WO2001001319A1 - Systeme, procede et article de fabrication d'interface de soutien adaptee au profil du client dans un environnement de distribution de logiciel electronique - Google Patents

Systeme, procede et article de fabrication d'interface de soutien adaptee au profil du client dans un environnement de distribution de logiciel electronique Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001001319A1
WO2001001319A1 PCT/US2000/018216 US0018216W WO0101319A1 WO 2001001319 A1 WO2001001319 A1 WO 2001001319A1 US 0018216 W US0018216 W US 0018216W WO 0101319 A1 WO0101319 A1 WO 0101319A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
software
user
customer
product
network
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PCT/US2000/018216
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English (en)
Inventor
Damian P. Evans
Pekka T. Huttunen
Ali Piyarali
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Accenture Llp
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Publication date
Application filed by Accenture Llp filed Critical Accenture Llp
Priority to AU60651/00A priority Critical patent/AU6065100A/en
Publication of WO2001001319A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001001319A1/fr

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
    • G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
    • G06F9/44—Arrangements for executing specific programs
    • G06F9/451—Execution arrangements for user interfaces
    • G06F9/453—Help systems

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to product dissemination, and particularly to supporting electronically distributed digital content products via a profile-driven user interface.
  • Figure 1 illustrates a traditional software distribution model.
  • Software publishers 100 distribute a majority of their products to a tier 1 distributor 102.
  • the distributor 102 then distributes the products to tier 2 Resellers 104, including retail/direct response resellers 106 and value added resellers (VARs) 108.
  • the tier 2 resellers 110 then sell directly to consumers 110.
  • the retail/direct response resellers 106 also sell the products, unchanged, directly to the consumers 110.
  • the VARs 108 typically repackage the products for added value. Such repackaging may include bundling with other products or services. Examples of this include where software is bundled with a computer in a computer system purchase, or where user training or customer support is bundled with the software purchase.
  • the software publishers may bypass the distributor 102 and sell direct to tier 2 resellers 104.
  • the software publishers may also bypass the distributor 102 and the tier 2 resellers 104 and sell direct to consumers 110.
  • software publisher 100 functions include: Designing and developing software products; designing and developing product updates, enhancements and bug fixes; building and maintaining channel and customer relationships; producing and distributing media and manuals; and creating product awareness and generating demand.
  • Software distributor 102 functions typically include: forecasting demand; ordering products from manufacturers; managing inventory; generating demand from resellers; fulfilling orders from resellers; managing reseller credit risk; providing customer service to resellers; and reporting sales and returns to software publishers.
  • Retail/direct response reseller 106 functions typically include: Forecasting demand: ordering products from distributors: managing inventory: generating demand from end users; selling products to end users; initiating and completing financial transactions; managing end user credit risk; providing value-added services to end users, such as configuration and installation; providing post-sales customer service; and reporting sales and returns to distributors.
  • Value added reseller (VAR) 108 functions typically include: Generating demand from end users; receiving and validating orders; ordering products from distributors; initiating and completing financial transactions; managing end user credit risk; providing value-added services to end users, such as customization, integration and training; and providing post-sales customer service.
  • a consumer 110 goes to a tier 2 reseller's 104 retail outlet, selects a product for purchase, and interacts with a sales clerk to purchase the product.
  • the consumer purchases the product by a variety of methods, e.g., cash, check, credit card or debit card.
  • the consumer must, however, physically visit the retail outlet during its business hours.
  • Figure 2 illustrates a typical price increase as a product moves from publisher to distributor.
  • the software publisher 100 sells the products to the distributor 102 at a wholesale price of $81.84. This amount represents the cost of development, manufacturing, packaging and publisher's 100 profit.
  • the distributor 102 then increases the price to a distribution price of $86.60 and sells the product to a tier 2 reseller 104.
  • the tier 2 reseller 104 in turn, further increase the price to a retail price of $100.00 and sells the product to the consumer 110.
  • This multitiered method causes the price to be higher than is necessary if distribution were more direct, from the software publishers 100 to consumers 110.
  • Figure 3 illustrates an alternative software distribution scheme.
  • the consumer 300 establishes a connection between the consumer's computer 302 and a host computer 304 via a telephone connection 306.
  • the consumer 300 selects and downloads the product.
  • the consumer 300 uses the product and, if willing, sends payment by U.S. Postal Service, or similar courier, and arranges a payment by credit card or debit card to the product source 308, e.g. the software publisher, tier 2 reseller, etc.
  • the consumer must be a sufficiently sophisticated computer user to establish the telephone connection, download and finally install the software.
  • a separate step of paying for the software is required.
  • Many software publishers or tier 2 resellers are unwilling to download or otherwise distribute products without first receiving a payment or a payment guarantee, and most consumers do not sufficiently trust the software publishers or tier 2 resellers to pay before using or at least seeing the products first.
  • the Internet and the World Wide Web has introduced yet another method of distribution of software.
  • a consumer views a commercial website distributor offering software for sale.
  • the consumer places the order by selecting the specific software for purchase, submitting his personal financial information (e.g. credit or debit account information), and then the software is- shipped to the consumer via conventional freight transport systems (e.g. U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, etc.).
  • personal financial information e.g. credit or debit account information
  • conventional freight transport systems e.g. U.S. Postal Service, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, etc.
  • ESD electronic software distribution
  • ESD provides benefits to all participants in the software distribution chain.
  • Software publishers can eliminate investments in manufacturing capacity, and the cost of producing and distributing physical software packages, along with the risk of holding obsolete inventory.
  • Distributors and Resellers can eliminate the costs of forecasting demand; ordering, holding, and fulfilling orders for physical packages of software; and can eliminate the risk of holding obsolete inventory.
  • Consumers can acquire software immediately, without the current waiting time for delivery, and can begin to take advantage of new services such as software subscriptions, trial-before-purchase, and automatic upgrades.
  • Consumers are hesitant to provide sensitive, personal financial data (e.g. credit and debit account) over the Internet to a software distributor. Consumers' concerns are based upon many factors: Misuse or misappropriation of the consumers' financial data; inability to physically visit the software distributor, which may be physically located in a distant city or even a different country; and limited customer service and product support offerings.
  • sensitive, personal financial data e.g. credit and debit account
  • Software distributors are primarily concerned about receiving a valid payment. If a consumer provides the software distributor with fraudulent personal financial data (e.g. credit and debit account) then the software distributor likely will not receive payment for the product.
  • personal financial data e.g. credit and debit account
  • the present invention increases the efficiency of customer support by taking various factors unique to a customer into account. More particularly, a system, method, and article of manufacture are provided for providing a customer support interface tailored according to a profile of the customer. First, a user is prompted to enter user input relating to the user, after which the user input is received over a network. In use, a request may be received from the user for customer support, including the type of problem needing to be solved. A customer support- related content is then determined based on the user input. Such customer support-related content is then transmitted to the user.
  • the customer support-related content may be adapted for supporting the user with respect to software. Further, the software that is being supported may also be sold over the network. As an option, the user input may include a product or service purchased by the user.
  • the network may include a LAN, a WAN, and an IP-based network.
  • the network may include a dedicated one-to-one telephonic hard-line.
  • the network may include a cellular, digital wireless, or satellite-based network.
  • the customer support-related content may include answers to FAQ's, announcements, access to a knowledge base, product support, access to a chat room, access to newsgroups, and/or content-specific browsing. Particular content relating to each of these may be selected based on the user profile. Further, the particular content selected may be grouped with other content to provide a package of interest to the user.
  • Figure 1 is an illustration of a software distribution scheme of the prior art
  • FIG 2 is an illustration of the exchange of money in the prior art software distribution scheme of Figure 1;
  • Figure J is an illustration of yet another software distribution scheme of the prior art
  • Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a hardware implementation of one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an electronic software distribution scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of an electronic software distribution scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the various operations associated with the embodiment of Figure 5;
  • Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a tracking process associated with the embodiment of Figure
  • Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process associated with the embodiment of Figure 5, wherein payment is received after the downloading of software;
  • Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process corresponding with the embodiment of Figure 5 which generates a license agreement associated with a sale of software
  • Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process for software source authentication associated with the embodiment of Figure 5;
  • Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a customer support process associated with the embodiment of Figure 5;
  • Figure 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a framework of a support interface associated with the process shown in Figure 11;
  • Figure 13 is an illustration of a graphical user interface associated with the framework shown in
  • Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating a plurality of operations associated with the implementation of the support interface of Figures 12 and 13;
  • Figure 15 is another flowchart illustrating a plurality of operations associated with the implementation of the support interface of Figures 12 and 13;
  • Figure 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating a combination of the features of the present invention that may be used to establish one type of electronic software distribution framework
  • Figure 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a combination of the features of the present invention that maybe used in addition to the framework of Figure 16;
  • Figure 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a combination of the features of the present invention that maybe used in addition to the framework of Figure 17;
  • Figure 19 is a flowchart illustrating a process of establishing a user profile database for use with the various features of the present invention
  • Figure 20 is a flowchart illustrating an optional method of selling products, i.e. software, which employs a user profile database similar to that generated by the process of Figure 19;
  • Figure 21 illustrates manufacture of a packaged digital product according to one form of the present invention
  • Figure 22 illustrates by flow chart execution of the packaged digital product illustrated in Figure 21 on a user-consumer's personal computer;
  • Figure 23 illustrates by flow chart point of sale programming executing on a user-consumer's personal computer allowing the user-consumer to purchase and obtain a usable form of a digital product selected for purchase;
  • Figure 24 illustrates by flow chart credit card processor server programming interactive with the point of sale programming illustrated in Figure 23.
  • the present invention is provided for the distribution and sale of digital content products.
  • one embodiment of the present invention is practiced on a network such as the
  • the network may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any IP-based network.
  • the network may include a dedicated one-to-one telephonic hard-line.
  • the client computers may include a personal computer such as an IBM compatible personal computer, Apple Macintosh computer or UNIX based workstation.
  • FIG. 4 which illustrates a typical hardware configuration of a workstation in accordance with a preferred embodiment having a central processing unit 410, such as a microprocessor, and a number of other units interconnected via a system bus 412.
  • the workstation shown in Figure 4 includes a Random Access Memory (RAM) 414, Read Only Memory (ROM) 416, an I O adapter 418 for connecting peripheral devices such as disk storage units 420 to the bus 412, a user interface adapter 422 for connecting a keyboard 424, a mouse 426, a speaker 428, a microphone 432, and/or other user interface devices such as a touch screen (not shown) to the bus 412, communication adapter 434 for connecting the workstation to a communication network (e.g., a data processing network) and a display adapter 436 for connecting the bus 412 to a display device 438.
  • a communication network e.g., a data processing network
  • display adapter 436 for connecting the bus 412 to a display device 438
  • the workstation typically has resident thereon an operating system such as the Microsoft Windows NT or Windows/95 Operating System (OS), the IBM OS/2 operating system, the MAC
  • OOP Object oriented programming
  • OOP is a process of developing computer software using objects, including the steps of analyzing the problem, designing the system, and constructing the program.
  • An object is a software package that contains both data and a collection of related structures and procedures. Since it contains both data and a collection of structures and procedures, it can be visualized as a self- sufficient component that does not require other additional structures, procedures or data to perform its specific task.
  • OOP therefore, views a computer program as a collection of largely autonomous components, called objects, each of which is responsible for a specific task. This concept of packaging data, structures, and procedures together in one component or module is called encapsulation.
  • OOP components are reusable software modules which present an interface that conforms to an object model and which are accessed at run-time through a component integration architecture.
  • a component integration architecture is a set of architecture mechanisms which allow software modules in different process spaces to utilize each others capabilities or functions. This is generally done by assuming a common component object model on which to build the architecture. It is worthwhile to differentiate between an object and a class of objects at this point.
  • An object is a single instance of the class of objects, which is often just called a class.
  • a class of objects can be viewed as a blueprint, from which many objects can be formed.
  • OOP allows the programmer to create an object that is a part of another object.
  • the object representing a piston engine is said to have a composition-relationship with the object representing a piston.
  • a piston engine comprises a piston, valves and many other components; the fact that a piston is an element of a piston engine can be logically and semantically represented in OOP by two objects.
  • OOP also allows creation of an object that "depends from” another object. If there are two objects, one representing a piston engine and the other representing a piston engine wherein the piston is made of ceramic, then the relationship between the two objects is not that of composition.
  • a ceramic piston engine does not make up a piston engine. Rather it is merely one kind of piston engine that has one more limitation than the piston engine; its piston is made of ceramic.
  • the object representing the ceramic piston engine is called a derived object, and it inherits all of the aspects of the object representing the piston engine and adds further limitation or detail to it.
  • the object representing the ceramic piston engine "depends from" the object representing the piston engine. The relationship between these objects is called inheritance.
  • the object or class representing the ceramic piston engine inherits all of the aspects of the objects representing the piston engine, it inherits the thermal characteristics of a standard piston defined in the piston engine class.
  • the ceramic piston engine object overrides these ceramic specific thermal characteristics, which are typically different from those associated with a metal piston. It skips over the original and uses new functions related to ceramic pistons.
  • Different kinds of piston engines have different characteristics, but may have the same underlying fimctions associated with it (e.g., how many pistons in the engine, ignition sequences, lubrication, etc.).
  • a programmer would call the same functions with the same names, but each type of piston engine may have different/overriding implementations of functions behind the same name. This ability to hide different implementations of a function behind the same name is called polymorphism and it greatly simplifies communication among objects.
  • composition-relationship With the concepts of composition-relationship, encapsulation, inheritance and polymo ⁇ hism, an object can represent just about anything in the real world. In fact, our logical perception of the reality is the only limit on determining the kinds of things that can become objects in object- oriented software. Some typical categories are as follows:
  • Objects can represent physical objects, such as automobiles in a traffic-flow simulation, electrical components in a circuit-design program, countries in an economics model, or aircraft in an air-traffic-control system.
  • Objects can represent elements of the computer-user environment such as windows, menus or graphics objects.
  • An object can represent an inventory, such as a personnel file or a table of the latitudes and longitudes of cities.
  • An object can represent user-defined data types such as time, angles, and complex numbers, or points on the plane.
  • OOP allows the software developer to design and implement a computer program that is a model of some aspects of reality, whether that reality is a physical entity, a process, a system, or a composition of matter. Since the object can represent anything, the software developer can create an object which can be used as a component in a larger software project in the future.
  • OOP enables software developers to build objects out of other, previously built objects.
  • C++ is an OOP language that offers a fast, machine-executable code.
  • C++ is suitable for both commercial-application and systems-programming projects.
  • C++ appears to be the most popular choice among many OOP programmers, but there is a host of other OOP languages, such as Smalltalk, Common Lisp Object System (CLOS), and Eiffel. Additionally, OOP capabilities are being added to more traditional popular computer programming languages such as Pascal.
  • Encapsulation enforces data abstraction through the organization of data into small, independent objects that can communicate with each other. Encapsulation protects the data in an object from accidental damage, but allows other objects to interact with that data by calling the object's member functions and structures. • Sub-classing and inheritance make it possible to extend and modify objects through deriving new kinds of objects from the standard classes available in the system. Thus, new capabilities are created without having to start from scratch.
  • Class hierarchies and containment hierarchies provide a flexible mechanism for modeling real-world objects and the relationships among them.
  • class libraries allow programmers to use and reuse many small pieces of code, each programmer puts those pieces together in a different way.
  • Two different programmers can use the same set of class libraries to write two programs that do exactly the same thing but whose internal structure (i.e., design) may be quite different, depending on hundreds of small decisions each programmer makes along the way.
  • similar pieces of code end up doing similar things in slightly different ways and do not work as well together as they should.
  • Class libraries are very flexible. As programs grow more complex, more programmers are forced to adopt basic solutions to basic problems over and over again.
  • a relatively new extension of the class library concept is to have a framework of class libraries. This framework is more complex and consists of significant collections of collaborating classes that capture both the small scale patterns and major mechanisms that implement the common requirements and design in a specific application domain. They were first developed to free application programmers from the chores involved in displaying menus, windows, dialog boxes, and other standard user interface elements for personal computers.
  • Frameworks also represent a change in the way programmers think about the interaction between the code they write and code written by others.
  • the programmer called libraries provided by the operating system to perform certain tasks, but basically the program executed down the page from start to finish, and the programmer was solely responsible for the flow of control. This was appropriate for printing out paychecks, calculating a mathematical table, or solving other problems with a program that executed in just one way.
  • event loop programs require programmers to write a lot of code that should not need to be written separately for every application.
  • the concept of an application framework carries the event loop concept further. Instead of dealing with all the nuts and bolts of constructing basic menus, windows, and dialog boxes and then making these things all work together, programmers using application frameworks start with working application code and basic user interface elements in place. Subsequently, they build from there by replacing some of the generic capabilities of the framework with the specific capabilities of the intended application.
  • Application frameworks reduce the total amount of code that a programmer has to write from scratch.
  • the framework is really a generic application that displays windows, supports copy and paste, and so on, the programmer can also relinquish control to a greater degree than event loop programs permit.
  • the framework code takes care of almost all event handling and flow of control, and the programmer's code is called only when the framework needs it (e.g., to create or manipulate a proprietary data structure).
  • a programmer writing a framework program not only relinquishes control to the user (as is also true for event loop programs), but also relinquishes the detailed flow of control within the program to the framework. This approach allows the creation of more complex systems that work together in interesting ways, as opposed to isolated programs, having custom code, being created over and over again for similar problems.
  • a framework basically is a collection of cooperating classes that make up a reusable design solution for a given problem domain. It typically includes objects that provide default behavior (e.g., for menus and windows), and programmers use it by inheriting some of that default behavior and overriding other behavior so that the framework calls application code at the appropriate times.
  • default behavior e.g., for menus and windows
  • Behavior versus protocol Class libraries are essentially collections of behaviors that you can call when you want those individual behaviors in your program.
  • a framework provides not only behavior but also the protocol or set of rules that govern the ways in which behaviors can be combined, including rules for what a programmer is suppose to provide versus what the framework provides.
  • a preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) to implement documents on the Internet together with a general-pu ⁇ ose secure communication protocol for a transport medium between the client and the Newco. HTTP or other protocols could be readily substituted for HTML without undue experimentation. Information on these products is available in T. Bemers-Lee, D. Connoly, "RFC 1866: Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0" (Nov. 1995); and R.
  • HTML Hyper Text Markup Language
  • HTML is a simple data format used to create hypertext documents that are portable from one platform to another.
  • HTML documents are SGML documents with generic semantics- that-are appropriate for representing information from a wide range of domains. HTML has been in use by the World-Wide Web global information initiative since 1990. HTML is an application of ISO Standard 8879; 1986 Information Processing Text and Office Systems; Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).
  • HTML has been the dominant technology used in development of Web-based solutions.
  • HTML has proven to be inadequate in the following areas:
  • UI User Interface
  • Custom “widgets” e.g., real-time stock tickers, animated icons, etc.
  • client-side performance is improved.
  • Java supports the notion of client-side validation, offloading appropriate processing onto the client for improved performance.
  • Dynamic, real-time Web pages can be created. Using the above-mentioned custom UI components, dynamic Web pages can also be created.
  • Java is a simple, object-oriented, distributed, inte ⁇ reted, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multithreaded, dynamic, buzzword- compliant, general-pu ⁇ ose programming language. Java supports programming for the Internet in the form of platform-independent Java applets.” Java applets are small, specialized applications that comply with Sun's Java Application Programming Interface (API) allowing developers to add "interactive content" to Web documents (e.g., simple animations, page adornments, basic games, etc.). Applets execute within a Java-compatible browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator) by copying code from the server to client. From a language standpoint, Java's core feature set is based on C++. Sun's Java literature states that Java is basically, "C++ with extensions from Objective C for more dynamic method resolution.”
  • Java Java Application Programming Interface
  • ActiveX includes tools for developing animation, 3-D virtual reality, video and other multimedia content.
  • the tools use Internet standards, work on multiple platforms, and are being supported by over 100 companies.
  • the group's building blocks are called ActiveX Controls, small, fast components that enable developers to embed parts of software in hypertext markup language (HTML) pages.
  • ActiveX Controls work with a variety of programming languages including Microsoft Visual C++, Borland Delphi, Microsoft Visual Basic programming system and, in the future, Microsoft's development tool for Java, code named "Jakarta.” ActiveX
  • FIG. 5 illustrates an electronic software distribution (ESD) system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
  • the software publisher 500 produces the software for electronic distribution.
  • the ESD channel partners 502 include the distribution network of distributors retailers and value added resellers (VARs).
  • VARs value added resellers
  • the End User - Consumer 508 uses the software and provides payment for the software.
  • Software publishers publish much more than computer software products. Software publishers also publish digital information such as databases and image data. As used herein, software includes all digital information, content, image data and other digitally distributable data.
  • the ESD system eliminates several functions of the software publisher 500 including:
  • the ESD system eliminates several functions of the ESD channel partners 502 including:
  • the ESD system requires the software publisher 500 to continue to provide the following existing functions:
  • the ESD system does not require the software publisher 500 to provide any additional functions than previous distribution methods but does eliminate several previous functions.
  • the ESD system requires the ESD channel partners 502 to continue to provide the following existing functions :
  • the system of Figure 5 thus allows a redefining of the roles of the software publisher 500 and ESD channel partners 502. This is accomplished by the introduction of another entity, namely an independent, third party "clearinghouse" 506 provides a value added service to the publisher 500.
  • the clearinghouse 506 provides the vital element of trust in the ESD.
  • the independent certifying agency provides a "level of compliance" opinion of the clearinghouse.
  • the certifying agency utilizes a series of standard tests, requirements and guidelines to check a channel partner's set of systems.
  • receiving ESD system certification may be required to be a channel partner or a clearinghouse for a software publisher's ESD.
  • Figure 6 illustrates, in most general terms, the various services afforded by the clearinghouse during the electronic distribution software over the network.
  • a user interface is provided for facilitating sale of the software in operation 602.
  • the software for sale is advertised on the user interface. See operation 603.
  • the software may also be downloaded and further sold by receiving payment in exchange for the software via the user interface in operations 604 and 606, respectively.
  • the downloaded software may be encrypted and further decrypted upon the receipt of the payment :
  • a proof-of-purchase may be sent to the user upon the receipt of the payment.
  • An electronic proof of purchase may be sent such as via e-mail, or a proof of purchase on paper may be prepared for sending to the user via ground mail, for example. Additionally, the proof of purchase. may be sent to the user via facsimile. Further, an end user license agreement may be transmitted to the user upon the receipt of the payment.
  • FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the various operations involved with such tracking feature.
  • encrypted software and a plurality of decryption keys are provided which each allow use of corresponding encrypted software.
  • each decryption key is adapted to allow use of only a single piece of corresponding software, or a single sale. This renders duplication of the decryption key useless, thereby lessening the chance of unauthorized use of the software.
  • a request is received for a decryption key from a requestor. Thereafter, a transaction represented by the request for the decryption key is logged. Note operations 702 and 704.
  • the decryption key is then outputted to the requestor in operation 706. Thereafter, the transaction is reported to a source of the software for allowing the tracking of revenue generated by the sale of the software, as indicated in operation 708.
  • a plurality of requests maybe received from such multiple requestors and the requests may be logged separately for each requestor.
  • the channel partner then accepts payment from the user in operation 808. Payment is accepted after both the selection and the downloading of the encrypted software. Furthermore, the amount of the payment may be determined by a profile of the user. To ensure payment, in operation 810, the decryption key is transferred to the user only after the receipt and verification of the payment. As an option, a copy of the decryption key may be stored with an identifier of the transaction. By this scheme, a user is confident that software is in his or her possession prior to delivering payment. Further, the reseller is confident of payment prior to completion of the transaction.
  • Figure 9 illustrates yet another aspect of the present invention wherein a tailored license agreement is automatically provided during the distribution and sale of digital content products.
  • a user is prompted to enter user input relating to the user in operation 900.
  • the user input is received over the network after which the user is allowed to select software over the network.
  • the selected software is then downloaded over the network and a license agreement is generated utilizing the user input.
  • the license agreement may be sent via electronic mail
  • the license agreement is downloaded over the network in operation 910.
  • the acceptance is stored and reported to a source of the software, i.e. publisher.
  • entitlements of the user granted under the license agreement may also be tracked. This may be accomplished through a policing routine found in the software itself, for example. The policing routine would monitor use of the software and periodically send updates to the source of the software, when the. user is connected to the Internet. Further, the user may be precluded from utilizing at least a portion of the software until the acceptance of the license agreement is received.
  • the authenticity of the proof-of-purchase is verified after which a value of a refund for the return is determined, as indicated in operations 1006 and 1008, respectively.
  • the refund is then processed in operation 1010.
  • information relating to the proof-of-purchase and the refund may be stored in a record.
  • the record may be transferred to a source of the software. The identification of the user as shown on the proof of purchase could be compared to the record to ensure that the proof-of-purchase is not bogus or that the user is trying to obtain multiple refunds for the same purchase.
  • the present aspect relates to supporting electronically distributed digital content products via a profile-driven user interface.
  • a user is first prompted to enter user input relating to the user after which the user input is received over a network, as indicated in operations 1100 and 1102, respectively.
  • a request may be received from the user for customer support in operation 1104.
  • a customer support-related content is then determined based on the user input. Such, customer support-related content is then transmitted to the user in operation 1108.
  • the customer support-related content may be adapted for supporting the user with respect to software. Further, the software that is being supported may also be sold over the network.
  • the user input may include a product or service purchased by the user.
  • the customer support-related content may include answers to FAQ's, announcements, access to a knowledge base, product support, access to a chat room, access to newsgroups, and/or content-specific browsing. Particular content relating to each of these may be selected based on the user profile. Further, the particular content selected may be grouped with other content to provide a package of interest to the user.
  • the clearinghouse receives Email notification from a publisher (notice that a new version or new product has been developed), and requests a master copy of the software.
  • the clearinghouse receives, encrypts, and stores a master copy of the software.
  • the clearinghouse records receipt of the master copy of software (including product #, version, etc.).
  • the clearinghouse also supports storage of a hierarchical product structure. Also, if software ordered by a customer does not exist in the clearinghouse, the clearinghouse may obtain the master code from the publisher.
  • the clearinghouse must provide the most current product version unless requested otherwise by an end-user. All products including current and prior versions are supported and distributed by the clearinghouse.
  • the clearinghouse receives notice of a software sale to a customer (from reseller).
  • the clearinghouse must validate the order - including product SKU, reseller, and distributor (resellers and distributors must be approved by the publisher). All valid orders are stored within the clearinghouse. Orders can be reported upon when necessary (as requested by the publisher).
  • Netscape Communications uses its Navigator/Netsite World Wide Web (WWW) browser/server pair.
  • a buyer uses Navigator to select a seller's Netsite server (sort of an electronic storefront), which is in turn coupled to standard application servers (back-end subsystems), e.g., a credit server or a member server for collecting demographic information on customers.
  • These servers contain the business rules defined by the seller, e.g., what credit cards are accepted and what customer information is tracked during each sale.
  • Some of these servers are connected to external, third-party services, e.g., the credit server to an external credit card processing network or the member server to an external demographics processing module.
  • the actual applications e.g., on-line publishing or catalog sales, are represented as extensions of the application servers.
  • the application servers are said to be instantiated in the applications.
  • the net result of this approach is that the business rules (from the application servers) are embedded into the applications along with the application logic or presentation.
  • Another company, Open Market, is developing a similar electronic catalog system consisting of a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) authoring tool (called Storebuilder), and a server (called Webserver) connected to an integrated back-end commerce system (called TransactionLink).
  • HTTP Hyper Text Markup Language
  • Webserver Webserver
  • TransactionLink integrated back-end commerce system
  • Any of the foregoing types of browsers may employed to access various databases via the Internet in order to conduct electronic commerce-related business.
  • Typical database or file-based shopping cart systems require that the user be uniquely identified in order to associate particular data stored on the server with a particular user. This requires the user to log-in or create an account, which is then stored in the server. Each subsequent request from the user must reference the unique identifier, either in the uniform resource locator (URL) or as hidden data passed back through a form submission.
  • URL uniform resource locator
  • Either of these approaches require that the account or ID information of the user be stored on the remote server in the network for some definite period of time. Usually, the user must keep track of the account identifier in order that the prior session information can be retrieved.
  • NCR hardware suitable for this pu ⁇ ose is sold by NCR.
  • This equipment a self-service terminal system identified as model NCR 5682, inco ⁇ orates the data gathering and transaction processing capabilities of conventional automated teller machines with video, graphics, audio and printer operations.
  • Interactivity with the customer is governed by a software system through the use, for example, of a keyboard or an infrared touch screen using prompts.
  • Transactions maybe completed through the use of a credit card reader and a PIN number entering means.
  • Still yet another system is adapted for automatically dispensing information, goods and services to a customer on a self-service basis including a central data processing center in which information on services offered is stored.
  • Self-service information sales terminals are remotely linked on-line to the central data processing center and are programmed to gather information from prospective customers on goods and services desired, to transmit to customers information on the desired goods or services from the central data processing center, to take orders for goods or services from customers and transmit them for processing to the central data processing center, to accept payment, and to deliver goods or services in the form of documents to the customer when orders are completed.
  • the central data processing center is also remotely linked to institutions, such as insurance companies, serviced by the system to keep the institution updated on completed sales of services offered by that institution.
  • the terminals in this system are on-line with the central data processing center.
  • the self-service terminals include a processor, printer, dispenser, data sources including a mass storage unit, a card reader, a coin box, and a communication device for communicating with a remote service center.
  • the mass storage unit stores transitory information, such as flight schedules, ticket prices, weather information and other information useful in the planning of a business trip or vacation which is periodically updated via a communication link with the remote control center.
  • the self-service terminal normally operates off-line.
  • a quantity and a price of each of the items that is selected is displayed during use of the present invention. Also displayed is a total price of the items that are selected along with shipping information. During use, the user is allowed to modify the predetermined set of items that are selected. Further, several sets of items may be separately stored for later review and modification. Retrieval of the set or sets of items should be easily accessible throughout the display catalog, such as through links.
  • the methods for providing the shopping basket to the consumer there is a method of displaying a button for the shopping basket on the same display page as a catalog which the consumer watches as it is realized in the online shopping system, such as on the Internet.
  • a method for separately displaying an item catalog area and a shopping basket area there is a method for separately displaying an item catalog area and a shopping basket area.
  • Such a function is used in the shopping system provided by a computer readable medium such as a CD-ROM.
  • the button for the shopping basket when the button for the shopping basket is on the same page as the item catalog, the entire length of the page may change depending on the amount of item data described on the catalog. However, the page may not be accommodated on the display screen. In such a case, it is necessary for the consumer to scroll the page to display the button for the shopping basket. The same is true when the button is located at the top end of the page, and when the item of mterest is at a lower portion of the page, the screen must be scrolled upward in order to take the item into the shopping basket after the confirmation.
  • the state in which the necessary function is not displayed without scrolling not only imposes a burden to the operation of scroll, and when the consumer first uses the system, the operation to be conducted next is hard to understand and cause anxiety to the user.
  • the method of always displaying the button in a specified area by dividing the screen the above problem is solved.
  • an interface for providing the shopping basket function is provided as a separate shopping basket window from a catalog window on which online shop item data is displayed.
  • the shopping basket window is displayed on the catalog window and a display position is moved in linkage with the movement of a mouse pointer.
  • the shopping basket includes a list of items to be purchased which is a main body of the shopping basket, a function to add the item data to the list, and a function to change the item data registered in the list.
  • the shopping basket main body is not always displayed. Instead, an interface function to display the shopping basket contents on the screen is provided on the shopping basket window.
  • the clearinghouse transmits the encrypted software to the customer's computer.
  • a secure wrapper is a secure method to deliver software electronically.
  • software merchants can encase and encrypt digital content to build customizable cyber-packages without making changes to the source code.
  • software merchants can include bitmaps, advertisements, registration material as well as other marketing material as part of a cyber-package.
  • the vendor places it on the Web site where it is made available to the online consumer.
  • Secure wrapper software securely wraps, encrypts and validates the purchase of the digital information for electronic transport from start to finish.
  • Secure wrapper software does not require the end user to have any decryption devices residing on their system.
  • the end user is connected to a credit card validation system via modem. If validated, the package is unlocked online.
  • One exemplary method for download of the software includes the following steps:
  • Any digital transportation vehicle may be used including the Internet, CD ROM, proprietary networks, On-line services, television broadcast, and cable modems.
  • the software will be virus-free.
  • EULA End User License Agreement
  • An EULA is sent to the end-user's computer.
  • the EULA displays terms and conditions of use of the software.
  • the 'signed' EULA is received from the end-user and logged in an EULA database.
  • the end-user name (as obtained from the EULA) is displayed during the software unpacking/unencrypting process. Agreement/licensing information on software customers may be maintained as well as sent to a source of the software. A record for each copy of software sold to an end-user may also be maintained.
  • the EULA is a license between the end user and the software copyright holder, which is typically the software publisher.
  • the EULA reinforces the relationship between the end user and the software copyright holder as well as increases the end user's confidence that the software is legitimate and an approved distribution from the software copyright holder.
  • EULA is "signed" when any legally recognized form of customer signature, including physical and authenticated digital indicia, is affixed or recorded on the EULA.
  • EULA acceptance pu ⁇ oses notation in a database of customer acceptance through an "ok” button on a screen of EULA text is an acceptable “signature” if that customer has been authenticated as having a valid credit card, expiration, and bill-to address.
  • Licensing software provides the vendor with a certain amount of control over the distributed software which may be used to the vendor's advantage. For example, licensing software allows the vendor to prohibit unauthorized usage of the software that might facilitate unauthorized copying. In addition, licensing provides an advantageous method of providing and billing for software. Through licensing, the vendor may sell several identical copies of the same software and charge the buyer for each copy. Licensing schemes have adapted to the network environment as well as the individual personal computer. In a network environment, such as a client-server network, multiple users may access the same copy of a particular application. Consequently, the vendor can charge the network owner not for the number of copies installed on the network, but for the number of users having access to the software.
  • Software is conventionally licensed using an agreement between the vendor and the user or administrator.
  • the agreement is typically either a conventionally signed contract or a "shrink wrap" agreement attached to the packaging for the software, to which the licensee acknowledges agreement by opening the package.
  • Electronic licensing typically comprises providing a set of criteria under which a request for an application from the server should be granted.
  • One licensing system uses a fixed set of licenses controlled by a license server.
  • the license information is maintained in a license database, along with information regarding which applications are in use and how many units are still available.
  • the information in the database may be encrypted to prevent forgeries.
  • the application commences running. Code embedded in the application initially requests a license from the server to facilitate the execution of the application.
  • the server checks the database of licenses, and if the appropriate licenses are available, grants the request. As requests are received and licenses granted, the relevant information is logged into a file to track usage of the various applications.
  • license fees may be based on the power of the processor or the number of processors in the system, or the number of individual nodes in a network, since these factors provide measures of the number of users which may use the software at any give time.
  • licenses and license fees may also be desirable, for example, to have licenses and license fees more closely relate to the actual numbers of users which can use the program at any given time or on the actual use to which a program may be put. Furthermore, it may be desirable to limit the use of the program to specified time periods.
  • CPU-locked software to assure availability and convenience. Companies with but a few users of a particular software program generally choose a CPU-locked system because it is, in effect, priced proportionately to the number of users.
  • licenses are for indefinite periods of time
  • a license may also be for a limited duration and extendable, so that the entity marketing the product can charge a periodic fee (for example, annually) for use of the software product. Or use may be absolutely time-limited (for example, one-day), so that the user may evaluate the software product for possible purchase of a regular license. Since software can be copied and moved easily from one like machine to another, companies have invented methods to prevent unauthorized use of their software products.
  • a network may permit a user at one node (which may be a terminal or workstation, for instance) to utilize a software product running at another node (which may be the network server or even another workstation). Consequently, the terms of the single-computer type of software license might not cover the usage of the software product on the network, or worse still (from the point of view of the licensor) might actually permit such a usage without additional compensation to the licensor.
  • One approach to network licensing is to grant permission to use the program based on all of the nodes on the network, and to require a license for each node. Then typically the license fee may be increased as the number of nodes on the network increases.
  • Another approach bases the license fee for a software product running on a network on the total number of individual users who might actually run the software, regardless of the number of nodes either on the network or running the software product at a given time.
  • These approaches have usually required the cooperation of the licensee, because additional nodes maybe added to the network, or additional users may utilize the software, without the knowledge of the licensor, who is typically not present on the premises of the licensee.
  • the licensor may reserve the right to audit the licensee's site, but such an audit is intrusive, expensive, and may alienate potential or actual customers for licenses.
  • users of (other than financial service providers) information arising from content usage such as content specific demographic information and user specific descriptive information.
  • Such users may include market analysts, marketing list compilers for direct and directed marketing, and government agencies,
  • the present invention supports commercially secure "extended" value chain electronic agreements.
  • the present invention can be configured to support the various underlying agreements between parties that comprise this extended agreement. These agreements can define important electronic commerce considerations including:
  • the present invention may define the electronic commerce relationship of two or more parties of a value chain, but such agreements may, at times, not directly obligate or otherwise directly involve other value chain participants.
  • an electronic agreement between a content creator and a distributor may establish both the price to the distributor for a creator's content (such as for a property distributed in a container object) and the number of copies of this object that this distributor may distribute to end-users over a given period of time.
  • a value chain end-user may be involved in a three party agreement in which the end-user agrees to certain requirements for using the distributed product such as accepting distributor charges for content use and agreeing to observe the copyright rights of the creator.
  • a third agreement might exist between the distributor and a financial clearinghouse that allows the distributor to employ the clearinghouse's credit for payment for the product if the end-user has a separate (fourth) agreement directly with the clearinghouse extending credit to the end-user.
  • a fifth, evolving agreement may develop between all value chain participants as content control information passes along its chain of handling.
  • This evolving agreement can establish the rights of all parties to content usage information, including, for example, the nature of information to be received by each party and the pathway of handling of content usage information and related procedures.
  • a sixth agreement in this example may involve all parties to the agreement and establishes certain general assumptions, such as security techniques and degree of trustedness (for example, commercial integrity of the system may require each installation secure subsystem to electronically warrant that their node meets certain interoperability requirements).
  • these six agreements could comprise agreements of an extended agreement for this commercial value chain instance.
  • Some agreements support evolving ("living") electronic agreement arrangements that can be modified by current and/or new participants through very simple to sophisticated "negotiations" between newly proposed content control information interacting with control information already in place and/or by negotiation between concurrently proposed content control information submitted by a plurality of parties.
  • a given model may be asynchronously and progressively modified over time in accordance with existing senior rules and such modification may be applied to all, to classes of, and/or to specific content, and/or to classes and/or specific users and/or user nodes.
  • a given piece of content may be subject to different control information at different times or places of handling, depending on the evolution of its content control information (and/or on differing, applicable installation content control information).
  • control information can occur during the passing along of one or more control information containing objects, that is control information may be modified at one or more points along a chain of control information handling, so long as such modification is allowed.
  • managed content may have different control information applied at both different "locations" in a chain of content handling and at similar locations in differing chains of the handling of such content.
  • an end-user of such content might be limited by the same content control information to making three copies of such content, one for each of three different computers he or she uses (one desktop computer at work, one for a desktop computer at home, and one for a portable computer).
  • Electronic agreements supported by the preferred embodiment of the present invention can vary from very simple to very elaborate. They can support widely diverse information management models that provide for electronic information security, usage administration, and communication and may support:
  • checks may be written for any specific amount up to the amount available in the account, checks have very limited transferabihty and must be supplied from a physical inventory. Paper-based checking systems do not offer sufficient relief from the limitations of cash transactions, sharing many of the inconveniences of handling currency while adding the inherent delays associated with processing checks. To this end, economic exchange has striven for greater convenience at a lower cost, while also seeking improved security.
  • ACH Automated Clearing House
  • POS Point Of Sale
  • the more well known techniques include magnetic stripe cards purchased for a given amount and from which a prepaid value can be deducted for specific pu ⁇ oses. Upon exhaustion of the economic value, the cards are thrown away.
  • Other examples include memory cards or so called smart cards which are capable of repetitively storing information representing value that is likewise deducted for specific pu ⁇ oses.
  • a computer operated under the control of a merchant it is desirable for a computer operated under the control of a merchant to obtain information offered by a customer and transmitted by a computer operating under the control of the customer over a publicly accessible packet-switched network (e.g., the Internet) to the computer operating under the control of the merchant, without risking the exposure of the information to interception by third parties that have access to the network, and to assure that the information is from an authentic source. It is further desirable for the merchant to transmit information, including a subset of the information provided by the customer, over such a network to a payment gateway computer system that is designated, by a bank or other financial institution that has the responsibility of providing payment on behalf of the customer, to authorize a commercial transaction on behalf of such a financial institution, without the risk of exposing that information to interception by third parties.
  • Such institutions include, for example, financial institutions offering credit or debit card services.
  • Such secure payment technologies include the industry standard Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) protocol recently announced by Visa, MasterCard and their technology partners, including Microsoft.
  • Other secure payment technologies include Secure Transaction Technology (“STT”),
  • SEPP Secure Electronic Payments Protocol
  • iKP Internet Keyed Payments
  • Net Trust Net Trust
  • Cybercash Credit Payment Protocol a secure payment technology that can be substituted for the SET protocol without undue experimentation.
  • Such secure payment technologies require the customer to operate software that is compliant with the secure payment technology, interacting with third-party certification authorities, thereby allowing the customer to transmit encoded information to a merchant, some of which may be decoded by the merchant, and some which can be decoded only by a payment gateway specified by the customer.
  • SSL Secure Sockets Layer
  • Frazier Freier, Karlton & Kocher
  • SSL Protocol Version 3.0, March 1996 The SSL Protocol Version 3.0, March 1996, and hereby inco ⁇ orated by reference.
  • SSL provides a means for secure transmission between two computers.
  • SSL has the advantage that it does not require special- pu ⁇ ose software to be installed on the customer's computer because it is already inco ⁇ orated into widely available software that many people utilize as their standard Internet access medium, and does not require that the customer interact with any third-party certification authority.
  • the support for SSL may be inco ⁇ orated into software already in use by the customer, e.g., the Netscape Navigator World Wide Web browsing tool.
  • a computer on an SSL connection may initiate a second SSL connection to another computer, a drawback to the
  • SSL Secure Hyper-Text Transport Protocol
  • PGP Pretty Good Privacy
  • Banks desire an Internet payment solution that emulates existing Point of Sale (POS) applications that are currently installed on their host computers, and require minimal changes to their host systems. This is a critical requirement since any downtime for a banks host computer system represents an enormous expense.
  • VeriFone supports over fourteen hundred different payment-related applications. The large number of applications is necessary to accommodate a wide variety of host message formats, diverse methods for communicating to a variety of hosts with different dial-up and direct-connect schemes, and different certification around the world.
  • business processes that dictate how a
  • Point of Sale (POS) terminal queries a user for data and subsequently displays the data.
  • various vertical market segments such as hotels, car rental agencies, restaurants, retail sales, mail sales/telephone sales require interfaces for different types of data to be entered, and provide different discount rates to merchants for complying with various data types.
  • report generation mechanisms and formats are utilized by merchants that banking organizations work with.
  • Banks are unwilling to converge on "standards" since convergence would facilitate switching from one acquiring bank to another by merchants.
  • banks desire to increase the cost that a merchant incurs in switching from one acquiring bank to another acquiring bank. This is accomplished by supplying a merchant with a terminal that only communicates utilizing the bank's proprietary protocol, and by providing other value-added services that a merchant may not be able to obtain at another bank.
  • Internet-based payment solutions require additional security measures that are not found in conventional POS terminals. This additional requirement is necessitated because Internet communication is done over publicly-accessible, unsecured communication line in stark contrast to the private, secure, dedicated phone or leased line service utilized between a traditional merchant and an acquiring bank. Thus, it is critical that any solution utilizing the Internet for a communication backbone, employ some form of cryptography.
  • SET the current state-of-the-art in Internet based payment processing is a protocol referred to as SET. Since the SET messages are uniform across all implementations, banks cannot differentiate themselves in any reasonable way. Also, since SET is not a proper superset of all protocols utilized today, there are bank protocols which cannot be mapped or translated into SET because they require data elements for which SET has no placeholder. Further, SET only handles the message types directly related to authorizing and capturing credit card transactions and adjustments to these authorizations or captures. In a typical POS terminal in the physical world, these messages comprise almost the entire volume of the total number of messages between the merchant and the authorizing bank, but only half of the total number of different message types. These message types, which are used infrequently, but which are critical to the operation of the POS terminal must be supported for proper transaction processing.
  • the clearinghouse may either send a software decryption key (or provide some other mechanism to allow customer to decrypt) to a customer or decrypt the software before upload to the customer.
  • the clearinghouse should maintain a secure list of valid software decryption key capable of unlocking all encrypted software and include the customers to which keys are sent.
  • the clearinghouse may wait for a request for the decryption key from a customer or from a reseller who sold the encrypted software. Before or after sending the key, the clearinghouse reports the transaction to the publisher.
  • MIME multipu ⁇ ose internet mail extensions
  • MIME is a set of specifications that provides a way to interchange text with different character sets.
  • MIME also allows the sending of multi-media e-mail.
  • MEVIE allows e- mail messages to contain images, sounds, character sets other than US-ASCII, enriched text, other messages (reliably encapsulated), tar files, PostScript, and pointers to FTPable files, among other things.
  • any of the digital transport methods may be used or any other communication device including e-mail, telephone, fax, or pager.
  • a proof of purchase receipt is downloaded to the customer's computer.
  • the customer may be provided a means by which to save receipt on their computer.
  • a software publishers certificate may be provided to customer to verify authenticity of downloaded software (if deemed necessary by the publisher).
  • the channel must provide the customer an unalterable proof of purchase document. This may be in the form of a digitally signed receipt document which is sent by e-mail to the customer.
  • the general requirement is that the customer must receive something from the channel which proves they purchased the product, but cannot be altered by them (without detection) so other channel partners have confidence in its authenticity.
  • a replacement mechanism may be provided in order to handle the situation where a back-up copy is required.
  • the decryption key may be used for this pu ⁇ ose.
  • the software must be unpacked or decompressed.
  • One example would be to seamlessly run a software's 'set-up' process to complete a software installation.
  • a daily transaction report reflecting all product orders and returns is produced, as are audit trail reports. Other publisher-defined reports may also be produced.
  • the clearinghouse would receive notice of the return from reseller and validate that the product has been or is being returned.
  • One way to validate that the product has been returned is to require the user to provide both a proof-of-purchase and signed letter of software destruction before the clearinghouse can process the return.
  • the proof of purchase can be easily verified as authentic if it was of the unalterable type set forth above. Otherwise, a serial number on the proof of purchase and name of the user can be compared to sales records.
  • Signed means a document authenticated by its author in a non-repudiatable manner. For example, a wet ink manual signature on a piece of paper is a signed document.
  • Another example is a digital message signed by a public key certificate issued by a recognized certificate authority. Another way to validate that the product has been returned would be to actually connect with the customer's computer and remove a vital portion of the program making it unusable, or deleting the entire program altogether.
  • a value is placed on the return. For example, if the software is returned before a decryption key is sent to the customer, a full refund may be given. If the customer has used the software for more than a predetermined period, only a partial refund may be given or no refund at all.
  • the clearinghouse may also report customer information, such as the customer's profile, that was collected as part of the transaction, to the software publisher.
  • the publisher 500 can perform any or all ESD channel partner 502 functions. Since there is no longer a one-to-one relationship between the number of units shipped by the publisher and the number of units sold or returned, or in channel consignment inventory in an ESD system, then the publishers face a risk of under-reporting of sales.
  • ProdigyTM a company must have a large mainframe computer and customized software. Developing the customized software requires a competent programming staff and a good deal of time. Most companies do not have the resources required to develop such systems, and thus cannot easily develop and maintain an online presence.
  • the global Internet is a network of computer networks that links together millions of computer systems using the well defined TCP/IP protocol.
  • a browser program retrieves the formatted information and provides the information in an appropriate manner to the user. For example, the client browser program displays graphical image information as images on the user's graphical display screen; plays video information as video animation on the user's graphical display screen; displays text information as text on the user's screen; and plays sound samples using the speakers on the user's computer system.
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer one popular client browser program, is widely available to the users of the global Internet.
  • An internet site can display images, text, animation, and sounds that provide information about the company. Furthermore, internet sites can be implemented on relatively simple computer systems, including personal computers.
  • a company can deploy a HTTP server that is available to customers through dial-up phone service.
  • a dial-up HTTP server would be accessible to customers and clients that do not have Internet access.
  • any organization or co ⁇ oration can create an online presence.
  • HTTP server software without any additional programming, is very limited.
  • an HTTP server cannot accommodate complex transactions between a user and the HTTP server or integrate a database system- into an online service.
  • custom extensions are difficult to write except by experienced programmers.
  • the Information Exchange Facility (IEF) general development tool which is available from Texas Instruments, is used by professional programmers to develop application programs.
  • IEEE Information Exchange Facility
  • pu ⁇ ose development tool In contrast to general pu ⁇ ose software development tools, many application programs themselves provide special pu ⁇ ose "development tool" capability.
  • An example is the AccessTM database program available from Microsoft.
  • the AccessTM database allows end users to develop sophisticated database applications which would have been developed by professional programmers a few years ago.
  • the AccessTM database is but one example of a special pu ⁇ ose development tool.
  • Lotus NotesTM Another example of a special pu ⁇ ose development tool is the Application Development Environment of Lotus NotesTM.
  • the Application Development Environment of Lotus Notes provides features which are said to allow for rapid development of workgroup applications such as sharing of documents between users over a network.
  • Lotus Notes and, thus, its Application Development Environment is directed at sharing of documents among persons in an authorized work group.
  • the Lotus Notes Application Development Environment provides for such features as (i) application design templates which are said to allow sophisticated applications to be built by customizing pre-built applications such as document libraries, form-based approval systems, project tracking applications and status reporting systems; (ii) security; (iii) database access; and (iv) discussion groups.
  • a company may issue a recall on some code which has been distributed in the channel. Or as part of an upgrade process, may offer to take back a prior version inventory in the channel. This is a complicated and expensive process when dealing with boxes, but quite simple in the ESD model.
  • the channel does not pre-purchase inventory for ESD.
  • the software masters are not useable until the rights are sold with them.
  • To make an ESD software master obsolete in the ESD channel can be done by simply setting a flag in the rights database at the authorized clearinghouse to obsolete. When someone tries to unlock or purchase the rights for an obsolete version, they should be directed to the current one. The channel will not have anything to return to the company.
  • Customer support may be provided to customers via phone, email and fax, for example.
  • Customer support should include (but not limited to) helping customers with: problems with software download; problems with decryption/unpacking processes; problems with software setup; procedural questions (including instructions for downloading and/or returning software). Feedback should be provided to the customer on any potential delays with a software purchase. Customer support may also manage customer relationships. Managing customer relationships includes receiving customer feedback. Software publishers and channel partners can use customer feedback to improve the products and services over time.
  • FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
  • This application reduces the time and expenses associated with direct contact with a call center phone representative. As more organizations enable their employees to access the Internet and their own co ⁇ orate Intranets, the benefits of a Web based support application increases.
  • the support application can be used for both internal and external customer support, alleviating much of the strain on both internal and external support/helpdesk organizations.
  • the customer support application features include:
  • the customer support application aids customers in answering their support questions by providing answers immediately online or by allowing the customer to submit comments or incidents directly to the product support database. This is accomplished by providing personalized access and navigation to different data sources, including, chat, news, mail, and a search engine.
  • the customer support application is focused on three main entities: the customer, the support representative and the site administrator. Key features to be provided for each of these entities are described below.
  • Personalization allows customers to set up their own support profile containing product and service information.
  • the personalization will allow the customer to access the customer support content without having to search through all of the products or services offered by the company.
  • a customer When a customer first visits the customer support site, the customer will be presented a choice of products and services to help build the customer's personal profile. Subsequent visits to the customer support site will be granted based on the identity of the customer.
  • the personalized customer support page is dynamically built based on the previously entered personal profile.
  • the personalization component is used to further aid the navigation of the other data sources: mail, chat, news, context-specific browsing and a full text search.
  • the personalized "Home" support page contains announcements pertaining to the products the customer has identified in his personal profile.
  • the announcement section also contains general information from the support organization intended for all customers. When a customer selects an individual product for support, the announcement section will be updated to include anBouneements specific to that product.
  • the relationship between the product and the available sub-topics and queries for that product is built as a site administrator function.
  • the relationship is available within the context of a certain product.
  • the site administrator places a link to the appropriate FAQ data source. Not all support sites will have FAQs.
  • a customer may utilize his web browser to browse FAQs.
  • a full text search function is provided as an aid to more advanced customers who are familiar with the terminology and the exact content they are seeking.
  • this information is passed to a search engine and links are returned to the appropriate documents. This is accessible from the home, or top level of the site. Search tips will also be provided to assist with building the search query statement.
  • the site administrator places a link to the appropriate knowledge base (database, HTML, or documents). Not all support sites will have a knowledge base search function.
  • the product support function will allow the customer to submit an incident (e.g.: issue, bug, comment, or request) to the product support database.
  • incident e.g.: issue, bug, comment, or request
  • the incident form contains customer information (name, address, e-mail address) defaulted from the customer's profile and with the specific product selected before arriving at the support page.
  • the view is generated from the incident database. Customers will see the incident number, description, status, resolution type and whether e-mail was sent to the customer by a support representative. The oldest incident to be displayed will be determined by the site administrator. Default time values may be selected by the site administrator.
  • Chats The customers may be provided access to chat forums. Chat forums may be open peer-to-peer interactions, or be hosted by a particular product group, allowing focused discussions at particular times, such as during "office hours". Chats provide an interactive forum to enable customers to help themselves, creating a self-help community of knowledgeable customers. When the chat area is accessed from the top level of the site, general support chats are available. When accessed from within the context of a product, forums appropriate for that product are available.
  • the customer support application provides instructions for accessing the chat using the customer's own browser. This information also includes the chat server and chat channel names. The application also displays available chat descriptions, names, and active customers participating in the chat. The site administrator creates the chats and chat links. Not all support sites will have a chat function.
  • Newsgroups Customers can access newsgroups available for the product profile they have chosen. For example, if a customer has selected Microsoft Excel in their profile, accessing the Newsgroups area generates a list of newsgroups appropriate for Excel. When the Newsgroup area is accessed from the top level of the site, all available general newsgroups will be listed.
  • the customer interface for the customer area is based on a frame format 1200 shown in Figure 12.
  • a specific implementation of a customer interface 1300 is shown in Figure 13.
  • a plurality of frame descriptions will now be set forth:
  • Amain result frame 1204 may contain the results from knowledge base or FAQ searches, chat, online forms, site announcements, and generally the result of any function selected from the navigation or function frames.
  • the functions frame 1206 contains links to different functions depending on the current context chosen in the navigation frame. If 'Home' is selected in the navigation frame, the appropriate functions are available in the functions frame, such as News and Chat. If a specific product is chosen from the navigation frame, function links for Browse FAQ, News, Chat, and Product Support (email) are available.
  • Several pages may be provided to assist the customer's use of the customer support features. Exemplary pages include:
  • a form appears asking them to enter profile information. This includes name, address, city, state, zip, country, company, phone, email, products, etc. This form appears in a main result frame. The customer clicks a button to submit the profile information and proceeds to the now customized Home page.
  • first time customers are presented with first time customer announcements 1302.
  • Return customers are presented with general site announcements and links to customized content for their chosen products.
  • Site announcements appear in the main results frame, and the product links are appended to the list in the navigation frame. Selecting a product link generates product specific announcements and updates the functions frame with any new available functions.
  • search Knowledge Base A search prompt box appears in navigation frame, in addition to any appropriate links including
  • Search Tips After entering search criteria, search results are displayed in the main result frame. The customer can click on a document link to view the knowledge base article.
  • General News Available newsgroups appear in the main result frame. Selecting a newsgroup link launches the customers default newsreader to access the selected newsgroup. Newsgroups may be moderated or general and there are no security restrictions on accessing newsgroups. A link is provided to access a download area where a newsreader can be obtained if necessary.
  • a customer may join or create a chat forum appearing in the main results frame.
  • the chat name, description and current number of customers is displayed for all current chats. Chats may be unmoderated for discussion among anyone who joins, or hosted for a specific reason, where a moderated discussion takes place. A list of upcoming featured or sponsored chats is available.
  • the browse FAQs function is only available after a customer has selected one of their products from the navigation frame on the Home page.
  • a sub frame is created containing sub topics appropriate for the selected product. These sub-topics are stored in the database, and the relationship between these topics and the selected product are entered as a site administrator function. Selecting one of these sub topics queries the FAQ index of the search engine and returns a list of applicable documents. The customer can click on a document link to view the FAQ.
  • These documents can be in text, HTML or any computer format.
  • Selecting a newsgroup link launches the customer's default newsreader to access the selected product newsgroups.
  • Newsgroups may be moderated or general and there are no security restrictions on accessing newsgroups.
  • a link is provided to access a download area where a newsreader can be obtained if necessary.
  • Product Chat Using the ActiveX chat control, a customer may join or create a product chat forum appearing in the main results frame. The chat name, description and current number of customers is displayed for all current product related chats. Chats may be unmoderated for discussion among anyone who joins, or hosted for a specific reason, where a moderated discussion takes place. A list of upcoming featured or sponsored chats is available.
  • the customer can access the Product Support area from the link in the functions frame.
  • the customer can access a form to send in an incident report.
  • the data on this form will be captured in a database.
  • the customer support representative will be able to:
  • the support representative can view all submitted incidents sorted by status. Another view shows all incidents sorted by status assigned to the support representative.
  • the incident will contain the description, the support representative assigned to the incident, status, resolution type (bug fix, can't duplicate, etc.), and a field stating whether email was sent to the customer.
  • Update Incident Status and Resolution Support representatives will be able to update the status, resolution type, or email sent fields of incidents assigned to them. Updates made from the Web site will be reflected in the incident database. Text resolutions may also be sent to the customer in e-mail and not maintained in the incident database. All incident changes will be customer viewable.
  • the support representative will be able to send an e-mail response to a customer's incident.
  • the support representative will be able to participate in product support chats through the Customer URL
  • Incidents for the current support representative can be viewed, or all incidents can be viewed, by current order status.
  • the list box controls to select the correct view are in the function controls frame and the results appear in the main results frame.
  • the incident name, brief description, status and email address of the customer who submitted the incident are displayed.
  • Each incident in the view incidents result list displays the current status in a list box.
  • the support representative can select a new status from this box and save the changes. Saving will update the view list.
  • a resolution can be chosen from a predefined list for a specific incident. This resolution is saved to the database and the list is refreshed to reflect this new resolution.
  • Send Response Email Selecting the email address of the customer who submitted the incident displayed in the view list will open the customer's current mail tool to allow the support representative to respond to the customer.
  • the site administrator will be able to:
  • Purge and archive function to remove outdated incident records from the database.
  • the main results frame contains a list of current site products and controls to modify or delete existing products.
  • a link is provided to add new products.
  • the function controls frame contains controls to access product maintenance, if necessary.
  • the site administrator can select a limited number of general site features from this page. This includes site colors, fonts, images, headers, footers, links and other features of the general site.
  • the site administrator and support representative access security can be maintained using the built-in security features of an operating system such as Microsoft Windows NT (NT). Another option is to use the MCIS Membership System. A link to HTML pages describing how to administer access levels and groups in the is also provided.
  • Site specific items that may need to be customized for different sites will be documented in online HTML pages. These pages will guide a site administrator in customizing and integrating their site.
  • the browse FAQs feature requires a relationship to be built between each available product and the sub topics for this product.
  • a web form will allow the site administrator to create new sub- topics and associate these sub-topics with the appropriate product.
  • List boxes will contain available products and sub-topics from which the administrator can select to create and delete associations.
  • various service documents 1407 are afforded including search, newsgroup, and chatroom service documents 1408, 1410, and 1412, respectively. Also included is a change personal setting document 1414 and a view incident status document 1416.
  • a product may be selected via document 1418. By this feature, a product specific topic page 1420 browse topic page 1422, product specific newsgroup page 1424, product specific chat page 1426, and product incident submission page 1428 is available.
  • Figure 15 illustrates support representative and site administrator operations.
  • a support representative may view incidents via a document 1500 and further issue details (change status) via document 1502.
  • resolution mail may be sent via page 1504 and issue details (resolution) may be issued via document 1506.
  • issue details may be issued via document 1506.
  • capabilities of a site administrator As shown, products may be added and deleted via document 1508. Products may also be modified via document 1510.
  • Service to Resellers Customer payments may be processed in the following manner: provide a customer the ability to enter billing information; interface with a credit card clearinghouse; allow the customer to proceed with the software download (if credit card is valid). Other services include designing, building and operating reseller storefronts. A customer support center may be operated for resellers. Also provided may be integration with back-end systems. • Service to Distributors - The clearinghouse may fulfill a reseller's order in the following manner: send credit information for verification; assume reseller credit risk; prepare invoice; bill reseller; process payments; post payments to reseller accounts; prepare and distribute receipt a receipt to the customer and reseller. Second tier channel support may also be provided. Software fulfillment can be provided, as may integration with back-end systems.
  • Figure 16 is an illustration of one embodiment of the present invention in which a selected number of the foregoing features are employed to establish the clearinghouse.
  • the selection of such features is based on how the clearinghouse is desired to be structured.
  • Examples of frameworks include the selection of activities based on publisher requirements 1600, ente ⁇ rise requirements 1602, and value-added opportunities 1604. Such features are as follows:
  • EULA End User License Agreement
  • EULA End User License Agreement
  • Figure 17 illustrates a modification to the previous embodiment of Figure 16.
  • the features of the embodiment of Figure 16 are included in addition to the following capabilities:
  • Figure 18 illustrates a modification to the previous embodiment of Figure 17.
  • the features of the embodiment of Figure 17 are included in addition to the following capabilities:
  • Such example involves a customer, a reseller's virtual storefront, a credit card clearinghouse, and a ESD clearinghouse.
  • a customer logs onto the reseller's storefront and thereafter chooses software to purchase.
  • the reseller's storefront then responds by sending the customer a price quote.
  • the customer downloads the software from the ESD clearinghouse.
  • the customer interfaces the credit card clearinghouse by running the downloaded software and "wrapper".
  • Payment information is then sent to the credit card clearinghouse.
  • the ESD clearinghouse then sends the customer a end user license agreement the terms of which must be accepted. If accepted, a proof-of-purchase is sent to the customer by the ESD clearinghouse.
  • the software is decrypted and decompressed after which standard setup procedures are run.
  • a consumer profile is created from input about the consumer.
  • the consumer profile is preferably created in a manner that predicts a consumer's buying tendencies.
  • the virtual shopping environment is tailored automatically based on the consumer profile.
  • This profile may be developed from many sources including consumer input, consumer search requests, consumer buying habits, consumer income level, consumer searching habits, consumer profession, consumer education level, consumer's pu ⁇ ose of the pending sale, consumer's shopping habits, products purchased and returned, reasons for returning products, etc.
  • Such information may be taken from indicia input directly by the consumer, captured as a consumer uses the network, and may be downloaded periodically from a consumer's system.
  • Figure 19 illustrates one method for developing a consumer profile as set forth hereinabove, especially in reference to the customer support interface.
  • consumer information such as search requests, shopping events, and browsing habits may be collected by the system or by the consumer's computer for periodic download to the system. All of the consumer information would be placed in a database in operation 1921 for retrieval when necessary.
  • a consumer's buying pattern for a particular type of item can be readily estimated with relative surety in operation 1922 each time a consumer uses the system.
  • the consumer's current activities can be logged and entered into the database in operation 1923, thereby ensuring up to the minute accuracy.
  • Figure 20 illustrates yet another embodiment of the present invention in which the profile information is used in a varied manner.
  • a consumer profile is developed in operation 2010.
  • the consumer profile may be created based on consumer indicia input by the consumer.
  • Such consumer indicia may include any of search requests, products purchased, products looked at but not purchased, products purchased and returned, reasons for returning products, consumer stated profile including income level, education level, stated profession, etc. as well as preferences and requirements of the consumer.
  • an item for purchase with a set of features is selected based on the consumer profile and is displayed.
  • the item may be selected from a group of items having characteristics that corresponds to a predicted buying pattern of the consumer.
  • the presentation of the set of features is customized based on the consumer profile in operation 2012.
  • the profile may also include additional information such as the billing address of the customer's credit card. This address could be utilized to identify the location of the customer for tax and shipping calculations. Other methods such as customer input and automatic identification, electronic signatures, electronic finge ⁇ rints, retinal scans and other similar identification methods could be collected in the customer profile and utilized to identify the customer and the customer's location.
  • Figure 21 illustrates the structure and manufacture of one embodiment of a packaged digital product 2110.
  • a "storefront" program 2110a is directly executable on a personal computer.
  • Program 2110a detailed by flow chart in Figures 21 and 22, allows a user-consumer opportunity to review information and demonstration programs relative to the actual digital product available for purchase.
  • a merchant/product data table 2110b contains information specific to the digital product available for purchase and the corresponding merchant. As described more fully hereafter, table 2110b allows program 2110a to verify the content of the digital product available for purchase.
  • digital product 2110c contains an encrypted and compressed form of the actual digital product, i.e., a version unusable without a unlock key.
  • a packager 2108 application builds a packaged digital product 2110 from a variety of source material and uses compression function 2108b and encryption function 2108c to produce the final compressed and encrypted digital product 2110c.
  • Digital product 2110c originates as a collection of files 2160 executable and/or usable on the personal computer.
  • a merchant also provides files 2162 comprising digital logos, product information, and other forms of marketing materials for use in presentation to the user-consumer during execution of the storefront executable file 2110a.
  • Text files 2164 provide additional information to the user-consumer during execution of the storefront executable 2110a.
  • the storefront executable 2110a is taken by packager 2108 for inco ⁇ oration into the packaged digital product 2110.
  • an operator, merchant or vendor manually enters additional information concerning the particular digital product 2110c available for purchase, e.g., general product information, SKUs, pricing, distribution/reseller identifiers and information, merchant data, product platforms, types of credit cards accepted, and a variety of other information characterizing the particular digital product 2110c available for purchase.
  • additional information e.g., general product information, SKUs, pricing, distribution/reseller identifiers and information, merchant data, product platforms, types of credit cards accepted, and a variety of other information characterizing the particular digital product 2110c available for purchase.
  • packager 2108 application 2108a takes files 2160, 2162, 2164, and 2110a, and takes the operator input to produce as its output the final packaged digital product 2110.
  • This packager 2108 output i.e., the packaged digital product 2110
  • This packager 2108 output is then mass produced by copying onto a variety of distribution platforms, e.g., CD ROMs, distribution diskettes, posting on bulletin boards and posting on Internet sites.
  • distribution platforms e.g., CD ROMs, distribution diskettes, posting on bulletin boards and posting on Internet sites.
  • the final packaged digital product 2110 maybe distributed across a wide variety of platforms, e.g., distribution diskettes, CD ROM, bulletin board posting, and Internet availability,
  • Figure 22 illustrates by flow chart execution of a packaged digital product 2110 on the personal computer. Beginning at block 2200 in Figure 22, portion 2110a of product 2110 is loaded and execution begins. In block 2202, portion 2110b of product 2110 is read and compared to portion 2110c.
  • the merchant/product data table 2110b must accurately describe the content of portion 2110c. For example, the number of files, file sizes, check sum values, and a variety of other aspects of portion 2110c must correspond to the description provided in table 2110b. This prevents delivery of a corrupted form of the digital product.
  • decision block 2204 if the validity check shows corruption or viral infection, then processing branches through block 2206, where the user consumer receives a "corrupt file” message indicating inability to unpackage the product, and processing terminates. Otherwise, a positive validity check advances processing from decision block 2204 to decision block 2208.
  • the computer presents the user-consumer with a storefront screen display.
  • the publishing merchant logo and associated information concerning the digital product available for purchase may be displayed. Further, the user is given options at this point regarding the review and purchasing steps associated with the digital product available for purchase.
  • the storefront display includes user input opportunities, e.g., mouse-activated buttons, to drive the program.
  • the computer scans for user input, e.g., scans for activation of one of the mouse-activated buttons.
  • Decision blocks 2212, 2214, 2216, and 2218 represent user selected options regarding presentation of demonstration programs, presentation of information screens, execution of purchase or point of sale programming, and a cancel option, respectively.
  • POS point of sale
  • FIG.2S. illustrates in more detail the point of sale (POS) programming represented in block 2224 of Figure 22.
  • processing begins in block 2230 where the computer displays the credit cards accepted.
  • the computer prompts the user-consumer for a credit card number, expiration date, and holder name.
  • the computer reads the user input, i.e., reads the credit card information provided by the user-consumer.
  • the computer performs an LUHN check on the credit card number provided.
  • a valid credit card number will conform to this preliminary test, i.e., have an appropriate MOD 10 result when applied to the LUHN check. If the credit card number fails the LUHN check, then processing terminates at decision block 2238. Otherwise, processing advances to block 2240 where the computer obtains an "electronic signature" from the user-consumer. At this point, the computer prompts for purchase confirmation including the purchase price and a final opportunity to decline purchase. If the user does not agree to the purchase, then processing terminates following decision block 2242, otherwise processing advances to block 2244.
  • the computer dials out to the credit card processor server in the direct, private, one-to-one telephone connection. Once the connection is established, the computer in block 2246 sends the merchant ID, product ID, purchase price, credit card number, expiration date, holder name, and any other required transaction data to the credit card processor server.
  • the credit card processor server interacts directly with the credit card bank network. If the transaction is not confirmed by the credit card processor server, then processing branches at decision block 2248 and terminates. Otherwise, processing advances to block 2250 where the computer receives from the credit card processor server the unlock key needed to "unpackage" the digital product stored in portion 2110c of digital product 2110.
  • the computer recalculates the unlock key to verify accuracy and also confirms to the credit card processor server delivery of the unlock key. Processing then advances to block 2254 where the computer delivers the digital product, i.e., decompresses and decrypts portion 2110c of packaged digital product 2110. A usable version of the digital product purchased is thereby copied onto the personal computer.
  • the user-consumer has successfully received a working version of the digital product purchased.
  • the merchant need not be involved in the purchase step, but has knowledge of the purchase by virtue of being credited the purchase price in the credit card bank network.
  • Figure 24 illustrates programming activity at the credit card processor server.
  • processing begins in block 2300 where the credit card processor server receives a call from a personal computer executing a packaged digital product 2110. This step corresponds to block 2244 of Figure 23.
  • the server validates the call in block 2302 invalid, i.e., not originating from a packaged digital products 2110, then processing branches at decision block 2304 and terminates. Otherwise, in block 2306 the server receives transaction data. More particularly, the server receives the data sent in block 2246 of Figure 23.
  • the server accesses a merchant data base (not shown) and compares the received merchant ID with a list of merchants registered for activity on system. If the merchant indicated is not a valid merchant, then processing branches at decision block 2310 and terminates.
  • processing advances to block 2312 where the processor server validates the transaction type.
  • An invalid transaction type causes termination at decision block 2314, otherwise the credit card processor server processes the credit card data in block 2316. More particularly, credit card processor server interacts with a bank network to accomplish a credit/debit transaction in the network debiting the user-consumer and crediting the identified publishing merchant. If, for some reason, the credit card transaction is not authorized, then processing branches at decision block 2318 and terminates. Otherwise, the server confirms to the personal computer the credit card transaction in block 2320. This step corresponds to block 2248 in Figure 23.
  • the credit card processor server generates the unlock key required to make available the digital product selected for purchase.
  • a server records the credit card transaction and delivers the unlock key to a personal computer, respectively. If the computer confirms delivery of the unlock key, as indicated in block 2328 of Figure 23, then processing terminates. Otherwise, the credit card processor server executes blocks 2340 and 2342 where the credit card transaction is deleted and a failed transaction is recorded, respectively.
  • the computer and credit card processor server interact automatically and directly to accomplish a credit/debit transaction without providing sensitive credit card data to any entity other than the credit card bank network.
  • the publishing merchant need not be involved in the purchase and delivery steps.
  • User-consumer need only enter his or her credit card information, and wait briefly, e.g., approximately one minute, while the automated transaction between the computer and server occurs.
  • a useable form of the digital product is made available to the user-consumer.
  • the time required to decrypt and decompress the purchased digital product depends on the size and compression technology used, but only several minutes are typically needed to deliver the digital product to the user-consumer.
  • the digital product is available for use within a very short time span. Further, the user-consumer need not interact with any other person, e.g., an operator, nor manipulate complex encryption keys to make use of the purchased digital product. The user-consumer gets virtually instantaneous gratification following a decision to purchase a digital product.
  • the Authorized Clearinghouse provides trusted services to all the software publishers and channel partners which enable two key components of the ESD model, the secure electronic packaging and the End User License Agreement (EULA) management and authentication. These functions may be managed by an impartial third party who is motivated and rewarded for accurate counting and enabling of the ESD market in general. These functions are the "Federal Reserve Bank" functions of ESD similar to the ASCAP or BMI type functions from the music industry.
  • the clearinghouses may perform trust functions that could create conflict of interest questions if they were managed by a software publisher or traditional distribution channel partner. Financial institutions, as time-tested suppliers of trust in traditional commerce, are in a strong position to provide the trust missing on the Internet.
  • GTO Global Trust Organization
  • the GTO is expected to be operational in late 1999 or early 2000.
  • These financial Institutions are adopting a set of common ground rules to equalize digital signatures and certificates around the world to ensure that a certificate issued by Deutsche Bank has the same baseline meaning and function as a Chase Manhattan-issued certificate.
  • Digital certificates bind identities to digital signatures through cryptography.
  • Digital signatures, generated through cryptography are contractually binding in much of the world, and can certify that a communication originated with a particular individual, and that the transaction took place.
  • Digitally signed communications bind trading partners to their actions without them having to exchange physical objects, such as contracts with handwritten signatures.
  • the GTO's eight founding financial institutions will compose the root certificate authority (CA).
  • the GTO root CA will certify financial institutions around the world as GTO members. These certified financial institutions will, in turn, issue digital certificates around the world under the GTO name. GTO electronic identities, recognizable globally, will let customers authenticate and identify themselves to any trading partner.
  • the GTO is an interoperable system for global identity trust, based on common business practices, system rules, and technical interoperability specifications-guidelines that standardize GTO electronic identities. Regardless of the issuer, a GTO identity will work anywhere, on any standard computer. Businesses won't need to depend on a single technology vendor or single certificate issuer.
  • the organization is sponsored by a global network of financial institutions to provide an extensive network of e-commerce-ready businesses that use a common risk management framework. As more financial institutions and their co ⁇ orate clients join the organization, its network of known identities will expand.
  • the organization provides a single, simple user identity solution to identify any participating user or compliant e-commerce application.
  • the GTO will provide high trust to e-commerce by extending financial institutions' traditional role of identifying customers to the electronic world. Financial institutions in the organization will stand behind issued identities, provide recourse for any parties who incur losses because of a problematic identification, and provide a dispute resolution and claims processing process. This is similar to the process that makes credit cards work globally.
  • Consistent contracts among all members of the GTO bind users to the messages they digitally sign. Contractually binding digital signatures are essential for e-commerce to thrive, and policy makers can support this environment by recognizing digital signatures to be as legally binding as a handwritten signature.
  • Governments should protect the rights of GTO participants by overseeing financial institutions in e- commerce as they do current bank regulatory environments. This oversight will occur through the existing international bank regulatory infrastructure.
  • Governments can enable financial institutions and their customers to enter freely into contracts, such as those that govern loss recovery stemming from system use. This freedom of contract preserves a trading partner's right to select the amount of risk they wish to incur just as they do in traditional business environments.
  • PKI public key infrastructure

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Abstract

La présente invention concerne un système, un procédé et un article de fabrication permettant d'obtenir une interface de soutien au client adaptée au profil du client. Tout d'abord, l'utilisateur est invité à introduire l'entrée d'utilisateur relative à l'utilisateur, l'entrée de l'utilisateur étant alors reçue par réseau. En cours d'utilisation, une demande de soutien au client peut être reçue de l'utilisateur. Un contenu relatif au soutien au client est ensuite déterminé sur la base de l'entrée d'utilisateur. Ce contenu relatif au soutien client est ensuite transmis à l'utilisateur.
PCT/US2000/018216 1999-06-30 2000-06-29 Systeme, procede et article de fabrication d'interface de soutien adaptee au profil du client dans un environnement de distribution de logiciel electronique WO2001001319A1 (fr)

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AU60651/00A AU6065100A (en) 1999-06-30 2000-06-29 A system, method and article of manufacture for a customer profile-tailored support interface in an electronic software distribution environment

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US34348799A 1999-06-30 1999-06-30
US09/343,487 1999-06-30

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