the seller is responsible for digitally signing the receipt and the buyer is responsible for digitally signing the receipt. In addition to the difficulty of ensuring that each of the seller and buyer performs this signing process, such systems generally use compatible digital signatures and verification processes for each of the seller and buyer. It is necessary.
[0005]
[Summary of the Invention]
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for facilitating confirmation of a purchase receipt or purchase contract. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for automating the digital signature process, thereby eliminating the need for explicit action to provide a verifiable audit trail. The present invention further aims to integrate the digital signature process with the capabilities of new consumer appliances.
[0006]
These and other objects are achieved by integrating receipt signing and receipt storage capabilities with the consumer electronics used to execute the purchase or purchase agreement. For example, a set-top box with a "buy" button is configured to store a digitally signed receipt for each secure "buy" transaction. Generally, an electronic "wallet" used on a personal or palmtop computer to perform secure purchases is also configured to store a digitally signed receipt corresponding to each transaction. The receipt may be stored locally at the transaction device or stored in a "receipt warehouse" on the Internet. Each transaction device is assigned a public / private key pair by the device manufacturer. The transaction device manufacturer provides a digitally signed copy of the public key, so that its authenticity can be verified. Upon completion of the transaction, the transaction device receives a copy of the purchase receipt or purchase agreement, digitally signs it, and stores it for future access. If a problem occurs, a digitally signed receipt or contract can be provided as proof of the transaction. These digitally signed receipts and contracts provide a verifiable record of the transaction so that when a problem occurs, the transaction device automatically signs when it receives the information over a secure connection. The time and cost to settle can be reduced.
[0007]
[Detailed description of the invention]
The present invention will now be described, by way of example and in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0008]
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate identical or corresponding features or functions.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the secure transaction 100 of the present invention and the corresponding storage of a digitally signed receipt 150. The seller 20 gives a sale offer 110 of the product. The offer 110 may be an advertisement in a newspaper, website, radio or television program, or the like. The offer 110 may be an offer that implies a sale of a product. U.S. Application No. 9,26, filed on Feb. 3, 2000, filed with Nicholas Mankovich, Michael Epstein, and Toine Staring, a co-pending U.S. patent application entitled "Method and System for Purchasing Content Related Material", No. 9, No. 4, No. 98, No. 26. Attorney Docket US0000036 discloses a method and system for purchasing material received from a broadcast, such as a song, or an item associated with an advertisement received by a radio. Activating the "buy button" when the material is broadcast allows the user to purchase the item to be broadcast, such as, for example, a song, or an item associated with the broadcast, such as, for example, an item to be advertised. In such an environment, the broadcast of the song becomes an offer to sell the song by a party, and a purchase request is sent to the party. Other means of carrying an intent to receive a purchase request are common in the art.
[0010]
In the present invention, buyer 10 transmits purchase request 120 via transaction device 200. The transaction device 200 may be an appliance such as a radio, television, set-top box, etc., equipped with a “buy button” of the referenced co-pending patent application. Transaction device 200 may be a computer that includes an application program that facilitates online purchases from the Internet. Such application programs are commonly referred to as "electronic wallets" and generally include information such as a user's credit card number, billing address, delivery address, and the like. The transaction device 200 may include a personal "reader" used by the user to "swipe the credit card" to effectuate the purchase. The reader may be mounted on a conventional telephone, facsimile, computer, set top box, or the like. Transaction device 200 may be a conventional telephone having the ability to identify transaction information as described below. As is common in this technology, the transaction device 200 executes a purchase request via a “secure socket”, which confirms that the participants in the transaction are genuine. The buyer is guaranteed that the party at the other end of the communication is the seller and / or the seller's authorized reseller, and the seller can be, for example, a username and PIN (personal identification). The use of other identifiers of the buyer, such as, for example, a valid credit card number and expiration date, ensures that the buyer is authorized to conduct the transaction. Other devices and techniques for facilitating the execution of a secure purchase request by a user are known in the art, and applying the present invention to these devices will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of this disclosure. it is obvious.
[0011]
Seller 20 receives purchase request 120. If the seller 200 can accept the request, the seller 20 sends a receipt 130. It should be noted that the purchase request 120 may include a “reverse bid” offer, which communicates an offer to the buyer to pay a given amount for an item to one or more sellers selling the item, The transaction continues with the first seller to accept the amount offered by the buyer. In the present invention, receipt 130 is communicated to buyer 10 in electronic form, but the receipt can be immediately processed by transaction device 200 without buyer 10 intervention. For ease of reference, it is assumed herein that receipt 130 is the “final receipt” of transaction 100. If the user has the option to accept or reject the conditions described in the response from the seller 20 to the user's purchase request 120, the response from the seller 20 may be a "counter offer" or an offer 110 for a new offer. It is considered as. As used herein, a “receipt” 130 indicates that both the buyer and the seller are aware of the “purchase”. Note that the receipt 130 is preferably in an electronic format, but the receipt 130 may be, for example, a voice recording of a seller who has recognized the purchase during a telephone transaction. In such an embodiment, the user's telephone is configured to initiate recording at the order of the buyer 10 or, if a standard is set, configured to trigger recording by a signal embedded in the telephone signal. Is also good. The receipt 130 preferably includes a trusted identifier for the seller 20 and a confirmation that the receipt 130 was received from the seller via a secure socket. In the present invention, upon receipt of the receipt 130, the transaction device 200 digitally signs the receipt 130 and stores the digitally signed receipt 150 in the database 160 so that it can be withdrawn later if necessary. I do. The digitally signed receipt 150 may include ancillary information such as, for example, the date and time of receipt, and items that facilitate withdrawing the information or further verifying the receipt.
[0012]
The transaction device 200 signs the receipt 130 with the private key 201 not known to the device 200, thereby creating a signed receipt 170. In the preferred embodiment, this private key 201 is the private key of a public-private key pair assigned to transaction device 200 by the manufacturer of transaction device 200. The manufacturer further provides the transaction device 200 with a digitally signed copy of the public key 202 corresponding to this private key 201. The digital signature of public key 202 confirms that transaction device 200 is a “certified” transaction device 200. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, transaction device 200 is configured to automatically sign and store receipt 130 without allowing buyer 10 to modify the contents of receipt 130. By using techniques that are common in this technique, transaction device 200 is further configured so that receipt 130 cannot be verified if device 200 is tampered with.
[0013]
FIG. 2 exemplarily shows a transaction device 200 of the present invention. The transaction device 200 includes a secure channel transceiver 210 that allows secure communication between the seller and the buyer, with each party being assured of the identity of the other party. The protocol establishes communication, for example, by using a username, account number, or other identification technique, and then the communication is terminated if communication between the seller and buyer is interrupted during the transaction. You. In this way, a substantially continuous authentication of the parties is provided for each transaction. The secure channel is initiated upon receiving a purchase request from a purchasing device 220 in response to a user input. Upon completion of the transaction, the seller communicates receipt 130 via secure channel transceiver 210. The receipt is indicated to the user by the command. At this time, the signature device 230 signs the receipt 130 using the private key 201, and stores the signed receipt in the secure storage device 250. Since the receipt is communicated via the secure channel transceiver, the seller cannot deny having sent the receipt.
[0014]
The verification device 260 provides a certified receipt 170 of the original receipt 130 upon request. The “request” is, for example, a court order, a request from a seller, a request from a referee, and the like. A signed copy of the original receipt 130 is provided, which can be verified by verifying the signature using the public key 202 of the transaction device 200. Since the signing device 230 signs the receipt without user intervention and stores the signed receipt in the secure storage 240, neither the seller nor the buyer can deny its authenticity.
[0015]
The falsification detection device 280 is configured so that the certificated receipt 170 cannot be issued if the security of the transaction device 200 is broken. For example, the storage device 250 may be a frangible device that is made inoperable, for example, when the casing of the device 200 is opened. Similarly, the verification device is configured to issue a warning to each certified receipt 170 when tampering is detected.
[0016]
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the invention. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the art, although not explicitly described or shown above, can conceive of various devices that embody the principles of the present invention and which are within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Included. For example, transaction device 200 may be configured to sign other portions of transaction 100 (which may be entire transaction 100) and store the signed other portions. In the preferred embodiment, transaction device 200 stores a copy of all purchase requests 120 from the user in database 160, regardless of whether receipt 130 has been received. Preferably, each communication includes a date and time stamp so that the sequence of transactions can be correlated. In this manner, the database 160 can be used to determine whether there is a completed transaction 100 or whether there is mutual agreement for a set of conditions corresponding to the purchase request 120. In such an application, the database 160 may be configured to prevent the signed receipt from being deleted, or the transaction device 200 may be configured to sign the purchase request regardless of whether a response is received. It is configured to include explicit instructions in 120. The above and other system configurations and optimized features will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the disclosure and are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG.
5 is a flow chart exemplarily illustrating the corresponding storage of a transaction and a digitally signed receipt of the present invention.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary transaction device of the present invention.

Claims (16)

A method to facilitate transaction audits,
Enabling secure communication of a purchase request from a first party to a second party;
Enabling a receipt from the second party corresponding to acceptance of the purchase request;
Receiving the receipt, automatically digitally signing the receipt by a device associated with the first party, enabling the formation of a digitally signed receipt;
Enabling storage of the digitally signed receipt corresponding to the transaction. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of enabling withdrawal of the digitally signed receipt to facilitate resolution of the transaction problem. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of enabling automatic digital signature and storage of other communications regarding the transaction. Enabling presentation of content material;
Enabling communication of the purchase request in response to the presentation of the content material. The automatic digital signature is based on a secret key associated with the transaction device, and the method further comprises:
The method of claim 1, comprising enabling verification of the digitally signed receipt based on a public key associated with the transaction device. The private key and the public key are associated with the transaction device by a manufacturer of the transaction device, and the method further comprises:
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising enabling a certified copy of the public key to be communicated to the second party, wherein the certified copy is certified by the manufacturer of the transaction device. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the storage of the digitally signed receipt comprises enabling Internet access for storing the digitally signed receipt. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling a date and time association with at least one of the purchase request and the receipt. A transmitting device configured to securely communicate a purchase request from a first party to a second party;
A receiving device configured to receive a receipt from the second party corresponding to acceptance of the purchase request;
A signature device operatively connected to the receiving device,
A transaction device, wherein the signature device is configured to provide a digitally signed receipt corresponding to the received receipt and to store the digitally signed receipt for later withdrawal. The transaction device of claim 9, further comprising a verification device configured to verify the digitally signed receipt to facilitate resolving the purchase request and the acceptance of the purchase request. The signature device is configured to provide the digitally signed receipt based on a secret key associated with the transaction device;
11. The transaction of claim 10, wherein the verification device is configured to communicate a public key associated with the transaction device and to certify the digitally signed receipt by communicating the digitally signed receipt to a verification device. apparatus. The secret key and the public key are associated with the transaction device by a manufacturer of the transaction device;
The transaction device of claim 11, wherein the verification device communicates the public key as a certified copy of the public key, and wherein the certified copy is certified by the manufacturer of the transaction device. The receiving device is configured to also receive the purchase request and other documents associated with the acceptance,
The transaction device of claim 9, wherein the signature device is configured to digitally sign and store the other document. A renderer configured to provide rendering of content material;
The transaction device of claim 9, further comprising: a purchase device configured to send the purchase request based on the content material. An internet access device operatively connected to the signature device;
The transaction device of claim 9, wherein the Internet access device is configured to receive the digitally signed receipt from the signature device and communicate the digitally signed receipt over the Internet for storage. The transaction device of claim 9, further comprising a storage device operatively connected to the signature device and configured to receive the digitally signed receipt from the signature device for storage.