WO2001001225A1 - A system, method and article of manufacture for automatically generating a tailored license agreement - Google Patents

Abstract

A system, method and article of manufacture are provided for generating a license for software electronically distributed over a network. First, a user is prompted to enter user input relating to the user. Next, 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. Thereafter, the license agreement is downloaded over the network. Upon the receipt of an acceptance of the license agreement over the network, the acceptance is stored and reported to a source of the software.

Description

A SYSTEM, METHOD AND ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE FOR AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING A TAILORED LICENSE AGREEMENT

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to product dissemination, and particularly to providing an automatically tailored license agreement duπng the distribution and sale of digital content products

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Figure I (poop art} illustrates- a traditional software distπbution model Software publishers 100 distπbute a majoπty of their products to a tier 1 distπbutor 102 The distπbutor 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 repackaguιg.rrιa.y include bundling with other products or services. Examples of this include where software is bundled with a computer m a computer system purchase, or where user traimng or customer support is bundled with the software purchase In some circumstances the software publishers may bypass the distπbutor 102 and sell direct to tier 2 resellers 104 In a few limited circumstances the software publishers may also bypass the distπbutor 102 and the tier 2 resellers 104 and sell direct to consumers 110

Typically, 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 distπbutmg media and manuals, and creating product awareness and generating demand

Software distπbutor 102 functions typically include forecasting demand, ordeπng products from manufacturers, managing inventory, generating demand from resellers, fulfilling orders from resellers, managing reseller credit πsk, 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.

In this traditional- distribution model, shown in Figure 1, 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.

Also in this traditional distribution model, each level of the model must profit from the distribution of the products, and Figure 2 (prior art) 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 pπce of $81.84. This amount represents the cost of development, manufacturing, packaging and publisher's 100 profit. The distπbutor 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 (prior art) illustrates an alternative software distribution scheme. In this 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 then 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 aπanges a payment by credit card or debit card to the product source 308, e.g. the software publisher, tier 2 reseller, etc. In the foregoing scheme, the consumer must be a sufficiently sophisticated computer user to establish the telephone connection, download and finally install the software To further complicate matters, a separate step of paying for the software is required Many software publishers or tier 2 resellers are unwilling to download or otherwise distπbute 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 In this method, a consumer views a commercial website distπbutor offeπng 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 i-s- shipped- to- the consumer via conventional freight transport systems (e.g. U.S Postal Service, United Parcel Service, Federal Express, etc.)

More recent developments m the Internet and World Wide Web have allowed higher speed connections to consumers' personal computers Such higher speed connections allow direct downloads of the software from a software publisher's or distπbutor's website to the consumer's personal computer. This process is referred to as electronic software distribution (ESD).

ESD provides benefits to all participants m the software distribution chain. Software publishers can eliminate investments in manufactuπng capacity, and the cost of producing and distπbuting physical software packages, along with the πsk of holding obsolete inventory Distπbutors and Resellers can eliminate the costs of forecasting demand; ordeπng, holding, and fulfilling orders for physical packages of software; and can eliminate the πsk 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 subscπptions, tπal-before-purchase, and automatic upgrades

There are, however, substantial issues with these processes for the consumers, the software distπbutors and the software pubhsher/copyπght owners

Censumers are hesitant to provide sensitive, personal financial data (e.g credit and debit account) over the Internet to a software distπbutor. Consumers' concerns are based upon many factors Misuse or misappropπation of the consumers' financial data, inability to physically visit the software distπbutor, which may be physically located in a distant city or even a different country; and limited customer service and product support offeπngs.

Software distπbutors are pπmaπly concerned about receiving a valid payment If a consumer provides the software distπbutor with fraudulent personal financial data (e.g. credit and debit account) then the software distπbutor likely will not receive payment for the product

Software publishers and copyπght owners are concerned about the misuse, misappropπation and outright piracy of the copyπghted software.

There is therefore a need for a new scheme for the distπbution and sale of digital content products which more- dequately addresses the needs of the consumers, the software distπbutors and software pubhsher/copyπght owners.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention creates a tailored license agreement between a source of software and an end user of the software More particularly, a system, method and article of manufacture are provided for generating a license for software electronically distπbuted over a network First, a user is prompted to enter user input relating to the user This information is used pπmaπly for identification purposes Next, 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 Thereafter, the license agreement is downloaded over the network Upon the receipt of an acceptance of the license agreement -β-veF the network, the acceptance is stored and reported to a source of the software

In one embodiment, the license agreement is sent to the user and/or the source of the software via electronic mail Alternatives include sending the license agreement via facsimile or through the mail Further, entitlements of the user granted under the license agreement may also be tracked This could be accomplished through a policing routine found in the software itself The policing routine would monitor use of the software and peπodically send updates to the source of the software when the user is connected to the Internet

As an option, the user may be precluded from utilizing at least a portion of the software until the acceptance of the license agreement is received, or alternatively, that the software will become disfunctional after a certain peπod of time has expired This would permit the user to preview the software to ensure that the software meets the user's needs This would also help to ensure that the user will accept the license agreement

In yet another embodiment, the network may include a LAN, a WAN, and an IP-based network In the alternative, the network may include a dedicated one-to-one telephonic hard-line Additionally, the network may include a cellular, digital wireless, or satellite-based network

These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following descπptions of the invention and a study of the several figures of the drawings

Missing at the time of publication

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood when consideration is given to the following detailed descπption thereof Such descπption makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein

Figure 1 is an illustration of a software distπbution scheme of the pπor art;

Figure 2 is an illustration of the exchange of money in the pπor art software distπbution scheme of Figure 1,

Figure 3^" is an illustration of yet another software distπbution scheme of the pπor 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 distπbution scheme according to one embodiment- o-f the present invention,

Figure 5A is a schematic diagram of an electronic software distπbution scheme according to one embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating the vaπous operations associated with the embodiment of Figure 5

Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a tracking process associated with the embodiment of Figure

5,

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 12,

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 distπbution framework,

Figure 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a combination of the features of the present invention that may be used m addition to the framework of Figure 16,

Figure 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a combination of the features of the present invention that may be 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 vaπous 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, and

Figure 24 illustrates by flow chart credit card processor server programming interactive with the point of sale programming illustrated in Figure 23

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention is provided for the distπbution and sale of digital content products In order to accomplish this, one embodiment of the present invention is practiced on a network such as the

Internet which interconnects a vast number of client computers It should be noted that in vaπous embodiments, the network may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any IP-based network In the alternative, 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

A representative hardware environment of the foregoing personal computers is depicted in Figure

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 peπpheral 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

The workstation typically has resident thereon an operating system such as the Microsoft Windows NT or Wmdows/95 Operating System (OS), the JBM OS/2 operating system, the MAC

05, or UNIX operating system Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may also be implemented on platforms and operating systems other than those mentioned

Operating on the hardware is software One embodiment of software is wπtten using JAVA, C, and the C++ language and utilizes object oπented programming methodology Object oπented programming (OOP) has become increasingly used to develop complex applications As OOP moves toward the mainstream of software design and development, vaπous software solutions require adaptation to make use of the benefits of OOP A need exists for these pπnciples of OOP to be applied to a messaging interface of an electronic messaging system such that a set of OOP classes and objects for the messaging interface can be provided

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 m one component or module is called encapsulation

In general, 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 oftenjust called a class A class of objects can be viewed as a bluepπnt, from which many objects can be formed

OOP allows the programmer to create an object that is a part of another object For example, the object representing a piston engine is said to have a composition-relationship with the object representing a piston In reality, a piston engine compπses 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 m 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. In this case, 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.

When 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. However, 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 functions associated with it (e.g., how many pistons in the engine, ignition sequences, lubrication, etc.). To access each of these functions in any piston engine object, 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.

With the concepts of composition-relationship, encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism, 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.

With this enormous capability of an object to represent just about any logically separable matters, 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.

If 90% of a new OOP software program consists of proven, existing components made from preexisting reusable objects, then only the remaining 10% of the new software project has to be written and tested from scratch. Since 90% already came from an inventory of extensively tested reusable objects, the potential domain from which an error could originate is 10% of the program. As a result, OOP enables software developers to build objects out of other, previously built objects.

This process closely resembles complex machinery being built out of assemblies and sub- assemblies. OOP technology, therefore, makes software engineering more like hardware engineering in that software is built from existing components, which are available to the developer as objects. All this adds up to an improved quality of the software as well as an increased speed of its development.

Programming languages are beginning to fully support the OOP principles, such as encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and composition-relationship. With the advent of the C++ language, many commercial software developers have embraced OOP. C++ is an OOP language that offers a fast, machine-executable code. Furthermore, C++ is suitable for both commercial-application and systems-programming projects. For now, 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.

The benefits of object classes can be summarized, as follows:

• Objects and their corresponding classes break down complex programming problems into many smaller, simpler problems.

• 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 mhentance make it possible to extend and modify objects through deπvmg new kinds of objects from the standard classes available in the system Thus, new capabilities are created without having to start from scratch

• Polymorphism and multiple mhentance make it possible for different programmers to mix and match characteπstics of many different classes and create specialized objects that can still work with related objects m predictable ways

• Class hierarchies and containment hierarchies provide a flexible mechanism for modeling real-world objects and the relationships among them

• Libraπes of reusable classes are useful in many situations, but they also have some limitations For example

• Complexity In a complex system, the class hierarchies for related classes can become extremely confusing, with many dozens or even hundreds of classes

• Flow of control A program wπtten with the aid of class libraπes is still responsible for the flow of control (I e , it must control the interactions among all the objects created from a particular library) The programmer has to decide which functions to call at what times for which kinds of objects

• Duplication of effort Although class libraπes 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 hbraπes to wπte 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 Inevitably, similar pieces of code end up doing similar things in slightly different ways and do not work as well together as they should

Class libraπes are very flexible As programs grow more complex, more programmers are forced to reinvent 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 libraπes 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 m 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 wπte and code wπtten by others In the earl} < lays of procedural programming, the programmer called libraπes 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 appropπate for pnntmg out paychecks, calculating a mathematical table, or solving other problems with a program that executed in just one way

The development of graphical user interfaces began to turn this procedural programming aπangement mside out. These interfaces allow the user, rather than program logic, to dnve the program and decide when certain actions should be performed Today, most personal computer software accomplishes this by means of an event loop which monitors the mouse, keyboard, and other sources of external events and calls the appropπate parts of the programmer's code according to-action-s that the user performs. The programmer no longer determines the order in which events occur Instead, a program is divided into separate pieces that are called at unpredictable times and in an unpredictable order. By relinquishing control in this way to users, the developer creates a program that is much easier to use. Nevertheless, individual pieces of the program wπtten by the developer still call libraπes provided by the operating system to accomplish certain tasks, and the programmer must still determine the flow of control withm each piece after it's called by the event loop. Application code still "sits on top of the system.

Even event loop programs require programmers to wπte a lot of code that should not need to be wπtten separately for every application. The concept of an application framework carnes 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 m place. Subsequently, they build from there by replacing some of the geneπc 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 wπte from scratch. However, because the framework is really a geneπc 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 propnetary data structure) A programmer wntmg 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

Thus, as is explained above, 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 lnhentmg some of that default behavior and overndmg other behavior so that the framework calls application code at the appropπate times

There are three main differences between frameworks and class libraπes

• Behavior versus protocol Class libraπes are essentially collections of behaviors that you can call when you want those individual behaviors in your program A framework, on the other hand, 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 supposed to provide versus what the framework provides

• Call versus override With a class library, the code the programmer instantiates objects and calls their member functions It's possible to instantiate and call objects in the same way with a framework (I e , to treat the framework as a class library), but to take full advantage of a framework's reusable design, a programmer typically wπtes code that overπdes and is called by the framework The framework manages the flow of control among its objects Wntmg a program involves dividing responsibilities among the vanous pieces of software that are called by the framework rather than specifying how the different pieces should work together

• Implementation versus design With class libraπes, programmers reuse only implementations, whereas with frameworks, they reuse design A framework embodies the way a family of related programs or pieces of software work It represents a geneπc design solution that can be adapted to a vanety of specific problems in a given domain

For example, a single framework can embody the way a user interface works, even though two different user interfaces created with the same framework might solve quite different interface problems Thus, through the development of frameworks for solutions to various problems and programming tasks, significant reductions in the design and development effort for software can be achieved. A preferred embodiment of the invention utilizes Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) to implement documents on the Internet together with a general-purpose 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. Berners-Lee, D. Connoly, "RFC 1866: Hypertext Markup Language - 2.0" (Nov. 1995); and R. Fielding, H, Frystyk, T. Berners-Lee, J. Gettys and J.C. Mogul, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol - HTTP/1.1 : HTTP Working Group Internet Draft" (May 2, 1996). 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).

To date, Web development tools have been limited in their ability to create dynamic Web applications which span from client to server and interoperate with existing computing resources. Until recently, HTML has been the dominant technology used in development of Web-based solutions. However, HTML has proven to be inadequate in the following areas:

• Poor performance;

• Restricted user interface capabilities;

• Can only produce static Web pages;

• Lack of interoperability with existing applications and data; and • Inability to scale.

Sun Microsystems 's Java language solves many of the client-side problems by:

• Improving performance on the client side;

• Enabling the creation of dynamic, real-time Web applications; and • Providing the ability to create a wide variety of user interface components.

With Java, developers can create robust User interface (UI) components. Custom "widgets" (e.g., real-time stock tickers, animated icons, etc.) can be created, and client-side performance is improved. Unlike HTML, 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.

Sun's Java language has emerged as an industry-recognized language for "programming the internet." Sun defines Java as: "a simple, object-oriented, distributed, interpreted, robust, secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high-performance, multithreaded, dynamic, buzzword- compliant, general-purpose 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."

Another technology that provides similar function to JAVA is provided by Microsoft and ActiveX Technologies, to give developers and Web designers wherewithal to build dynamic content for the Internet and personal computers. 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

Technologies also includes ActiveX Server Framework, allowing developers to create server applications. One of ordinary skill in the art readily recognizes that ActiveX could be substituted for JAVA without undue experimentation to practice the invention.

Figure 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). 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:

• Software manufacturing

• Demand forecasting

• Inventory management

• Order fulfillment

These eliminated functions provide significant cost savings to the software publisher 500 through a reduction in the cost of goods sold and a reduction in the cost of inventory risk. Reductions of the cost of goods sold are a result of reducing or eliminating the physical reproduction of the software e.g. disks, reproduction equipment and labor, boxes, manuals and shipping. When distributing software electronically, there may no longer need to be 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. The inventory risk of stocking obsolete inventory and inventory carrying charges can be significantly reduced or eliminated through the ESD system since physical inventory may no longer need to be stored on shelves awaiting an order. Further, the lack of physical inventory requirements may further reduce overhead facility costs since warehouse space and labor may no longer be required.

The ESD system eliminates several functions of the ESD channel partners 502 including:

• Demand forecasting • Inventory management

These eliminated functions provide significant cost savings to the ESD channel partners 502 through a reduction in the inventory management, labor, warehouse and other increases in operations efficiencies and reduced information systems and inventory management requirements.

The ESD system requires the software publisher 500 to continue to provide the following existing functions:

• Software development • Distribution to channel partners • Demand generation through advertisement and promotion

• Channel management

• Reseller credit nsk management

• Sales reporting

The ESD system does not require the software publisher 500 to provide any additional functions than previous distπbution methods but does eliminate several previous functions

The ESD system requires the ESD channel partners 502 to continue to provide the following existing functions

Demand generation through advertisement and promotion

Order fulfillment

End user credit πsk management

Sales reporting • Value added services

Product selection

Customization

Installation / integration

Training

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 "cleaπnghouse" 506 provides a value added service to the publisher 500

The cleaπnghouse 506 provides the vital element of trust in the ESD The independent certifying agency provides a "level of compliance" opinion of the cleaπnghouse The certifying agency utilizes a seπes of standard tests, requirements and guidelines to check a channel partner's set of systems Optionally, receiving ESD system certification may be required to be a channel partner or a cleaπnghouse for a software publisher's ESD

Figure 5A is a general block diagram which illustrates the vaπous facets and an example of scope the cleaπnghouse may encompass As shown, the vaπous components of the cleaπnghouse may include storefront front end 510, content creation and management 512, content support 514, user interface 516, user interface support 518, e-channel management 519, e-channel support 520, royalty management 522, royalties and usage settlement 524, commerce support 526, fulfillment back end 528, marketing intelligence management 530, and marketing intelligence 532

Figure 6 illustrates, in most general terms, the vanous services afforded by the cleannghouse duπng the electronic distπbution software over the network For example, after a piece of software is provided by a publisher in operation 600, 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 m operations 604 and 606, respectively As an option, the downloaded software may be encrypted and further decrypted upon the receipt of the payment

In operation 608, support for the software via the user interface is also provided In order to facilitate the support function, 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

Royalties are allocated based on the sale of the software in operation 610 It should be noted that such royalty allocation may be based on a predetermined contract or agreement between the cleaπnghouse 506, publisher 500, and ESD channel partners 502 Payment may be administered automatically or manually by a separate party or one of the above parties 506, 500, and/or 502

As mentioned earlier, the cleaπnghouse 506 may be adapted to downloaded software in an encrypted form and further decrypt such encrypted software upon the receipt of the payment By this capability, the present invention is capable of tracking the distπbution and sale of digital content products for reporting revenues to a publisher

Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating the vaπous operations involved with such tracking feature First, in operation 700, encrypted software and a plurality of decryption keys are provided which each allow use of corresponding encrypted software As an option, 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 unauthonzed use of the software. Next, 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. In the case where multiple ESD channel partners 502 are supported by a single clearinghouse 506, a plurality of requests may be received from such multiple requestors and the requests may be logged separately for each requestor.

As such, in- its most limited form, the present invention provides the publisher 500 with an independent, objective reporting of sales by the channel partners 502, by receiving requests for decryption keys from channel partners 502 when they are fulfilling orders, recording the number of orders, or keys distributed and reporting the number of orders to the publisher 500 to enable accurate revenue recognition.

Figure. & illustrates yet another feature of the present invention. In particular, the present invention enables a change in traditional order of downloading and payment during distribution and sale of digital content products over a network. As shown, in operation 800, software is first provided which is encrypted at least in part. Further, in operation 802, a plurality of decryption keys are provided which are capable of decrypting the encrypted software. Next, a user is allowed to select from the encrypted software after which such selected encrypted software is downloaded. See operations 804 and 806, respectively. As an option, unencrypted software can be downloaded with the encrypted software. Examples of such software include demonstration programs or a partially operable version of the software. These can be used to allow the user to preview the software before purchasing it. The demonstration programs may also be used for marketing purposes.

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 transfeπed 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 pπor to dehveπng payment Further, the reseller is confident of payment pπor to completion of the transaction

Figure 9 illustrates yet another aspect of the present invention wherein a tailored license agreement is automatically provided duπng the distπbution and sale of digital content products

First, a user is prompted to enter user input relating to the user in operation 900 Next, in operations 902 and 904, 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 Note operations 906 and 908, respectively In one embodiment, the license agreement may be sent via electronic mail

Thereafter, the h-certse- agreement is downloaded over the network in operation 910 Upon the receipt of an acceptance of the license agreement over the network, the acceptance is stored and reported to a source of the software, l e publisher Note operation 912. As an option, 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 penodically 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

Figure 10 illustrates an ability of the present invention to securely process a return of digital content products that were distπbuted electronically This is afforded by providing a means of software source authentication over a network As shown, software is first electronically transfeπed to a user over a network in exchange for payment dunng a transaction, as indicated in operation 1000 Then, in operation 1002, a proof-of-purchase is then downloaded over the network after the transaction Such proof-of-purchase identifies the transaction As an option, the proof-of-purchase may also include an identifier of a source of the software for veπfication Thereafter, a notice of return including the proof-of-purchase may be received from the user over the network See operation 1004

The authenticity of the proof-of-purchase is veπfied 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 Optionally, information relating to the proof-of-purchase and the refund may be stored in a record As another option, the record may be transfeπed 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

With reference now to Figure 11, yet another aspect of the present invention is set forth As shown, the present aspect relates to supporting electronically distπbuted digital content products via a profile-dπven user interface In particular, 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 In use, a request may be received from the user for customer support in operation 1104

in- operation- 1-1 Θ6-, 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 In one embodiment, 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

In another embodiment of the present invention, 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

Additional supporting information will now be set forth with respect to vaπous aspects of the foregoing features of the present invention Such enabling information relates to receiving software from manufacture, receiving an order for the software, encrypting the software, downloading the software, providing an end user license agreement (EULA), processing a payment for the software, decrypting the software, generating a receipt for the sale, installing the software, reporting the sale, processing any returns of the software, generating a demand for the cleaπnghouse services, executing a recall of software, and providing customer support for the sold software

Receive Software from Publisher 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.

Receive Order

The clearinghouse must provide the most cuπent product version unless requested otherwise by an end-user. All products including cuπent 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).

It should be noted that the order may be received in various ways, i.e. web page or any other type of customer interface. To meet this need, several companies have developed computer architectures for online electronic catalog sales using, for example, the Internet as a transport mechanism to transmit data representing purchase requests between a proprietary browser and server product pair.

For example, 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. Equivalently, 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). This system appears to share similar characteristics and disadvantages as the Netscape 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. 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.

It is desirable, to the extent possible, to use existing terminal hardware appropriately adapted and modified to incorporate the principles of the present invention. Hardware suitable for this purpose is sold by NCR. This equipment, a self-service terminal system identified as model NCR 5682, incorporates 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 may be completed through the use of a credit card reader and a PIN number entering means.

In one example of a related system, insurance agents at remote office on-line terminals communicate with a central processor which includes a data bank, storing data as to risks to be insured, client information, insurance premium information and predetermined text data for incorporation into insurance contracts. An agent at a terminal keys in information regarding a risk and other data needed to write insurance for that risk. To assist him, a "form" is displayed on his terminal by the central processor, and he merely enters the pertinent information in the blanks provided. The information is coπelated in the central processor, from which a premium quotation is transmitted back and displayed at the agent's terminal and in which a client data base is established with the information from the form. Eπors or omissions are detected and the agent or client is notified. If the policy is to be written, a formal contract is printed under the control of the central processor and electronically stored and displayed to underwnter personnel Concuπently the insurance contract is mailed to the client The underwnter can decide to cancel or alter the contract Alternatively, the underwπting function is earned out before the contract is pπnted and mailed In this system, the terminals operate on-lme, underwπting is performed by a human underwnter, and the insurance contract is pnnted remotely from the client and mailed to him The on-line terminals are not automatic self-service vending machines, the client must deal with the company through agents

In another example of a related system, a terminal includes a CPU and is coupled to a memory unit which has data bases stoπng information Certam elements are assigned weights The system is used by underwriters to assist them in performing their underwnting functions

Still- yet- another system is adapted for automatically dispensing information, goods and services to a customer on a self-servrce 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 As noted, the terminals in this system are on-line with the central data processing center

Another system is provided using self-service terminals for dispensing voice and video information, pπnted documents, and goods and for accepting orders and payments therefor for travel related services by cuπency or credit card The self-service terminals include a processor, pπnter, 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 pπces, weather information and other lnformatron useful in the planning of a business tπp or vacation which is penodicallv updated via a communication link with the remote control center The self-service terminal normally operates off-line

Ideally, a quantity and a pπce of each of the items that is selected is displayed duπng use of the present invention Also displayed is a total pπce of the items that are selected along with shipping information Duπng 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.

Optionally, multiple languages may be incorporated into the present invention and payment for the predetermined set of items may be accepted in any one of a plurality of currencies such as electronic and foreign.

To allow a user to order merchandise, an online shopping system which allows examination, selection and order of items through a computer may be used. In such an exemplary online shopping system, in order to supplement a disadvantage by a gap from ordinary shopping caused by the use of electronic means such as not capable of directly touching the item and not capable of getting assistance of a real salesman, various devices for a user interface have been made. One of such devices is a shopping basket function which has some analogy with shopping basket used in a shop such as supeπnarket. In this function, items on the online shopping system are temporarily added to a purchase list and a process of order and purchase is conducted when all items to be purchased arc registered on the list, as items to be purchased in the supeπnarket are once put into a shopping basket and lastly the account is settled at a counter. In this manner, by preparing the purchase list to order a plurality of items one time, a time required to purchase may be substantially saved. Further, the consumer may prevent the failure of shopping and stop the purchase of unnecessary items by checking the list once before the purchase. Further, there should be no feeling of easiness since the items once added on the purchase list may be finally changed in any way before the purchase, resulting in a psychological effect that the consumer may proceed shopping readily.

The elements which constitute the shopping basket are a shopping basket main body (purchase list) and a function for taking items in and out of the shopping basket. With regards to functions associated with the shopping basket, there is a function to take the items into the shopping basket (add to the purchase list), a function to check the contents of the shopping basket (display the purchase list), a function to return the item in the shopping basket (change the purchase list) and a function to purchase the items in the shopping basket. However, for the function to purchase the items, only the order is accepted because the delivery of the items is made later, except a portion of items which can be downloaded as digital data and the shopping is not completed until the items are received and the account is settled. As regards 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 oniine shopping system, such as on the Internet. As another method of proving the shopping basket, 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.

A main stage of the online shopping is an item catalog screen on which information about the items is provided. The consumer examines the item on the screen and if he or she likes it. he or she takes it into the shopping basket, such as by placing a mouse pointer over a "purchase" button or link and clicking on the button or link. During the shopping, he or she examines the content of the shopping basket as desired to check the item scheduled to purchase and the pay amount of the items, such as by clicking on a link that brings up a screen listing all of the items selected. Accordingly, it is not necessary to always display the purchase list on the screen, but the functions to access to the shopping basket for taking in the items and to display the contents should be available to the consumer any time during the shopping.

As described above, 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, hi 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 interest 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 confiπnation. The state in which the necessarv' 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. On the other hand, in the method of always displaying the button in a specified area by dividing the screen, the above problem is solved.

Further, as a feature of an application on the Internet, high freedom of both information provider and user is pointed out. For example, the user cannot previously limit the length of one page of the contents prepared by the information provider. The environment of the user such as a resolution of the display, a type of browser software used and the setting of font varies from user to user and the information provider cannot know it. As a result, the information provider devises the amount of information and the layout described on the page to accommodate it in the screen, though the intended effect is not always achieved depending on the environment of the user In the method of placing the button for the shopping basket on the same page as the catalog, some degree of scrolling may be unavoidable On the other hand, the method of dividing the screen and shaπng the roles by the respective sub-areas restncts the method for prepaπng the contents It may be good that the user interface is uniform in one online shop but when it is applied across a plurality of online shops of vaπous items and scales, free design cannot be conducted This forces on the user a specific environment such as to watch the window of the browser at a specified size

Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, an interface for providing the shopping basket function is provided as a separate shopping basket window from a catalog window on which- online shop tem- 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 In one embodiment of the present invention, 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

Package and Encrypt Software

All software encryption keys are maintained in a secure environment by the cleaπnghouse The entire software encryption process must occur withm the secure environment No unencrypted software is transmitted outside of the secure environment The cleannghouse uses a different encryption key for each SKU (instance) of product sold. The software encryption process should not affect the publication product code

A detailed example of the packaging, encryption, decryption, and installation of software will be set forth hereinafter in greater detail with reference to Figures 21-24

Download Software

The cleaπnghouse transmits the encrypted software to the customer's computer For example, a secure wrapper is a secure method to deliver software electronically Using a secure wrapper, software merchants can encase and encrypt digital content to build customizable cyber-packages without making changes to the source code Duπng the build process, software merchants can include bitmaps, advertisements, registration mateπal as well as other marketing mateπal as part of a cyber-package After building the 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 usei 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

• Download cyber-packaged product

• Secure wrapper software scans hard dnve for disk and memory space

• Customer enters credit card and software registration information

• Secure wrapper software records transaction data • Secure wrapper software decrypts software package after transaction approval

As long as the delivery and sales systems meet the secunty and reporting requirements, there are no restπctrtms- orr transports- or platforms Any digital transportation vehicle may be used including the Internet, CD ROM, propπetary networks, On-line services, television broadcast, and cable modems The software will be virus-free

Provide End User License Agreement (EULA)

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 duπng the software unpacking/unencryptmg 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 copyπght holder, which is typically the software publisher The EULA reinforces the relationship between the end user and the software copyπght holder as well as increases the end user's confidence that the software is legitimate and an approved distπbution from the software copyπght holder An EULA is "signed" when any legally recognized form of customer signature, including physical and authenticated digital indicia, is affixed or recorded on the EULA. In addition, for the EULA acceptance purposes, 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. To comply with the

"customer signed EULA" requirement, there are three primary methods the channel can use to obtain customer acceptance:

• Provide the customer with a physical copy of the EULA terms and obtain physical customer signature. Archive this document.

• Provide customer with a digital copy of the EULA terms and obtain an authenticatable digital customer signature (RSA public/private key type). Authenticate the signature, archive this document.

• Prior to completion of the sale transaction and software delivery, display the EULA terms to the customer and receive a positive acceptance of the terms (such as through an "ok" button). Record this acceptance as part of the customer transaction history. Do not complete the customer purchase without this acceptance.

The customer must receive a copy of the EULA terms which they accept as part of the purchase process. The channel partner should deliver this to the customer in an un-alterable format. Examples include facsimile, standard mail hard copy, or a digitally signed file sent over an electronic delivery method. The customer should not be able to alter (without detection) this digital copy of the EULA. One method may be to send the signed file along with the software to the customer and tell the customer in an e-mail where that file is located.

Most software vendors cuπently favor licensing as the prefeπed method of distributing software.

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.

Although- traditional licensing and shrink wrap licensing are more or less applicable to licensing for individual systems, they are not well-suited to the network environment. Both traditional and shrink wrap licensing schemes are difficult to enforce on a network where several users have access to the software. Consequently, various electronic systems have been devised for controlling access to software on a network.

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. When an application is desired, 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.

If a license is not available, the client contacts another server to find the appropriate license. The client in the conventional system has the responsibility to obtain licenses from the various servers, and the individual servers provide resources at the client's request. To facilitate such licensing, the application typically includes a library of programs designed to contact the server, request a license, and track the resulting license. When a call is made to a server, all of the execution occurs on each individual server for any particular call. Similarly, if a license is located on a particular machine, all execution necessary to operate on that license occurs on that machine. Consequently, a central server containing most of the licenses available on a particular network is mainly responsible for maintaining the licenses.

In addition, conventional licensing systems rely on code embedded in the application to establish the licensing attributes. Code is placed in the application which interprets information received from the server to establish licensing parameters. Because the behavior of the license is not established until after the request has been made and the license obtained, the user cannot read the license terms prior to the request. In addition, this system lacks flexibility. To change the licensing terms, the code in the application must be revised.

Recently, generation and sales of software programs have become significant businesses both for companies which are primarily vendors of hardware, as well as for companies which vend software alone. Software is typically sold under license, that is, vendors transfer copies of software to users under a license which governs how the users may use the software. Typically, software costs are predicated on some belief as to the amount of usage which the software program may provide and the economic benefits, such as cost saving which may otherwise be incuπed, which the software may provide to the users. Thus, 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.

In many cases, however, it 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. A problem arises particularly in digital data processing systems which have multiple users and/or multiple processors, namely, managing use of licensed software to ensure that the use is within the terms of the license, that is, to ensure that the software is only used on identified processors or by the numbers of users permitted by the license.

A network environment for computers permits several computers or terminals to use or have access to one or more programs. Traditionally, an end user would have to obtain a license from a software vendor to authorize use of the vendor's software on terminals or workstations within the network. One method for providing access to software is known as the single-CPU or single processor hcense, wherein a software program is locked to a specific CPU and access to that software is only permitted from the particular licensed computer A single-CPU license may create instances where software is unavailable to all users because the computer is not functioning or because several users want to use the software at the same time To assure wide access, end users frequently must obtain unneeded

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, pπced proportionately to the number of users

The second general method to provide access to software is known as site-licensing. With this method, a software program is available for all the computers at an installation. The number of users who m y run- a software package concuπently under a site license is theoretically limited only by the number of users in the computing environment. Although site-licensing may ease administrative and operational problems for an end user, it normally does so at a premium pπce which takes into account the lack of accountability that such flexible licensing provides. A site license imposes unneeded costs where only a few users of a company actually need the software.

In the instance where a software vendor offers a choice between CPU-locked and site licensed software, it is the number of expected users at a purchasing company which affects the purchasing choice. If many of the end users at a company intend to use the software, for example, then a site hcense may be the most appropπate distπbution system because it may be the low-cost option. If the software only will be used by a few workers, however, then a CPU-locked distπbution system may be more appropπate. The trade-off point is determined by the relative pπcmg between the two distnbution systems

For environments where many users need the software but only spend a portion of their time using it, neither a dedicated CPU-locked license nor a site license may be cost effective. In such a case, a user who needs more than a single copy of the software may not buy it, thus depnvmg a vendor of potential revenue. Similarly, vendors lose potential revenue when they permit a company with a very large number of users to use software over an entire site, due to a general lack of accountability

As computers have proliferated in availability, the investment in computer software has also grown, and there have been developed vaπous methods for charging the computer user for use of computer software products Typically computer software products are licensed, rather than sold, to the computer user under vaπous aπangements. The simplest common license arrangement gives the user the πght to use a software product on a single computer, 1 e , to employ only one central processing unit (CPU) in connection with operation of the software product

Although many such licenses are for indefinite penods of time, a license may also be for a limited duration and extendable, so that the entity marketing the product can charge a peπodic 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 unauthoπzed use of their software products

Some licensors require passwords to activate software on a particular machine The password may be keyed to the hardware's identification number as a condition for operation of the software Such systems can effectively lock software to a particular machine, but do not address software that is licensed for concuπent or simultaneous use Some licensors use hardware locks that attach to a parallel pπnter port or a senal port on a machine, each time the software is activated, it looks for a specified code, in the hardware lock, as a condition for operation of the software Using hardware locks resolves the problem of unauthoπzed moving of software among machines, however, hardware locks do not handle multiple software products on a single machine, and they require time and expense to deliver to the end user

When computer software products are used m a network environment (which may include computers running in vaπous roles as workstations and servers of vaπous types linked together over a data path), additional licensing challenges are present For example, 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, however, have usually required the cooperation of the licensee, because additional nodes may be 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 nght to audit the licensee's site, but such an audit is intrusive, expensive, and may alienate potential or actual customers for licenses Although other approaches exist under which one might charge a single fee per server or per site or per entity, often on an individually negotiated basis, these approaches are often impractical or inflexible, in that they also typically do not take into account the possible wide vanation over time in the number of nodes or users and also require reliance on licensee cooperation

Recently it has become practical in some network environments to determine and limit the number of nodes that may access a software product at a given time, and to charge a license fee based on the maximum number of nodes that are permitted to use the software product concuπently

This is called "concuπent licensing" In these environments, a computer program, acting as "hbraπan" and running on a computer node designated as a license server, is typically used to distnbute license keys (sometimes called "tokens") over the network to nodes requesting access to run a software product, the number of keys is tracked by the hbraπan, and if at a given time, the permitted maximum number of keys would be exceeded by usage of the software product on a requesting node, the node can be denied, at such time, access to invoke the software product

Examples of software-based concuπent licensing aπangements may be found in Unix applications running in connection with software products sold under the trademarks NetLS (available from Gradient Technologies, Inc , 577 Mam Street, Suite 4, Hudson, Mass 01749), and SunLic (available from Sun Microsystems, Inc , Mountain View, Calif ), and Flexible License Manager (available from Highland Software, Inc , 1001 Elwell Court, Palo Alto, Calif 94303)

The piesent invention can securely manage the integration of contiol information provided b> tw o or more parties As a lesult, an electronic agreement can be constructed betw een participants that represent a "negotiation" betw een, the contiol requuements of, two or more patties and enacts terms and conditions of a resulting agreement Further the l ights of each partv to an electronic agieement legaiding a w ide range of electronic activities related to electiomc mfoπnation and or appliance usage is assured

Electronic Agreements and Rights Protection An important feature of the present invention is that it can be used to assure the administration of, and adequacy of secunty and nghts protection for, electronic agreements implemented through the use of the present invention Such agreements may involve one or more of

(a) creators, publishers, and other distπbutors, of electronic information,

(b) financial service (e g credit) providers,

(c) users of (other than financial service providers) information aπsmg from content usage such as content specific demographic information and user specific descπptive information Such users may include market analysts, marketing list compilers for direct and directed marketing, and- overnment agencies,

(d) end users of content,

(e) infrastructure service and device providers such as telecommunication companies and hardware manufacturers (semiconductor and electronic appliance and/or other computer system manufacturers) who receive compensation based upon the use of their services and/or devices, and

(f) certain parties descπbed by electronic information

The present invention supports commercially secure "extended" value chain electronic agreements The present invention can be configured to support the vanous underlying agreements between parties that compπse this extended agreement These agreements can define important electronic commerce considerations including

(a) secunty,

(b) content use control, including electronic distπbution,

(c) pnvacy (regarding, for example, information concerning parties descπbed by medical, credit, tax, personal, and/or of other forms of confidential information),

(d) management of financial processes, and (e) pathways of handling for electronic content, content and/or appliance control information, electronic content and/or appliance usage information and payment and/or credit

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 For example, an electronic agreement between a content creator and a distπbutor may establish both the pπce to the distnbutor for a creator's content (such as for a property distπbuted in a container object) and the number of copies of this object that this distπbutor may distπbute to end-users over a given penod of time

In-a- second agreement, 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 distπbuted product such as accepting distπbutor charges for content use and agreeing to observe the copynght πghts of the creator A third agreement might exist between the distπbutor and a financial cleaπnghouse that allows the distπbutor to employ the cleannghouse's credit for payment for the product if the end-user has a separate (fourth) agreement directly with the cleaπnghouse 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 πghts 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 secunty techniques and degree of trustedness (for example, commercial mtegπty of the system may require each installation secure subsystem to electronically warrant that their node meets certain interoperability requirements) In the above example, these six agreements could compnse agreements of an extended agreement for this commercial value chain instance

Some agreements support evolving ("living") electronic agreement aπangements that can be modified by cuπent 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 concuπently 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 diffenng, applicable installation content control information)

The evolution of control information can occur dunng 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 As a result, managed content may have different control information applied at both different "locations" in a chain of content handling and at similar locations in diffenng chains of the handling of such content

Such different application of control information may also result from content control mformation specifying that a certain party or group of parties shall be subject to content control information that differs from another party or group of parties For example, content control information for a given piece of content may be stipulated as senior information and therefore not changeable, might be put in place by a content creator and might stipulate that national distπbutors of a given piece of their content may be permrtted to make 100,000 copies per calendar quarter, so long as such copies are provided to bonafide end-users, but may pass only a single copy of such content to a local retailers and the control information limits such a retailer to making no more than 1,000 copies per month for retail sales to end-users In addition, for example, 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 prefeπed 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 secunty, usage administration, and communication and may support

(a) secure electronic distπbution of information, for example commercial literary properties,

(b) secure electronic information usage momtonng and reporting,

(c) secure financial transaction capabilities related to both electronic information and/or appliance usage and other electronic credit and/or cuπency usage and administration capabilities, (d) privacy protection for usage information a user does not wish to release, and

(e) "living" electronic information content dissemination models that flexibly accommodate:

(1 ) a breadth of participants,

(2) one or more pathways (chains) for: the handling of content, content and/or appliance control information, reporting of content and/or appliance usage related information, and/or payment,

(3-)- supporting an evolution of terms and conditions incorporated into content control information, including use of electronic negotiation capabilities,

(4) support the combination of multiple pieces of content to form new content aggregations, and

(5) multiple concuπent models.

Process Payment

The customer may be provided with means to enter billing information. An example would include providing an on-line form which accepts user indicia relating to a billing address.

Payment for the software purchased over the Internet is one aspect of the present invention. Today, approximately 350 billion com and cuπency transactions occur between individuals and institutions every year. The extensive use of coin and cuπency transactions has limited the automation of individual transactions such as purchases, fares, and bank account deposits and withdrawals. Individual cash transactions are burdened by the need to have the coπect amount of cash or providing change therefor. Furthermore, the handling and managing of paper cash and coins is inconvenient, costly and time consuming for both individuals and financial institutions.

Although checks may be wπtten for any specific amount up to the amount available in the account, checks have very limited transferability and must be supplied from a physical inventory. Paper-based checking systems do not offer sufficient relief from the limitations of cash transactions, shanng many of the inconveniences of handling cuπency while adding the inherent delays associated with processing checks. To this end, economic exchange has stπven for greater convenience at a lower cost, while also seeking improved secunty

Automation has achieved some of these qualities for large transactions through computenzed electronic funds transfer ("EFT") systems. Electronic funds transfer is essentially a process of value exchange achieved through the banking system's centralized computer transactions. EFT services are a transfer of payments utilizing electronic "checks," which are used pπmanly by large commercial organizations

The Automated Cleaπng House ("ACH") where a user can enter a pre-authonzed code and download information with billing occurnng later, and a Point Of Sale (POS) system where a transaction is processed by connecting with a central computer for authoπzation for the transaction granted or denied immediately are examples of EFT systems that are utilized by retail and commercial organizations.

Home Banking bill payment services are examples of an EFT system used by individuals to make payments from a home computer. Cuπently, home banking initiatives have found few customers. Of the banks that have offered services for payments, account transfers and information over the telephone lines using personal computers, less than one percent of the bank's customers are using the service. One reason that Home Banking has not been a successful product is because the customer cannot deposit and withdraw money as needed in this type of system

Cuπent EFT systems, credit cards, or debit cards, which are used m conjunction with an on-lme system to transfer money between accounts, such as between the account of a merchant and that of a customer, cannot satisfy the need for an automated transaction system providing an ergonomic interface.

To implement an automated, convenient transaction that can dispense some form of economic value, there has been a trend towards off-line payments. For example, numerous ideas have been proposed for some form of "electronrc money" that can be used in cashless payment transactions as alternatives to the traditional cuπency and check types of payment systems.

The more well known techniques include magnetic stπpe cards purchased for a given amount and from which a prepaid value can be deducted for specific purposes 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 purposes.

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"),

Secure Electronic Payments Protocol ("SEPP"), internet Keyed Payments ("iKP"), Net Trust, and Cybercash Credit Payment Protocol. One of ordinary skill in the art readily comprehends that any of the secure payment technologies 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.

Another such attempt to provide such a secure transmission channel is a general-purpose secure communication protocol such as Netscape, Inc.'s Secure Sockets Layer (hereinafter "SSL"), as described in Freier, Karlton & Kocher (hereinafter "Freier"), The SSL Protocol Version 3.0, March 1996, and hereby incorporated by reference. SSL provides a means for secure transmission between two computers. SSL has the advantage that it does not require special- purpose software to be installed on the customer's computer because it is already incorporated 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 authoπty Instead, the support for SSL may be incorporated into software already m use by the customer, e g , the Netscape Navigator World Wide Web browsing tool However, although a computer on an SSL connection may initiate a second SSL connection to another computer, a drawback to the

SSL approach is each SSL connection supports only a two-computer connectron Therefore, SSL does not provide a mechanism for transmitting encoded information to a merchant for retransmission to a payment gateway such that a subset of the information is readable to the payment gateway but not to the merchant Although SSL allows for robustly secure two-party data transmission, it does not meet the ultimate need of the electronic commerce market for robustly secure three-party data transmission Other examples of general-purpose secure communication protocols include Pπvate Communications Technology ("PCT") from Microsoft, Inc , Secure Hyper-Text Transport Protocol ("SHTTP") from Tensa Systems, Shen, Kerberos, Photuπs, Pretty Good Pnvacy ("PGP") which meets the IPSEC cπtena One of ordinary skill in the art readily comprehends that any of the general-purpose secure communication protocols can be substituted for the SSL transmission protocol without undue expenmentation

Banks desire an Internet payment solution that emulates existing Point of Sale (POS) applications that are cuπently installed on their host computers, and require minimal changes to their host systems This is a cπtical requirement since any downtime for a banks host computer system represents an enormous expense Cuπently, VeπFone supports over fourteen hundred drfferent payment-related applications The large number of applications is necessary to accommodate a wide vanety of host message formats, diverse methods for communicating to a vanety of hosts with different dial-up and direct-connect schemes, and different certification around the world In addition, there are a wide vanety of business processes that dictate how a

Point of Sale (POS) terminal queπes a user for data and subsequently displays the data Also, vanous 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 vanous data types Moreover, a plethora of 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 acqumng bank to another by merchants In general, banks desire to increase the cost that a merchant incurs in switching from one acquiπng bank to another acqumng bank This is accomplished by supplying a merchant with a terminal that only communicates utilizing the bank's propπetary 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 secunty 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 pπvate, secure, dedicated phone or leased line service utilized between a traditional merchant and an acqumng bank. Thus, it is cntical that any solution utilizing the internet for a communication backbone, employ some form of cryptography.

As- discussed- above, the cuπent state-of-the-art in Internet based payment processing is a protocol refeπed 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 captuπng credit card transactions and adjustments to these authonzations or captures. In a typical POS terminal in the physical world, these messages compπse almost the entire volume of the total number of messages between the merchant and the authonzmg bank, but only half of the total number of different message types. These message types, which are used infrequently, but which are cntical to the operation of the POS terminal must be suppoπed for proper transaction processing

Decrypt Software

The cleaπnghouse may either send a software decryptron key (or provide some other mechanism to allow customer to decrypt) to a customer or decrypt the software before upload to the customer. The cleaπnghouse 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 cleaπnghouse 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 cleaπnghouse reports the transaction to the publisher

Two different communication methods which are routed over different pathways to the customer's desktop may be used For example, if one is selling over the Internet, he or she may choose to download the encrypted bag of bits to the customer desktop using a MIME (multipurpose internet mail extensions) session. 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. MIME 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.

The key to unlock that archive must not be sent during the same session. It should be sent over a different communication method to the customer. For example e-mail, fax, or telephone. The basic concept here is to prevent a casual hacker from being able to get both the lockbox and the key to that box without a lot of effort.

Where a software locking and unlocking scheme is used as part of the distribution channel for Microsoft Software, it has to be sufficiently robust to have solved the one key fits many locks problem. Keys have to be unique to each sale instance of the software. There can be generic delivery archives, but only one key per instance of sale. Once a key is used, it must not be able to be used again with another lock. One way to implement this concept is to use some customer or CPU specific information during the unlocking process to ensure uniqueness of the transaction. Another implementation may put time limits on key use and re-use.

For unlocking and authorization, any of the digital transport methods may be used or any other communication device including e-mail, telephone, fax, or pager.

A detailed example of the packaging, encryption, decryption, and installation of software will be set forth hereinafter in greater detail with reference to Figures 21-24.

Generate Receipt

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. Optionally, 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 m its authenticity

As an option, a replacement mechanism may be provided m order to handle the situation where a back-up copy is required In one embodiment, the decryption key may be used for this purpose

Install Software

If necessary, 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 detailed example of the packaging, encryption, decryption, and installation of software will be set forth heremafter in greater detail with reference to Figures 21-24

Report Sale

A daily transaction report reflecting all product orders and returns is produced, as are audit trail reports. Other pubhsher-defined reports may also be produced.

Process Return

In the event a product is to be returned, the cleaπnghouse 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 cleannghouse can process the return. The proof of purchase can be easily veπfied as authentic if it was of the unalterable type set forth above Otherwrse, a senal 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 m 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 authoπty 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

Once the software has been returned, 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 penod, only a partial refund may be given or no refund at all

In the EULA database, it will be indicated that the customer's software has been returned Only one software return per EULA should be allowed to prevent fraud The cleaπnghouse will have full ESD customer level transaction data and will report this by channel partner to the publisher on a peπodic basis such as hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis This peπodic report will be checked against the channel purchase orders to ensure that the channel is reporting all transactions properly

The cleaπnghouse may also report customer information, such as the customer's profile, that was collected as part of the transaction, to the software publisher

If the reseller who sold a product is out of business, a special procedure may be earned out On the customer's Unalterable Proof of Purchase will be the chain of handling which the sale went through The customer should contact the distπbutor noted on the document Since customer transaction history is stored at the cleaπnghouse level, the customer should be able to return the product to any member of the distπbution chain served by that cleannghouse, although the prefeπed return path is the initial reseller

In a fully electronic channel using "strong encryption" techniques, it is possible to significantly reduce the ability of any pirate to pose as a manufactuπng site and insert bogus product into the channel The ESD channel should be designed with very strong technical barriers and checks and balances in such a way that this form of piracy should be eliminated

Generate Demand for Clearinghouse Services (Advertising, etc.)

An important aspect of distπbuting products is gcneiating a demand for those products Content must be acquired to be distπbuted through the ESD To acquire content, how ever, software publishers must become clients. Mass marketing to resellers, distributors and other potential customers may be necessary to ensure a large volume of content is moved through the ESD. At the customer level, the product will be promoted such as through advertising, a pricing scheme will be deteπnined, and product trials could be offered which w ould allow a customer to download a working version of the software that only has a few selected feaUires.

In an alternate embodiment, 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.

With- the increasing popularity of computer communications, many companies are becoming interested in advertising and supporting their products using an online computer service that can be accessed by customers. However, creating a large online computer service is an extensive task. To develop a sophisticated online service, such as America Online™, CompuServe™, Genie™, or

Prodigy™, 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.

One way a company can contact millions of potential customers is to use the global Internet. The global Internet is a network of computer networks that links together millions of computer systems using the well defined TCP/IP protocol.

One method of distributing and viewing information is on the Internet. A browser program retrieves the formatted infoπnation and provides the infoπuation 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.

For a company that wishes to develop an online presence, creating an internet site would provide a feature rich online service available to customers and clients. An internet site can display images, text, animation, and sounds that provide information about the compan;.. Furthermore, internet sites can be implemented on relatively simple computer systems, including personal computers.

Alternatively, 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. Thus, by creating a simple HTTP server, any organization or corporation can create an online presence.

However, quickly creating the HTML formatted documents required for a World-Wide Web Server is not a trivial task. Moreover, the standard HTTP server software, without any additional programming, is very limited. For example, without custom extensions, an HTTP server cannot accommodate complex transactions between a user and the HTTP server or integrate a database system into an online service. Although it is possible to write custom extensions to the HTTP server software using a conventional programming language, such custom extensions are difficult to write except by experienced programmers. Thus, to be able to quickly deploy full-featured HTTP servers, it would be desirable to have a development tool usable by non-programmers that allows a developer to quickly and easily create a full-featured online service based upon the HTTP and HTML standards.

Many programming development tools are known in the art. These programming development tools range from tools which are developed and marketed as general purpose programming development tools to sophisticated special purpose development tools for developing specific types of applications.

For example, the Information Exchange Facility (IEF) general development tool, which is available from Texas Instruments, is used by professional programmers to develop application programs.

Essentially, IEF provides a facility that allows a programmer to write "pseudo code" and IEF generates an intermediate source code program in a high level programming language (such as COBOL or C code) based on the "pseudo code". IEF is an example of what will be refeπed to herein as a "general puipose development tool" because it allows development of programs for essentially any puipose or application dependent on the input provided by the programmer.

In contrast to general purpose software development tools, many application programs themselves provide special purpose "development tool" capability. An example is the Access ^{I M} database program available from Microsoft. The Access^{1 M} database allows end users to develop sophisticated database applications which would have been developed by professional programmers a few years ago. The Access ^{I NI} database is but one example of a special purpose development tool.

Another example of a special purpose development tool is the Application Development Environment of Lotus Notes . The Application Development Environment of Lotus Notes provides features which are said to allow for rapid development of w orkgroup applications such as sharing of documents between users over a network. Generally, 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, foπn-based approval systems, project tracking applications and status reporting systems; (ii) security; (iii) database access; and (iv) discussion groups.

Recall

From time to time, 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.

Provide Customer Support

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

The customer support features are supported by an internet/intranet application to assist in solving many of the problems encountered by both customers and the customer support organization itself The customer support application provides a mechanism with which companies can utilize servers to establish an internal or external Web-based customer support function The customer interface is based on the premise of self-navigation Customers can visit the site and find answers to their support problems through searches of the knowledge base and

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) If the customer is unable to find the answer to their question- they will- be able to submit a support incident to the product support database

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 corporate 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

Personalized site based on customer profile

Ability to search the knowledge base and browse FAQs

Support for announcements or "hot topics" personalized to the customer's products and/or interests

Support for peer-to-peer newsgroups

Support for customer interaction with other customers and support personal questions via chats

Administrative support to set access pπvileges • Administrative ability to create and modify products and related links, queπes, etc

Customer ability to submit support requests or comments

Customer service personnel ability to view and respond to customer reported incidents

The customer support application aids customers m answeπng 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.

To answer their questions and get support online, the customer will be able to: Receive personalized support

Receive personalized general and product-specific announcements Enter profile information listing products, interests, etc. Browse general and product-specific FAQ's Search the product knowledge base Participate in general and product-specific chats Browse general and product-specific newsgroups Provide feedback on the site Submit and track comments or support requests Link to the organization's "Home" Web site Select specific chat clients Record and display select chat transcripts Send feedback on the site Product registration

Validation against existing customer or registration databases Ability to recognize the same customer from multiple machines Pay per product support Entitlements View a schedule of upcoming/future (or regularly scheduled) chat forums, office hours, etc.

Personalization is the key to the customer's experience with the customer support application.

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. 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 announcements specific to that product

Context searching through the FAQ data source provides the customer additional navigational assistance in finding an answer to their problem Rather than presenting the customer with a blank prompt box and hoping they enter the coπect search cntena, navigational assistance guides the customer to the coπect answer by allowing the customer to select from predefined search queπes For example, a customer may have set Microsoft Excel as a product of interest within their personalization profile When accessing the context search area, a list of Excel topics (Pπntmg, Formatting, Saving) may appear that are only applicable to the cuπent product

Choosing one of these topics sends a predefined query to a search engine, to return a more refined result set This should reduce the number of returned values in the result list, and aid the customer in quickly finding their answer

The relationship between the product and the available sub-topics and queπes for that product is built as a site administrator function The relationship is available withm the context of a certain product The site administrator places a link to the appropπate 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 Upon enteπng the desired search text, this information is passed to a search engine and links are returned to the appropπate 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 appropπate 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.

If the customer's questions are not answered through the search of the knowledge base and FAQs, an incident form is automatically provided for submitting comments or issues. The information collected on this form is captured in the incident database for review by a support representative as well as for archival purposes. Customers are presented with instructions for accessing the other options and solutions available for answeπng their questions before the incident form s- displayed

The incident form contams customer information (name, address, e-mail address) defaulted from the customer's profile and with the specific product selected before amving at the support page

Incident Tracking

Customers can view the incidents they have submitted. The view is generated from the incident database. Customers will see the incident number, descnption, 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 duπng "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 appropπate 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 descπptions, 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 m their profile, accessing the Newsgroups area generates a list of newsgroups appropπate for Excel When the Newsgroup area is accessed from the top level of the site, all available general newsgroups will be listed

Customer Interface

The customer interface for the customer area is based on a frame format 1200 shown m Figure 12 A specific implementation of a customer interface 1300 is shown in Figure 13 A plurality of frame descπptions will now be set forth

Navigation Frame

A navigation frame 1202 contains the general site navigation controls, links and any products selected in the customer profile General links include

• Home - a link to return to the support site home page

• Search KB - to search the knowledge base for any type of information • Profile - to modify the customer's existing profile data or add and remove products

• Support - to view previously submitted issues

Main Result Frame

A mam 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

Functions Frame

The functions frame 1206 contains links to different functions depending on the cuπent context chosen in the navigation frame If 'Home' is selected in the navigation frame, the appropπate 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

Profile New Customer

If the customer has not visited the site previously, as determined by asking for a password or a user ED and companng that input to a database, 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 mam result frame The customer clicks a button to submit the profile information and proceeds to the now customized Home page

Home

Shown- m- Figure 13-, 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 (KB) A search prompt box appears in navigation frame, in addition to any appropnate links including

Search Tips After entenng search cntena, search results are displayed in the main result frame The customer can click on a document link to view the knowledge base article

Profile The profile function allows the customer to change their previously defined profile This would allow the customers to change their name, address, city, state, zip, country, company, phone, e- mail and products selected The customer would then click on a button to submit the profile information and proceed back to the Home page

Support

Previously submitted incidents can be viewed by the customer under this function It contains a list of incidents along with the cuπent status, resolution and whether an email has been sent

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 secunty restnctions on accessing newsgroups. A link is provided to access a download area where a newsreader can be obtained if necessary.

General Chat

Using the ActiveX chat control, a customer may join or create a chat forum appeanng in the main results frame The chat name, descnption and cuπent number of customers is displayed for all cuπent 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

Hot Topics

Hot topics appear m the mam frame when a product is chosen. It can contain late breaking product news and information. The functions frame at the bottom of the screen also changes to display product specific choices.

Browse FAQs

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 appropπate for the selected product. These sub-topics are stored m 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 queπes 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.

Product Newsgroups

Available product newsgroups appear in the main result frame. 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 secunty restnctions 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 appeanng in the main results frame The chat name, descπption and cuπent number of customers is displayed for all cuπent 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

Product Support

If the customer cannot find an answer to their question using the above data sources the customer can access the Product Support area from the link m 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

Several- features are provided to assist the support representatives To provide feedback on the resolution of customer submitted support requests, the customer support representative will be able to

• View issue name, descπption and status of all incidents by status

• View issue name, descnption and status of all incidents by support representative •- Mod-ify issue status

• Update issue resolution type from a list of resolution options • Submit an e-mail response to a customer

• Participate in product chat forums

• View issues by product

• Enter comments or text resolution for an issue online •^■ Log date rrme the status of an incident is updated • Assign change incident pπonty or ownership

• All other changes to incidents

View Submitted Incidents

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 descnption, 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.

Email Response/Resolution

The support representative will be able to send an e-mail response to a customer's incident.

Details of the incident and the customer's email address will default into the email form.

Chats

The support representative will be able to participate in product support chats through the Customer URL

Several pages are provided to assist the support representative's use of the customer support features:

View Incidents

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 coπect 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.

Change Incident Status

Each incident in the view incidents result list displays the cuπent 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.

Update Resolution

Similar to the incident status, 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 m the view list will open the customer's cuπent mail tool to allow the support representative to respond to the customer

Several features are provided to assist the site administrators To administer and maintain the support site, the site administrator will be able to.

Add, delete and modify product names and descπptions

Add/change/delete access levels for site administrators and support representatives through

NT secunty

Read instructions for installing and configuπng the site through HTML text pages

Select page templates

Add/change/delete query statements associated with each product/subtoprc combination

Add/change/delete support representatives

Purge and archive function to remove outdated incident records from the database

Manage pnvileges based on entitlement

Site page management tool

Manage a tool to add/change/delete links to announcements, FAQs, and the KNOWLEDGE

BASE

Manage a tool to add/change/delete links for Chats and Newsgroups

Produce site statistics

Manage a FAQ setup tool

Several pages are provided to assist the sit administrator's use of the customer support features

Product Maintenance

The main results frame contains a list of cuπent 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

Template Maintenance

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 Secunty Access

The site administrator and support representative access secunty can be maintained using the built-in secunty 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 descnbing how to administer access levels and groups in the is also provided

General Purpose Communications

Built-in pπvate commumcations technology, such as technology based on Netscape™'s Secure Sockets Layer technology, will keep communications between two parties pnvate by encrypting the conversation between the server and all browsers that support SSL, including Microsoft

Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and others

Credit-card Payment

Credit-card authoπzation and payment will be allowed. For example, Microsoft merchant services will include the industry standard Secure Electronic Transactions (SET) protocol recently announced by Visa, MasterCard and their technology partners, including Microsoft

Site Setup Instructions

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

Product Sub-options Maintenance

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 appropπate product List boxes will contain available products and sub-topics from which the administrator can select to create and delete associations

Product Option/Sub-options Query Maintenance Each product and sub-topic pair created in the Product Sub-options Maintenance requires the appropπate query to be built to pass to the search engine The administrator can enter the query and assign this query to the coπect sub-topics Queπes are defined according to the cuπent search engine (ER or Tπpoh) and the content being searched Customer service processes are illustrated in Figures 14 and 15 As shown in Figure 14, upon access to the customer interface in operation 1400, it is first determined whether the present visit is a first visit in decision 1402 If it is determined that the present visit is a first visit, a personalization document 1404 is displayed after which a personal choice operation 1406 is executed to allow personalization of the customer interface.

If it is determined that the present visit is not a first visit m decision 1402, vaπous 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. In order to further personalize the customer interface, 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 As shown, a support representative may view incidents via a document 1500 and further issue details (change status) via document 1502. In addition, resolution mail may be sent via page 1504 and issue details (res lu i n} may be issued via document 1506 Also shown in Figure 15 are capabilities of a site administrator As shown, products may be added and deleted via document 1508 Products may also be modified via document 1510

Additional Services

• Operations Activities - Cleannghouse applications are developed and maintained Billing is conducted for services rendered Network creation, operation and delivery are provided Facilities are provided Channel management is provided and is a process for handling different forms of delivery required for different types of partners

• Service to Publishers - Another service provided is to register and segment customers purchasing software Transaction data may be conditioned and high-value reporting options may be provided ESD of Licensing/OEM business may be supported Bills to resellers/ distπbutors can be generated Publisher settlements processing may be supported Market reporting capabilities may also be provided

• 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 cleaπnghouse, 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 cleaπnghouse may fulfill a reseller's order in the following manner send credit information for veπfication, assume reseller credit nsk, prepare invoice, bill reseller, process payments, post payments to reseller accounts, prepare and distπbute 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 cleannghouse The selection of such features is based on how the cleaπnghouse is desired to be structured Examples of frameworks mclude the selection of activities based on publisher requirements 1600, enterpnse requirements 1602, and value-added opportunities 1604 Such features are as follows

Receive software from Publisher

Receive Order

Package software

Encrypt software

Download software

Provide End User License Agreement (EULA)

Decrypt software

Receive Order

Encrypt Software

Download Software

Provide End User License Agreement (EULA)

Process Payment

Decrypt (Open Sesame) Software

Generate Receipt install Software

Report Sale

Process Return

Provide Customer Support

Generate Demand for Cleannghouse Services

Figure 17 illustrates a modification to the previous embodiment of Figure 16 In the present embodiment, the features of the embodiment of Figure 16 are included in addition to the following capabilities

Manage infrastructure investment • Manage operations scalability

• Maintain and upgrade clearinghouse applications

• Develop business and growth plans

• Manage relationships with other FPP ESD channel partners

• Generate demand for clearinghouse services

Figure 18 illustrates a modification to the previous embodiment of Figure 17. In the present embodiment, the features of the embodiment of Figure 17 are included in addition to the following capabilities:

Handle reseller/end user financial transaction

Customer Data Warehousing

Relationship marketing

Royalty management services

Storefront development management

Subscription Services

End user demand generation

Partnership opportunities with: intellectual provider

- infrastructure developer

- channel partners

- alternative capital funding sources

- cross industry content providers

• Technology development to reduce publisher piracy risk

One example of use of the various foregoing features of the present invention will now be set forth. Such example involves a customer, a reseller' s virtual storefront, a credit card clearinghouse, and a ESD clearinghouse. In use, 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. Next, the customer downloads the software from the ESD clearinghouse. The customer then 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. Then, the software is decrypted and decompressed after which standard setup procedures are run.

User Profile

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 purpose 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. In operation 1920, consumer infoπnation 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. Thus, 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. Further, the consumer^'s cuπent 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. As shown, 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, hi operation 2011, of Figure 20, 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 fingerprints, 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.

It should be noted that the creation of profiles as set forth above must comply with the laws of various jurisdictions, including those of foreign countries. Treaties must also be complied with when concerning a foreign consumer. For example, automatically downloading user infoπnation from the consumer^'s computer may be prohibited under an applicable law.

Encryption, Decryption, & Installation of Software

Figure 21 illustrates the structure and manufacture of one embodiment of a packaged digital product 2110. In Figure 21, 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 coπesponding merchant. As described more fully hereafter, table 2110b allows program 2110a to verify the content of the digital product available for purchase. Finally, 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. Finally, the storefront executable 2110a is taken by packager 2108 for incorporation into the packaged digital product 2110 Duπng execution of packager 2108 application 2108a, an operator, merchant or vendor manually enters additional information concerning the particular digital product 2110c available for purchase, e g , general product information, SKUs, pπcmg, distnbution/reseller identifiers and information, merchant data, product platforms, types of credit cards accepted, and a vanety of other information characteπzmg the particular digital product 2110c available for purchase

Thus, 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, l e , the packaged digital product 2110, is then mass produced by copying onto a vanety of distπbution platforms, e g , CD ROMs, distπbution diskettes, posting on bulletin boards, arrd-pσstmg on Internet sites Once the packaged digital products 2110 are publicly distπbuted, the user-consumers obtain copies of digital products 2110 and execute the packaged digital products 2110 on their personal computers for use thereon

Important to note, the final packaged digital product 2110 may be distnbuted across a wide vanety of platforms, e g , distπbution 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 descπbe the content of portion 2110c For example, the number of files, file sizes, check sum values, and a vanety of other aspects of portion 2110c must coπespond to the descπption provided in table 2110b This prevents delivery of a corrupted form of the digital product In 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

In block 2208, the computer presents the user-consumer with a storefront screen display For example, 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. In block 2210, 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.

If the user selects the demonstration option, then processing branches through block 2220 where the computer executes a demonstration program relative to the digital product available for purchase and processing returns to block 2210. If the user selects an information option, then processing branches at block 2214 through block 2222 where the computer displays information screens concerning the product available for purchase and processing returns to block 2210. If the- user seiects the purchase option, then processing branches at block 2216 through block 2224 where the computer executes a point of sale (POS) program and processing returns to block 2210. The POS program of block 2224 is more fully detailed in Figure 23 and discussed more fully hereafter. Finally, if the user selects the cancel option, then processing terminates following block 2218.

Figure .23-, illustrates in more detail the point of sale (POS) programming represented in block 2224 of Figure 22. In Figure 23, processing begins in block 2230 where the computer displays the credit cards accepted. In block 2232, the computer prompts the user-consumer for a credit card number, expiration date, and holder name. Continuing to block 2234, the computer reads the user input, i.e., reads the credit card information provided by the user-consumer.

In block 2236, 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.

In 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 ED, product ED, 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. In block 2252, 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.

At this point, 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. In Figure 24, 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 coπesponds to block 2244 of Figure 23. The server then 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 then 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. Otherwise, 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 coπesponds to block 2248 in Figure 23.

Continuing to block 2322, the credit card processor server generates the unlock key required to make available the digital product selected for purchase In block 2324 and 2326, 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

Thus, 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- watt briefly, e , approximately one minute, while the automated transaction between the computer and server occurs Following this bπef interaction, 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 Accordingly, once the user-consumer decides to purchase a digital product and initiates the purchase step, the digital product is available for use withm 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

Trusted Services

In one aspect of the present invention, the Authoπzed Cleannghouse 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 cleannghouses may perform trust functions that could create conflict of interest questions if they were managed by a software publisher or traditional distπbution 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. One organization seeking to foster trust in internet business is the Global Trust Organization (GTO), founded by CertCo in May, 1997, and formed by ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Bank of America, Bankers Trust, Barclays Bank, Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, and Hypo Vereinsbank. It should be noted that the principles employed by the GTO may be applied to the present invention and visa-versa.

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.

Like driver's licenses or credit cards, digital certificates have meaning only when backed by a trusted entity. Although technology companies can and do issue digital certificates, and act as certificate authorities and trusted third parties, financial institutions are in a better position to create trustworthy identities. They have the assets, customer knowledge, and centuries of risk management experience that it takes to effectively stand behind electronic credentials. Financial institutions also own global networks, round-the-clock operating centers, and secure messaging systems-all key pieces for a secure e-commerce infrastructure.

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 corporate 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-commercc 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.

As commerce and the Internet converge with entities like the GTO, and as companies increasingly go on-line to find corporate customers and suppliers, compelling legal and policy questions arise. If financial institutions shepherd e-commerce, who regulates them on the Web, and how closely? What details should be left to the free market or to parties who have arrived at a good- faith meeting of the minds? What is the role of government? What international bodies, if any, should set the rules? Also, why can't governments create and manage the electronic identities on which most business-to-business internet commerce models rely?

The right decisions will give companies a chance to flourish on the Internet. The wrong decisions will stifle opportunities. Too much regulation could eliminate the enormous efficiencies of business-to-business e-commerce. Too little regulation could make unwitting companies prey for e-commerce money machines.

For the most part, the optimal balance between regulation and free on-line commerce has been struck by default. Contract law, banking regulations, and market forces have put all the big pieces in place for a business-to-business e-commerce environment that protects users from fraud while allowing commerce to thrive. The relative stability of the cuπent e-commerce regulatory environment argues, at the very least, for a measured, conservative, and cautious approach to adding new laws and regulations.

Policy makers can and should make refinements as the emerging market demands, but it would be folly to make them before the market takes shape. The founders of trust infrastructures, such as the GTO should establish uniform system rules, business practices, and contracts that bind all participants to those rules and practices. Such elements, combined with existing regulatory authority, provide protection for all parties through the to following mechanisms:

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 cuπent 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.

In a public key infrastructure (PKI) with universal system rules, business practices, contracts, and government oversight, users won't need a separate dispute resolution system or an "internet court" for protection. Participants could be protected by dispute-resolution and claims- processing mechanisms with a PKI.

Even though for-profit entities can anchor a stable e-commerce environment, some cuπent strategies propose that governments provide identity services for businesses. Although governments do a tremendous job of authenticating identities for instance, by issuing passports- they don't have the resources of global financial institutions to stand behind those authentications and absorb identity risk. Nor do governments have a legacy of authenticating trading partners for payment. Moreover, if governments take over authentication for their country's businesses, and each country creates a PKI, an enormous effort would be required to weave together the multitude of disparate frameworks. Extending the financial institutions' legacy of trust to the internet is a better solution.

While vaπous embodiments have been descπbed above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a prefeπed embodiment should not be limited by any of the above descπbed exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method of generating a software license for software electronically distributed over a network comprising the steps of:

(a) prompting a user to enter user input relating to the user;

(b) receiving the user input over the network;

(c) allowing the user to select software over the network; (d) downloading the selected software over the network;

(e) generating a license agreement utilizing the user input;

(f> downloading the license agreement over the network;

(g) receiving an acceptance of the license agreement over the network;

(h) stoπng the acceptance of the license agreement; and (i) reporting the acceptance of the license agreement to a source of the software.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the license agreement is sent via electronic mail.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1, and further comprising the step of tracking entitlements of the user granted under the license agreement.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1, and further compπsing the step of precluding the user from utilizing at least a portion of the software until the acceptance of the license agreement is received.

5. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the network is selected from the group of networks consisting of a LAN, a WAN, and an EP-based network.

6. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the network includes a telephonic hard-line.

7. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for generating a software license for software electronically distributed over a network comprising:

(a) a code segment that prompts a user to enter user input relating to the user;

(b) a code segment that receives the user input over the network; (c) a code segment that allows the user to select software over the network;

(d) a code segment that downloads the selected software over the network;

(e) a code segment that generates a license agreement utilizing the user input;

(f) a code segment that downloads the license agreement over the network;

(g) a code segment that receives an acceptance of the license agreement over the network; (h) a code segment that stores the acceptance of the license agreement; and

(i) a code segment that reports the acceptance of the license agreement to a source of the software.

8. The computer program as set forth in claim 7, wherein the license agreement is sent via electronic mail.

9. The computer program as set forth in claim 7, and further comprising a code segment that tracks entitlements of the user granted under the license agreement.

10. The computer program as set forth in claim 7, and further comprising a code segment that precludes the user from utilizing at least a portion of the software until the acceptance of the license agreement is received.

11. The computer program as set forth in claim 7, wherein the network is selected from the group of networks consisting of a LAN, a WAN, and an EP-based network.

12. The computer program as set forth in claim 7, wherein the network includes a telephonic hard-line.

13. A system for generating a software license for software electronically distributed over a network comprising: (a) logic that prompts a user to enter user input relating to the user;

(b) logic that receives the user input over the network;

(c) logic that allows the user to select software over the network;

(d) logic that downloads the selected software over the network;

(e) logic that generates a license agreement utilizing the user input; (0 logic that downloads the license agreement over the network;

(g) logic that receives an acceptance of the license agreement over the network;

(h) logic that stores the acceptance of the license agreement; and

(i) logic that reports the acceptance of the license agreement to a source of the software.

14. The system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the license agreement is sent via electronic mail.

15. The system as set forth in claim 13, and further comprising logic that tracks entitlements of the user granted under the license agreement.

16. The system as set forth in claim 13, and further comprising logic that precludes the user from utilizing at least a portion of the software until the acceptance of the license agreement is received.

17. The system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the network is selected from the group of networks consisting of a LAN, a WAN, and an EP-based network.

18. The system as set forth in claim 13, wherein the network includes a telephonic hard-line.