From: szabo@netcom.com (Nick Szabo)
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 93 00:02:00 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re:  Online Shopping and Banking? (fwd)
Message-ID: <199311180802.AAA21348@mail.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Forwarded message:
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 93 23:39:07 PST
From: ptrubey@shl.com (Phil Trubey)
Message-Id: <9311180739.AA18523@technet1.shl.com>
Subject: Re:  Online Shopping and Banking?

> From: bobk@cyberspace.com (Bob)
> To: com-priv@psi.com
> Subject: Online Shopping and Banking?
> 
>   The options to shop and do banking transactions electronically have
>   proven to be a highly desirable services on other commercial networks.
>   The Wall Street Journal recently had an article that said PCFlowers
>   on Prodigy has become one of the top five FTD sellers of flowers.
>   Microsoft announced today that it is getting into the home electronic
>   banking business with US West and US Bankcorp.  I'm sure that the
>   Internet will soon have such services.  
> 
>   How far is the Internet from being able to provide reliable avenues
>   for online financial transactions?  What would it take for reliable 
>   email-ordering on the Net?  How about banking and stock transactions?  
>   Is the primary roadblock the security issue of sending sensitive
>   financial information (such as credit card numbers) over the Net?
> 
>   In addition to the mechanics of how to implement such services, I'd
>   like to hear some thoughts and predictions on the evolution of this
>   important and probably inevitable development and its effect on the
>   character and nature of the Internet as we now know it.
>   ==
> 
>   Bob (bobk@cyberspace.com)                       Seattle, Washington
> 
 
FYI: there is a mailing list in place where developers/designers
are developing an Internet Mercantile Protocol.  This protocol
will enable buy/sell transactions to be conducted over an 
unsecure network, such as most of the Internet.  

You can subscribe to the list by sending a request to 
imp-interest-request@thumper.bellcore.com - archives are accessable
via FTP on thumper.bellcore.com in /pub/devetzis/imp.  Minutes
of the last BOF meeting are archived there as well as slides
for one proposed IMP implementation.  While there has not been
a ton of activity on this list recently, there are at least
two groups hard at work putting finishing touches on some
new proposals for the list to consider.

Phil Trubey                   | Internet: ptrubey@shl.com
Systemhouse Inc.              | Voice:    310-809-5491
                              | Fax:      310-860-9668