Web concern gets patent for its model business
Article Abstract:
Priceline.com said it would be issued a broad patent that apparently will protect the startup's complete electronic commerce business model. The Patent and Trademark Office will award patent No. 5,794,207 for both the method and use of Priceline's reverse auction on Aug 11, 1998, the company said. Priceline operates primarily as an online intermediary for consumers who seek goods or services from unknown sellers by attaching fixed prices or certain conditions. Participating sellers then can accept or decline the credit-card bids or make a counteroffer. The patent not only reflects a Patent Office trend of protecting an entire Internet business model beyond its technical aspects, it also could impact the electronic commerce industry. Priceline is one of the first to obtain a computer-related business-method patent since the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit upheld protection of a 'practical application of a mathematical algorithm, formula or calculation' in Jul 1998.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1998
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Despite a new plan for cooling it off, cybersex stays hot
Article Abstract:
Computer bulletin boards and networks are increasingly being used for sexually explicit services and talk forums and the US Senate is considering legislation that would ban such material from the networks. The proposed law would impose fines on users who purposely transmit lewd material over the Internet and would also apply to telecommunications and cable television transmissions. Several states have also considered similar legislation. Civil libertarians, legal experts and Internet users are angry and surprised by the recent upsurge in concern over sex on the Internet and say that the proposed laws are probably unenforceable on a legal and technological basis. On a legal basis, the networks are considered an electronic printing press and free speech laws would apply. Technologically, with millions of bits of digital information being transmitted, it would be extremely difficult to sort out the unacceptable material.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1995
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Internet hide and seek
Article Abstract:
Incidents like the Melissa virus raise questions about privacy and monitoring users' activities on the Internet. Several programs that employ proxy servers and/or psuedonyms to protect users anonymnity are underway. Among these are the Anonymizer (www.anonymizer.com); an AT&T project, known as Crowds (www.research.att.com/projects/crowds); the Lucent Personalized Web Assistant (www.bell-labs.com/project/lpwa); the Naval Research Laboratory's Onion Router, (www.onion-router.net); and Zero Knowledge Systems' Freedom (www.zeroknowledge.com). Technologies preserving anonymity on the Web work both ways: illegal activities can happen anonymously, but by the same token, law enforcement agencies can monitor such behavior anonymously.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1999
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