First Virtual Internet Payment System

FIRST VIRTUAL INTERNET PAYMENT SYSTEM

First virtual has created a payment system, the Internet Payment System, to be used exclusively for the sale of information over the Internet, rather than for products or services. Using an automated telephone system to collect payment information about the participant, first virtual eschews cryptographic methods encryption or digital signatures preferring to rely instead on close monitoring of sales and purchases to reduce fraud.

Assumptions The first virtual Internet payment system is based on three fundamental assumptions. First, electronic information merchants can produce as many or few copies of any information product at no incremental cost per copy because once the information has been developed and offered for sale once, the cost of selling it again is virtually zero.

Second, information buyers like buyers of nay other product need some way to examine products before they buy.Finally, buying and selling should be simple and have as low an entry cost in time, money and effort as possible. These assumptions lead to certain conclusions, which produce a different view of the information marketplace than that taken by most other commerce providers:

1. Because there is no cost or negligible cost associated with sending out a copy of the information being sold, “returns” or “stolen goods” don’t in fact cost the merchant anything.

2. Information products are sold “on approval” with the customer required to explicitly reply either yes or no to a request for payment, but only after having received a copy of the information.

3. Information products can be sold through virtually any Internet application and do not require vendors or buyers to buy special software. More important, first virtual offers facilities to individuals to sell information online for very minimal cost.

The first virtual Internet payment system is more formally defined by Green Commerce Model and the simple Green Commerce Protocol (SGCP) is included.