Professional Documents
Culture Documents
4. GLOBAL INTERNET.................................................................................................79
4.1 World Wide Web :The Simplified Access to the Internet .......................................79
4.2 History of Web Growth............................................................................................. 80
4.3 Working of Internet Web......................................................................................... 81
4.4 Web Browsers....................................................................................................... 84
4.5 Surfing the Net....................................................................................................... 86
4.6 Searching the Web................................................................................................. 86
4.7 Search Engine........................................................................................................ 87
4.8 Categories of Search Engines.................................................................................87
4.8.1 Web Crawlers ......................................................................................... 88
4.8.2 Subject Directories .................................................................................88
4.8.3 Indexes................................................................................................... 88
4.8.4 General Search......................................................................................94
4.8.5 Example of Multiple Serching: Cable Cars to the Stars...........................95
4.9 Searching Criterion ................................................................................................. 95
4.10 Advanced Search Techniques.................................................................................96
4.10.1 Phrase Searching...................................................................................96
4.10.2 Boolean Searching....................................................................................97
4.10.3 Capital Sensitivity ...................................................................................99
4.10.4 Phrase Searching....................................................................................100
4.10.5 Truncation............................................................................................ 100
4.10.6 Date Capability.................................................................................... 100
4.10.7 Restricting Searches to Specific Parts of the Document........................100
4.10.8 Restricting Searches to Specific Areas of the Web................................100
4.10.9 Restricting Searches to Specific Media..................................................100
4.10.10 Metasearches .......................................................................................101
4.11 Searching Tips.................................................................................................... 101
4.12 Downloading.......................................................................................................... 102
4.13 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).......................................................................103
4.14 The World Wide Web & Hypertext....................................................................... 104
4.15 What is a Url?...................................................................................................... 104
4.15.1 URL Syntax..........................................................................................105
4.16 WEB Servers......................................................................................................... 106
4.16.1 A Typical Transaction between Web Servers and Clients. ................... 106
4.16.2 The Main Webserver: httpd (The http daemon).......................................107
4.16.3 Server Hardware ..................................................................................107
4.16.4 Server Software .....................................................................................108
4.17 Web Gu ................................................................................................................ 111
4.18 Portal and Portal Space......................................................................................... 111
4.19 Web Browsers ...................................................................................................... 112
4.20 Working of Browser............................................................................................... 113
4.20.1 Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0..................................................113
4.21 Working with Internet Explorer............................................................................ 115
4.21.1 Basic Setup .........................................................................................115
4.21.2 Safety in Browsing the Web...................................................................115
4.21.3 Learning how to Browse the Web Faster and Easier..............................115
4.22 Using Your Web Browser .....................................................................................115
4.23 Internet Explorer Web browser..............................................................................117
4.23.1 What to do if a Web page isn't working............................................... 118
4.232 Setting up an Internet connection using Internet Connection Wizard ... 118
4.23.3 Finding the Information You Want............................................................119
4.23.4 Browser Tips .......................................................................................... 119
4.23.5 The Cache and Toolbar ..........................................................................124
4.23.6 Sharing Bookmarks and Favorites .........................................................124
4.23.7 To Enter Web Information more Easily....................................................125
4.23.8 Making Pages Available for Offline Viewing............................................125
4.24 Netscape (Netscape Communications or Netscape Navigator).............................127
4.25 Navigating the World Wide Web with Netscape Communicator.......................... 128
4.25.1 Anatomy of Netscape..............................................................................128
4.25.2 The Toolbars............................................................................................ 129
426 The Access Indicator............................................................................................. 131
4.26.1 Some Browser Tricks.............................................................................131
4.26.2 Who Controls the Internet? ....................................................................133
4.26.3 Who Created the Internet?......................................................................133
4.26.4 Pure-Play Web Application Server..........................................................134
4.26.5 Develop-and-Deploy Servers.................................................................134
4.26.6 Application Servers from Client/Server Vendors....................................135
4.27 Browsing vs. Building ......................................................................................... 136
4.28 ISP Web hosting................................................................................................... 137
5. GENERATING E-COMMERCE...................................................................149
5.1 Commerce.......................................................................................................... 149
5.2 Commerce in History.......................................................................................... 149
5.3 The Early Modern Period ....................................................................................149
5.4 The Effects of Industrialization on Commerce.....................................................150
5.5 The Period of the World Wars...............................................................................151
5.6 The Later 20th Century...................................................................................... 151
5.7 Free Trade........................................................................................................... 151
5.7.1 Early Trade Doctrine............................................................................ 152
5.7.2 Modern Trade Theory.............................................................................152
5.7.3 Arguments for Protection ....................................................................153
5.7.4 Recent Developments...........................................................................153
5.8 Foreign Trade...................................................................................................... 154
5.8.1 Emergence of Modern Foreign Trade.....................................................154
5.8.2 Advantages of Trade.............................................................................154
5.8.3 Government Restrictions.......................................................................155
5.8.4 Tariffs.................................................................................................. 155
5.8.5 Nontariff Barriers to Trade......................................................................155
5.8.6 20th Century Trends...............................................................................156
5.8.7 Trade Negotiations.................................................................................156
5.8.8 Trading Communities and Customs.......................................................156
5.9 U.S. Trade............................................................................................................ 156
5.10 Business .............................................................................................................. 157
5.10.1 Types of Businesses..............................................................................157
5.11 Manufacturing...................................................................................................... 157
5.12 Merchandisers....................................................................................................... 158
5.13 Service Enterprises ...............................................................................................158
5.13.1 Forms of Business Ownership...............................................................158
5.13.2 Sole Proprietorship.............................................................................. 159
5.13.3 Partnership...........................................................................................159
5.13.4 Corporation.............................................................................................. 159
5.13.5 Joint Ventures and Syndicates................................................................160
5.13.6 Syndicates.............................................................................................. 160
5.13.7 Mercantilism........................................................................................ 160
5.13.8 Retailing ............................................................................................. 161
5.14 Retailing Strategy................................................................................................. 161
5.15 Kinds of Retailers ................................................................................................. 162
5.16 Department Stores................................................................................................. 163
5.16.1 History of Growth of Department Stores................................................163
5.16.2 Chain Stores .......................................................................................... 165
5.16.3 Suburban Branches.................................................................................165
5.16.4 Franchise..............................................................................................165
5.17 Business Operations ............................................................................................. 166
5.18 Business in a Free Market Economy......................................................................167
5.19 Business Activities : current Trends.......................................................................167
5.20 E-Business............................................................................................................ 168
5.20.1 Intra Business.......................................................................................168
5.20.2 Business-to-Business (BTB or B2B).......................................................168
5.20.3 Business-to-Consumer (BTC or B2C)......................................................168
5.20.4 Government/Public-Consumer................................................................169
5.21 Staying in E-Business........................................................................................... 169
5.22 The Internet and e-Business .................................................................................170
5.23 Electronic Commerce............................................................................................. 170
5.23.1 Who is Using......................................................................................... 170
5.23.2 Security Concerns...................................................................................171
5.23.3 How it Works........................................................................................... 171
5.23.4 The Future of Electronic Commerce.......................................................171
5.24 An Integrative View Of Electronic Commerce........................................................172
5.24.1 Implications..........................................................................................173
5.25 Levels of Web Presence......................................................................................... 173
5.26 Exactness of the Contents.....................................................................................174
5.27 E-com Web Presence Models................................................................................174
5.28 Basic Steps for Conduting Business on Line.........................................................175
V
5.28.1 Domain Name Registration.................................................................. 176
5.28.2 Obtaining a Digital Certificate ...............................................................179
5.28.3 Finding a Provider of Online Transactions..............................................179
5.28.4 Web Hosting............................................................................................ 179
5.28.5 Server Hosting ..................................................................................... 180
5.28.6 Web Store Design...................................................................................180
5.28.7 Payment Solutions..................................................................................183
5.28.8 Shopping Cart Software..........................................................................184
5.28.9 Getting an Internet Merchant Bank Account..........................................184
5.28.10 Traffic Coverage.....................................................................................184
5.29 The Seven Deadly Sins of E-Commerce................................................................185
5.30 E-Commerce Software Example............................................................................186
5.30.1 Getting Started......................................................................................187
5.30.2 Adding Value........................................................................................... 187
5.30.3 Transactions.......................................................................................... 188
5.30.4 Don't Mess with Taxes ............................................................................188
5.30.5 Shaping Up and Shipping Out..................................................................189
5.30.6 Back to Ramforless.com..........................................................................190
530.7 Selecting E-commerce Package...............................................................190
5.30.8 Buy, Lease, or Build? ......................................................................... 191
5.30.9 Chart Your Course....................................................................................192
5.30.10 Ramforless.com: Buildin' It So They'll Come..........................................193
5.31 Cold Fusion The Basic Software for e-Comerce Applications.......................... 193
5.31.1 Building Your Customer Base................................................................194
5.31.2 Requirements Document.........................................................................194
5.31.3 Order and Transaction Processing...........................................................195
5.31.4 Attracting Customers...............................................................................195
5.31.5 Fulfillment and Customer Service............................................................195
5.31.6 Software and Hosting .............................................................................195
5.31.7 Use Those Log Files .............................................................................• 195
5.31.8 Cost-Effective Advertising.................................................................. 196
5.31.9 Keeping Track of Everything.....................................................................196
5.31.10 Staying in E-Business.............................................................................197
5.31.11 Play by the "Business Rules" Document................................................198
5.31.12 The Many Ways to Skin a Cat.................................................................198
5.32 Add Context-Sensitive Help to Your 1E Applications..............................................199
5.33 Prepare For Growth In E-Commerce Database Design..........................................202
5.33.1 Design a useful Web-Enabled Database.................................................202
5.33.2 Deploy Anytime......................................................................................... 203
5.33.3 Other Database Design Issues.................................................................203
5.33.4 Supply Chain Management......................................................................204
5.33.5 Security.................................................................................................... 204
5.33.6 Availability............................................................................................ 204
5.33.7 Volume Growth......................................................................................... 205
5.33.8 Usage Growth........................................................................................... 205
5.34 Guidelines for Universal Access.............................................................................206
5.34.1 Testing Your Web Site...............................................................................207
5.34.2 Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Guidelines for Universal
Access to Web.....................................................................................208
5.34.3 Principles of Universal Design ..............................................................208
5.35 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).....................................................209
5.36 World Trade Organization (WTO).............................................................................210
5.37 Writing Softwares/Programs for Business Applications ........................................210
5.37.1 Traditional Business Applications...........................................................210
5.37.2 Intranet Business Applications .............................................................213
5.37.3 Top Tier: The Web Browser as a User Interface......................................213
5.37.4 Middle Tier: The Web Server and Business Logic..................................216
5.37.5 Bottom Tier: The Database Server.........................................................217
5.35.6 Internationalization and Platform Independence.....................................218
9. E-COMMERCE : E-BANKING..................................................................................334
9.1 Banking .............................................................................................................. 334
9.2 Early Banking...................................................................................................... 334
9.3 Commercial Banking............................................................................................335
9.4 Commercial Banking Today...................................................................................336
9.5 Thrift Institutions................................................................................................... 337
9.6 European Banking ............................................................................................... 338
9.7 Banking in Britain.................................................................................................. 338
9.8 Banking in Developing Countries...........................................................................339
9.9 Role of Central Banking......................................................................................... 340
9.10 International Banking............................................................................................ 341
9.11 European Banking .............................................................................................. 342
9.12 American Banking Before World War - I..................................................................342
9.13 American Banking After World War - I.....................................................................343
9.14 Current Practices in Banking..................................................................................343
9.15 Finance ............................................................................................................... 343
9.16 Credit ..................................................................................................................... 344
9.17 Global Finance Profiles..........................................................................................347
9.18 Fortune e-50 : World's First 50 e-Commerce Companies......................................351
9.19 Types Of Electronic Payment Systems..................................................................353
9.20 Electronic Payment Technologies............................................................................354
921 Electronics Fund Transfer.....................................................................................355
9.22 Introduction to Electronic Payment Mechanisms....................................................356
9.23 Internet Bill Presentation and Payment (IBPP) ......................................................358
9.24 NSE Market Trading System..................................................................................363
9.25 Credit Card.............................................................................................................. 364
9.26 Accepting Credit Cards........................................................................................... 367
9.27 Wireless Credit Cards: How Soon and How Pervasive?.........................................369
9.28 Smart Card Overview.............................................................................................. 370
9.29 Introduction to Smart Cards in Wireless Communications ...................................371
9.30 Discover Offers Online 'Virtual Credit Card'..........................................................377
9.31 Smart Card............................................................................................................. 378
9.32 What is a Digital Signature? ...............................................................................381
9.33 Use your Debit Card with Caution...........................................................................384
9.34 Online Credit Card Transaction Processing ...........................................................389
9.35 Lenders Use Your Credit Score...............................................................................391
9.36 Loan Criteria Also Top Secret.................................................................................392
9.37 Impacts and Effects of Digital Money.....................................................................394
9.38 Cybercash Service : US Dollars Payments.............................................................404
9.39 Authorizenet Service : US Dollars Payments.........................................................404
9.40 Merchant Accounts................................................................................................405
9.41 Worldpay Multi-Currency Payments (with NatWest) for UK based Merchants.......408
9.42 I nternetSecu re Guarantees Your Merchant Status..................................................409
9.43 E-Gold Payments.................................................................................................... 410
9.44 e-Pay it Online's Online Bill Payment Portal.........................................................410
9.45 eComm PRO Shopping Cart..................................................................................410
IX
9.46 PDG Software............................................................................................... 412
9.47 Wired-2-Shop................................................................................................ 412
9.48 QuickCommerce/E-Commerce Exchange: Merchant Account Program....... 413
9.49 IBM Net.Commerce: Taking the Lead........................................................... 413
9.50 Cash Register............................................................................................... 414
9.51 Stock Exchange............................................................................................ 414
9.52 International Exchanges................................................................................ 417
9.53 History of U.S. Stock Exchanges................................................................. 418
9.54 Regulation of Exchanges.............................................................................. 418
9.55 Direcent Developments................................................................................. 420
9.56 Investment Banking...................................................................................... 420
9.57 Underwriting .............................................................................................. 420
9.58 Other Services.............................................................................................. 421
9.59 OASIS :The Largest Web Commerce Arrangement..................................... 422
10. E-COMMERCE : ELECTRONIC SERVICES DELIVERY................................ 423
10.1 Electronic Services Delivery ....................................................................... 423
10.2 Purpose ....................................................................................................... 423
10.3 Definition ...................................................................................................... 424
10.4 Drivers ......................................................................................................... 424
10.5 Technologies for ESD.................................................................................... 424
10.6 Single-Organisation ESD............................................................................... 425
10.7 Business Models for Single-Organisation ESD............................................. 428
10.8 Issues in Single-Organisation ESD............................................................... 429
10.9 The Inadequacy of Single-Organisation ESD................................................ 430
10.10 Multi-Organisation ESD................................................................................. 431
10.11 Architecture for Multi-Organisation ESD....................................................... 432
10.12 Challenges in Multi-Organisation ESD........................................................... 432
10.13 Conclusions.................................................................................................. 433
11. E-COMMERCE : Wireless Technololgy to Enable Mobile e-Business............. 434
11.1 Mobile Commerce......................................................................................... 434
11.2 Challenges of e-commerce............................................................................ 434
11.3 Global Mobile e-Commerce........................................................................... 435
11.4 European M-Commerce Seen at Euro 38 Billion in 2004.............................. 436
11.5 Secure Mobile Commerce............................................................................. 436
11.6 Secured Payments through Mobile............................................................... 437
11.7 First Mobile Commerce Service.................................................................... 437
11.8 Wireless Business......................................................................................... 438
11.9 OEM Portal................................................................................................... 440
11.10 WAP Applications......................................................................................... 440
11.11 Platforms for WAP Applications.................................................................... 444
11.12 Mobile for Mobile Workforce.......................................................................... 445
11.13 Information Technology and Mobile WAP enabled Telephones....................... 445
11.14 Wireless Devices.......................................................................................... 446
11.15 Mobile Banking via WAP............................................................................... 450
11.16 Wireless Portal ............................................................................................ 450
11.17 Multi-party Communication........................................................................... 452
X
12......................................................................E-COMMERCE : WEB PUBLISHING
....................................................................................................................................... 455
12.1 Electronic Publishing - Definition...........................................................................455
12.2 Electronic Publishing - A Business Process Model...............................................456
12.3 Electronic Publishing - Alternative Business Models.............................................457
12.4 Electronic Publishing - A Maturation Path Model...................................................457
12.5 Web Publishing...................................................................................................... 461
12.6 Document Interchange Standards.........................................................................463
12.7 Components of WEB Publishing............................................................................465
12.8 Document Management.........................................................................................465
12.9 Web Documents..................................................................................................... 465
12.10 Component Software.............................................................................................. 466
12.11 Why Web Publishing?............................................................................................ 466
12.12 Web Page Design Considerations..........................................................................466
12.13 Your Web Page's Layout......................................................................................... 472
12.14 Ingredients of Web Site Design..............................................................................474
12.15 Enhance Your Site Design for Better Business ....................................................482
12.16 Other Design Tips................................................................................................... 496
12.17 Design Principles................................................................................................... 498
12.18 Tips on Graphics Design.......................................................................................502.
12.19 Authoring: Tools for Creating and Changing Web Pages........................................503
12.20 Non-Standard New Standards................................................................................508
12.21 Style Sheets.......................................................................................................... 508
12.22 Microsoft Web Publishing Wizard Overview ..........................................................508
12.23 How to Publish and Publicise ............................................................................. 513
12.24 Where to host your Web Site ...............................................................................516
12.25 Web Site Location ................................................................................................ 517
12.26 Finding a Home for Your Site .............................................................................. 519
12.27 HTTP Server Requirement.....................................................................................522
12.28 Microsoft's WEB Server......................................................................................... 523
12.29 Server Internet Connection Speed..........................................................................524
12.30 Maintenance and Updating ...................................................................................525
12.31 Your Presence on Internet: Creating a Home Page................................................528
12.32 Web Com's Web Authoring Service.......................................................................531
12.33 Attracting Visiters .................................................................................................531
XIII
E-COMMERCE CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGIES /
Chop-it 1
e-COMMERCE
Convergence of Technologies
visiting Amazon.com can browse and purchase any of 2.5 million books. Such retail transactions are
expected to exceed $50 billion by the year 2000. In fact, it is estimated that 50% of all software safes
and 25% of all CD music sales will take place online by 2000.
By the term electronics in context of electronic Commerce, we always mean promotion of trade and
business by elcronics means of telecommunication , either wired or wireless type.
In this introduction itself it is made clear that the term in itself is misnomer. Actually when we refer to
Elecronics commerce we always mean digital portion of it. This shall be explained in detail in
subsequent paragraphs. Let us first see the some other definition of electronics and commerce.
q Shopping services allow people to seek and purchase goods or services though
electronic networks. This form of EC for retail sales is what comes most readily to mind
when one hears the term "electronic commerce". But this genre of EC can be extended in
.many other directions. As examples, it can apply to the purchase of used industrial
equipment, commodities, or freight capacity.
1.4 Electronics
Electronics is the field of engineering and applied physics dealing with the design and application of
devices, usually electronic circuits, the operation of which depends on the flow of electrons for the
generation, transmission, reception, and storage of information. The information can consist of voice
or music (audio signals) in a radio receiver, a picture on a television / monitor screen, or numbers and
other data forms in a computer.
Electronic circuits provide different functions to process this information, including amplification of
weak signals to a usable level; generation of radio waves; extraction of information, such as the
recovery of an audio signal from a radio wave (demodulation); control, such as the superimposition
of an audio signal onto radio waves (modulation); and logic operations, such as the electronic processes
taking place in computers.
At the time of the invention of the telephone, most effort was directed towards the development of a
`multiple' telegraph: one that could signal more than one code at a time. Despite digital communication
getting a head start, voice telephony rapidly came to dominate the wide-area communications
arena. It is only the last few decades that have seen the development of wide-area networks exclusively
for data, and only in the last few years that this technology, in the form of ISDN , has become
available to home subscribers. Until very recently, if one wished to communicate between a home
computer and a remote site, one had no choice but to use a modem to convert the computer signals
into a form suitable for a voice communications medium.
41 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
It was not long after the invention of the telephone that Hertz discovered that electromagnetic waves
could be generated and broadcast , and in 1896 Marconi patented the 'wireless telegraph,' a system
for sending telegraphic messages by radio waves. The first transatlantic wireless messages were
sent in 1902, and by i 907 Marconi had started a commercial wireless service between Ireland and
Canada. Although radio telegraphy was expensive and somewhat unreliable at first, the development
of the apparatus to allow short-wave transmission made the system much more practicable, and
cable and radio communications have developed in parallel ever since.
It is only in the last few years that there has been widespread use of communications networks that
mix radio and cable transmission: the cellular telephone network is an example of such a system.
When computers became commercially available in the 1960's, the mechanisms of electronic long-
distance communication were quite well developed. New switching techniques allowed telephone
networks to span the globe, and these could carry data at a speed quite fast enough for the computers
of the day. However, in the next twenty years it became apparent that some features of the public
telephone networks were not ideal for data communication. Apart from the obvious problem that they
were designed for analog communication, they used a technique called 'circuit switching which is
inefficient in the use of the cable's information carrying capacity <information carrying capacity.
In 1969, the US Advanced Research Projects Agency, part of the Department of Defense, funded
the first dedicated wide-area network of mainframe computers, a development that was eventually
to become the Internet. This system was not primarily intended to overcome the inherent limitations
of the public telephone networks, but to provide a robust network that would be able to continue to
operate in the event of large-scale war damage. However, it used the principle of packet switching ,
which made much better use of available cable capacity.
In the 1970s, the telephone service providers started to implement data packet switching networks
for commercial and academic use. The X.25 standard for packet switched networks was published
by the CCITT in 1976. This development is remarkable in another way: it is probably the first such
standard which thought of communication protocols forming layers'; this concept is now widespread.
At about the same time local-area networking techniques were being developed to augment the
point-to-point wiring normally used to connect computers in the same area. The Xerox Corporation
devized the ethernet protocol in 1975, variations of which are still widely used.
The local area technologies were based on the idea of local broadcasting. Modern developments in
data communications have mostly been concerned with increasing the speed, flexibility and
accessibility of networking techniques. It is reasonable to assume that about 20 million computers
are now members of the Internet., Modern technologies like frame relay are faster than earlier ones
because they are simpler, rather than more sophisticated. This reduced complexity has been made
possible by the improvement in quality of communications hardware. Another recent development is
the blurring of the traditional distinction between local area and wide area networks.
q Shopping services allow people to seek and purchase goods or services though
electronic networks. This form of EC for retail sales is what comes most readily to mind
when one hears the term "electronic commerce". But this genre of EC can be extended in
many other directions. As examples, it can apply to the purchase of used industrial
equipment, commodities, or freight capacity.
q Virtual enterprises are business arrangements in which trading partners
separated by geography and expertise are able to engage in complex joint business
activities, as if they were a single enterprise. One example would be true supply chain
integration, where planing and forecast data are transmitted quickly and accurately
throughout a multi-tier supply chain. Another example would be non-competing suppliers
with a common customer using EC to allow that customer to do "one stop shopping" with
the assurance that a single phone call will bring the right materials to the right location at
the right time.
Convergence is the coming together of networks, terminal devices and applications. convergence is
made possible by the fact that the networks, at least the telecommunicatinos networks, have largely
been digitized-CATV networks currently are undergoing that process. Additionally, digital
telecommunicatins networks are based on, supported by and managed by computer systems, Further,
access across those networks is provided by linking access to specialized applicatinos residing on
computer systems connected to and even embedded in the networks.
75 years after the invention of telephone, an experiment was made in USA to send written message
over a telephone through a digital computer in year 1940. Dr. George Stibitz used telegraph lines to
send data from Darmouth college to Bell Laboratories calculator in New York city.This started the era
of converging technologies that is still continued. Fig. 1.1 shows the overlapping view of the two
different technologies in fifth decade of twentieth century.
Distributed
data processing Acutornated
office
Already, an estimated two-thirds of all American jobs are information related, and that number will
increase as the shift from manufacturing to service industries continues. An information highway will
also entail new products and services_and hence new jobs. There should be societal benefits as
well. If properly managed, this highway would allow people to become better educated, healthier,
more productive, more informed, and, of course, better entertained.
The convergence of information industries will happen because the technological and business
imperatives are compelling. If one company does not see the possibilities, another will. What is not
set in stone is exactly who will build it, when it will happen, or what applications will prove the most
popular.
As the Chinese saying goes, "May you live in interesting times." In that regard, we are in for some
interesting times indeed; few periods in the history of any industry can compare with the next decade
or two of the information industry.
is going to be incredibly interesting and violent. So what are the implications with respect to economies?
Business-Industries who today work and depend directly or indirectly on these new age business will
see large scale cross integration and convergence which will impact the economics of the products,
delivery and services. Traditional media companies will buy or merge with online service providers,
companies that are analog will go digital, services will get customized and the customer will benefit
with cross integration of businesses and industries.
Traditional industries such as banking will be transformed into digital empires that spawn huge computing
power read convergence) where the customer will work with all media as a part of the service and
transactions will be truly global. Banks will, for example, become increasingly virtual resulting in the
decreased use of real estate. TimesBank is one such example in India. Thus will follow industries
from healthcare to education and oil and gas.
Customers are also getting increasingly virtual (already a phenomenon in India with the large scale
acceptance of cable TV), thereby placing new demands on business to reach, process, transact and
deliver products of all kinds in new models of business never seen before. The customer will benefit
and so will be economies of scale for companies.
E-COMMERCE : CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGIES /
The network has been undergoing a process of digitization since the 1960's. Digital switching systems
and their complements, in total, an end-to-end network which delivers more bandwidth, bettererror
performance at lower power levels, and lower overall cost. Compression is relatively easily
accomplished,yielding highly efficient utilizatino of bandwidth, and access and datasecurity are easily
enhanced through the use of data encryption techniques. Such a network is also more controlable
and manageable on a centralized basis.
Digital networks also have the unique ability to treat all information streams as equals-all
information is carried as a digital bit stream.
The primary driver of convergence of different forms of information is technological change, primarily
the rapid diffusion of digital technology into an ever-wider array of information businesses. Beyond
digitization, dramatic changes in the computing and telecommunications industries (primarily in faster
microprocessors and increasing bandwidth) are also driving convergence. We examine each of these
in turn.
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The horizontal dimension of the matrix captures what is done with information in each one of those
industries: it is created, displayed, stored, processed, or distributed. We first examine the vertical
columns: the forms of information.
industry has been printing and publishing (newspapers, magazines, books, etc.),The primary functional
emphasis has been on content creation, with a secondary emphasis on collection and dissemination.
10 / ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
The principal technologies at the heart of the industry are the mechanical and electromechanical
ones of printing and publishing. In addition, several supplier industries (e.g., printing presses, type
foundries, and offset printing) support the publishing industry.
q Images
The next commercial information entity to emerge was based on the capture, storage, and printing of
stationary images. This industry traces its origins to 1839 when Louis Jacques Mand Daguerre
produced the first daguerreotype, a silver-coated copper plate on which he and his camera had
captured and fixed a faithful image from life.The primary industry for images has been photography.
Today, however, the imaging industry is large and diverse and includes camera manufacturers, copier
makers, filmmakers, industrial and medical filming (such as mammography), etc. Related industries
include xerography and mimeography. The functions most emphasized in this industry have been
information creation (via capture), storage, and display. The underlying technologies have historically
been chemical.
q Voice
The telephone industry, created in the 1870s, quickly became the dominant player for voice. The
industry includes phone companies and other service providers at the retail level and equipment
manufacturers, copper wire producers, and numerous others at the supplier level. The primary function
-
of the telephone industry has been voice distribution, though recent growth has come about via
image (fax) and data transport. The industry has also been involved in the information content
business (e.g., the Yellow Pages) and in the voice-display business via the manufacture of terminal
equipment such as telephone sets. The principal technological underpinnings of the industry have
been in the transmission and switching of electronic signals; however, the technology is moving
rapidly toward 100 percent software controlled digital switching.
- -
q AudioNideo
This category is comprised of audio information (music) as well as video information. The entertainment
industry has owned these forms of information from the outset. There are two aspects to what we
define here as the entertainment industry, and each, in the past, has emphasized a different function.
Hollywood, music studios, and television networks have predominantly concentrated on content
creation, although there are clearly storage, distribution (done by movie theaters, video, cable television
[CATV], or broadcast), and processing aspects to their business. The consumer electronics industry
has been based largely on information display. Although some were electrical, the technologies at
the heart of this industry have been largely analog, and recently there has been a move toward
digitization. Video based businesses have thus been the most pervasive across the function of a
-
category; they have excelled in content, display, and distribution (broadcast and cable networks).
q Data
Data represents the newest of all the form based information businesses, Here, the major industry
-
has been computing, which has its origins in the tabulating and calculating businesses. From mainframe
computers, the industry added minicomputers and then personal computers, workstations, and
supercomputers. For computing, the main emphasis has been on information storage and processing.
While it was mechanical and electromechanical in its early years, the technological base for this
information form was the first to become predominantly electronic and digital.
As described, the technologies underlying these form-dominated industries were inherently different
and formed a logical basis for their definition and separation. All of that is changing, however, as the
E-COMMERCE : CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGIES / 11
form of each information type becomes digitized. Once voice, text, images, audioNideo, and data
are translated into their binary equivalents, the rationale of a separate industry to support each
becomes unsupportable. In the process, the more recent of these industries (i.e., those on the right
side of the matrix in Figure 2.1 will enjoy significant technological leadership over the others and,
thus, may become stronger competitors or consolidators of the total information industry.
As the Internet empowers citizens and democratizes societies, it is also changing classic business
and economic paradigms. New models of commercial interaction are developing as businesses and
consumers participate in the electronic marketplace and reap the resultant benefits. Entrepreneurs
are able to start new businesses more easily, with smaller up-front investment requirements, by
accessing the Internet's worldwide network of customers.
Internet Connection
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The Internet is a "network of networks," meaning that many different networks operated by a multitude
of organization are connected together collectively to form the Internet. The Internet lets you
communicate,share resources,and share data with people across the street or around the world. The
biggest advantage of the Internet is that it is a tool providing access to vast (worldwide) quantities of
information.
Internet is the largest most complete (and complex) learning tool in the world. Through the Internet
you can find knowledge resources that allow you to study virtually any discipline imaginable. Not
only that, but you can communicate quickly and effectively with others who are also interested in the
same discipline. Teachers,students,and other educators can share ideas instantly across vast
distances, as shown in Figure 1.3.
A variety of programs have been installed on the Internet to use these services, combine them, or
make them easier to use. These include Archie, Gopher, WAIS and the World Wide Web (WWW).
Individuals, companies, and institutions use the Internet in many ways. Businesses use the Internet
to provide access to complex databases, such as financial databases. Companies can carry out
commerce online, including advertising, selling, buying, distributing products, and providing after-
sales services. Businesses arid institutions can use the Internet for voice and video conferencing
and other forms of communication that allow people to telecommute, or work from a distance.
The use of electronic mail over the Internet has greatly speeded communication between companies,
among coworkers, and between other individuals. Media and entertainment companies use the Internet
to broadcast audio and video, including live radio and television programs; to offer online chat, in
which people carry on discussions using written text; and to offer online news and weather programs.
Scientists and scholars use the Internet to communicate with colleagues, to perform research, to
distribute lecture notes and course materials to students, and to publish papers and articles. Individuals
use the Internet for communication, entertainment, finding information, and to buy and sell goods
and services.
Internet technology is having a profound effect on the global trade in services. World trade involving
computer software, entertainment products (motion pictures, videos, games, sound recordings),
information services (databases, online newspapers), technical information, product licenses, financial
services, and professional services (businesses and technical consulting, accounting, architectural
design, legal advice, travel services, etc.) has grown rapidly in the past decade, now accounting for
well over $40 billion of U.S. exports alone.
An increasing share of these transactions occurs online. The GII has the potential to revolutionize
commerce in these and other areas by dramatically lowering transaction costs and facilitating new
types of commercial transactions.
The Internet will also revolutionize retail and direct marketing. Consumers will be able to shop in their
homes for a wide variety of products from manufacturers and retailers all over the world. They will be
able to view these products on their computers or televisions, access information about the products,
visualize the way the productS may fit together (constructing a room of furniture on their screen, for
example), and order and pay for their choice, all from their living rooms.
Commerce on the Internet could total tens of billions of dollars by the turn of the century. For this
potential to be realized fully, governments must adopt a non-regulatory, market-oriented approach to
electronic commerce, one that facilitates the emergence of a transparent and predictable legal
environment to support global business and commerce. Official decision makers must respect the
unique nature of the medium and recognize that widespread competition and increased consumer
choice should be the defining features of the new digital marketplace.
E-COMMERCE : CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGIES / 13
Many businesses and consumers are still wary of conducting extensive business over the Internet
because of the lack of a predictable legal environment governing transactions. This is particularly
true for international commercial activity where concerns about enforcement of contracts, liability,
intellectual property protection, privacy, security and other matters have caused businesses and
consumers to be cautious.
As use of the Internet expands, many companies and Internet users are concerned that some
governments will impose extensive regulations on the Internet and electronic commerce. Potential
areas of problematic regulation include taxes and duties, restrictions on the type of information
transmitted, control over standards development, licensing requirements and rate regulation of service
providers. Indeed, signs of these types of commerce-inhibiting actions already are appearing in
many nations. Preempting these harmful actions before they take root is a strong motivation for the
strategy outlined in this paper.
Governments can have a profound effect on the growth of commerce on the Internet. By their
actions, they can facilitate electronic trade or inhibit it. Knowing when to act and — at least as
important — when not to act, will be crucial to the development of electronic commerce. This report
articulates the Administration's vision for the emergence of the GI I as a vibrant global marketplace
by suggesting a set of principles, presenting a series of policies, and establishing a road map for
international discussions and agreements to facilitate the growth of commerce on the Internet.
But the everyday network that most resembles the Internet is the street running right outside your
building. You've got an address on that street. And it, and the other streets in your neighborhood or
town, connect and eventually pour onto a wider street or highway. That highway connects to other
neighborhoods or towns. And these highways eventually dump into higher-speed freeways that connect
other main highways, And the freeways connect to airports and shipping ports that'in turn, cross the
waters to connect to the freeways, highways (even donkey trails), and neighborhoods on other
continents.
Think of each neighborhood or town as a network of streets. If you know the address you want, you
can find a route to some other building clear across the world. Picture, then, the "highway network"
as a network of networks. That's what the Internet is like.
Interestingly, you can thank the former Soviet Union for the Internet. The forerunner of today's
commercial Internet actually started in the '60s as a U.S. Defense department project. The desire
was to create a communications system that the Soviets couldn't easily bomb. Telephone networks
were vulnerable because they relied on central switching points. Nuke the switch, and you close
down large portions of the network.
The Rand Corporation came up with the decentralized network concept. Instead of a strict hub-and-
spoke phone-switch arrangement, you had a fish net arrangement. Communication lines crisscrossed
and intersected, and messages were switched–or "routed"–from point to point in many directions. If
part of the "net" was destroyed, the "Net" (initially called ARPANET) could route messages around
the disaster.
The Internet gradually widened to serve nonmilitary research, and finally, commercial use.The National
Science Foundation initially provided the high-speed "freeway" portions of the Internet, but now, as it
141 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
has opened to commercial use, most of the main freeways are commercially owned. It's a complicated
ownership, but basically, big-time operators pay big bucks to telecommunications firms for a stretch
of the highway, and then charge the rest of us by the minute or by the mile_so to speak.
The World Wide Web is the multimedia experience on the Internet. The WWW consists of pages
where you can find out just about anything you want, or don't want to know about. The best place to
start is to a search on one of the many search engines. Click on the Net Search button at the top of
you browser and follow the instructions, or use Yahoo! to browse the Web by category.
The World Wide Web is essentially a document delivery system running over the Internet network.
Connected to the IQternet, Web browsing software running on your computer can find and fetch
documents located on Internet Web servers anywhere in the world.
Making a web site requires knowledge of "HTML" (Hyper Text Markup Language), universal document
format of the World Wide Web apart from more than a dozen components and application programs
listed in Unit 19 of this book.
For a fee, many companies will "host" your Web site, maintaining it on Web server computers connected
to the Internet. Browsing the World Wide Web can snag you lots of information, more than you might
expect. Plus, with your own Web site, you can get folks' attention from virtually anywhere in the
world, 24 hours a day.
You don't have to know much about the "Web," or how it works, to browse fairly successfully. But if
you're planning to create a Web "site," you might find it less daunting if you understand what you're
dealing with.
With your own Web site, anyone with Web browser software and a connection to the Internet can find
the Web pages you publish. Your site can be an advertisement for you or your organization. It can be
an on-line newsletter, a catalog of goods or services, a customer support vehicle, or an employee or
sales management system for remote offices. Think of what you're doing via brochures, catalogs,
faxes, and forms, and chances are you can do a lot of it more efficiently over the Internet, and the
World Wide Web, in particular.
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is protocol used to transfer files between computers on the Internet.
There are two types of FTP conections anonymous.non-anonymous. If you connect to an anonymous
FTP server then you would use anonymous as your login name and your e-mail address as a
password. Non-anonymous, you will need a private login name and password. There are also two
types of file transfers, ASCII and binary. ASCII is for text transfers only. Binary transfers are for
transfering angthing else. If in doubt, use binary(bin).
1.16.8 Usenet
Usenet is a collection of more than 5,000 newsgroups, or discussion groups,i on every conceivable
subject. For example, some newsgroups are self-help groups for victims of cancere or sexual
abuse, and others give the latest in gossip about show business personalities. Anyone can
contribute a message, called an article, to a Usenet newsgroup or post a reply, known as a follow-up
post, to an existing article. With the aid of a newsreader (a program designed to access Usenet
newsgroups), you can read an entire thread-all the replies to an interesting article.
The system is intended for exchange of information in an informal way. Anyone can post new messages
to the group and reply to other messages. News groups are arranged in a lose hierarchical order
covering about 5,000 subjects. About half of these are related to computing, the rest are for recreational
subjects, professional discussion and trivia. To use Usenet you need a news viewer and access to an
NNTP server. Most Internet service providers have such a server, as do most large academic institutions.
16 / ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
1.16.9 Tolnet
Telnet is the service of the Internet that allows you to access remote computers outside your area.
Many computers on the Internet are set up to allow Telnet access. Some require login names and
passwords, but many do not have any restrictions. Through Telnet, you may access libraries, data -
bases and other public services all over the world. Hytelnet is a tool that helps you access the
various sites through Telnet. The World Wide Web lets you access sites through Telnet and use FTP
to retrieve documents you find.
regulation. This may involve states as well as national governments. Where government intervention.
is necessary to facilitate electronic commerce, its goal should be to ensure competition, protect
intellectual property and privacy, prevent fraud, foster transparency, support commercial transactions,
and facilitate dispute resolution.
(4) Governments should recognize the unique qualities of the Internet
The genius and explosive success of the Internet can be attributed in part to its decentralized nature
and to its tradition of bottom-up governance. These same characteristics pose significant logistical
and technological challenges to existing regulatory models, and governments should tailor their
policies accordingly.
Electronic commerce faces significant challenges where it intersects with existing regulatory schemes.
E-COMMERCE : CONVERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGIES 117
We should not assume, for example, that the regulatory frameworks established over the past' sixty
years for telecommunications, radio and television fit the Internet. Regulation should be imposed
only as a necessary means to achieve an important goal on which there is a broad consensus.
Existing laws and regulations that may hinder electronic commerce should be reviewed and revised
or eliminated to reflect the needs of the new electronic age.
(5) Electronic Commerce over the Internet should be facilitated on a global basis
The Internet is emerging as a global marketplace. The legal framework supporting commercial
transactions on the Internet should be governed by consistent principles across state, national, and
international borders that lead to predictable results regardless of the jurisdiction in which a particular
buyer or seller resides.
1.18 Intranets
`Intranet' is a term used to describe the application of Internet technologies to serve the internal
needs of organisations and as is the greatest e-commerce facility to promote internal business to
business interests
Internet technologies offer several important advantages over conventional means for developing
internal systems. Important among these are:
q The use of a common, readily available and familiar access tool, the web-
browser
q The ease with which documents are handled and indexed
q The ease with which multiple media can be supported
Electronic commerce buy/sell products and services Collaboration, information sharing among
selected users within or without a company
Product Data Exchange Accurate product details transmitted to trading partners
Oversight of trading partners design work
Collaborative engineering across distance
Electronic Forms Managing processes when human oversight,
approvals, or information input needs to be combined with standard
elements of information (e.g., catalogue data)
Tracking progress in a process where many people are involved doing
different activities
Integrating human input data with automated data bases or applications
Electronic commerce (through integration with the WWW and internal
systems)
20 / ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
The Directory page provides a good cross section of the companies out there. It is a good idea to go
through a few of them and compare their prices and services. For a quick breakdown of the most
popular packages these companies provide, visit the Summary section.
The methods reviewed are as follows:
q Be a resource, Not a store
q Your Current Customers
q Search Engines and Directories
q Discussion forums, Chat and Newsgroups
q Direct Opt-in Email
q Banner Advertising
q I nterne t Ne ws Re le as e s
q Co-Branding and Sponsorships
q Affiliate Programs
q Reciprocal Links