Claims
- 1. A method for performing an electronic transaction, comprising:
- (a) receiving a long-term certificate;
- (b) authenticating a user associated with the long-term certificate;
- (c) sending a short-term certificate to the user authenticated in (b), the short-term certificate containing authorization to perform commerce over a network.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- (d) evaluating a risk associated with the user; and
- (e) including in the short-term certificate information about the risk associated with the user.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the risk associated with the user is reflected in an upper limit on the short-term certificate's value.
- 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- (d) receiving information about the user's spending history; and
- (e) including in the short-term certificate information based on the user's spending history.
- 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information about a user's spending history includes marketing offers.
- 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- (d) receiving from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (e) including in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the information about a market partner's needs includes marketing offers.
- 8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
- (f) receiving, information about the user's spending habits; and
- (g) including in the short-term certificate information about the user's spending habits.
- 9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
- (f) receiving from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (g) including in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 10. The method of claim 4, further comprising:
- (f) receiving from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (g) including in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:
- (h) receiving from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (i) including in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- (d) billing the user through a regular billing channel between the certifier and the user.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the regular billing channel is a telephone bill.
- 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the regular billing channel is a credit-card bill.
- 15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:
- (h) billing the user through a regular billing channel between the certifier and the user.
- 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
- (j) billing the user through a regular billing channel between the certifier and the user.
- 17. An apparatus for practicing commerce on a network, comprising:
- (a) a processor;
- (b) a port coupled to said processor; and
- (c) a memory, also coupled to said processor, storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive a long-term certificate;
- (ii) authenticate a user associated with the long-term certificate; and
- (iii) send short-term certificates to the user authenticated in (ii), the short-term certificate containing authorization to perform commerce over a network.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:
- (d) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) evaluate the risk associated with the user; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information about the risk associated with the user.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the risk associated with the user is reflected in an upper limit on a value of the short-term certificate.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:
- (d) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive information about the user's spending history; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information based on the user's spending history.
- 21. The apparatus in claim 20, wherein the information about the user's spending habits includes marketing offers.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:
- (d) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the information about the market partner's needs includes marketing offers.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:
- (e) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive information about the user's spending habits; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information about the user's spending habits.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:
- (e) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:
- (e) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 27. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:
- (e) a memory storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to
- (i) receive from a market partner information about the market partner's needs; and
- (ii) include in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
- 28. A computer-readable medium that stores instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform the steps of:
- (a) receiving a long-term certificate;
- (b) authenticating a user associated with the long-term certificate;
- (c) sending a short-term certificate to the user authenticated in (b), the short-term certificate containing authorization to perform commerce over a network.
- 29. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, further comprising
- (d) evaluating the risk associated with the user; and
- (e) including in the short-term certificate information about the risk associated with the user.
- 30. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, further comprising:
- (d) receiving information about the user's spending history; and
- (e) including in the short-term certificate information about the user's spending history.
- 31. The computer-readable medium of claim 28, further comprising:
- (d) receiving from a market partner information about the market partner's needs'
- (e) including in the short-term certificate information about the market partner's needs.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to Provisional application Ser. No. 60/060,643, filed on Oct. 1, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (8)
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
"Netscape To Extend Business Extranet", Aug. 1997; vol. 15; No. 8; Multimedia Monitor; [retreived on Aug. 1999]; retrieved from Dialog Information Services. |