Executable digital cash for electronic commerce
First Claim
1. A method comprising the steps of:
- generating a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by a first user, the piece of digital cash including;
(i) a digital certificate, and (ii) an offer program characterizing the offer, the offer program specifying for a given input a particular transfer to be made by the first user and authorized by the digital certificate; and
transmitting the piece of digital cash, whereby a second user can evaluate the offer by supplying a bid as input to the offer program, and if the bid is indicated as acceptable by the offer program the second user can bind the first user to make the corresponding transfer authorized by the digital certificate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides techniques for implementing secure transactions using an instrument referred to as "executable digital cash." In an illustrative embodiment, a first user generates a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by that user. The piece of digital cash includes a digital certificate authorizing the first user to make specified transfers, and an offer program characterizing the offer. The piece of digital cash is broadcast or otherwise transmitted to one or more additional users, utilizing a mobile agent or other suitable mechanism, such that a given one of these users can evaluate the offer using the offer program. For example, a second user could execute the offer program with a specific bid as an input to determine what that user would receive upon acceptance of his bid. If the result is acceptable to the second user, that user generates a bid capsule including the bid, the corresponding output of the offer program, and another certificate authorizing the second user to make the transfer specified in the bid. The bid capsule is submitted to an institution for processing in accordance with a policy which may be specified in the piece of digital cash. The institution selects one or more winning bids and implements the corresponding transactions. Digital signatures generated using secret keys associated with the certificates of the first and second users are utilized to ensure adequate security for the transmitted offer and bid information.
357 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method comprising the steps of:
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generating a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by a first user, the piece of digital cash including;
(i) a digital certificate, and (ii) an offer program characterizing the offer, the offer program specifying for a given input a particular transfer to be made by the first user and authorized by the digital certificate; andtransmitting the piece of digital cash, whereby a second user can evaluate the offer by supplying a bid as input to the offer program, and if the bid is indicated as acceptable by the offer program the second user can bind the first user to make the corresponding transfer authorized by the digital certificate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus comprising:
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a processor operative to generate a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by a first user, the piece of digital cash including;
(i) a digital certificate, and (ii) an offer program characterizing the offer, the offer program specifying for a given input a particular transfer to be made by the first user and authorized by the digital certificate, whereby a second user receiving the piece of digital cash can evaluate the offer by supplying a bid as input to the offer program, and if the bid is indicated as acceptable by the offer program the second user can bind the first user to make the corresponding transfer authorized by the digital certificate; anda memory coupled to the processor for at least temporarily storing at least a portion of the piece of digital cash. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-readable medium containing one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs when executed in a computer provide the steps of:
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generating a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by a first user, the piece of digital cash including;
(i) a digital certificate, and (ii) an offer program characterizing the offer, the offer program specifying for a given input a particular transfer to be made by the first user and authorized by the digital certificate; andtransmitting the piece of digital cash, whereby a second user can evaluate the offer by supplying a bid as input to the offer program, and if the bid is indicated as acceptable by the offer program the second user can bind the first user to make the corresponding transfer authorized by the digital certificate. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by a first user, the piece of digital cash including;
(i) a digital certificate, and (ii) an offer program characterizing the offer, the offer program specifying for a given input a particular transfer to be made by the first user and authorized by the digital certificate; andevaluating the offer by supplying a bid as input to the offer program, and if the bid is indicated as acceptable by the offer program the second user can bind he first user to make the corresponding transfer authorized by the digital certificate. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a piece of digital cash representing an offer made by a user, the piece of digital cash including;
(i) a digital certificate, and (ii) an offer program characterizing the offer, the offer program specifying for a given input a particular transfer to be made by the first user and authorized by the digital certificate; andexecuting the offer by supplying a bid as input to the offer program, wherein if the bid is indicated as acceptable by the offer program the user is bound to the corresponding transfer authorized by the digital certificate.
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Specification