Information home electric appliance

• US 20040015406A1
• Filed: 05/07/2003
• Published: 01/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Access Company Limited, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos Company Limited (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos Company Limited (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Kamada, Tomihisa, Tanaka, Shun, Narukawa, Ryusuke
• Granted Patent: US 7,467,099 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/24 Credit schemes, i.e. "pay after"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3823 combining multiple encryption tools for a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/401 Transaction verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/102 applying security measure for e-commerce data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0869 for achieving mutual authentication cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for mutual authentication H04L9/3273
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication

Abstract

By performing initial user registration via an SSL-compliant browser in an information home electric appliance 100, user'"'"'s private key, digital certificate, and member information are downloaded (b2) into the storage device in the information home electric appliance. At card use time, when the user selects products on a merchant'"'"'s SSL-compliant server and issues a purchase instruction (c1), the user is identified locally in the information home electric appliance based on a personal identification number. Subsequently, the information home electric appliance accesses an SSL-compliant settlement server 220 (C4) and sends a digital certificate and member information stored in the appliance. Then, mutual authentication is performed between the user and the settlement server and, based on the member information, an authorization gateway 241 authorizes the account settlement (c5). This allows even an information home electric appliance with a relatively small capacity memory device to conduct relatively secure transactions over the Internet using a credit card.

Claims

1. An information home electric appliance for use in an electronic account settlement of products purchased via a credit card at a virtual store on a communication medium, said information home electric appliance having an Internet accessing capability, comprising:

storing means for storing a browser for browsing documents described in a markup language, said browser being compliant with an encryption communication protocol; and

input means for causing a user to input characters,

wherein said browser comprises;

for use in initial user registration for shopping at a virtual store by a card member who is the user of the information home electric appliance,

a first function that allows the information home electric appliance to communicate with a card issuer'"'"'s server, which is compliant with the encryption communication protocol, in response to an instruction from the user to input to the server a card number, personal information for identifying the card member, and password information for electronic account settlement decided by the card member;

a second function that receives, from the card issuer'"'"'s server, information for authenticating the card member in accordance with the encryption communication protocol and personal information on the card member and stores the received information into a storage device in said information home electric appliance;

and, for use in purchasing products at the virtual store,

a third function that allows the information home electric appliance to communicate with a site of the virtual store in response to an instruction from the user;

a fourth function that requests the user to input said password information for electronic account settlement and compares the entered password information with password information stored in said appliance to confirm that the user is the card member who requested the initial user registration via said information home electric appliance;

a fifth function that sends order information to a server of the virtual store in response to an instruction from the user;

a sixth function that accesses a settlement server of said card issuer via the Internet in response to an instruction from the server of the virtual store that received the order information; and

a seventh function that authenticates the card member with the settlement server using the information for authenticating the card member and then sends the personal information stored in the storage device to the settlement server.

2. The information home electric appliance according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticating the card member includes a private key in a public key cryptosystem and a digital certificate of the card member sent from the card issuer'"'"'s server and wherein said authentication of the card member with the settlement server is performed using the private key and the digital certificate of the card member.

3. The information home electric appliance according to claim 1, wherein memory access means for use by the user for directly rewriting contents of said storage device is not provided.

4. The information home electric appliance according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein said browser further comprises a function that causes the user to input password information for the card member decided by a host computer of the card issuer instead of the function that causes the user to input the password information for electronic account settlement decided by the card member during the initial user registration for shopping at the virtual store by the card member who is the user of the information home electric appliance.

5. The information home electric appliance according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the personal information that said information home electric appliance receives from the card issuer'"'"'s server includes at least the card number and a card expiration date.

6. The information home electric appliance according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein said browser further comprises:

a function that receives secret information from the card issuer'"'"'s server during the initial user registration; and

a function that causes the user to input said secret information and said password information in response to an instruction from the server before receiving from the card issuer'"'"'s server the information for authenticating the card member in accordance with the encryption communication protocol and the personal information on the card member.

7. The information home electric appliance according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein said browser does not initially comprises said first to seventh functions but comprises an eighth function that downloads a computer program implementing said first to seventh functions.

8. A recording medium storing therein a computer program that is executed in an information home electric appliance for use in an electronic account settlement of products purchased via a credit card at a virtual store on a communication medium, said information home electric appliance having an Internet accessing capability, said computer program comprising:

for use in initial user registration for shopping at a virtual store by a card member who is a user of the information home electric appliance,

a function that allows the information home electric appliance to communicate with a card issuer'"'"'s server, which is compliant with the encryption communication protocol, in response to an instruction from the user to input to the server a card number, personal information for identifying the card member, and password information for electronic account settlement decided by the card member;

a function that receives, from the card issuer'"'"'s server, information for authenticating the card member in accordance with the encryption communication protocol and personal information on the card member and stores the received information into a storage device in said information home electric appliance;

and, for use in purchasing products at the virtual store,

a function that allows the information home electric appliance to communicate with a site of the virtual store in response to an instruction from the user;

a function that requests the user to input said password information for electronic account settlement and compares the entered password information with password information stored in said appliance to confirm that the user is the card member who requested the initial user registration via said information home electric appliance;

a function that sends order information to a server of the virtual store in response to an instruction from the user;

a function that accesses a settlement server of said card issuer via the Internet in response to an instruction from the server of the virtual store that received the order information; and

a function that authenticates the card member with the settlement server using the information for authenticating the card member and then sends the personal information stored in the storage device to the settlement server.

9. The recording medium according to claim 8, wherein the information for authenticating the card member includes a private key in a public key cryptosystem and a digital certificate of the card member sent from the card issuer'"'"'s server and wherein said authentication of the card member with the settlement server is performed using the private key and the digital certificate of the card member.

10. The recording medium according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising a function that causes the user to input password information for the card member decided by a host computer of the card issuer instead of the function that causes the user to input the password information for electronic account settlement decided by the card member.

11. The recording medium according to claim 8, 9, or 10, further comprising:

a function that receives secret information from the card issuer'"'"'s server during the initial user registration; and

a function that causes the user to input said secret information and said password information in response to an instruction from the server before receiving from the card issuer'"'"'s server the information for authenticating the card member in accordance with the encryption communication protocol and the personal information on the card member.

12. A computer program that is executed in an information home electric appliance for use in an electronic account settlement of products purchased via a credit card at a virtual store on a communication medium, said information home electric appliance having an Internet accessing capability, said computer program comprising:

for use in initial user registration for shopping at a virtual store by a card member who is a user of the information home electric appliance,

a function that allows the information home electric appliance to communicate with a card issuer'"'"'s server, which is compliant with an encryption communication protocol, in response to an instruction from the user to input to the server a card number, personal information for identifying the card member, and password information for electronic account settlement decided by the card member;

a function that receives, from the card issuer'"'"'s server, information for authenticating the card member in accordance with the encryption communication protocol and personal information on the card member and stores the received information into a storage device in said information home electric appliance;

and, for use in purchasing products at the virtual store,

a function that allows the information home electric appliance to communicate with a site of the virtual store in response to an instruction from the user;

a function that requests the user to input said password information for electronic account settlement and compares the entered password information with password information stored in said appliance to confirm that the user is the card member who requested the initial user registration via said information home electric appliance;

a function that sends order information to a server of the virtual store in response to an instruction from the user;

a function that accesses a settlement server of said card issuer via the Internet in response to an instruction from the server of the virtual store that received the order information; and

a function that authenticates the card member with the settlement server using a private key and a digital certificate of the card member and then sends the personal information stored in the storage device to the settlement server.

13. The computer program according to claim 12, wherein the information for authenticating the card member includes the private key in a public key cryptosystem and the digital certificate of the card member sent from the card issuer'"'"'s server and wherein said authentication of the card member with the settlement server is performed using the private key and the digital certificate of the card member.

14. The computer program according to claim 12 or 13, further comprising a function that causes the user to input password information for the card member decided by a host computer of the card issuer instead of the function that causes the user to input the password information for electronic account settlement decided by the card member.

15. The computer program according to claim 12, 13, or 14, further comprising:

a function, for use in the initial user registration, that inputs said secret information and said password information in response to an instruction from the server before receiving from the card issuer'"'"'s server the information for authenticating the card member in accordance with the encryption communication protocol and the personal information on the card member.