U.S. patent application number 11/833181 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-22 for trusted and secure techniques for item delivery and execution.
This patent application is currently assigned to Intertrust Technologies Corp.. Invention is credited to Karl L. Ginter, Victor H. Shear, Francis J. Spahn, David M. Van Wie, Robert P. Weber.
Application Number | 20070271463 11/833181 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34841925 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070271463 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ginter; Karl L. ; et
al. |
November 22, 2007 |
Trusted and Secure Techniques for Item Delivery and Execution
Abstract
Documents and other items can be delivered electronically from
sender to recipient with a level of trustedness approaching or
exceeding that provided by a personal document courier. A trusted
electronic go-between can validate, witness and/or archive
transactions while, in some cases, actively participating in or
directing the transaction. Printed or imaged documents can be
marked using handwritten signature images, seal images, electronic
fingerprinting, watermarking, and/or steganography. Electronic
commercial transactions and transmissions take place in a reliable,
"trusted" virtual distribution environment that provides
significant efficiency and cost savings benefits to users in
addition to providing an extremely high degree of confidence and
trustedness. The systems and techniques have many uses including
but not limited to secure document delivery, execution of legal
documents, and electronic data interchange (EDI).
Inventors: |
Ginter; Karl L.;
(Beltsville, MD) ; Shear; Victor H.; (Alamo,
CA) ; Spahn; Francis J.; (El Cerrito, CA) ;
Van Wie; David M.; (Eugene, OR) ; Weber; Robert
P.; (Menlo Park, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GARRETT & DUNNER;LLP
901 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW
WASHINGTON
DC
20001-4413
US
|
Assignee: |
Intertrust Technologies
Corp.
|
Family ID: |
34841925 |
Appl. No.: |
11/833181 |
Filed: |
August 2, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11102514 |
Apr 7, 2005 |
7281133 |
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11833181 |
Aug 2, 2007 |
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09632944 |
Aug 4, 2000 |
7143290 |
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11102514 |
Apr 7, 2005 |
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09221479 |
Dec 28, 1998 |
6185683 |
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09632944 |
Aug 4, 2000 |
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08699711 |
Aug 12, 1996 |
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09221479 |
Dec 28, 1998 |
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08388107 |
Feb 13, 1995 |
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08699711 |
Aug 12, 1996 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
713/176 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2221/0737 20130101;
G06F 2221/2101 20130101; H04N 21/4627 20130101; G06F 2211/007
20130101; G06F 2221/2135 20130101; H04N 21/25875 20130101; H04L
2463/103 20130101; H04N 7/162 20130101; H04N 21/235 20130101; H04N
21/4405 20130101; G06F 2221/2151 20130101; G06Q 20/10 20130101;
G06Q 20/12 20130101; H04N 21/2543 20130101; G06Q 20/123 20130101;
H04N 21/4753 20130101; G06Q 20/1235 20130101; H04N 21/2547
20130101; G06F 2221/0797 20130101; G06Q 20/02 20130101; H04N
21/44204 20130101; H04N 21/6581 20130101; H04L 9/3263 20130101;
H04L 63/20 20130101; H04L 2209/805 20130101; H04N 21/2541 20130101;
G06F 21/86 20130101; G06Q 20/023 20130101; G06F 21/10 20130101;
H04N 21/4345 20130101; G07F 9/026 20130101; H04N 21/2347 20130101;
H04L 2463/101 20130101; H04N 21/8166 20130101; G06Q 20/24 20130101;
H04L 2209/60 20130101; H04N 21/8358 20130101; G06F 12/1408
20130101; G06F 21/33 20130101; G06Q 20/389 20130101; H04L 63/08
20130101; H04L 2209/56 20130101; H04N 21/4143 20130101; G06F
2221/2115 20130101; G06F 21/32 20130101; G06Q 20/401 20130101; H04N
21/2362 20130101; H04N 21/435 20130101; G06F 21/6209 20130101; G06F
21/31 20130101; H04N 7/17309 20130101; G06T 1/0021 20130101; G06Q
20/04 20130101; H04N 21/83555 20130101; H04L 9/3231 20130101; H04L
2463/102 20130101; H04N 21/443 20130101; H04N 21/835 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
713/176 |
International
Class: |
H04L 9/00 20060101
H04L009/00 |
Claims
1. A method of securely delivering an item from a first electronic
appliance, the first electronic appliance comprising a protected
processing environment, the protected processing environment at
least in part protecting information contained in the protected
processing environment from tampering by a user of the first
electronic appliance, the method comprising: authenticating an
identity of a user of the first electronic appliance;
authenticating an intended recipient of the item; associating one
or more electronic controls with the item; and packaging the item
and the one or more electronic controls into one or more secure
electronic containers.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising registering one or
more electronic controls received from the intended recipient,
wherein the step of associating one or more electronic controls
with the item includes associating at least one of the one or more
controls received from the intended recipient.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of associating one or
more electronic controls with the item includes associating at
least one electronic control received from a user of the first
electronic appliance.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic appliance
comprises at least one of: a display screen; an electronic card
reader; a telephone receiver; and a telephone dialing keypad.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic appliance
comprises a kiosk comprising at least one of: a document reader; a
camera; a microphone; and a speaker.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic appliance is
selected from the group consisting of: personal computer,
workstation, server, and television.
7. The method of claim 1, in which the protected processing
environment comprises a secure processing unit.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the one
or more secure electronic containers to a second electronic
appliance associated with the intended recipient.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the transmitting step comprises
transmitting at least a first secure electronic container via an
electronic network, the electronic network being selected from the
group consisting of: the Internet, an internal network, and a
local-area network.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the item is selected from the
group consisting of: a document, a digital photograph, graphical
data, audio data, a computer program, video data, a film, moving
image data, a video game, and a piece of multimedia.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein authenticating an identity of a
user of the first electronic appliance comprises evaluating
biometric information associated with the user of the first
electronic appliance.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein authenticating an identity of a
user of the first electronic appliance comprises: accessing
information from a smart card; and comparing the information from
the smart card to expected information.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the information from the smart
card comprises information from at least one digital
certificate.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein authenticating an identity of a
user of the first electronic appliance comprises: receiving a
digital certificate associated with the user of the first
electronic appliance; and comparing information from the digital
certificate to expected information.
15. A method comprising the steps of: receiving a secure electronic
container; opening the secure electronic container; authenticating
one or both of the secure electronic container and contents of the
secure electronic container, wherein the contents include a
received item; automatically accessing one or more controls
associated with the secure electronic container, the controls
having been received independently of the secure electronic
container; and performing processing on the received item in
accordance with the one or more controls.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the performing step comprises
at least one step selected from the group consisting of:
restricting access to at least part of the received item;
restricting modification rights to at least part of the received
item; restricting further distribution of the received item;
destroying the received item after a specified time period; and
destroying the received item after a specified number of
handlings.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the performing step comprises
at least one step selected from the group consisting of: applying
at least one signature; applying at least one seal; providing a
handwritten signature; providing a steganographic electronic
fingerprint; providing a visual electronic fingerprint; issuing one
or more receipts; performing one or more contract execution
functions; performing one or more audit functions; performing one
or more contract settlement functions; performing one or more
archival functions; performing one or more notary functions;
performing one or more electronic negotiation functions; and
performing one or more payment handling functions.
18. A method comprising the steps of: receiving a notification that
a secure electronic container has arrived; authenticating the
secure electronic container; opening the secure electronic
container; authenticating contents of the secure electronic
container; accessing at least one processing control, the
processing control specifying, at least in part, one or more
processing operations that must be performed on the secure
electronic container and/or the contents of the secure electronic
container; performing the one or more processing operations;
notifying at least one remote entity upon completion of the one or
more operations.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising storing the secure
electronic container in an archive.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more
processing operations is selected from the group consisting of:
restricting access to the contents of the secure electronic
container; restricting modification of the contents of the secure
electronic container; restricting further distribution of the
secure electronic container; destroying the secure electronic
container after a specified time period; and destroying the secure
electronic container after a specified number of handlings.
21. The method of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more
processing operations is selected from the group consisting of:
providing a return receipt; applying at least one digital
signature; applying at least one electronic seal; providing a
handwritten signature; providing a steganographic electronic
fingerprint; providing a visual electronic fingerprint; performing
one or more contract execution functions; performing one or more
audit functions; performing one or more contract settlement
functions; performing one or more archival functions; performing
one or more notary functions; performing one or more electronic
negotiation functions; and performing one or more payment handling
functions.
22. The method of claim 18, further comprising: sending a request
to a trusted intermediary requesting permission to redistribute the
secure electronic container; and receiving a failure notification
if the trusted intermediary is unable to obtain all required
permissions.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
11/102,514, filed Apr. 7, 2005, which is a divisional of
application Ser. No. 09/632,944, filed Aug. 4, 2000, now U.S. Pat.
No. 7,143,290, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.
09/221,479, filed Dec. 28, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,683, which
is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/699,711, filed Aug.
12, 1996, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of
application Ser. No. 08/388,107, filed Feb. 13, 1995, abandoned via
file wrapper continuation, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,891, all of
which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION(S)
[0002] These inventions relate to secure and trusted delivery of
digital information. More specifically, these inventions pertain to
techniques, methods and systems for providing reliable, trusted,
verifiable delivery, handling, creation and/or execution of digital
items such as documents, executable code (e.g., Java applets),
and/or any other information capable of being represented in
digital form. The present invention also relates to commercial and
other electronic activities involving a trusted third party
electronic go-between (such as a computer controlled process) to
audit, validate, and/or direct electronic transactions, executions
and/or delivery and/or to archive information representing and/or
at least in part comprising securely communicated digital
information.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONS
[0003] There is a great need for convenient, cost effective
techniques to securely handle and deliver documents and other
items. Existing methods such as express and personal couriers,
registered mail, facsimile and electronic mail fulfill some of
these needs but these techniques each have their problems and are
deficient in important ways.
[0004] A. Trusted Personal Couriers
[0005] Perhaps the ultimate in secure document handling is the
personal trusted courier. Many of us have seen spy films showing a
trusted courier delivering documents containing state secrets. In
such scenarios, the document sender places the document or other
item into a lockable attache case. The sender seals and locks the
case with a key or combination that only he and the recipient have.
The courier handcuffs the case to his or her wrist, boards an
airplane and flies to the required destination--all the while
carefully guarding the attache case and its contents. Upon arriving
at the destination, the courier personally delivers the case to the
intended recipient. The recipient unlocks the case and retrieves
its contents, all the while having a high degree of assurance that
the contents have been kept secret.
[0006] The confidentiality, security and reliability provided by a
personal trusted document courier has never really been matched by
any other form of document delivery. Even though we sometimes might
want or need the services of a personal trusted document courier,
it is likely that practical reasons (such as cost and availability)
require us to use less trusted forms of delivery for even our most
important and confidential documents or other items. Moreover, even
the trusted courier technique does not provide a reliable means of
later providing how and when the information was used by the
recipient and/or subsequently handled by others to whom the
recipient may pass the information and what information was
actually sent. This approach also cannot provide the degree of
interactivity between the sender and the recipient possible in a
world of near instantaneous communications, including seamlessly
supporting processes related to rights management, and document
creation and dissemination.
[0007] As discussed below, existing alternatives to the trusted
courier are more practical and less expensive, and some offer
advantages such as instantaneous communications and
interactivity--but all suffer from various disadvantages.
[0008] B. Express Courier Services
[0009] Federal Express and other express courier services provide
rapid (for example, overnight) delivery services at a relatively
high degree of trustedness.
[0010] In the typical case, the sender places the items to be
delivered into a special, tear resistant sealed envelope, and fills
out an "air bill" that lists the sender's name, address and
telephone number, and the intended recipient's name, address and
telephone number. The "air bill" also lists options such as, for
example, the type of delivery service required (i.e., delivery next
business morning, next business afternoon, or second business day),
whether the sender requires Federal Express to obtain the
recipient's signature, the payment method, and a unique "tracking
number" used to uniquely identify the package.
[0011] Once the package is complete and ready to send, the sender
may provide it to Federal Express through a number of different
methods: [0012] the sender may take the package to a Federal
Express office and personally hand it to a clerk, [0013] the sender
may drop the completed envelope in any one of many pervasive
Federal Express drop off boxes, and someone will come and collect
the envelopes from the boxes sometime before the end of the
business day and deliver them to a Federal Express office, or
[0014] the sender can call Federal Express and arrange for a
delivery person to come and pick up the package.
[0015] Federal Express maintains a fleet of aircraft that shuftle
most packages to a central sorting and routing facility for
subsequent dispatch to various destinations across the United
States and the world. A fleet of delivery trucks deliver the
packages from local airports to each recipient. At the sender's
option, a delivery person may obtain a recipient's signature at the
time she delivers the package--providing documentation that may
later be used to prove the package was in fact received by the
intended recipient or someone at his or her home or office.
[0016] Federal Express uses automated computer tracking and package
handling equipment to route individual packages to their
destinations. Delivery information is put into the tracking
computer to allow customers and service people to automatically
retrieve information about when and to whom particular packages
were actually delivered, or where the package happens to be at the
moment.
[0017] Federal Express and other similar document delivery services
have been highly successful because they cost-effectively ensure
reliable delivery of original documents and other items.
Nevertheless, they do have some significant disadvantages and
limitations. For example: [0018] They are much more expensive than
other delivery mechanisms at least in part because of the high
labor, transportation, and infrastructure (many offices, planes,
etc.) costs involved. [0019] They do not provide the very high
degree of confidentiality desired for certain confidential business
or other documents. [0020] They generally can only reliably verify
that the package was delivered to the intended recipient (or his or
her home or place of business)--and not that the intended recipient
opened the package or read or saw or used the document. [0021] The
one (or two) day delay they introduce may be too great for time
sensitive or time pressing items.
[0022] These problems are exacerbated when several individuals
and/or organizations in different geographical locations are all
parties to a transaction-a complex, multiparty contract, for
example--and all must sign or otherwise process and/or execute one
or more related documents.
[0023] C. Registered Mail
[0024] A relatively more secure delivery technique is registered
mail. Registered mail correspondents can have a high degree of
confidence that their packages will arrive at their required
destinations--but may not like the time delays and additional
expense associated with this special form of mail handling.
[0025] To use registered mail, the sender places her document or
other items into a sealed envelope or package and takes her package
to the nearest Post Office. For security, the Post Office may
prohibit the use of resealable tape and mailing labels, and instead
require the package to be sealed with paper tape and the address to
be written directly on the package. These safeguards help to ensure
that any attempts to tamper with the package or its contents will
be detected.
[0026] The Post Office securely transports the registered mail
package to the recipient, requiring each postal employee who
accepts custody of the package along its journey to sign and time
stamp a custody record. The postal carrier at the recipient's end
personally delivers the package to the recipient--who also has to
sign for it and may be asked to produce proof of identification.
The custody record establishes a chain of custody, listing every
person who has had custody of the package on its journey from
sender to recipient.
[0027] As discussed above, registered mail is relatively secure and
confidential but delivery takes a long time and is very labor and
infrastructure intensive.
[0028] D. Facsimile
[0029] Facsimile is an electronic-based technology that provides
virtually instantaneous document delivery. A facsimile machine
typically includes a document scanner, a document printer, and
electronic circuits that convert document images to and from a form
in which they can be sent over a telephone line. Facsimile requires
each of the sender and the intended recipient to have a facsimile
machine. The sender typically places the document to be sent into a
document feeder attached to a facsimile machine. The sender then
typically keys in the telephone number of the intended recipient's
facsimile machine and presses a "start" button. The sender's
facsimile machine automatically dials and establishes contact with
the recipient's facsimile machine.
[0030] Once a good connection is established, the sender's
facsimile machine begins to optically scan the document one page at
a time and convert it into digital information bits. The sender's
facsimile machine converts the digital bits into a form that can be
transmitted over a telephone line, and sends the bits to the
intended recipient's facsimile machine. The sender's facsimile
machine may also send as part of the document, a "header" on the
top of each page stating the sender's identity, the page number of
the transmission, and the transmission time. However, these headers
can be changed at will by the sender and therefore cannot be
trusted.
[0031] Since the recipient's facsimile machine receives the
transmitted information at the same time the sender's facsimile
machine is sending it, delivery is virtually instantaneous.
However, sending a document to an unattended facsimile machine in
an insecure location may result in the document falling into the
wrong hands. Another common scenario is that the facsimile machine
operator, through human error, dials the wrong telephone number and
ends up delivering a confidential document to the wrong person (for
example, the local grocery store down the street, or in some
unfortunate cases, the opposing side of a negotiation, legal
proceeding or other pitched battle). Thousands of faxes are lost
every day in a "black hole"--never arriving at their desired
destinations but possibly arriving at completely different
destinations instead. [0032] Some secure facsimile machines such as
those used by government and military organizations, or by
companies needing a significantly higher level of security provide
an extra security/authentication step to ensure that the intended
recipient is physically present at the receiving facsimile machine
before the sender's machine will transmit the document. In
addition, it is possible to use encryption to prevent the facsimile
transmitted information from being understood by electronic
eavesdroppers. However, such specially equipped facsimile machines
tend to be very expensive and are not generally available for
common commercial facsimile traffic. Moreover, facsimile machines
typically can send and receive documents only--and therefore are
not very versatile. They do not, for example, handle digital items
such as audio, video, multimedia, and executables, yet these are
increasingly part and parcel of communications for commerce and
other purposes. Thus, despite its many advantages, facsimile
transmissions do not provide the very high degree of trustedness
and confidence required by extremely confidential documents, nor do
they provide the degree of flexibility required by modern digital
communications. As with Express Courier Services and Registered
Mail, faxing can only indicate that the package was delivered to
the intended recipient (or his or her home or place of
business)--and not that the intended recipient opened the package
or read or saw or used the document.
[0033] E. Electronic Mail
[0034] More and more, people are using electronic mail to send
documents, messages, and/or other digital items. The "Internet
explosion" has connected millions of new users to the Internet.
Whereas Internet electronic mail was previously restricted
primarily to the academic world, most corporations and
computer-savvy individuals can now correspond regularly over the
Internet.
[0035] Currently, Internet electronic mail provides great
advantages in terms of timeliness (nearly instantaneous delivery)
and flexibility (any type of digital information can be sent), but
suffers from an inherent lack of security and trustedness. Internet
messages must typically pass through a number of different
computers to get from sender to recipient, regardless of whether
these computers are located within a single company on an
"Intranet" for example, or on Internet attached computers belonging
to a multitude of organizations. Unfortunately, any one of those
computers can potentially intercept the message and/or keep a copy
of it. Moreover, even though some of these systems have limited
"return receipt" capabilities, the message carrying the receipt
suffers from the same security and reliability problems as the
original message.
[0036] Cryptography (a special mathematical-based technique for
keeping messages secret and authenticating messages) is now
beginning to be used to prevent eavesdroppers from reading
intercepted messages, but the widespread use of such cryptography
techniques alone will not solve electronic mail's inherent lack of
trustedness. These electronic mail messages, documents and other
items (e.g., executable computer programs or program fragments)
that might have been sent with them as "attachments," remain
vulnerable to tampering and other unauthorized operations and uses
once decrypted and while delivery may be reported, actual use can
not be demonstrated. Some people have tried to develop "privacy
enhanced" electronic mail, but prior systems have only provided
limited improvements in reliability, efficiency and/or
security.
[0037] F. The Present Inventions Solve these and Other Problems
[0038] As discussed above, a wide variety of techniques are
currently being used to provide secure, trusted confidential
delivery of documents and other items. Unfortunately, none of these
previously existing mechanisms provide truly trusted, virtually
instantaneous delivery on a cost-effective, convenient basis and
none provide rights management and auditing through persistent,
secure, digital information protection.
[0039] In contrast, the present inventions provide the trustedness,
confidentiality and security of a personal trusted courier on a
virtually instantaneous and highly cost-effective basis. They
provide techniques, systems and methods that can bring to any form
of electronic communications (including, but not limited to
Internet and internal company electronic mail) an extremely high
degree of trustedness, confidence and security approaching or
exceeding that provided by a trusted personal courier. They also
provide a wide variety of benefits that flow from rights management
and secure chain of handling and control.
[0040] The present inventions preferred embodiment make use of a
digital Virtual Distribution Environment (VDE) as a major portion
of its operating foundation, providing unique, powerful
capabilities instrumental to the development of secure, distributed
transaction-based electronic commerce and digital content handling,
distribution, processing, and usage management. This Virtual
Distribution Environment technology can flexibly enable a wide
variety of new business models and business practices while also
supporting existing business models and practices.
[0041] The Virtual Distribution Environment provides comprehensive
overall systems, and wide arrays of methods, techniques, structures
and arrangements, that enable secure, efficient electronic commerce
and rights management on the Internet and other information
superhighways and on internal corporate networks such as
"Intranets". The present inventions use (and in some cases, build
upon and enhances) this fundamental Virtual Distribution
Environment technology to provide still additional flexibility,
capabilities, features and advantages. The present invention, in
its preferred embodiment, is intended to be used in combination a
broad array of the features described in Ginter, et al, including
any combination of the following:
[0042] 1) VDE chain of handling and control,
[0043] 2) security trusted internodal communication,
[0044] 3) secure database,
[0045] 4) authentication,
[0046] 5) cryptographic,
[0047] 6) fingerprinting,
[0048] 7) other VDE security and communication techniques,
[0049] 8) rights operating system,
[0050] 9) object design and secure container techniques,
[0051] 10) container control structures,
[0052] 11) ARPML rights and process control language,
[0053] 12) electronic negotiation,
[0054] 13) secure hardware, and
[0055] 14) smart agent (smart object) techniques.
[0056] For example, parties using the Virtual Distribution
Environment can participate in commerce and other transactions in
accordance with a persistent set of rules they electronically
define. Such techniques, systems and arrangements bring about an
unparalleled degree of security, reliability, efficiency and
flexibility to electronic commerce, electronic rights management
and other important business models. The present inventions make
use of these persistent electronic rules to provide secure,
automated, cost-effective electronic control for electronic
document and other digital item handling and/or delivery, and for
the electronic formation and negotiation of legal contracts and
other documents.
[0057] By way of non-exhaustive summary, these present inventions
provide a highly secure and trusted item delivery and agreement
execution services providing the following features and functions:
[0058] Trustedness and security approaching or exceeding that of a
personal trusted courier. [0059] Instant or nearly instant
delivery. [0060] Optional delayed delivery ("store and forward").
[0061] Broadcasting to multiple parties. [0062] Highly cost
effective. [0063] Trusted validation of item contents and delivery.
[0064] Value Added Delivery and other features selectable by the
sender and/or recipient. [0065] Provides electronic transmission
trusted auditing and validating. [0066] Allows people to
communicate quickly, securely, and confidentially. [0067]
Communications can later be proved through reliable evidence of the
communications transaction--providing non-repudiatable, certain,
admissible proof that a particular communications transaction
occurred. [0068] Provides non-repudiation of use and may record
specific forms of use such as viewing, editing, extracting,
copying, redistributing (including to what one or more parties),
and/or saving. [0069] Supports persistent rights and rules based
document workflow management at recipient sites. [0070] System may
operate on the Internet, on internal organization and/or corporate
networks ("Intranets" irrespective of whether they use or offer
Internet services internally), private data networks, and/or using
any other form of electronic communications. [0071] System may
operate in non-networked and/or intermittently networked
environments. [0072] Legal contract execution can be performed in
real time, with or without face to face or ear-to-ear personal
interactions (such as audiovisual teleconferencing, automated
electronic negotiations, or any combination of such interactions)
for any number of distributed individuals and/or organizations
using any mixture of interactions. [0073] The items delivered
and/or processed may be any "object" in digital format, including,
but not limited to, objects containing or representing data types
such as text, images, video, linear motion pictures in digital
format, sound recordings and other audio information, computer
software, smart agents, multimedia, and/or objects any combination
of two or more data types contained within or representing a single
compound object. [0074] Content (executables for example) delivered
with proof of delivery and/or execution or other use. [0075] Secure
electronic containers can be delivered. The containers can maintain
control, audit, receipt and other information and protection
securely and persistently in association with one or more items.
[0076] Trustedness provides non-repudiation for legal and other
transactions. [0077] Can handle and send any digital information
(for example, analog or digital information representing text,
graphics, movies, animation, images, video, digital linear motion
pictures, sound and sound recordings, still images, software
computer programs or program fragments, executables, data, and
including multiple, independent pieces of text; sound clips,
software for interpreting and presenting other elements of content,
and anything else that is electronically representable). [0078]
Provides automatic electronic mechanisms that associate
transactions automatically with other transactions. [0079] System
can automatically insert or embed a variety of visible or invisible
"signatures" such as images of handwritten signatures, seals, and
electronic "fingerprints" indicating who has "touched" (used or
other interacted with in any monitorable manner) the item. [0080]
System can affix visible seals on printed items such as documents
for use both in encoding receipt and other receipt and/or usage
related information and for establishing a visible presence and
impact regarding the authenticity, and ease of checking the
authenticity, of the item. [0081] Seals can indicate who
originated, sent, received, previously received and redistributed,
electronically view, and/or printed and/or otherwise used the item.
[0082] Seals can encode digital signatures and validation
information providing time, location, sender and/or other
information and/or providing means for item authentication and
integrity check. [0083] Scanning and decoding of item seals can
provide authenticity/integrity check of entire item(s) or part of
an item (e.g., based on number of words, format, layout,
image--picture and/or text--composition, etc.). [0084] Seals can be
used to automatically associate electronic control sets for use in
further item handling. [0085] System can hide additional
information within the item using "steganography" for later
retrieval and analysis. [0086] Steganography can be used to encode
electronic fingerprints and/or other information into an item to
prevent deletion. [0087] Multiple steganographic storage of the
same fingerprint information may be employed reflecting "more"
public and "less" public modes so that a less restricted
steganographic mode (different encryption algorithm, keys, and/or
embedding techniques) can be used to assist easy recognition by an
authorized party and a more private (confidential) mode may be
readable by only a few parties (or only one party) and comprise of
the less restricted mode may not affect the security of the more
private mode. [0088] Items such as documents can be electronically,
optically scanned at the sender's end--and printed out in original,
printed form at the recipient's end. [0089] Document handlers and
processors can integrate document scanning and delivery. [0090] Can
be directly integrated into enterprise and Internet (and similar
network) wide document workflow systems and applications. [0091]
Secure, tamper-resistant electronic appliance, which may employ VDE
SPUs, used to handle items at both sender and recipient ends.
[0092] "Original" item(s) can automatically be destroyed at the
sender's end and reconstituted at the recipient's end to prevent
two originals from existing simultaneously. [0093] Secure,
non-repudiable authentication of the identification of a recipient
before delivery using any number of different authentication
techniques including but not limited to biometric techniques (such
as palm print scan, signature scan, voice scan, retina scan, iris
scan, biometric fingerprint and/or handprint scan, and/or face
profile) and/or presentation of a secure identity "token." [0094]
Non-repudiation provided through secure authentication used to
condition events (e.g., a signature is affixed onto a document only
if the system securely authenticates the sender and her intention
to agree to its contents). [0095] Variety of return receipt options
including but not limited to a receipt indicating who opened a
document, when, where, and the disposition of the document (stored,
redistributed, copied, etc.). These receipts can later be used in
legal proceedings and/or other contexts to prove item delivery,
receipt and/or knowledge. [0096] Audit, receipt, and other
information can be delivered independently from item delivery, and
become securely associated with an item within a protected
processing environment. [0097] Secure electronic controls can
specify how an item is to be processed or otherwise handled (e.g.,
document can't be modified, can be distributed only to specified
persons, collections of persons, organizations, can be edited only
by certain persons and/or in certain manners, can only be viewed
and will be "destroyed" after a certain elapse of time or real time
or after a certain number of handlings, etc.) [0098] Persistent
secure electronic controls can continue to supervise item workflow
even after it has been received and "read." [0099] Use of secure
electronic containers to transport items provides an unprecedented
degree of security, trustedness and flexibility. [0100] Secure
controls can be used in conjunction with digital electronic
certificates certifying as to identity, class (age, organization
membership, jurisdiction, etc.) of the sender and/or receiver
and/or user of communicated information. [0101] Efficiently handles
payment and electronic addressing arrangements through use of
support and administrative services such as a Distributed Commerce
Utility as more fully described in the copending Shear, et al.
application. [0102] Compatible with use of smart cards, including,
for example, VDE enabled smart cards, for secure personal
identification and/or for payment. [0103] Transactions may be one
or more component transactions of any distributed chain of handling
and control process including Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
system, electronic trading system, document workflow sequence, and
banking and other financial communication sequences, etc.
[0104] The present inventions also provide for the use of a trusted
third party electronic go-between or intermediary in various forms,
including the "virtual presence" of such go-between through the
rules and controls it contributes for distributed governance of
transactions described in the present invention, and further
through the use of a distributed, go-between system operating in
on-line and/or off-line modes at various user and/or go-between
sites. Such a trusted third-party go-between can provide enhanced
and automated functionality, features and other advantages such as,
for example: [0105] Third party go-between can provide an
independent, objective third party assurance of item authenticity,
integrity, delivery and/or other actions and/or events. [0106]
Third party go-between can support non-repudiation of items having
legal and/or other important consequences. [0107] Third-party
go-between can perform auditing, notarizing, authentication,
integrity checking, archiving, routing, distributed chain of
handling and control processing, and/or other processing. [0108]
Third party can provide store and forward capabilities. [0109]
Trusted go-between can supervise execution of legal items such as
documents--ensuring that all required conditions are satisfied and
that all parties agree before permitting a document to be executed
and informing parties of any as-yet-unsatisfied requirements and
allow parties to view completed documents on-screen and/or in
printed form with "draft, not enforceable" or the like printed on
the pages, before final agreement to commit. Actual execution
(closing) occurs, for example, as the third party system verifies
final, electronically asserted agreement and execution by all
parties. Such "atomic" transactions are especially useful in
supporting "closings" or the like. [0110] Third party go-between
can securely audit, manage, supervise, and/or control automated
electronic negotiations, contract agreement, contract execution,
contract notariziation, and/or archiving of contracts, notarized
contracts, and/or at least one VDE control set utilized in an
electronic negotiation regardless whether or not that negotiation
resulted in an executed contract, and regardless of whether or not
the entire negotiation was conducted by electronic means. [0111]
Secure electronic controls can direct tasks to be performed by the
third party go-between. [0112] Third party go-between can provide a
digital time stamp service to certify that a certain version of a
certain document existed and was delivered to it at a certain day
and time. [0113] Third party go-between can legally notarize the
item(s) if desired, and can also "notarize" electronic control
structures associated with the item(s). [0114] Third party
go-between can authenticate an item by, for example, opening (e.g.
decrypting content) one or more containers; digitally or otherwise
"signing" one or more items to indicate the third party has seen
the item(s); verifying the integrity of the item(s) (e.g., using a
one way hash function); affixing its own distinctive seal and/or
other information to the item; generating audit information for
item tracking purposes; and collecting payment based on the
services it has performed. [0115] Third party go-between can
maintain a secure archive of the item(s) and/or
identification/authentication information associated with the
item(s) (e.g., a "one way hash" value of item contents or portions
thereof). A portion or all of such archive (e.g., a "one way hash")
may be stored within the affixed, visible seal applied described
above. [0116] Go-between can also serve as an archive of controls
relating to certain items or item types (e.g., to allow a sender to
access common controls and/or templates from any of various
electronic appliances). [0117] Secure electronic controls can
provide a message digest that can be delivered to and registered by
a trusted go-between as part of the object registry/archiving
process. [0118] Third party go-between can deliver item(s) to an
intended recipient, or simply oversee the delivery transaction as
an impartial third party observer. [0119] Trusted go-between can
deliver a copy and/or the original of an item with or without a
seal affixed by the go-between. [0120] Trusted third party
go-between can maintain or exert control over an item, distributed
chain of handling and control process(s), and/or other processes or
workflow associated with it. [0121] Trusted go-between can support
governmental regulatory requirements by acting as a cryptographic
key repository for encrypted communications; such secure
communications may be accessed by governmental authorities, for
example, through a warrant process to provide court or otherwise
mandated access to specific communications or communications
related information (e.g., for encrypted communications employing
long key lengths). [0122] Trusted go-between can act as a user
rights authority clearinghouse for additional and/or alternative
rights which may, for example, be available to particular classes,
specific users, at a certain cost, or as specified by the sender.
Trusted go-between may also mediate between sender(s) and
recipient(s) in response to recipient's request for new, different
and/or modified rights or sender's and/or receiver's request for
third party archived information (which may require the agreement
by only one, expressly either one, or both sender(s) and
recipient(s). [0123] In addition to multiple individuals and/or
parties in several organizations, a trusted go-between may also
provide services to parties within a single organization, thus
enhancing the security, reliability, auditability, authentication,
efficiency, and timeliness of secure document delivery and secure
transaction facilitation within a given organization. [0124]
Trusted go-between may provide services both on public networks,
such as the Internet, on internal corporate networks
("Intranets"--irrespective of whether or not they use Internet type
conventions), and on private networks connecting two or more
individuals and/or organizations exchanging documents and other
content in digital format and/or participating together in various
transactions. [0125] A third party go-between can provide a
communications switching integration. For example, a communications
service provider may automatically provide the go-between services
for a connection. For example, certain telephone numbers might be
offered that have these services built in to the switching network,
or a special dialing sequence might be used to access a
communications channel with these characteristics. This can provide
data links for networks, or be integrated with traditional fax
lines, or even voice lines. For example, a fax transmission might
be archived, have a seal inserted during transmission, and/or have
a hash value stored for later reference. A voice transmission could
be similarly managed. Both of these examples have the advantage of
compatibility with the existing infrastructure (albeit at the cost
of lacking persistent control after delivery). Using this
infrastructure for data links has the added advantage of
transparency. [0126] A third party go-between can provide
Transaction Authority services as described in the copending
concurrently filed Ginter et al patent application
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0127] These and other features and advantages provided by the
present invention will become better and more completely understood
by studying the following detailed description of presently
preferred exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the drawings,
of which:
[0128] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a "Virtual Distribution
Environment";
[0129] FIG. 1A is a more detailed illustration of an example of the
"Information Utility" shown in FIG. 1;
[0130] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a chain of handling and
control;
[0131] FIG. 2A illustrates one example of how rules and control
information may persist from one participant to another in the FIG.
2 chain of handling and control;
[0132] FIG. 3 shows one example of different control information
that may be provided;
[0133] FIG. 4 illustrates examples of some different types of rules
and/or control information;
[0134] FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example of an "object";
[0135] FIG. 6 shows an example of a Secure Processing Unit
("SPU");
[0136] FIG. 7 shows an example of an electronic appliance;
[0137] FIG. 8 is a more detailed block diagram of an example of the
electronic appliance shown in FIG. 7;
[0138] FIG. 9 is a detailed view of an example of the Secure
Processing Unit (SPU) shown in FIGS. 6 and 8;
[0139] FIG. 10 shows an example of a "Rights Operating System"
("ROS") architecture provided by the Virtual Distribution
Environment;
[0140] FIGS. 11A-11C show examples of functional relationship(s)
between applications and the Rights Operating System;
[0141] FIGS. 11D-11J show examples of "components" and "component
assemblies";
[0142] FIG. 12 is a more detailed diagram of an example of the
Rights Operating System shown in FIG. 10;
[0143] FIG. 12A shows an example of how "objects" can be
created;
[0144] FIG. 13 is a detailed block diagram of an example the
software architecture for a "protected processing environment"
shown in FIG. 12;
[0145] FIGS. 14A-14C are examples of SPU memory maps provided by
the protected processing environment shown in FIG. 13;
[0146] FIG. 15 illustrates an example of how the channel services
manager and load module execution manager of FIG. 13 can support a
channel;
[0147] FIG. 15A is an example of a channel header and channel
detail records shown in FIG. 15;
[0148] FIG. 15B is a flowchart of an example of program control
steps that may be performed by the FIG. 13 protected processing
environment to create a channel;
[0149] FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an example of a secure data
base structure;
[0150] FIG. 17 is an illustration of an example of a logical object
structure;
[0151] FIG. 18 shows an example of a stationary object
structure;
[0152] FIG. 19 shows an example of a traveling object
structure;
[0153] FIG. 20 shows an example of a content object structure;
[0154] FIG. 21 shows an example of an administrative object
structure;
[0155] FIG. 22 shows an example of a method core structure;
[0156] FIG. 23 shows an example of a load module structure;
[0157] FIG. 24 shows an example of a User Data Element (UDE) and/or
Method Data Element (MDE) structure;
[0158] FIGS. 25A-25C show examples of "map meters";
[0159] FIG. 26 shows an example of a permissions record (PERC)
structure;
[0160] FIGS. 26A and 26B together show a more detailed example of a
permissions record structure;
[0161] FIG. 27 shows an example of a shipping table structure;
[0162] FIG. 28 shows an example of a receiving table structure;
[0163] FIG. 29 shows an example of an administrative event log
structure;
[0164] FIG. 30 shows an example inter-relationship between and use
of the object registration table, subject table and user rights
table shown in the FIG. 16 secure database;
[0165] FIG. 31 is a more detailed example of an object registration
table shown in FIG. 16;
[0166] FIG. 32 is a more detailed example of subject table shown in
FIG. 16;
[0167] FIG. 33 is a more detailed example of a user rights table
shown in FIG. 16;
[0168] FIG. 34 shows a specific example of how a site record table
and group record table may track portions of the secure database
shown in FIG. 16;
[0169] FIG. 34A is an example of a FIG. 34 site record table
structure;
[0170] FIG. 34B is an example of a FIG. 34 group record table
structure;
[0171] FIG. 35 shows an example of a process for updating the
secure database;
[0172] FIG. 36 shows an example of how new elements may be inserted
into the FIG. 16 secure data base;
[0173] FIG. 37 shows an example of how an element of the secure
database may be accessed;
[0174] FIG. 38 is a flowchart example of how to protect a secure
database element;
[0175] FIG. 39 is a flowchart example of how to back up a secure
database;
[0176] FIG. 40 is a flowchart example of how to recover a secure
database from a backup;
[0177] FIGS. 41A-41D are a set of examples showing how a "chain of
handling and control" may be enabled using "reciprocal
methods";
[0178] FIGS. 42A-42D show an example of a "reciprocal" BUDGET
method;
[0179] FIGS. 43A-43D show an example of a "reciprocal" REGISTER
method;
[0180] FIGS. 44A-44C show an example of a "reciprocal" AUDIT
method;
[0181] FIGS. 45-48 show examples of several methods being used
together to control release of content or other information;
[0182] FIGS. 49, 49A-49F show an example OPEN method;
[0183] FIGS. 50, 50A-50F show an example of a READ method;
[0184] FIGS. 51, 51A-51F show an example of a WRITE method;
[0185] FIG. 52 shows an example of a CLOSE method;
[0186] FIGS. 53A-53B show an example of an EVENT method;
[0187] FIG. 53C shows an example of a BILLING method;
[0188] FIG. 54 shows an example of an ACCESS method;
[0189] FIGS. 55A-55B show examples of DECRYPT and ENCRYPT
methods;
[0190] FIG. 56 shows an example of a CONTENT method;
[0191] FIGS. 57A and 57B show examples of EXTRACT and EMBED
methods;
[0192] FIG. 58A shows an example of an OBSCURE method;
[0193] FIGS. 58B, 58C show examples of a ELECTRONIC FINGERPRINT
method;
[0194] FIG. 59 shows an example of a DESTROY method;
[0195] FIG. 60 shows an example of a PANIC method;
[0196] FIG. 61 shows an example of a METER method;
[0197] FIG. 62 shows an example of a key "convolution" process;
[0198] FIG. 63 shows an example of how different keys may be
generated using a key convolution process to determine a "true"
key;
[0199] FIGS. 64 and 65 show an example of how protected processing
environment keys may be initialized;
[0200] FIGS. 66 and 67 show example processes for decrypting
information contained within stationary and traveling objects,
respectively;
[0201] FIG. 68 shows an example of how a protected processing
environment may be initialized;
[0202] FIG. 69 shows an example of how firmware may be downloaded
into a protected processing environment;
[0203] FIG. 70 shows an example of multiple VDE electronic
appliances connected together with a network or other
communications means;
[0204] FIG. 71 shows an example of a portable VDE electronic
appliance;
[0205] FIGS. 72A-72D show examples of "pop-up" displays that may be
generated by the user notification and exception interface;
[0206] FIG. 73 shows an example of a "smart object";
[0207] FIG. 74 shows an example of a process using "smart
objects";
[0208] FIGS. 75A-75D show examples of data structures used for
electronic negotiation;
[0209] FIGS. 75E-75F show example structures relating to an
electronic agreement;
[0210] FIGS. 76A-76B show examples of electronic negotiation
processes;
[0211] FIG. 77 shows a further example of a chain of handling and
control;
[0212] FIG. 78 shows an example of a VDE "repository";
[0213] FIGS. 79-83 show an example illustrating a chain of handling
and control to evolve and transform VDE managed content and control
information;
[0214] FIG. 84 shows a further example of a chain of handling and
control involving several categories of VDE participants;
[0215] FIG. 85 shows a further example of a chain of distribution
and handling within an organization;
[0216] FIGS. 86 and 86A show a further example of a chain of
handling and control; and
[0217] FIG. 87 shows an example of a virtual silicon container
model.
[0218] FIG. 88 shows an example trusted electronic delivery
system;
[0219] FIG. 89 shows a detailed view of an example electronic
intelligent kiosk appliance;
[0220] FIGS. 90A and 90B show example options the sender can select
for electronic delivery;
[0221] FIG. 91A shows example steps to send an item;
[0222] FIG. 91B shows example steps to receive an item;
[0223] FIGS. 92 and 92A show example trusted electronic delivery
providing a return receipt;
[0224] FIG. 93 shows example trusted item delivery from an
intelligent kiosk to a personal computer;
[0225] FIGS. 94 & 95 show examples of trusted electronic
delivery between personal computers;
[0226] FIG. 96 shows an example trusted item handling and delivery
within an organization;
[0227] FIG. 97 shows an example trusted electronic document
execution;
[0228] FIG. 98 shows an example multi-party electronic document
execution;
[0229] FIG. 99 shows an example trusted electronic go-between;
[0230] FIG. 100 shows an example use of the trusted electronic
go-between for notarizing and/or archiving;
[0231] FIG. 101 shows an example electronic legal contract
execution using a trusted electronic go-between;
[0232] FIG. 101A shows an example electronic requirements list;
[0233] FIG. 101B shows an example multi-party electronic legal
contract execution using a trusted electronic go-between;
[0234] FIG. 102 shows example use of trusted electronic go-betweens
within and outside of organizations;
[0235] FIG. 103 illustrates an example secure object;
[0236] FIG. 104 shows example electronically-generated signatures,
seals and electronic fingerprints;
[0237] FIG. 105A shows an example way of hiding information within
line spacing;
[0238] FIG. 105B shows an example way of hiding information within
letter spacing;
[0239] FIG. 105C shows an example electronic fingerprint;
[0240] FIGS. 106A-106C show example electronically generated
seals;
[0241] FIGS. 107A and 107B show detailed electronically generated
seal examples;
[0242] FIG. 108 shows an example process for creating digital
information for encoding into an item or item seal;
[0243] FIG. 109 shows an example electronic appliance;
[0244] FIGS. 110-113 show example processes for securely sending an
item;
[0245] FIG. 113A shows an example routing slip data structure;
[0246] FIG. 113B shows an example audit trail data structure;
[0247] FIG. 114A-118 show example processes for securely receiving
an item;
[0248] FIG. 119 shows an example architecture for a trusted
electronic go-between;
[0249] FIGS. 120A-120B show example reciprocal control set usage to
provide a trusted electronic go-between having secure electronic
notarization capabilities;
[0250] FIG. 121 shows example steps performed by a trusted third
party go-between to receive an item;
[0251] FIGS. 122 and 123 show example trusted go-between
processes;
[0252] FIGS. 124A-124B and 125A-125B show example contract
execution processes;
[0253] FIG. 126 shows an example automobile purchase providing
electronic contract execution through a trusted electronic
go-between;
[0254] FIG. 127 shows an example use of a trusted electronic
go-between to provide electronic item notarization;
[0255] FIG. 128 shows an example secure item delivery with real
time teleconferencing capabilities;
[0256] FIG. 129 shows a health insurance example;
[0257] FIG. 130 shows an example real estate "atomic"
settlement;
[0258] FIG. 130A shows example transaction rules;
[0259] FIG. 131 shows an example judicial electronic data
interchange (EDI);
[0260] FIG. 132 shows an example Patent Office automation;
[0261] FIG. 133 shows an example tax filing; and
[0262] FIG. 134 shows an example using facsimile transmission.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS
[0263] The entire disclosure of the above-referenced Ginter et al.
patent specification is incorporated by reference in connection
with FIGS. 1-87.
[0264] FIG. 88 shows an electronic trusted delivery system 4050. In
this example, sender 4052 is sending an item 4054 to a recipient
4056 over an electronic network 4058. In this example, electronic
delivery over network 4058 is by way of a secure, trusted
electronic delivery virtual distribution environment transport
mechanism 4060 which is shown for purposes of illustration as an
electronic delivery person. Delivery person 4060 is shown as a
human being for purposes of illustration, but in the example is
actually an automatic, trusted electronic delivery means supported
and provided by virtual distribution environment 100.
[0265] Item 4054 might be a document such as a handwritten or typed
letter, or it could be a legal document such as a contract. It
could have both text and pictures, just text or just pictures. It
could be a sound recording, a multimedia presentation, or a visual
work such as a film or television program. Item 4054 could be any
item or information capable of being represented in digital form.
The item 4054 can be initially presented to the appliance 600 in
electronic form (for example, on a diskette), or the appliance can
convert it from some other form into electronic form.
[0266] Electronic delivery person 4060 receives item 4054 in
digital form and places it into a secure electronic container
302--thus forming a digital "object" 300. A digital object 300 may
in this case be, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, and may
include one or more containers 302 containing item 4054. FIG. 88
illustrates secure electronic container 302 as an attache case
handcuffed to the secure delivery person's wrist. Once again,
container is shown as a physical thing for purposes of illustration
only--in the example it is preferably electronic rather than
physical, and comprises digital information having a well-defined
structure (see FIG. 5A). Special mathematical techniques known as
"cryptography" can be used to make electronic container 302 secure
so that only intended recipient 4056 can open the container and
access the electronic document (or other item) 4054 it
contains.
[0267] In this example, sender 4052 sends item 4054 by supplying
the document to an electronic appliance 600A. In this example,
electronic appliance 600A is an intelligent electronic walk-up
kiosk that may be located in a public place or on private property,
such as the offices or work areas of a firm. Appliance 600A in this
example has a document slot 4102 into which sender 4052 can feed
item 4054. Electronic appliance 600A can automatically, optically
scan the item 4054 and convert it into digital information for
sending over an electronic connection or network 4058 (such as, for
example, electronic highway 108 shown in FIG. 2). The item 4054 can
be sent to one or many recipients specified by sender 4052.
[0268] FIG. 89 shows an example appliance 600A in the form of an
intelligent walk-up kiosk. This example kiosk appliance 600A could
be installed in an office building lobby, shopping mall, office
supply store, or other public place for walk-up use by members of
the public. It could also be installed in a location within a
corporate or business office (e.g., a mail room) for use by company
employees. The kiosk appliance 600A is an example. Aspects of the
present invention can be used with other types of electronic
appliances such as personal computers or computer workstations for
example (see FIGS. 7 and 8, and 93-93C for example).
[0269] Referring to FIG. 89, the example kiosk appliance 600A can
include a computer screen 4104 for displaying informational
messages, and user operable controls 4106 such as push buttons for
allowing sender 4052 to select between delivery options. Appliance
600 in this example may also include a card reader 4108 for reading
a credit card or other kind of card provided by the sender 4052.
Additionally, if desired, electronic appliance 600A may include a
telephone receiver 4110 and telephone dialing keypad 4112 (or other
input devices) to allow sender 4052 to get information and
assistance or give additional instructions. Electronic appliance
600A may optionally include a keyboard for entering textual and
other information (not shown).
[0270] Also as shown in FIG. 89, electronic appliance 600A may
optionally include a video camera 4124 and may display remote video
in a "window" 4126 on screen 4104 (or on an optionally separate
screen not shown). Camera 4124 allows appliance 600 to take a
photograph of sender 4052 and/or recipient 4056. It may also allow
sender 4052 and recipient 4056 to see each other in order to
simultaneously authenticate each other's identity visually--and to
have a "teleconference" discussion about item 4054 or other
matters. The electronic appliance 600 may also have a
microphone/speaker 4140 perhaps to coordinate details of the
pending transaction. Appliance 600A might also include a media
reader 4132 to read from a floppy diskette, smart card or other
digital storage device. The appliance 600 can include, in addition,
a document shredder/destroyer 4115.
[0271] Also as shown in FIGS. 88 and 89, appliance 600A in this
example has a secure processing unit (SPU) 500 (see FIG. 6). SPU
500 provides a tamper-resistant protected processing environment
("PPE") in which processes and transactions can take place securely
and in a trusted fashion.
[0272] FIG. 91A shows example steps for sending an item such as
item 4054. To send item 4054 to recipient 4056, sender 4052 may
first press buttons 4106 and read display 4104 to select between
different delivery options (see FIG. 91A, step 4090A). FIG. 90A
shows some example service options, and FIG. 90B shows some more
detailed delivery options. For example, sender 4052 might press a
button corresponding to "delivery options," which might cause
appliance 600A to display the FIG. 90A menu screen of various
delivery options. These delivery options could include, for
example: [0273] receipt options (what kind of receipt, if any,
sender 4052 wishes to receive documenting delivery of item 4054 to
intended recipient 4056); [0274] integrity guarantee options
(providing high levels of assurance that item 4054 was delivered in
its entirety without any errors, and without any accidental or
intentional modifications); [0275] privacy options (for example,
whether recipient 4056 is to know who sender 4052 is or where she
has sent the document from); and [0276] more options.
[0277] Electronic appliance 600A may also ask the user to identify
intended recipient 4056 (FIG. 91A, step 4090B). Sender 4052 may
select different ways to identify recipient 4056 based on the
confidentiality of the document and the level of security the
sender is willing to pay for. In one example, sender 4052 might
require the recipient's appliance 600B to require recipient 4056 to
prove that he is who he says he is. This secure "authentication"
function might be met by, for example, requiring recipient 4056 to
input a password, present digital proof of identity using, for
example: [0278] a digital document or "certificate" issued by a
trusted third party, and/or [0279] have appliance 600 measure a
biometric characteristic of the recipient such as, for example,
taking the recipient's photograph (and possibly automatically
compare it with a known photograph of the recipient supplied by
sender 4052 or system 4050) or using any other biometric sensing
technique.
[0280] Sender 4052 may also specify the electronic address of
recipient 4056, or it might let system 4050 automatically, securely
and confidentially locate the recipient using a secure directory
service as described in the copending Shear et al. application.
[0281] Once sender 4052 has selected the service options she
desires, appliance 600 may next display a message on computer
screen 4104 asking sender 4052 to insert item 4054 into document
slot 102 for electronic scanning. When the sender 4052 inserts the
document 4054 or other item (FIG. 91A, block 4030C), electronic
appliance 600 may (if necessary) automatically, optically scan item
4054 to create an electronic, digital form of the document (using
conventional optical scanning and optical character recognition
technology, for example). During this scanning process, appliance
600 might display a message on computer screen 4104 such as "I am
scanning your document now . . . " Instead of feeding in a
document, the sender might provide the document or other item in
digital form by inserting a floppy diskette or smart card into
reader 4132, or by connecting a portable computer up to port 4130
and having the portable computer "upload" the document into
appliance 600.
[0282] The item 4054 to be sent need not be a document, but could
be any type of item capable of being transformed into digital form
such as, for example: [0283] pictures or other graphical
information; [0284] sound information such as voice, music or both;
[0285] executable computer program or other code; [0286] video,
film or other moving image sequences; [0287] multimedia, video
games and the like; [0288] any combination or subcombination of the
above.
[0289] After appliance 600 has scanned or otherwise received the
entirety of document 4054 or other item, appliance 600 may
calculate and display a total price on computer screen 4104 and ask
sender 4052 to pay for the service (FIG. 91A, block 4090D). The
calculated price may, for example, depend in part on the size
and/or number of items to be securely delivered. The appliance may
then ask sender 4052 to confirm she wishes to send the document to
the recipient 4056 (FIG. 91A, block 4090E). Upon receiving that
confirmation (FIG. 91A, "y" exit to decision block 4090E),
appliance 600 may request sender 4052 to pay, for example, by
inserting her credit card into card reader 4108 as a form of
payment, or it might use other payment arrangements (FIG. 9aA,
block 4090F). Appliance 600 may then package the digital form of
document into secure electronic container 302 and send it over
electronic network 4058 for secure delivery to recipient 4056 (FIG.
91A, block 4090F). Because system 4050 uses the secure "virtual
distribution environment" 100, sender 4052 can have a high degree
of confidence and trust that item 4054 will be usable only by
intended recipient(s) 4056 and to no one else.
[0290] FIG. 91B shows example steps for receiving an item. Intended
recipient 4056 may receive delivery of the document by walking up
to the same or different electronic appliance intelligent kiosk
600B and operate controls 4106 instructing the appliance to deliver
the document to him (FIG. 91B, block 4092A). Depending upon the
delivery options sender 4052 selected, appliance 600 may require
recipient 4056 to prove he is who he says he is (FIG. 91B, block
4092B). For example, appliance 600B may require recipient 4056 to
provide a secret password and/or it may require the recipient to
insert a special card into card reader 108. This special card may
certify the identity of recipient 4056. Appliance 600B might also
take the recipient's picture using camera 4124, and automatically
compare the picture with a known photographic image of the
recipient to see if they match. Once appliance 600 is satisfied
regarding the identity of recipient 4056, it may require the
recipient to pay (FIG. 91B, block 4092C)--such as for example in a
"collect on delivery" model. The appliance 600 may then open the
secure electronic container ("attach case") 302 and deliver the
item it contains to recipient 4056 (FIG. 91B, block 4092D). For
example, if the container 302 contains item 4054, prints the copy
of the document, and provides the printed copy through document
slot 4102. It could also give recipient 4056 a digital copy of the
item 4054 (such as a document) via media drive 4132 and/or port
4130. Appliance 600B may deliver the digital copy of item 4054
within a container 302 and/or may protect the item with seals,
electronic fingerprints, watermarks and/or other visible and/or
hidden markings to provide a "virtual container" or some of the
security or other characteristics of a container (for example, the
ability to associate electronic controls with the item).
[0291] G. Example Electronic Delivery and Return Receipt
[0292] FIG. 92 illustrates one example delivery of item 4054 to
recipient 4056. In this example, the virtual electronic delivery
person 4060 demands to see a certificate or token 4064 proving that
recipient 4056 is the same person sender 4052 designated to receive
item 4054 (FIG. 91B, block 4092B). Recipient 4056 could provide
this certificate 4064 by, for example, supplying a "smart"
electronic card containing the certificate in digital form.
Alternatively or in addition, if sender 4052 so required,
electronic delivery person 4060 might require stronger forms of
personal authentication such as, for example, a voice print,
fingerprint or handprint test, identification based on other
physical (biometric) characteristics such as face profile, retinal
or iris patterns of the eye, or the like.
[0293] There are advantages to using multiple authentication
techniques in combination. For example, a well made certificate is
essentially unforgeable (which is to say, it would be easier to
fabricate a electronic fingerprint carrying device, for example,
than a well made certificate 4064 barring unforeseen advances in
mathematics), but the trouble with certificates is the weakness of
correlation between physical access (e.g., holding the card, or
sitting at the appliance) and permission to use. Passwords are a
weak form of authentication--that is, establishing this
correlation. Biometric techniques, particularly iris and retinal
scans, are stronger forms of authentication. It is possible for
biometric information to be encoded in a field of a certificate
4064, and for the software controlling the card to confirm that the
biometric input is consistent with the field in the certificate
prior to authorizing use of the certificate or the card in general.
This authentication may be limited in time (e.g., using an
inactivity time out, each time the card is inserted, etc.) In
addition, a transaction might require this authentication to occur
simultaneous with use (rather than for an entire session, even if
the card only requires one authentication per session).
[0294] After payment has been arranged (FIG. 91B, block 4092C),
electronic delivery person 4060 will open secure container 302 and
give recipient 4056 a printed and/or electronic copy of item 4054
only once he is satisfied--to the degree required by sender
4052--that the recipient 4056 is the correct person.
[0295] Electronic delivery person 4060 may also note various
information about the delivery (illustrated here by having him
write the information down on a clipboard 4066, but implemented in
practice by electronically storing an "audit" trail). System 4050
may--based on the particular receipt options sender 4052
requested--provide the sender with an electronic and/or paper
receipt of the type shown in FIG. 92A, for example (FIG. 91B, step
4092D). Such an example receipt 4066 might specify, for example:
[0296] item and/or transaction number; [0297] name of actual
recipient 4056 to whom the item was delivered; [0298] the company
recipient 4056 works for; [0299] day, date and time of day of
delivery; [0300] who actually opened and read or used an item 4054;
[0301] when (day, date and time of day) item 4054 was actually
opened and read, and [0302] the public key of the trusted third
party that issued the digital certificate 4064 attesting to the
identity of recipient 4056.
[0303] The sender's electronic appliance 600A and the recipient's
electronic appliance 600B can report their respective "audit
trails" periodically or upon completion of delivery or some other
event. They can report the audit information to a support facility
such as information utility usage analyst 200C (see FIG. 1A). Usage
analyst 200C can work with report creator 200D to issue a written
or electronic report to sender 4052. Alternatively, since
electronic appliances 600A, 600B are secure, the electronic
appliances can maintain copies of the audit trail(s) and produce
them in secure form on demand at a later date to evidence or prove
that the document was sent and delivered (for example, so sender
4052 can't deny she sent the item and recipient 4056 can't deny he
received the item). The appliances 600A, 600B could store an entire
copy of the item 4054, or they could instead store a "message
digest" that could later be used to securely prove which item was
sent.
[0304] H. Other Types of Electronic Appliances can be Used
[0305] As mentioned above, the kiosk appliances 600 shown in FIGS.
88 and 89 are just one example of electronic appliances that can be
used for secure document delivery.
[0306] Secure electronic delivery can also be from one personal
computer 4116 to another. FIGS. 93-96 show that system 4050 can be
used to deliver documents securely between various different kinds
of electronic appliances--personal computers, for example.
[0307] FIG. 93 shows that electronic kiosk appliance 600A may send
item 4054 to a different type of electronic appliance 600C such as
a personal computer 4116 having a display 4120, a keyboard 4118 and
a pointer 4122. Personal computer 4116 in this example is also
provided with a secure processing unit 500 or software based HPE
655 (See FIG. 12) to provide secure, tamper-resistant trusted
processing. In this example, kiosk appliance 600A and personal
computer appliance 600C are both part of virtual distribution
environment 100 and are interoperable with one another in a secure
fashion.
[0308] Secure delivery can also be from one personal computer 4116
to another. FIG. 94 shows a sender 4052 inputting item 4054 into an
optical scanner 4114 connected to a personal computer 4116'.
Electronic delivery person 4060 can deliver the electronic version
of item 4054 within secure container attache case 302 from personal
computer 4116' to another personal computer 4116 operated by
recipient 4056.
[0309] FIG. 95 shows that the item 4054 delivered by electronic
delivery person 4060 need not ever exist in paper form. For
example, sender 4052 might input digital information directly into
personal computer 4116' through keyboard 4118--or the item could
originate from any other secure or non-secure digital source.
Sender 4052 may then cause electronic delivery person 4060 to
deliver this digital item 4054 to the recipient 4056's personal
computer 4116 for viewing on display 4120 and/or printing on
printer 4122. Item 4054 can also be inputted from and/or outputted
to a floppy diskette or other portable storage medium, if desired.
As mentioned above, item 4054 can be any sort of digital
information such as, for example text, graphics, sound,
multi-media, video, computer software. The electronic delivery
functions can be provided by software integrated with other
software applications (e.g., electronic mail or word processing)
executing on personal computer 4116.
[0310] FIG. 96 shows an example in which multiple electronic
appliances 600(1), . . . , 600(N), 600A and 600B communicate with a
secure electronic delivery computer "server" 4150 over a network
4152. For example, appliances 600(1), . . . , 600(N) may each be a
personal computer or other workstation 4116. Appliance 600A may be,
for example, a network facsimile device including a document
scanner and document printer. Appliance 600B may be one or more
additional "servers" of various types. Each of these various
appliances 600 may use secure electronic delivery server 4150 to
provide secure electronic item delivery and handling services.
Server 4150 may include a secure processing unit 500 (PPE)
interoperable with other VDE-capable electronic appliances, and may
communicate with such other electronic appliances over a
communications link 4154 such as the Internet or other electronic
network. Each of the other appliances 600 may also include an SPU
500 (PPE) if desired to provide security and interoperability with
other VDE-capable devices over network 4152.
[0311] I. Electronic Execution of a Legal Document
[0312] FIG. 97 shows that trusted delivery system 4050 can also be
used to electronically execute a legal contract 4068. In many cases
it may be very inconvenient for the parties 4070A, 470B to a legal
contract 4068 to meet face-to-face and physically sign the
contract. For example, one of the contracting parties may be
geographically distant from the other. It may nevertheless be
important for the contract 4068 to be finalized and executed
rapidly, reliably and in a manner that cannot be repudiated by
either party.
[0313] System 4050 supports "simultaneous" as well as
non-simultaneous contract or other document execution among
contracting parties 4070. Simultaneous completion allows multiple
parties located in physically different locations to directly and
simultaneously participate in the execution of legal documents
and/or other transactions that require authorizations.
[0314] Currently, businesses often prefer simultaneous execution of
documents at what is called a "closing." Such closings for
important documents frequently require the presence of all
participants at the same location to simultaneously sign all
necessary legal documents. Business executives are often reluctant
to sign a set of documents and then send them to the next party to
sign, since special legal language may be required to release the
first (or early) signing party if the documents are not quickly
signed by other participants and since certain liabilities may
exist during this interim period.
[0315] FIG. 97 shows an example in which two contracting parties
4070A, 4070B each simultaneously sit down in front of an electronic
appliance 600 such as a personal computer or intelligent electronic
kiosk. Each of the contracting parties 4070 may be required to
securely identify themselves by, for example, inserting a card 4109
into a card reader 4108 and/or by allowing a biometric sensor 4124
to scan a part of their body such as a finger print or a retina
pattern--thereby proving that they are who they say they are.
[0316] One relatively weak form of authentication is physical
possession of the card 4109. Nonetheless, if some form of weak
authentication is used and biometric information is gathered in
real time by sensor 4124, it may be correlated with some trusted
record stored elsewhere, and/or delivered along with the item 4054.
If biometric information is codelivered with the item 4054, and it
is ever actually used, it must be correlated with a trusted record
(this trusted record could, for example, be generated by the person
providing biometric data in the presence of a trusted party if the
validity of a transaction is called into question, at the sacrifice
of significant automation and "commercial confidence" benefits).
The ability to establish trust as the transaction occurs, rather
than having some degree of nonrepudiation later (imagine if the
transaction were fraudulent, and a user relied on the person
showing up to give a retinal scan) is one significant benefit of
example system 4050.
[0317] If the parties are simultaneously at their respective
electronic appliances 600, they may verify each other's identity
using video cameras and screens built into the kiosk. Such
simultaneous execution has the advantage of allowing multiple
parties at different physical locations to negotiate a deal in real
time and then simultaneously, reliably execute and receive final,
signed agreement copies that are valid and legally binding.
[0318] Trusted delivery mechanism 4060 may send messages such as
offers 4054A and acceptances 4054B between the two electronic
appliances 600A, 600B. These messages may be packaged within secure
electronic containers 302. Some of these may be human readable,
others may be automated as in FIGS. 76A and 76B. If they are human
readable and operator managed during negotiation, they may
represent a user interface aspect of control structures (e.g., see
load module DTD description in connection with FIG. 23, and pop up
user interface usage in connection with FIG. 72C).
[0319] Once the parties 4070A, 4070B agree on the terms of the
contract, they may securely indicate their agreement and system
4050 can generate an electronic and/or paper contract document 4068
that evidences and memorializes the agreement. As will be discussed
below, contract document 4068 may have special attributes such as
seals 4200, hand-written signatures 4300 and/or visual or hidden
"electronic fingerprint" information 4400. Such seals 4200,
signatures 4300 and electronic fingerprints 4400 can be used to
establish the authenticity of the document (for example, preventing
a signatory from repudiating it and to allowing it to be admitted
as evidence in a court of law).
[0320] FIG. 98 shows that system 4050 can be used to electronically
form contract 4068 between any number of different parties.
Electronic network 4058 might, for example, be a world-wide
electronic highway 108 or other network such as the Internet, with
the various parties being located in many different locations
around the world. Alternatively, electronic network 4058 might be a
private data network within an organization--or it might be a
mixture of the two. Different contracting parties 4070 may use
different kinds of electronic appliances 600 such as, for example,
personal computers, intelligent walk-up kiosks, home television
sets, or any other type of electronic appliance capable of securely
receiving and providing information about contract 4068.
[0321] System 4050 can electronically pass contract 4068 along a
"chain" from one party 4070 to the next ("Round Robin"), collecting
signatures as it travels along. System 4050 can also allow each
party 4070A-4070F to communicate with any other party. One copy of
contract 4068 could be passed along from party to party and
iteratively signed at the respective signers' locations. The last
signer could then broadcast final, signed copies of contract 4068
to all parties. The electronic containers 302 can specify who the
next recipient of contract is--forming a trusted chain of handling
and control for contract 4068.
[0322] In one example, all of the parties 4070 may be required to
hit an "I Agree" button (e.g., by placing a finger onto a biometric
sender 4124 shown in FIG. 97, "clicking" on a displayed "I agree"
icon, etc.) before this transaction is actually carried out. Then,
barring a system failure, the execution is effectively
simultaneous, since it isn't initiated until everyone has indicated
their approval, and won't be completed unless each system performs
correctly.
[0323] II. Trusted Electronic Go-Between
[0324] FIG. 99 shows that system 4050 may introduce a trusted
electronic "go-between" or intermediary 4700 between the sender
4052 and recipient 4056 (and/or between two or more contracting
parties 4070). Trusted go-between 4700 acts as an impartial
overseer who can document a transaction, and may also become
actively involved in directing the transaction to see to it that it
is completed properly. Trusted electronic go-between 4700 may
provide valuable third party services such as, for example: [0325]
maintaining a secure archive of data, receipts and other
information about transmissions senders 4052 sends to recipients
4056; [0326] managing the transaction for example, so that not all
parties need to participate simultaneously or to ensure that all
prerequisites or preconditions have been satisfied); [0327] making
certain certifications about information sent via system 4050 such
as acting as a digital witness by notarizing documents and
transmissions.
[0328] The drawings show the trusted go-between 4700 as a person
for purposes of illustration only. In the preferred example,
trusted go-between 4700 may be a computer that performs its
functions electronically in a highly automatic and efficient way.
In one example, the computer's capabilities may be augmented by
human participation.
[0329] FIG. 100 shows one example use of a trusted electronic
go-between 4700 to assist in delivering an item such as document
4054 from sender 4052 to recipient 4056. In this example, sender
4052 may send the item 4054 directly to recipient 4056 within one
or more secure electronic containers 302. Alternatively, sender
4052 can send item 4054 (or a copy of it) to trusted electronic
go-between 4700 within a secure electronic container 302A. When the
trusted electronic go-between 4700 receives container 302A, she may
be authorized to open the container, remove item 4054 and affix her
seal 4200 to the document. Seal 4200 may certify, notarize and/or
"date stamp" the item 4054 as having been received and seen by
trusted electronic go-between 4700 on a certain day at a certain
time. Trusted electronic go-between 4700 may keep a copy of item
4054 within a secure electronic library or archive 4702.sub.[BW1].
In addition, if desired, trusted electronic go-between 4700 may
deliver a copy of item 4054 with the affixed seal 4200 to recipient
4056. When recipient 4056 opens the secure electronic container
302B, he will notice the seal 4200 and have confidence that it is
the same item 4054 that was seen and archived by the trusted
electronic go-between 4700. In this example, recipient 4056 may
directly provide a return receipt 4066 within an additional secure
electronic container 302C--or trusted electronic go-between 4700
can provide such a return receipt to sender 4052 based on audit
information provided by recipient 4056 and/or originated by the
trusted go-between.
[0330] III. The Trusted Electronic Go-Between can Help with
Contracts
[0331] FIG. 101 shows how trusted electronic go-between 4700 can
make it easier for parties 4070 to execute a legal contract 4068.
In this example, the trusted electronic go-between 4700 can
maintain a requirements list 4704. This requirements list 4704 (an
example of which is shown in FIG. 101A) may specify all of the
steps that must be completed and all of the conditions that must be
satisfied in order to execute legal contract 4068. Trusted
electronic go-between 4700 can monitor the electronic
communications between the contractual parties 4070A, 4070B, and
notify them of additional requirements that need to be met before
the contract 4068 can be signed.
[0332] In one example, trusted electronic go-between 4700 can also
act as a mediator to resolve disputes between the contracting
parties 4070A, 4070B, and can help negotiate the contract. At the
conclusion of the contracting process, trusted electronic
go-between 4700 may affix its own seal 4200A to the executed
contract document 4068. This seal 4200A may provide a guarantee or
assurance that all of the steps required by trusted electronic
go-between 4700 were fulfilled before the contract 4068 was
executed and that the contracting parties 4070A, 4070B are who they
say they are and had authorization to execute the contract.
[0333] FIG. 101B shows how the trusted electronic go-between 4700
could be the focal point for a contractual relationship between a
number of different contracting parties. In this example, trusted
electronic go-between 4700 might communicate directly with each of
the various contracting parties 4070 via electronic digital
messages, and create the resulting executed contract based on these
communications. In one example, go-between 4700 doesn't tell any
participant 4070 who has already agreed and who hasn't. The SPU's
500 (PPEs) of each party's appliance 600 can receive administrative
objects (see FIG. 21) with the information about each approval, yet
this information does not need to be released outside the SPU
(PPE). In this model, the rules associated with affixing electronic
signatures (digital and/or an image of a physical signature) can be
established at the beginning of the negotiation to indicate the
list of parties 4070 that must agree. Then, as each party 4070
agrees, their electronic appliance SPU 500 (PPE) will send
administrative objects to each of the other participants containing
one or more events and data associated with those events that can
be processed by the controls associated with use of their
signature. If the administrative objects omit the creator identity
public header 804 information (see FIG. 17), and the information is
transmitted via a remailer (or other intermediary) when network
addresses could be used to identify a sender, there will be no way
to determine the identity of the sender outside the SPU (PPE) 500.
As soon as all of the conditions for use of the signature have been
fulfilled, and an event is presented to sign the document, the rest
of the transaction can go forward.
[0334] It is extremely useful to have trusted go-between 4700
monitoring this activity to order the application of signatures (if
required), and to allow a roll back if the system fails before
applying all of the signatures. The role of go-between 4700 may, in
some circumstances, be played by one of the participant's SPU's 500
(PPEs), since SPU (PPE) behavior is not under the user's control,
but rather can be under the control of rules and controls provided
by one or more other parties other than the user (although in many
instances the user can contribute his or her own controls to
operate in combination with controls contributed by other parties).
In another example, the go-between role 4700 may comprise a
"virtual go-between" comprised of a one, a combination of plural,
or all, nodes of participants in a collective or other group.
Governance can be shared through the interaction of rules and
controls of the various node PPEs producing a go-between control
role. Upon the completion of a go-between managed transaction,
transaction audit information for archive, billing, security,
and/or administrative purposes may be securely transmitted,
directly, or through one or more other participating in the virtual
go-between.
[0335] IV. The Secure Electronic Go-Between can be Used within and
Between Organizations
[0336] FIG. 102 shows an example use of system 4050 for inter- and
intra-organizational communications. FIG. 102 shows an organization
A (left-hand side of the drawing) as having an "Intranet" (a
private data network within a particular organization) 5100(A).
Intranet 5100(A) may be a local and/or wide area network for
example. User nodes 600(A)(1), . . . , 600(A)(N) (for example,
employees of organization A) may communicate with one another over
Intranet 5100(A).
[0337] FIG. 102 also shows another organization B that may have its
own Intranet 5100(B), user nodes 600(B)(1), . . . , 600(B)(N), and
private trusted go-between 4700(B). In addition, FIG. 102 shows a
public data network 5104 (such as the Internet for example) and a
public trusted go-between 4700(C). FIG. 102 shows that in this
example, organizations A and B communicate with the outside world
through trusted go-between 4700(A), 4700(B) (which may, if desired,
also include "gateways", "firewalls" and other associated secure
communications components). In other examples, trusted go-between
4700(A), 4700(B) need not be the actual "gateway" and "firewall"
to/from Internet 5104, but could instead operate wholly internally
to the respective organizations A, B while potentially generating
electronic containers 302 for transmission over Internet 5104.
[0338] In this example, organization A user nodes 600(A)(1), . . .
, 600(A)(N) each have an instance of a virtual distribution
environment protected processing environment, and can communicate
with one another over Intranet 5100(A) via secure electronic
containers 302. Similarly, organization A user nodes 600(B)(1), . .
. , 600(B)(N) each have an instance of a virtual distribution
environment protected processing environment, and can communicate
with one another over Intranet 5100(B) via secure electronic
containers 302. In addition, organization A and organization B can
communicate with one another over Internet 5104 via secure
electronic containers 302.
[0339] Organization A's private trusted go-between 4700(A) may be
used for facilitating organization A's internal communications and
processes. Private trusted go-between 4700(A) might be used, for
example, to carefully track documents and other items sent from one
user to another within organization A. The public go-between
4700(C), meanwhile, can be used to coordinate between organization
A and organization B without, for example, revealing confidential
information of either organization to the other organization. Below
are more detailed examples of how the FIG. 102 arrangement might be
advantageously used to conduct business transactions.
[0340] More about the Secure Electronic Container
[0341] FIG. 103 shows an example secure electronic object 300 and
its contents. Once again, although object 300 is shown as a locked
attache case for illustration purposes, the object and its
associated container 302 is typically electronic rather than
physical and may provide security, trustedness and confidentiality
through use of strong cryptographic techniques as shown in FIGS.
5A, 5B and 17-26B.
[0342] In this example, secure container 302 may contain a digital
image 4068I of a document or other item 4054 to be delivered from
one party to another. This image may include one or more seals
4200, one or more hand-written signatures 4300, and one or more
electronic fingerprints 4400. The item 4054 may be multiple pages
long or it may be a single page. The item 4054 may contain text,
pictures or graphical information, computer instructions, audio
data, computer data, or any combination of these, for example.
Image 4068I may be represented in a so-called "universal" format to
allow it to be created and displayed and/or printed by any standard
software application capable of processing items in the appropriate
"universal" format. If desired, image 4068I may include cover
sheets, virtual "stick on" notes, and/or the like. Secure container
302 may contain any number of different 4054.
[0343] Container 302 may also contain another, data version 4068D
of the item 4054. This data version 4068D might, for example,
comprise one or more "word processing" files corresponding to a
text document, for example.
[0344] The container 302 may also contain one or more tools 4074
for using image 4068I and/or data 4068D. Tools 4074 might be used
to allow the intended recipient 4056 to manipulate or view the
image 4068I and/or the data 4068D. Tools 4074 might be computer
programs in one example (as mentioned above, item 4054 can also be
a computer program such as a program being sold to the
recipient).
[0345] Secure container 302 may also contain an electronic, digital
control structure 4078. This control structure 4078 (which could
also be delivered independently in another container 302 different
from the one carrying the image 4068I and/or the data 4068D) may
contain important information controlling use of container 302. For
example, controls 4078 may specify who can open container 302 and
under what conditions the container can be opened. Controls 4078
might also specify who, if anyone, object 300 can be passed on to.
As another example, controls 4078 might specify restrictions on how
the image 4068I and/or data 4068D can be used (e.g., to allow the
recipient to view but not change the image and/or data as one
example). The detailed nature of control structure 4078 is
described in connection, for example, with FIGS. 11D-11J; FIG. 15;
FIGS. 17-26B; and FIGS. 41A-61.
[0346] Secure container 302 may also include one or more routing
slips 4072 and one or more audit trails 4077. Routing slip 4072 and
audit trail 4076 are data structures defined by and/or associated
with electronic controls 4078, and may be integrated as part of
these electronic controls (see FIGS. 22-26B for example). Routing
slip 4072 might be used to electronically route the object 300 to
the intended recipient(s) 4056 and to specify other information
associated with how the object 300 is to be delivered and/or
handled. Audit trail records 4077 may be used to gather and recover
all sorts of information about what has happened to object 300 and
its contents (e.g., where container 302 has been, how image 4068I
has been used, etc.). Audit trail 4077 may be used, for example, to
generate a return receipt as shown in FIG. 92A. Routing slip 4072
and/or audit trail records 4077 (and associated controls 4078)
don't have to be delivered within the same container 302 that
contains the image 4068I and/or the data 4077--they can be
delivered independently in another container 302 if desired.
[0347] V. Document Signatures
[0348] FIG. 104 shows some examples of how system 4050 can "sign"
printed item 4054. In most modern societies, a person indicates his
or her assent to a legal document by affixing his or her
hand-written signature and/or seal. In the United States, for
example, the act of hand writing one's signature on a document may
legally bind the signer to the terms and conditions set forth in
the document. In other countries (notably Japan), a person
indicates assent and agreement to be legally bound by imprinting
the document with a special stamp unique to that person. A
corporation may emboss legal documents with its corporate seal to
indicate the corporation's assent to the document contents.
Governmental authorities in many countries use official seals to
certify that the document is an official one.
[0349] System 4050 in this example can accommodate any or all of
these conventions by imprinting various graphics and/or symbols on
printed item 4054. In the FIG. 104 example, item 4054 bears a
"hand-written" signature 4300, a seal 4200, and a electronic
fingerprint 4400 (that in one example may comprise a "hidden
signature").
[0350] Hand-written signature 4300 may be a graphical image of the
signer's own hand-written signature. System 4050 can obtain this
hand-written signature image 4300 in a number of ways. For example,
system 4050 may require the signer to sign his or her signature at
the time item 4054 is created. In this example, once the document
is finalized, sender 4052 or contracting party 4070 can sign his or
her signature using a magnetic or pressure-sensitive signature
capture device, for example. Such conventional signature capture
devices electronically capture the image of a person's signature
and store it in a memory. System 4050 can then--once it securely
obtains the authorization of the signer with a very high degree of
trustedness and sureness (e.g., by requesting a password, biometric
test, etc.)--place hand-written signature 4300 onto an appropriate
part of item 4054.
[0351] Alternatively, the signer may carry his or her hand-written
signature on a portable storage medium such as, for example, a
magnetic, smart or memory card. The portable storage unit may
employ rules and controls for budgeting the number of times and/or
class and/or other circumstances of a transaction that a signature
can be employed, or before the device needs to re-connect to a
remote authority as disclosed in the above-referenced Shear et al.
patent. The signer can present this storage medium to system 4050
as a source for the signature image 4300 shown in FIG. 104. Once
system runs certain checks to ensure that the signer is in fact the
one who has presented the signature card, the system can securely
read the signer's hand-written signature from the medium and place
it on to item 4054.
[0352] In still another example, system 4050 may securely maintain
hand-written signature files for a number of different users in a
secure archive or "secure directory services" as disclosed in the
above-referenced Shear et al. patent disclosure. At a user's
request, system 4050 may call up the signature file pertaining to
that user and impress the corresponding signature onto item 4054.
If an image representation of a signature is stored on portable
media or in a directory service, the image may be stored in an
electronic container 302. Such a container 302 permits the owner of
the signature to specify control information that governs how the
signature image may be used. In addition, or alternatively, the
signature image may be stored in or securely associated with a
field of a digital certificate (that may, for example, also
incorporate other identifying information).
[0353] FIG. 104 also shows a "electronic fingerprint" 4400.
Electronic fingerprint 4400 may be used to indicate the signer's
name and other information (such as, for example, the date and time
of the transaction, the signer's public key, etc.) within the item
4054 contents in the way that makes it difficult to remove the
information. A term derived from Greek roots, "steganography" which
means "hidden writing"--applies to such techniques that can be used
to hide such information within a document while allowing it to be
recovered later. Example techniques for hiding information from
within text include, for example, varying the spacing between lines
of text by an almost imperceptible amount to encode information
(see FIG. 105A), varying by very slight amounts the spacings
("kerning") between words or characters (see FIG. 105B). System
4050 can use such "steganography" techniques to hide information
within an item 4054 (e.g., by slightly permuting the gray scale or
color frequencies across a document) so it can be later recovered
and used to authenticate and/or identify the document--and/or it
can use visible electronic fingerprinting or watermarking
techniques to provide visible indications of such information (see
FIG. 105C).
[0354] System 4050 also is capable of imprinting special seals 4200
onto item 4054. FIGS. 106A-106C show example seals 4200. Seal 4200A
shown in FIG. 106A may be the type of seal one expects from a
Governmental document bearing an official seal. While it is
possible for system 4050 to provide an embosser creating a raised
seal 4200A, in a preferred embodiment system 4050 prints seals
4200A using a conventional monochrome or color printer at high
resolution so that the seal image is flat. FIG. 106B shows an
example rectangular seal 4200B in the center of the left margin of
an item 4054, and another circular seal 4200C (for example, of the
type that might be used in Japan) in the lower left hand corner of
the document. FIG. 106C shows an item 4054 bearing two circular
seals: one seal 4200D in the lower left hand corner of the page,
and another circular seal 4200E in the lower right hand corner.
FIGS. 106A-106C are merely illustrative examples--any desired
quantity, shape or configuration of seals or other visual,
machine-readable codes can be used depending upon the prevailing
legal climate, the country and aesthetic considerations.
[0355] FIGS. 107A and 107B show one example configuration for seal
4200. In this example, seal 4200 may include a center portion 4202,
an outer portion 4204 and a border 4206. Center portion 4202 may
bear a distinctive image to make the seal immediately recognizable.
In this example, center portion 4202 is the great seal of the
United States--and would thus be appropriate for affixing on U.S.
Government official documents. Other appropriate images for seals
might include, for example, a family coat of arms, a printed or
holographic photograph image of the signer, a predetermined
complicated pattern, or the like. Besides being distinctive, the
image 4203 within center portion 4202 should preferable be complex
and difficult to copy--making seal 4200 less prone to
counterfeiting. Similarly, border 4206 may be an ornate pattern
that might show discontinuities if printed or copied using inferior
equipment.
[0356] In this example, outer portion 4204 is used for encoding
digital information. FIG. 107A shows an example "template" seal
before this additional encoding information is added. FIG. 107B
shows an example of a completed seal in which many small lines have
been added to at least portions of the outer ring 4204 of the seal
4200. Appliance 600 could "complete" the FIG. 107A template seal to
create a completed seal shown in FIG. 107B based on one or more
electronic controls 4078. FIG. 107B also shows a close-up view
illustrating that the line pattern can have variations that encode
digital "bits" of information. In this particular example, lines
4208 radiating outwardly from center portion 4202 may encode a
digital "1" value, while lines 4210 radiating inwardly from border
4206 may encode a digital "0" value. As another example, the
selective use of large dots 4211a, small dots 4211b and no dots
4211c could encode digital values. Any kind of information (e.g.,
numerical, text, graphics, sound, or any combination of these) may
be encoded into the image of seal 4200 using this technique. The
particular line images shown in FIG. 102B are illustrative
only--other visual patterns (and/or steganographic techniques) may
be used to encode digital information into the seal's image.
[0357] System 4050 can recover the encoded information by scanning
and analyzing an image of item 4054 in either digital or printed
form. In one embodiment, system 4050 can create electronic controls
4078 based at least in part on this information it obtains from
seal 4200.
[0358] FIG. 108 shows one example of the type of "digital
signature" information that might be encoded into the seal 4200's
image. In this particular example, the text and/or graphics
contents of item 4054 can be transformed into a compact value using
a special cryptographic function called a "one-way hash" 4212. The
resulting number may be "concatenated" (i.e., put end to end) with
other information such as, for example, a time value and a
certificate value or number obtained from a "digital certificate"
4214. The time value may be obtained from a real time clock 528
incorporated in secure processing unit (SPU) 500 shown in FIG. 9.
The resulting string of digital information may then be encrypted
with the private cryptographic key of sender 4052, the contracting
party 4070 and/or system 4050. The resulting digital signature
value 4216 may be used to encode some or all of the seal 4200's
pattern.
[0359] The hash function may operate on a document in its image
form, or its text equivalent (producing two different hash values).
In addition, the text version of a document may be pre-processed
before operation of the hash function to simplify verification of a
document if it must be rekeyed into a verification system (e.g., in
the case where all electronic copies of a document have been lost).
Since cryptographically strong hash functions are extremely
sensitive to the slightest change in data (yielding different
values if, for example, a tab character is keyed as a series of
spaces) this pre-processing may normalize the document by, for
example, discarding all font and formatting information and/or
reducing each occurrence of "whitespace" (e.g., spaces, tabs,
carriage returns, etc.) into a single space. If the same
pre-processing is applied to a retyped version of the document
before the hash function is applied, it will have a much higher
likelihood of yielding the same hash value if the documents are
substantively the same.
[0360] System 4050 may later recover this information by digitally
and/or optically scanning the image of item 4054 and analyzing the
pattern of seal 4200 to recover digital signature 4216. System 4050
may then apply the public key corresponding to the private key used
to encrypt the information--thereby recovering the hash, time and
digital certificate, while at the same time authenticating the
information as having been encrypted with the relevant private
key(s). In this example, System 4050 also has the original document
image 4054 available to it, and may therefore duplicate the one-way
hash process 4212 and compare the hash value it gets with the hash
value encoded within seal 4200. Mismatches indicate that the seal
4200 may have been copied from another document and does not apply
to the document currently being analyzed.
[0361] Other types of digital identifying information that system
4050 might affix to the document include, for example: [0362]
digital information generated by algorithms (such as error
correcting algorithms for example) including certain kinds of
unique transmittal information or certain unique pseudo-randomly
generated codes that might be combined with transmittal information
and/or information representing transmittal content, such that
representation of such a collection of relevant transmittal related
information may uniquely and reliably confirm that a given document
(or other information) sent by sender 4052 is actually the exact
document sent; or [0363] Reed-Solomon codes or other error
correcting or other algorithms relying on formalisms within
abstract algebra for establishing a correct sequence of bits; or
[0364] MD4 or other message digest algorithms employing, for
example, one-way hash algorithms that attempt to uniquely identify
a sequence of bits that is highly sensitive to content and ordering
of bits in a sequence.
[0365] A. Example Electronic Appliance
[0366] FIG. 109 shows an example detailed architecture for
electronic appliance 600. In this example, appliance 600 may
include one or more processors 4126 providing or supporting one or
more "protected processing environments" (PPE) 650 (e.g., SPEs 503
and/or HPEs 544) shown in FIGS. 6-12 and 62-72). Protected
processing environment 650 may, for example, be implemented using a
secure processing unit (SPU) 500 of the type shown in FIG. 9 and/or
may be based on software tamper-resistance techniques or a
combination of software and hardware. As described above in detail,
protected processing environment 650 provides a secure, trusted
environment for storing, manipulating, executing, modifying and
otherwise processing secure information such as that provided in
secure electronic containers 302. In this particular example,
secure containers 302 may not be opened except within a protected
processing environment 650. Protected processing environment 650 is
provided with the cryptographic and other information it needs to
open and manipulate secure containers 302, and is tamper resistant
so that an attacker cannot easily obtain and use this necessary
information.
[0367] Electronic appliance 600 may be any type of electronic
device such as a personal computer, intelligent kiosk, set top box,
or dedicated stand-alone communications appliance--just to name a
few examples. Processor 4126 is connected to [0368] one or more
user input devices 4106, 4118, 4140; [0369] card/media reader 4108,
4132; [0370] document reader/scanner 4114; [0371] biometric
sensor(s) 4124; [0372] display 4104; [0373] document printer 4122;
and, [0374] optionally, a receipt printer 4122A for printing
receipts of the type shown in FIG. 92A.
[0375] A document handler/destroyer 4115 may be provided to feed
multi-page documents into document reader/scanner 4114 and--in one
embodiment--to destroy documents to ensure that only one "original"
exists at a time. Such controlled document destruction might, for
example, be useful in allowing sender 4052 to deliver an original
stock certificate to a transfer agent. The sender 4052 could insert
the original certificate into appliance 600--which may scan the
original to convert it to digital information (e.g., through use of
OCR technology), confirm delivery, and then destroy the original
paper version. Secure controls 4078 could be used to ensure that
only a single original ever exists on paper.
[0376] Processor 4126 is also connected to secure and/or insecure
digital or other storage 4130 (such as, for example, magnetic
disks, random access memory, optical disks, etc.), and to a
communications device 666 permitting the processor to communicate
electronically with other processors or devices via an electronic
network 4058 (672). In one example, appliance 600 may be provided
with additional and/or different components such as shown in FIGS.
7 and 8.
[0377] B. Example Process to Send an Item
[0378] FIG. 110 shows example steps electronic appliance 600 may
perform to send an item such as item 4054. Initially, electronic
appliance 600 must be created or established at the user site (or
the user must go to electronic appliance as shown in FIG. 88). This
establishing process may include, for example: [0379] node
initialization (FIGS. 64, 68, and 69), and updates (FIG. 65),
[0380] locally registering any rules and controls associated with
the user's rights, [0381] locally registering any rules and
controls associated with any class-based rights, including, for
example, any provision for integration of the item sending process
into a user application (e.g., to be listed as a "printer" under a
print set up in a Windows or other personal computer software
application); and [0382] the establishment of any necessary
certified user identities, which may include, for example, the use
of a wider purpose certified identity and/or the certified use of a
non-certified identity (such as some network name service
identifications) or certified delegation of use of a certified
identity.
[0383] Once the appliance 600 has been properly initialized, the
first step in a send process 4500 may be to authenticate the
identity of sender 4052 (FIG. 110, block 4502). This authentication
step 4502 may be performed in a variety of ways such as, for
example: [0384] use of biometric sensor 4124 to provide a retinal,
iris, fingerprint, thumbprint, or other scanning/matching; [0385]
the use of a voice print for identity verification; [0386]
hand-written signature capture and biometric analysis; [0387]
requiring the user to present an identification card 4109 (which
may be a smart card, magnetic card, or other storage information)
that contains information about the sender's identity; [0388]
capture and pattern recognition of a photographic image of the
sender's face; [0389] requiring the sender to respond orally and/or
via other user input devices 4106, 4118, such as keyboards or the
like to provide "secret" information such as Mother's maiden name,
special passwords or code words, or other information uniquely
known to the sender; [0390] any combination or subcombination of
these various techniques.
[0391] In this particular example, the authentication step 4502 may
involve an application program executing on appliance 600
requesting authentication support from protected processing
environment 650--for example, sending to the protected processing
environment an authentication "event" requesting the protected
processing environment to authenticate the sender and providing
authentication information to the protected processing environment
(FIG. 110, block 4502) as a basis for the authentication.
[0392] FIG. 111 shows example steps that protected processing
environment 650 may perform in response to receipt of an
authentication event. The example steps shown in FIG. 111 are
control set dependent--that is, that are typically based on one or
more electronic control sets previously delivered to the protected
processing environment 650 during the registration process
described above.
[0393] In this particular example, the protected processing
environment 650 may examine the authentication information provided
to it (e.g., the output of biometric sensors, password information,
information read from an identity card, etc.) and determine (based
on methods provided in one or more electronic control sets) whether
it has sufficient basis to conclude with a requisite, specified
degree of assurance that the sender is who she says she is (FIG.
111, decision block 4502A). Processes identified within the control
sets operating within the PPE650 may perform these functions using
resources provided by the PPE--providing an important degree of
programmable, general purpose behavior.
[0394] The nature and characteristics of this sender authentication
test performed by PPE 650 may vary depending on the particular
electronic control set being used--as dictated by particular
applications. As discussed above, in situations that have legal
significance in which non-repudiation is very important, PPE 650
may impose a relatively stringent authentication test. Other, more
routine situations may use control sets that impose less stringent
authenticity checks.
[0395] The PPE 650 may abort the process if it decides there is
insufficient information to form a trusted belief of authenticity
and/or if it determines that the sender is not who she says she is
(FIG. 111, block 4502B). PPE 650 may indicate/authorize that the
process may continue if the authenticity check is successful (FIG.
111, "Y" exit to decision block 4502).
[0396] The sender's appliance 600 may next need to identify or
"register" the intended recipient(s) 4056 (FIG. 110, block 4506).
In this particular example, the step of registering the intended
recipient(s) involves generating a "register recipient" event and
sending this event to protected processing environment 650. Upon
receiving this "register recipient" event, protected processing
environment 650 may--based on one or more methods within a
corresponding electronic control set--perform certain steps
required to coordinate its activities with the intended recipient's
electronic appliance 600--including, for example, contacting the
intended recipient. Example steps are shown in FIG. 112.
[0397] Why might the sender's PPE 650 need to contact the recipient
before sending the item? The answer is that it may be necessary or
desirable for the sender 4052 and the recipient 4056 to negotiate
and/or agree as to the appropriate electronic controls that should
apply. In an item transmission scenario, for example, such an
"agreement" might work out who is going to pay for the delivery
service, which recipient appliance (home or office) the document is
to be delivered to, what kind of return receipt is acceptable to
both parties, etc.
[0398] The PPE 650's "register recipient" event processing may, for
example, allow the proposed recipient to deliver a set of controls
to the sender's system that defines the parameters of receipt. Some
general purpose systems may use the default settings in the kiosk
or other transmission station. The address itself may provide an
indication to the transmitting station as to whether it may or must
request a set of control information from the recipient prior to
transmission.
[0399] More complicated scenarios may require further coordination.
For example, an option to destroy the original item at the send end
and recreate it at the recipient's end (e.g., in the case of the
stock certificate mentioned earlier) is both a send option and a
receipt option. Similarly, options pertaining to procedures for
electronic contract execution typically will require pre-agreement
from both the sender and the recipient (i.e., from all parties to
the contract). In these cases, there should be some menu options
that are driven by the address of the proposed recipient--and there
may be an electronic (or humanly-driven) negotiation to resolve
conflicts.
[0400] The PPE 650's "register recipient" processing may also
require input or other interaction from the user. FIGS. 90A and 90B
show a relatively straightforward menu-based user interface that
may be used to elicit information from sender 4052. In a more
advanced example, DTDs 1108 (see FIG. 23 and following) associated
with one or more load modules 1100 may be used to control user
interfaces (e.g., the "pop up" as shown in FIGS. 72A-72D)). In this
model, the user interface does not contain any specific visual
elements (e.g., menus, buttons, data entry fields, etc.). Instead,
the pop up contains application "framework" code. The framework
code in this style of user interface uses a structured input stream
(DTD 1108) from the PPE 650 to create the visual elements of the
interface, and optionally the allowed values of certain fields.
This structured data stream may (like other control structure DTDs
1108) be based on SGML, for example.
[0401] This dynamic user interface approach allows control
structures to be more "self describing" in the sense that
application programs do not need to know ahead of time (i.e. when
they are written) all of the fields, values, etc. for the
structures. This gives structure designers more freedom in how
their controls are designed. Given a rich enough grammar in the DTD
1108, designers needn't concern themselves with whether application
programs will have the ability to manage the interaction with a
user regarding their structures. This capability can also be used
to create controls that support the electronic negotiation process
shown for example in FIGS. 76A-76B.
[0402] FIG. 112 shows example steps that may be performed by
protected processing environment 650, based on one or more
electronic control sets, in response to receipt of a "register
recipient" event. In this example, PPE 650 first uses the dynamic
user interaction discussed above to have the sender identify the
proposed recipient(s) (FIG. 112, block 4503). For example, PPE 650
may request sender 4052 to provide various types of identification
information corresponding to intended recipient(s) 4056 such as,
for example, name; physical address; electronic address; public
key; and the like. PPE 650 may check this user input for validity
(decision block 4503A), and may abort the process (or perform some
other exception handling routine) if the input is not valid (e.g.,
it falls outside of the permissible scope as defined by associated
electronic controls). PPE 650 may also, at this time--with or
without input from sender 4052 as may be necessary--identify any
other information required for identifying recipients, such as for
example, any preset template(s), class identification requirements,
and/or other automation factors and/or workflow assignments,
redistribution, and/or content interaction parameters.
[0403] The PPE 650 then may determine whether it needs to request
and obtain a control set from the recipient to proceed (FIG. 112,
decision block 4506A). The PPE 650 may have obtained the required
control set(s) during a previous transaction, the sender may supply
the required control set, or the PPE may in some cases be able to
use a "default" control set it already has so that no additional
control set might be required ("N" exit to decision block 4506A,
FIG. 112)--and send processing may proceed to the next step.
[0404] On the other hand, if PPE 650 must get a recipient's control
set (FIG. 112, "Y" exit to decision block 4506A), the PPE 650 may
contact the intended recipient's electronic appliance 600 and/or a
control set archive (FIG. 112, block 4506B) over network 672 for
example. PPE 650 may employ secure directory/name services as shown
in FIG. 12 (and/or as described in the above-reference Shear et al.
patent disclosure) to obtain sufficient information for sending and
addressing the item to the intended recipient(s) 4056.
[0405] Once PPE 650 determines how to contact the recipient, it may
construct an administrative object 870 (see FIG. 21) requesting the
appropriate recipient controls (FIG. 112, block 4506C), and send
the administrative object to the recipient's PPE 650 or other
appropriate VDE node that can supply the information (FIG. 112,
block 4506D).
[0406] The PPE 650 within the recipient's electronic appliance 600
or other responding VDE node may process administrative object 870
upon receiving it (FIG. 112 block 4506E)--constructing a response
(e.g., a responsive administrative object containing the requested
or require control sets) (FIG. 112 block 4506G) and sending it to
the sender's PPE 650.
[0407] The sender's PPE650 may register the received controls (FIG.
112, block 4506H) upon receiving them from the recipient's PPE 650.
The sender's PPE 650 may then determine, based on the received
controls, whether it can continue (FIG. 112, decision block 4506I).
If there is a problem with the controls (e.g., they are for some
reason unacceptable to the sender, they are not valid, etc.), the
sender's PPE 650 determines whether the problem is critical (FIG.
112, decision block 4506J). If the problem is critical, PPE 650
aborts the whole process ("Y" exit to FIG. 112 decision block
4506J).
[0408] If the problem is not critical ("N" exit to FIG. 112
decision block 4506J), PPE 650 performs an exception process (FIG.
112, decision block 4506L) to handle the problem and then waits for
the next event--which in this particular example may be a "generate
secure object" event (see FIG. 110, block 4512). FIG. 113 shows
example steps the PPE 650 may perform in response to this "create
secure object" event based on the control sets registered in
accordance with step 4506, for example.
[0409] Referring to FIG. 113, the PPE 650 may use the dynamic user
interaction techniques described above to request sender 4052 to
select between send options and to otherwise specify the type and
level of service he or she desires (FIG. 113 block 4512A; see FIG.
91A block 4090A). Generally, sender 4052 may be required to select
between various options; each option may carry with it a certain
price. The following are example options the sender 4052 may select
from:
[0410] Document Options
[0411] Signature Options [0412] a. digital [0413] b. visual [0414]
c. both
[0415] Seal options [0416] a. visual [0417] b. hidden
(steganographic) [0418] c. both
[0419] Seal options [0420] a. Insert third party seal [0421] b.
Complete sender seal [0422] c. Provide handwritten signature [0423]
d. Provide steganographic electronic fingerprint [0424] e. Provide
visual electronic fingerprint
[0425] Privacy/Use Options [0426] a. modify/no modify [0427] 2)
partial disclosure
[0428] Item Destruction Option [0429] 1) destroy paper original
[0430] 2) destroy digital "original"
[0431] Delivery Options
[0432] Receipt Options [0433] 1) receipt to send [0434] 2) receipt
to sender and trusted go-between [0435] 3) receipt to trusted
go-between [0436] 4) no receipt requested
[0437] Integrity Guarantee Options [0438] 1) no modifications
permitted (final version, for example) [0439] 2) no modifications
other than signing permitted [0440] 3) no cut, paste, exerpting
permitted [0441] 4) other document (item) controls
[0442] Privacy Options [0443] 1) public transaction [0444] 2)
authorization list [0445] 3) direct parties to transaction (sender,
receiver, etc.) [0446] 4) direct parties plus transaction
authorities (see Shear et al.)
[0447] Authentication Options [0448] 1) type and/or "strength" of
recipient authentications (e.g., biometric, password, other) [0449]
2) strength requirement
[0450] Delivery Type [0451] a) direct delivery [0452] b) store and
forward [0453] c) permit proxy delivery (registered or
certified)
[0454] Contract Execution Options
[0455] send offer [0456] 1) single recipient [0457] 2) multiple
recipients
[0458] send acceptance
[0459] propose modification
[0460] add comments
[0461] negotiate (with our without saving negotiation history)
[0462] execute contract
[0463] degree/type of non-repudiation evidence required
[0464] Teleconferencing Options
[0465] Name of party
[0466] Address of party (if known)
[0467] Secure directory lookup (if address unknown)
[0468] Quality (speed) of connection
[0469] Payment methods (if different for teleconference)
[0470] Advanced options
[0471] Teleconference protocol
[0472] Teleconference network carrier
[0473] Trusted Go-Between Options
[0474] Contract settlement options
[0475] Audit options
[0476] Archival options [0477] 1) archive digital "original" [0478]
2) archive "sent" audit record [0479] 3) archive "received" audit
record [0480] 4) archive negotiation history audit record(s)
[0481] Notary options [0482] 1) notarize digital "original" [0483]
2) notarize sub-sections of digital "original" [0484] 3) notarize
"sent" audit record [0485] 4) notarize "received" audit record
[0486] 5) notarize negotiation history audit record(s)
[0487] Negotiations [0488] 1) Automated negotiations enabled
(yes/no) [0489] 2) Specific human go-between (if yes, who)
[0490] Length of time to store records (days, months, years,
forever)
[0491] Contents inaccessible to trusted-go-between (automated
service only)
[0492] Payment methods [0493] 1) Mastercard [0494] 2) Visa [0495]
3) American Express [0496] 4) ACH [0497] 5) EDI X.12 [0498] 6)
other
[0499] In the dynamic user interface model, for example, the user
options associated with a contract offer (which are used to create
electronic controls associated with the electronic transaction)
might relate to a suggested addition, modification, deletion, etc.
to an existing item 4054. If the VDE-aware applications used by the
participants included word processing capabilities (given that the
negotiation has a text based portion), for example, the VDE
protected content in the offer could be represented as a "redline"
or "revision marking." The controls could further include aspects
that manage modification of content in a controlled way (e.g., see
FIG. 51, and FIGS. 51a-f). A more complex example might include
several of these modifications, insertions, deletions, etc. in a
single offer to represent a "horse trading" offer indicating a
willingness to make a series of changes at once, for example, a
willingness to pay more money in exchange for removing a
restrictive clause.
[0500] The options (and associated controls) associated with a
contractual offer may also permit the offerer and/or the recipient
to add comments to the offer before it is sent and/or accepted.
These comments and/or some or all of the negotiation history may be
recorded and managed using the audit capabilities of VDE and/or one
or more repositories for VDE objects.
[0501] In this example, the PPE 650 checks the user input for
validity (FIG. 113, decision block 4512B) based on applicable
controls, and may abort the process (or provide other suitable
exception handling) if the input is not valid.
[0502] PPE 650 may next specify any audit and routing controls
based on the user input it has received and/or the recipient
controls it has registered (FIG. 113, block 4512C). As mentioned
above, object 300 may include one or more control sets 4073
(contained in one or more PERCs 306 for example) that specify the
type of routing and auditing to be performed in connection with
sending an item 4054 (and also providing one or more control
methods for use in auditing and/or routing. Step 4512C typically
also involve creating electronic controls specifying permissions
and/or restrictions relating to the use of item 4054. In fact, the
electronic control set(s) 4078 created by block 4512C may, for
example, specify a variety of different document delivery or other
characteristics such as, for example: [0503] document delivery
options selected by sender 4052; [0504] authentication requirements
applicable to intended recipient(s) 4056; [0505] what use, if any,
is to be made of a third part electronic go-between 4700 and what
the third party electronic go-between is authorized to do and is
restricted from doing; [0506] other document flow requirements such
as direct, pass through or round robin (interactive); [0507]
applicable payment methods; [0508] restrictions concerning use of
the document (e.g., whether or not the document can be modified,
whether or not the document can be passed along to another party,
other restrictions concerning document use and/or privacy); and
[0509] other item chain of handling and/or control
restrictions.
[0510] Control set 4078 can be used to enforce a secure chain of
handling and control on document container 302 and/or its contents.
This secure chain of handling and control may be used, for example,
to specify delivery, routing, auditing or other parameters as
discussed above.
[0511] In performing step 4512, appliance 600 may also create
routing slip 4072 (see FIG. 103) and a template for return
receipt(s) 4066. In one example, items 4066, 4072, may be embodied
within electronic control set 4078 and expressed by the various
elements within the electronic control set. FIG. 113A shows an
example of a routing slip 4072 data structure that may be
maintained within secure electronic container 302 (e.g., as one or
more DTDs 1108 in connection with one or more load modules
1100--see FIG. 23). This routing slip data structure 4072 may
include, for example: [0512] a transaction ID field 4520; [0513] a
sender ID field 4522; [0514] a recipient 1 ID and node ID field
4524 (1), 4526 (1), respectively, and a corresponding recipient
receipt information field 4527(1); [0515] a recipient 2 ID and node
ID field 4524 (2), 4526 (2), respectively, and a corresponding
recipient receipt information field 4527(2); [0516] a recipient N
ID and node ID field 4524 (N), 4526 (N), respectively, and a
corresponding recipient receipt information field 4527(N); [0517]
communication/routing information 4528; [0518] exception list 4529;
and/or [0519] other information 4530.
[0520] Exception list 4529 may indicate "named exceptions" (e.g.,
communications failure, line busy, refused receipt, refused payment
request, etc.) paired with a list of responses (e.g., try again,
cancel entire transaction, send report, invoke event in PPE) and
data parameterizing the responses (e.g., number of retries, list of
recipients of cancellation notices, report recipients, control
information identifier and additional parameters for control use
and/or invocation; respectively).
[0521] Recipient receipt information field 4527 for each recipient
may indicate, for example, the nature of the receipt required, and
the recipients of that receipt. A receipt "template" may be
included in the container, may be referenced in an archive, or may
be named out of a set of default templates stored in each
appliance.
[0522] The routing slip 4072 (see FIG. 103) associated with the
document(s) in the container may be integrated with control
information 4078 reflecting chain of handling and control
relationships among recipients. For example, the control
information 4078 associated with the item(s) 4054 may be correlated
with fields of the routing slip 4072. Successful completion of a
receipt may qualify a specific user to become eligible to use a
subset of the control information 4078 that permits them to make
changes in a portion of the item, and describe their own control
information for the changes, so long as this control information
does not provide further recipients with the right to modify the
new material. The control information 4078 may further specify that
no changes may be made to an item 4054 until one or more specified
recipients has read the item, and (through use of reciprocal
controls as show in FIGS. 41a-41d for example) indicated their
approval of further changes.
[0523] In another example, an entire class of users may be
permitted to access the documents (through the presence of a
certificate indicating their membership in a class, for example),
and the routing slip 4072 may be used to record who has handled a
particular version of the document. Through use of chain of
handling and control techniques, the presence of certain users on
the routing slip may permit further control information to be
specified by a user. For example, after an analyst's research
report has been reviewed by three other analysts, a manager may be
permitted to modify the control information associated with the
report to permit transmission to "public" users.
[0524] Electronic controls 4077 may also include one or more
control methods specifying the type of audit information that is to
be maintained in connection with the electronic transaction. This
audit information may be used for constructing a receipt 4066, to
provide evidence preventing repudiation, and for a variety of other
functions. Such audit information may be maintained exclusively
within the sender's appliance 600, it might be maintained
exclusively within the recipient's appliance secure database, it
might be maintained exclusively within the trusted go-between
4700's appliance 600 secure database, or it might be maintained in
a combination of any or all of these. Additionally, the audit
information may or may not be delivered with item 4054 depending on
the particular objectives. A usage clearinghouse 200c as described
above in connection with FIG. 1A and/or as disclosed in the Shear
et al. patent disclosure may be used to track the audit information
based on event-driven or periodic reporting, for example. Audit
records could be transmitted to a usage clearinghouse (or to a
trusted go-between 4700) by an automatic call forwarding
transmission, by a supplemental call during transmission, by period
update of audit information, by the maintenance of a constant
communication line or open network pathway, etc.
[0525] FIG. 113B shows an example of secure audit information 4077
that may be maintained under the control of one example set of
electronic controls 4078. This audit information may include, for
example: [0526] a transaction identifier 4532; [0527] sender
identifier 4534 identifying sender 4052; [0528] an identifier 4536
identifying the location (e.g., node) of sender 4052; [0529] an
identifier 4538 of recipient 4056; [0530] an identifier 4540
specifying the location (e.g., node ID) of the intended recipient
4056; [0531] an identifier 4542 of the document or other item being
sent; [0532] a secure document descriptor (e.g., a one-way hash
value produced from the document's contents); [0533] other document
information 4546 (e.g., format and/or size); [0534] document
delivery options 4548; [0535] cost/payment information 4550; [0536]
time/date the item the item was sent (field 4552); [0537] time/date
stamp 4554 of document receipt; [0538] identification of who opened
the document (field 4556); [0539] a time stamp identifying the
location/node date and time of document opening (4558); and [0540]
other information 4560.
[0541] As mentioned above, audit information 4077 associated with
use of a document may be transmitted to many different parties.
Audit information 4077 may also be treated as part of the signaling
methodology described for reciprocal methods (see FIGS. 41a-41d) to
provide receipts. For example, copies of receipts may be delivered
to the sender, as described above, as well as to the sender's
manager in a corporate setting, or to the sender's legal counsel or
other professional advisors (such as tax advisers, accountants,
physicians, etc.) Some items 4054 which are delivered to, or used
by, recipients to gather information (such as tax forms, purchase
orders, sales reports, and insurance claims) may require delivery
of receipts to several parties other than the sender. Some
transactions may require the delivery of such receipts before
completion. For example, a sales report requesting delivery of
products from a company's inventory may require that a receipt from
the reading of a document delivered to the sales organization be
received by the accounting department for audit purposes before
permitting receipt of the document by the sales organization.
[0542] Referring once again to FIG. 113, electronic appliance 600
may next request authority from sender 4052 to obtain payment for
delivery of the item (FIG. 110, block 4505; FIG. 113, block 4512D).
Payment may be by any convenient mechanism, and may be made by the
sender, the recipient and/or by a third party. This payment
processing in this example is handled by PPE 650 in accordance, for
example, with one or more billing methods as shown in FIG. 49D for
example.
[0543] The appliance 600 is then ready to accept item 4054 (such as
a document) to be sent if the item hasn't already been inputted
(FIG. 110, block 4507; FIG. 113 block 4512E). PPE 650 may (based on
control sets specifying this) use the dynamic user interaction
technique described above to interact with the sender 4052 and
obtain the requested item for transmission. As mentioned above, for
physical documents, appliance 600 can optically scan the document
into electronically readable form employing document reader/scanner
4114 using page reader technology and/or optical character
recognition, for example. For electronic documents or other items
such as those created by a personal computer 4116 (see FIG. 95),
this "inputting" step may be a matter of having sender 4054 select
or create the item using standard document or file creation
applications, or physically picking such document using icons or
other menu-driven techniques. In one particular example, sender
4052 may "select" a document or item to send by commanding a word
processing or other application to "print" or otherwise write the
item to a particular virtual printer or other output device which
is mapped into the overall secure electronic delivery process.
[0544] Appliance 600 may store the item in any of multiple
representations. For example, it could store it in Adobe Acrobat
(PDF) or other text based page description. Storing the document in
CCIT Group III Facsimile format is an example of a "universal"
image format for black and white images. Group V is an example of a
color format. TIFF is another example that incorporates many image
types, as well as different compression formats and descriptive
metadata.
[0545] PPE 650 may perform various tests on the inputted item
and/or other results of the user interaction provided by block
4512E in accordance with one or more user controls. For example, if
the sender has specified that he is sending a 6 page letter but
only inputs five pages, PPE 650 may notice this discrepancy and
notify the sender (FIG. 113, decision block 4512F). PPE 650 may
abort the process or perform other suitable exception handling ("N"
exit to decision block 4512F) if the results of the test are not
satisfactory.
[0546] PPE 650 may embed any seals 4200, signatures 4300 or hidden
signatures 4400 into the item if needed (FIG. 105, block 4510).
This process may involve, for example, identifying signature
insertion locations and embedding signatures upon directed or other
controlled circumstances. "Intelligent" optical character
recognition (OCR) may be used to identify signature locations. The
display might also show an image of the page and allow the operator
to identify the signature locations, for themselves, or more
importantly, for other parties. The PDF (or other document
description format) expressions could be extended to include a code
that would allow indication of signature insertion points.
[0547] Depending upon the particular electronic controls being
used, placement of the sender's signature or seal on the document
may be based on the PPE 650's authentication of the sender as shown
in FIG. 111--and may require an additional indication of assent
from the sender--for example, pressing a "Yes" button, providing
additional biometric or other identification information (e.g.,
"place your finger on the sensor if you want to sign this letter"
or "Provide your mother's maiden name to sign this letter"). Such
authentication is important for non-repudiation and to prevent
fraud. The sender might actually sign his signature on a
pressure-sensitive or magnetic-sensing signature capture and/or
verification pad, provide a bit-map image of his signature by
presenting a "smart card" storing it (plus using appropriate
authentication techniques to assure that the bitmap image is being
presented by the true signature owner), or provide enough
information through user interaction as described above that the
PPE 650 can access an electronic signature file containing the
signature (e.g., stored locally within appliance 600 or accessible
over network 672 from an archive).
[0548] In the multi-party execution example shown in FIGS. 97 &
98, appliance 600 could simultaneously embed two or more signatures
into the same document or other item 4054--but only upon securely
receiving indications that all signatories assent to the document's
terms.
[0549] Appliance 600 may next place the item and associated
electronic controls into one or more secure containers 302 (FIG.
113, block 4512H). Referring to FIG. 103 once again, step 4512
normally involves placing the image 4068I of item 4054 (including
any seals, signatures and other information) into the secure
container 302. It may also involve placing a data (e.g., text)
version of the item 4068D into the same or different container 302,
along with possibly adding tools 4074 for using the item in either
or both forms. The PPE 650 may then send the completed object 300
to an object switch 734 (see FIG. 12) for transmission to the
recipient.
[0550] Referring to FIG. 110, appliance 600 may then deliver the
secure container(s) 302 to the intended recipient 4056 and/or to
trusted electronic go-between 4700 based upon the instructions of
sender 4052 as now reflected in the electronic controls 4078
associated with the object 300 (FIG. 110, block 4514). Such
delivery is preferably by way of electronic network 4058 (672), but
may be performed by any convenient electronic means such as, for
example, Internet, Electronic Mail or Electronic Mail Attachment,
WEB Page Direct, Telephone, floppy disks, bar codes in a fax
transmission, filled ovals on a form delivered through physical
mail, or any other electronic means to provide contact with the
intended recipient(s).
[0551] Appliance 600 may, through further interaction with PPE 650,
immediately and/or later provide a receipt such as shown in FIG.
89A (FIG. 110, block 4516). Appliance 600 can immediately issue a
receipt indicating that the object 300 has been sent. If rapid
electronic communications means are being used, appliance 600 may
also receive audit trail information from the recipient's appliance
600 while the sender waits, and issue a receipt indicating some or
all of the kind of recipient interaction information shown in the
FIG. 92A example receipt. This receipt providing step may, for
example, be based on PPE 650 receiving one or more administrative
or other objects 300 containing audit information (see FIG.
113B).
[0552] For purposes of security and trustedness, PPE 650 may
actually "issue" the receipt--although it may use various other
portions of appliance 600 (e.g., receipt printer 4112A, display
4104, card/media reader 4108, 4132, etc.) to output the receipt to
the sender 4052. PPE 650 may also or alternatively maintain a copy
of the receipt information (and/or the audit information 4077 on
which it is based) within its secure database 610 (see FIG. 16).
The trusted go-between 4700 similarly may maintain a copy of the
receipt information (and/or the audit information 4077 on which it
is based) within a secure electronic archive 4702.
[0553] C. Example Receive Process
[0554] FIGS. 114A and 114B show an example process 4600 for
receiving an item. In this example, electronic appliance 600 that
has received an electronic object 300 may first generate a
notification to PPE 650 that the container has arrived (FIG. 114A,
block 4602). PPE 650 may, in response, use the dynamic user
interaction techniques discussed above to interact with and
authenticate the recipient in accordance with the electronic
controls 4078 within the received object 300 (FIG. 114A block 4603;
authentication routine shown in FIG. 111).
[0555] Intended recipient 4056 may be given an option of accepting
or declining delivery of the object (FIG. 114A, block 4604). If
intended recipient 4056 accepts the item, appliance may store the
container 302 locally (FIG. 114A, block 4606) and then generate a
"register object" event for processing by PPE 650.
[0556] FIG. 115 shows example steps that PPE 650 may perform in
response to a "register object" event. In this particular example,
PPE 650 may generate and send any return receipt to sender 4052,
trusted electronic go-between 4700, or other parties as required by
the control set 4078 within container 302 (FIG. 115, block
4607A)--by for example recording audit records 4077 and
transmitting them within an administrative object(s) 870 to the
required appliances 600. Appliance 600 may next, if necessary,
obtain and locally register any methods, controls or other
information required to manipulate object 300 or its contents (FIG.
115, block 4607B; see registration method shown in FIGS. 43a-d).
For example, item 4054 may be delivered independently of an
associated control set 4078, where the control set may only be
partial, such that appliance 600 may require additional controls
from permissioning agent 200f (see FIG. 1A and "rights and
permissions clearing house" description in the copending Shear et
al. patent disclosure) or other archive in order to use the
item.
[0557] PPE 650 may next securely authenticate the received item to
ensure that it is not a counterfeit (FIG. 115, block 4607C). For
example, appliance 600 may check one or more digital signatures
4076 within container 302 to ensure that they are authentic, or
perform other authentication tests as described in detail above.
PPE 650 may perform critical and/or non-critical exception
processing (not shown) if the received object 300 and its contents
are not authentic.
[0558] PPE 600 may analyze any seal or other secure information
that is part of the item 4054. For example, although the item image
may be captured and cropped by untrusted processes, the analysis of
the image data is preferably done inside the PPE 650. Once the seal
option of the image is identified, an analysis process will be run
to recover the digital information stored in the seal (or
steganographically encoded in the document). The next step is to
determine what the expected values should be. To do this, the PPE
650 may make requests of an application program running locally to
determine a user's expectations, may use a digital representation
of a receipt or other audit data, and/or may contact a trusted
go-between or other trusted third party to obtain the appropriate
expected values. To facilitate this process, there may be some
unencrypted information in the seal that can be used to establish a
correlation with other information (e.g., a receipt, a transaction
number, etc.). If such information is not available, a local store
or a trusted third party might compare the entirety of the
recovered digital information with stored records to determine such
a correlation. In other cases, the expected values may be
determined from context (e.g. a default set of expected values; or
by examining the seal information itself, in either encrypted or
decrypted form, for "tags" or other schema or semantic
information).
[0559] Once the expectation values of the information is
determined, any encrypted portion must be decrypted using the
public key corresponding to the private key used above to make the
seal. This key can be obtained using the mechanisms discussed in
Ginter et al.
[0560] Once decrypted, the expected values may be compared with the
actual values to determine correlation. Information about the
correlation may be reported to a user and/or a third party, as
appropriate. In addition, some or all of the seal information may
be included in such report.
[0561] Once PPE 650 is satisfied that the received item is
authentic, it may embed receipt related information into the item
if the electronic controls 4078 associated with the item require it
(FIG. 115, block 4607D). In one example, the "electronic
fingerprinting" techniques described above in connection with FIGS.
58B and 58C may be used for encoding various types of information
onto item 4054--for example, to show where the document has been.
PPE 650 may embed seals 4200 and/or hidden information 4400 onto
the item image 4068I at this time if desired. Electronic
fingerprinting, sealing and embedding hidden information may also
be performed by the PPE 650 at the sender's 4052 site--but, it may
be advantageous to delay this process until the item arrives at the
recipient's site because more things have happened to the item by
then. For example, it may be desirable to encode, into seal 4200,
hidden information 4400 and/or hidden or unhidden electronic
fingerprinting and/or watermarking information, the time stamp of
when the recipient actually opened the container 302. In some
arrangements, one seal, hidden signature or hidden or unhidden
electronic fingerprint could be added at the end of sender 4052,
and an additional seal, piece of hidden information and/or hidden
or visible electronic fingerprint could be added at the end of
recipient 4056. Any or all of these various techniques may be used
depending upon business requirements, convenience, logistics and
aesthetics.
[0562] PPE 650 may next perform any required payment and/or other
processing as needed (FIG. 115, block 4607E). For example, PPE 650
may charge the recipient 4056 for receiving the document (e.g.,
"collect on delivery") or it may perform other processing such as
debiting, crediting, initiating a local audit, round robin pass
along, or the like--all as specified for example by electronic
controls 4078.
[0563] Referring again to FIG. 114A, appliance 600 may next index
or otherwise catalog item 4054 for later access and reference (FIG.
114A, block 4618), and may automatically identify document/file
format for storage or presentation to recipient 4056 (FIG. 114A,
block 4620). Appliance 600 may then select any additional
information necessary to allow the recipient 4056 to interact with
the document (e.g., conduct any associated database searches or the
like) (FIG. 114B, block 4622), and then initiate any associated
application(s) and any carrier application required to interact
with the document/file (FIG. 114B, block 4624). Appliance 600 may
then generate a "send" or "open" event to PPE 650 requesting the
PPE to open container 302 and allow the user to access its
contents.
[0564] FIG. 116 shows example steps that may be performed by PPE
650 in response to an "open" or "view" event. In this example, PPE
650 may--upon allowing recipient 4056 to actually interact with the
item 4054--embed additional recipient interaction related
information into the document such as, for example, the time the
recipient actually looked at the document (FIG. 115, block 4625A).
PPE 650 can at this time also send additional audit and/or return
receipt information to the sender 4052 indicating this event (FIG.
116, block 4625B) if the associated electronic controls 4078
require it. PPE 650 may then release the image 4068I and/or the
data 4068D to the application running on electronic appliance
600--electronic fingerprinting or watermarking the released content
if appropriate (FIG. 116, block 4625C).
[0565] Referring again to FIG. 114B, appliance 600 may then wait
for further instructions from the recipient 4056. If the recipient
wishes (and is permitted by controls 4078) to print the item 4054
(FIG. 114B, decision block 4628), appliance 600 may send a "print"
event to PPE 650. FIG. 117 shows example steps PPE 650 may perform
in response to such a "print" event. In this example, the PPE 650
may print the item using a suitable printer 4122, including (if
necessary or desirable) a certifying seal 4200 and/or other
markings on each page of the document (FIG. 117, block 4630A).
[0566] If recipient 4056 wants to redistribute the item to another
person (FIG. 114B, decision block 4632), appliance 600 may generate
a "distribute" event to PPE 650. FIG. 118 shows example steps PPE
650 may perform in response to such as "distribute" event. If the
electronic control set 4078 associated with the item 4054 permits
redistribution, PPE 650 and appliance 600 may redistribute the item
within a secure container(s) 302 based on the conditions set forth
in the applicable control set. For example, the control set may
specify that item 4054 is to be "electronic fingerprinted" to
indicate that recipient 4056 has received and looked at it (FIG.
118, block 4634A). Other information that may be embedded into the
document at this time could include, for example, information
related to the retransmittal such as, for example, name of
sender(s), name of recipient(s), location of sender(s), location of
recipient(s), employer(s) of sender(s) and/or recipient(s), and/or
any other identifying information. PPE 650 may then package all
required information within the same or different electronic
container 302 and release the completed object(s) 300 to appliance
600 for transport using electronic or other communications means
(FIG. 118, block 4634B). PPE 650 may, if required by controls 4078,
also send an administrative object 870 providing additional audit
and/or receipt information to the sender 4052 indicating that the
item has been passed on to the next intended recipient(s) (FIG.
118, block 4634C).
[0567] D. Example Trusted Electronic Go-Between Detailed
Architecture and Operation
[0568] In addition to the secure archive, witnessing and
transaction management functions discussed above, trusted
electronic go-between 4700 may perform additional services, such
as, for example: [0569] notary services; [0570] provide an
electronic trading environment allowing multiple parties to
electronically auction goods or services; [0571] "clearing"
transaction details, such as, payments, audit information and the
like; [0572] acting as a "certifying authority" (see Shear et al.
patent disclosure) by issuing digital certificates 4064; [0573]
provide any or all of the various support and administrative
services described in the Shear et al. patent disclosure; [0574]
act as a trusted registry for electronic control sets; [0575]
provide electronic or human arbitration, mediation or negotiation
services to facilitate formation of agreements or electronic
contracts; [0576] provide legal, accounting, architectural, design
or other professional services; [0577] provide document assembly
services; [0578] provide document disassembly and component
distribution services; [0579] provide real estate, commercial or
other closing or settlement services; [0580] provide court document
docketing, filing or other services to assist a judiciary; [0581]
provide document registry certification, witnessing and other
services to assist a judge in ruling on the admissibility of
evidence in a court of law; [0582] provide tax filing services
including income tax form preparation, payment handling and the
like; [0583] assist in communications between co-counsel, inside
and outside corporate counsel, and/or opposing counsel; [0584]
deliver highly confidential information critical to national
security interests; [0585] international commerce and management of
complicated international commercial transactions; [0586] stock and
bond trading and/or brokerage; [0587] managing and/or coordinating
internal organizational functions (e.g., corporate, government);
[0588] provide currency conversion and arbitrage services; [0589]
provide arbitrage services related to equity, bonds, options, and
other financial instruments [0590] provide equity, bond, currency,
options and other financial instruments trading, authentication,
non-repudiation, transfer agent, and related administrative and/or
support services; [0591] creation, execution, interface with, and
use of "smart agents" as described in the co-pending Ginter et al.,
application (see FIG. 73).
[0592] The trusted electronic go-between 4700 may comprise or
include a "transaction authority" as disclosed in the
above-referenced Shear et al. patent disclosure, and may have the
same structure and architecture as shown in FIG. 55 et seq. of that
co-pending application.
[0593] The trusted electronic go-between 4700 may be one computer
or many. It may be centralized or distributed. It may be public or
private. It may be self-sufficient, or it may operate in
conjunction with other go-betweens or other support services. It
may be entirely automatic, or it may include functions and tasks
that must be performed using human skills and expertise. It could
be owned by a corporation or other organization, or it could be a
cooperative. It could charge for its services, or it might offer
its services free of charge.
[0594] As illustrated in FIGS. 119-120B, the trusted go-between
4700 may use reciprocal methods and distributed processing (see
FIG. 41a and following) to perform its tasks. For example, the
trusted go-between 4700 could actually be a group of organizations
(e.g., a "trusted go-between" and a notary public) that each
provide an aspect of the overall function. For example, a
certifying authority, a governmental regulator, and an arbitrator
could provide the trusted go-between function with the arbitrator
acting as the "front end" (i.e. appearing as "the" trusted
go-between from the participants' point of view). Alternatively,
all three of these parties may each play a role as independent
trusted go-betweens (with the cost of more complex control
structures, and all three parties requiring some level of
coordination by one or more of the other participants to the extent
their functions relate to the same subject matter).
[0595] In another trusted go-between topology, each of the
participants could have one or more trusted intermediaries that
interact with each other on behalf of the participants.
[0596] FIG. 119 shows an example architecture for a trusted
go-between 4700 that provides notarization functions. In this
example, trusted go-between 4700 may include an electronic
appliance 600 providing one or more protected processing
environments 650 and a secure electronic archive 4072. In this
example, electronic appliance 600 may include a server 4710 that
communicates with protected processing environment 650 and supports
one or more administrative applications 4712. Server 4710 may, in
turn, communicate with additional electronic appliances 600B
including associated protected processing environments 650B.
[0597] In this specific example, additional electronic appliance
600B may be owned and/or operated by an entity having the legal
authority to be an electronic notary public. The notary public
protected processing environment 650B may execute a control set
914B relating to notary functions. Control set 914B in this
example, has a reciprocal relationship between an overall control
set 914A executed by a protected processing environment 650A of
electronic appliance 600A. As shown in FIG. 120A, a notary
protected processing environment 650B may originate both parts of
reciprocal control sets, and deliver one half 914A for operation by
appliance 600A--or electronic appliance 600A could originate both
parts and deliver part 914B to the notary electronic appliance
600B.
[0598] The illustrated reciprocal control sets 914A, 914B may
reciprocally interact as described above in connection with FIG.
41A-41D, for example. FIG. 120B shows example reciprocal methods
1000 that might be contained within an example pair of reciprocal
control sets 914A, 914B. In this specific example, the control set
914B operated by the notary protected processing environment 650B
may include, for example, the following methods 1000: [0599]
respond [0600] initialize [0601] request certificate [0602] reply
certificate [0603] validate certificate [0604] request "get
document" [0605] reply "get document" [0606] calculate hash and
other parameters [0607] make seal [0608] modify document [0609]
request "send document" [0610] reply "send document" [0611] store
document into secure database 610.
[0612] Similarly, the reciprocal control set 914A operated by
electronic appliance protected processing environment 650A may
include methods 1000 responding to reciprocal events, such as, for
example: [0613] request initialize [0614] reply initialize [0615]
response certificate [0616] response "get document" [0617] response
"send document" [0618] additional reciprocal methods
[0619] The control sets 914B, 914A thus define and control the
processing which go-between 4700 performs on documents and other
items in order to notarize them. Human users may interact with this
process if desired through optional user interfaces 4714, 4716.
Such human intervention may be required under certain circumstances
(for example, if a live human witness might be required to testify
as to certain notarization facts, if the automatic processes
determine that a fraud is being attempted, etc.). The dynamic
interface technology described above can provide a mechanism for
delivering a user interface through the system without direct
intervention by the provider of the overall service with respect to
user interface, and by the notary with respect to the customer
relationship.
[0620] E. Example Trusted Go-Between Process Upon Item Receipt
[0621] FIG. 121 shows an example process 4750 that may be performed
by a trusted electronic go-between 4700 in the FIG. 100 scenario
shown above. In this example, the trusted electronic go-between
4700 receives notification that the electronic container 302 has
arrived (FIG. 121, block 4752), may store the container locally
(FIG. 121, block 4754), and opens and authenticates the container
and its contents (FIG. 121, block 4756). The trusted electronic
go-between 4700 may then, if necessary, obtain and locally register
any method/rules required to interact with secure container 302
(FIG. 121, block 4758). The trusted electronic go-between
automatically accesses and identifies any controls indicating
processing options (FIG. 121, block 4759), and may generate any
audit trails or other notification(s) that the container has
arrived (FIG. 121, block 4760). The trusted electronic go-between
4700 may then optionally archive the electronic container (and/or
transmission related data) locally (FIG. 121, block
4761)--according to specific options chosen by the sender or other
participant and/or the default processing options of the trusted
go-between (in one example, all containers and their contents may
be stored for five years unless processing options were chosen to
the contrary). The trusted electronic go-between 4700 may perform
further processes as required by associated electronic controls
(FIG. 121, block 4764). The trusted electronic go-between 4700 may,
if necessary, redistribute the container to the next recipient
(FIG. 121, block 4766), and may then notify the sender 4052 or
other parties of the actions taken (FIG. 121, block 4766).
[0622] Trusted electronic go-between 4700 may also archive
transmission related data as determined by the electronic control
set 4078 associated with the item 4054 being sent, the transaction
type and/or sender and/or recipient information (FIG. 121, block
4760). For example, trusted electronic go-between 4700 might
automatically determine archiving requirements based at least in
part on certified class based identification information regarding
sender 4052 and/or recipient 4056. In one example, trusted
electronic go-between 4700 archives transmittal related information
such as receipt data structure 4066 in an object oriented database
employing secure containers 302. It may also perform data reduction
analysis and/or authentication processes (FIG. 121, block 4762) to
provide client specific, class and/or transaction type usage
analysis.
[0623] Trusted electronic go-between 4700 may next further process
the received item 4054 in accordance with requirements provided by
electronic control set 4078 (FIG. 121, block 4764). For example,
the trusted electronic go-between 4700 might perform an integrity
check on the item, or it may notarize the item before archiving it.
Other processes that might be performed by trusted electronic
go-between 4700, depending on the particular scenario, include for
example the following non-exhaustive list of functions and/or
operations: [0624] Applying signatures (digital, visual, or both)
[0625] Applying seals (visual, hidden, steganographic) [0626]
Inserting a third party seal [0627] Completing a sender seal [0628]
Providing a handwritten signature [0629] Providing a steganographic
electronic fingerprint [0630] Providing a visual electronic
fingerprint [0631] Determining Privacy/Use Controls (e.g.,
modify/no modify and/or partial disclosure, recording public
transactions, permitting disclosure only to those on authorization
lists) [0632] Issuing receipts (e.g., to sender) [0633] Integrity
Guarantees (e.g., no modifications permitted, no modifications
other than signing permitted, no cut, paste, excerpting permitted)
[0634] Contract execution functions such as: [0635] send offer to
single and/or multiple recipients, [0636] send acceptance [0637]
propose modification [0638] add comments [0639] negotiate (with our
without saving negotiation history) [0640] execute contract [0641]
degree/type of non-repudiation evidence required [0642]
Teleconferencing options such as use of secure directory lookup (if
address unknown), quality (speed) of connection, payment handling,
and advanced options [0643] Audit functions [0644] Contract
Settlement functions [0645] Archival functions such as [0646]
archive digital "original" [0647] archive "sent" audit record
[0648] archive "received" audit record [0649] archive negotiation
history audit record(s) [0650] Length of time to store records
(days, months, years, forever) [0651] Contents inaccessible to
trusted-go-between (automated service only) [0652] Notary
functions, for example: [0653] notarize digital "original" [0654]
notarize sub-sections of digital "original" [0655] notarize "sent"
audit record [0656] notarize "received" audit record [0657]
notarize negotiation history audit record(s) [0658] Electronic
negotiation functions, for example: [0659] Automated negotiations
enabled (yes/no) [0660] Specific human go-between (if yes, who)
[0661] Payment handling, for example: [0662] Mastercard [0663] Visa
[0664] American Express [0665] ACH [0666] EDI X.12 [0667] other
[0668] As part of this processing, trusted electronic go-between
4700 may, if necessary, redistribute the electronic container 302
to the intended recipient 4056 (FIG. 121, block 4766).
Example Trusted Go-Between Process to Archive and Redistribute an
Item
[0669] FIG. 122 shows an example process 4770 performed by trusted
go-between 4700 to archive and redistribute an item 4054. In this
example process 4770, the trusted go-between 4700 receives
notification that an object 300 (e.g., a container 302 containing
an item(s) 4054) has arrived (FIG. 122, block 4772). Trusted
go-between 4700 may store the object 300 into its secure archive
4702 (FIG. 122, block 4774). It may then open the container 302 and
authenticate its contents (FIG. 122 block 4776). If necessary,
trusted go-between 4700 may obtain and register any methods, rules
and/or controls it needs to use or manipulate the object 300 and/or
its contents (FIG. 122 block 4778).
[0670] Unless it already has the required permission to
redistribute the object 300 (e.g., based on controls within the
object's container 302), trusted go-between 4700 may need to
request permission to redistribute (FIG. 122, block 4780). Trusted
go-between 4770 may test to determine whether it has the required
permissions (FIG. 122, decision block 4782)--and request them from
the appropriate party or parties if necessary.
[0671] If trusted go-between 4700 is unable to obtain the necessary
additional permissions ("no" exit to decision block 4782, FIG.
122), the trusted go-between may send a failure notification (FIG.
122, block 4784) and may archive the requests, replies and audit
records (FIG. 122, block 4786). If, on the other hand, trusted
go-between 4700 has the necessary permission(s) to redistribute the
received object 300 ("yes" exit to decision block 4782, FIG. 122),
the trusted go-between may affix one or more new seals 4200 to the
item(s) 4068 (FIG. 122, block 4788), and may then send the sealed
copies within secure containers 302 to the appropriate recipient(s)
(FIG. 122, block 4790).
[0672] Trusted go-between 4700 may perform appropriate payment
processing (FIG. 122, block 4792), and may optionally provide
appropriate return receipts as required by the controls associated
with the object 300 (FIG. 122, block 4794).
[0673] F. Example Process for Trusted Go-Between to Provide an Item
from Its Secure Archives
[0674] In most instances, retrieving archived data requires a user
to authenticate themselves, and present information identifying the
container. Some containers may require more than one party to
retrieve data (e.g., both the recipient and the sender), in most
cases a user who is not party to the transaction cannot retrieve
data (an exception could be a government authority, such as a court
or tax auditor). In one interesting case, all electronic copies
have been lost or were never stored (presumably, the archive only
contains transaction information and a hash value).
[0675] FIG. 123 shows an example process 4800 for trusted
electronic go-between 4700 to provide items 4068 it has archived
within secure archive 4702 to an appropriate authorized party (such
as, for example, one of the owner(s) of the item or a court of
law). In this example, trusted go-between 4700 may receive
notification of the arrival of an object 300 requesting a
particular item 4068 the trusted go-between previously archived
within its secure archive 4702 (FIG. 123, block 4802). The trusted
go-between 4700 may store the received object (block 4804, FIG.
123), and may open and authenticate the object (FIG. 123, block
4806). The trusted go-between 4700 may obtain and register any
necessary controls it requires to fulfill the request (FIG. 123,
block 4808).
[0676] In this example, the trusted go-between 4700 may
authenticate the received request, and in the process may also
satisfy itself that the requestor has authorization to make the
request (FIG. 123, blocks 4810, 4812). This authentication process
provides assurance that the request is authentic and has come from
a party with authorization to obtain the requested information (for
example, a court of competent jurisdiction).
[0677] Assuming the request and requestor are both authentic,
trusted go-between 4700 may access the requested item(s) from its
secure archive 4702 (FIG. 123, block 4814). Trusted go-between 4700
may affix one or more appropriate seals 4200 to the item(s) (FIG.
123, block 4816), and then send the sealed copy(s) of the item(s)
to the requester (FIG. 123, block 4818).
[0678] In this example, trusted go-between 4700 may optionally
notify the owner(s) or other interested parties of item 4054 that
it has provided a copy to the authorized requestor (FIG. 123, block
4820). Trusted go-between 4700 may perform appropriate payment
processing as may be required for this transaction (FIG. 123, block
4822), and may optionally issue appropriate receipts to appropriate
parties (FIG. 123, block 4824).
[0679] Example Contract Execution Process
[0680] FIGS. 124A-124B are together a flow chart of an example
process for contract execution such as shown in FIG. 97. In this
example process 4830, Alice and Bob wish to enter into a contract.
Alice creates the contract 4068 using a word processor or other
appropriate mechanism (FIG. 124A, block 4832). Alice identifies Bob
as the other party to the contract (FIG. 124A, block 4834). The
protected processing environment 500 within Alice's electronic
appliance 600 may create appropriate electronic controls (FIG.
124A, block 4836) specifying that Bob is the other party and other
parameters (e.g., her offer is only good for thirty days, Bob's
electronic appliance must use biometric sensing techniques of a
certain type for execution, Bob may or may not change the
contract).
[0681] Alice may indicate to protected processing environment 500
within her electronic appliance 600 that she wishes to sign the
contract--thereby creating a legal "offer" (FIG. 124A, block 4838).
She may do so by, for example, clicking on a "I agree" icon or
button her PPE 500 causes to be displayed, by placing her finger on
a biometric sensor, etc. The particular mechanism used is
preferably sufficiently secure to make it difficult for Alice to
later repudiate her decision to sign. The strength of the
authentication should be indicated in the transmission, as well as
some requirement for this strength. This is central to "commercial
trustedness," and furthermore the level of assurance (e.g.
location, tamper resistance, etc.) is directly tied to this. The
level of trustedness is based on the strength of authentication
which can never exceed the strength of the assurance level; both of
which should be disclosed to all relevant parties in a
transaction.
[0682] In this response to this action, Alice's protected
processing environment 500 may affix Alice's signature 4300 and/or
appropriate personal seals 4200 to the contract (see FIG. 97) (FIG.
124A, block 4838). The process 4830 may, at this point, perform an
appropriate payment method pre-authorization (for example, to
ensure that Alice will pay the compensation required under the
contract) (FIG. 124A, block 4840). Alice's protected processing
environment 500 may package the sealed, signed contract 4068 with
appropriate controls provided by block 4836 within an electronic
container 302 (FIG. 124A, block 4842). Alice's electronic appliance
600 may send the resulting object 300 to Bob's electronic appliance
600.
[0683] Upon receipt by Bob's electronic appliance (FIG. 124A, block
4844), Bob's protected processing environment 500 may open the
container 302 and authenticate the received object 300, Alice's
signature 4300 and/or her seal 4200 (FIG. 124A, block 4846). Bob's
protected processing environment 500 may then cause Alice's signed
contract to be displayed so that Bob can read and understand it
(FIG. 124A, block 4848).
[0684] Assume that Bob reads the contract, and agrees to sign it
(FIG. 124A, block 4848). In this case, Bob's protected processing
environment may send an object 300 to Alice's protected processing
environment containing "agreement" controls--electronic controls
that provide PPE 500 with methods to perform when the parties have
agreed to execute the contract (FIG. 124A, block 4850)). At this
point, Alice may confirm her intention to sign the contract as now
agreed to by Bob (e.g., Bob may have modified the contract before
agreeing to sign it) (FIG. 124A, block 4852). This confirmation
may, for example, be based on biometric or other non-repudiation
assuring techniques as described above.
[0685] Alice's protected processing environment 500 may send
notification of Alice's confirmation to Bob (FIG. 124A, block
4854). Upon receipt of Alice's confirmation (FIG. 124B, block
4856), Bob may also sign the contract conditional on Alice's
signature (FIG. 124B, block 4858). Bob's protected processing
environment 500 may send the conditionally signed and sealed
contract to Alice's protected processing environment (FIG. 124B,
block 4860). Alice may then sign and seal the contract (FIG. 124B,
block 4862) and her protected processing environment 500 may send
the signed and sealed contract to Bob--retaining a copy for Alice
herself (FIG. 124B, block 4864)).
[0686] In this example, Alice's protected processing environment
may also send a copy of the signed, sealed contract to a trusted
go-between 4700 for notarization and/or archival purposes (see FIG.
101) (FIG. 124B, block 4866). The trusted go-between 4700 may
notarize and/or archive the signed, sealed contract (FIG. 124B,
block 4868), and may issue archival and/or notary receipts to both
Alice and Bob (FIG. 124B, block 4870).
[0687] In one specific example, the delivered contract can be a
non-disclosure agreement co-delivered with an item(s) 4054 subject
to the non-disclosure provisions of the agreement. Associated
electronic controls automatically enforce the non-disclosure
provisions of the agreement with respect to the co-delivered
item(s) 4054.
[0688] Example Contract Execution Mediated by a Trusted
Go-Between
[0689] FIGS. 125A-125B show an example contract execution process
in which the trusted electronic go-between 4700 is more directly
involve as an intermediary in forming the contract (see FIGS. 101,
101A, 101B). In this example routine 4872, steps 4832A-4840A may be
similar or identical to steps 4832-4840 shown in FIG. 124A.
However, instead of Alice sending the completed "offer" object 300
directly to Bob's electronic appliance 600, Alice may send the
object to trusted go-between 4700 (FIG. 125A, block 4874).
[0690] Upon receiving the object (FIG. 125A, block 4876), the
trusted go-between 4700 may open the object and authenticate it
(FIG. 125A, block 4878). The trusted go-between 4700 may then apply
its own seal 4200, and send its sealed, notarized copy of the offer
in an electronic container 302 with associated appropriated
electronic controls to Bob (FIG. 125A, block 4880). Trusted
go-between 4700 may notarize and archive the item and associated
audit information so far created (FIG. 125A, block 4882) (e.g., to
keep a secure record of the negotiation process).
[0691] Upon receipt of the object, Bob's protected processing
environment 500 may open the container 302 (FIG. 125A, block 4884)
and send audit records indicating receipt and opening of the object
(FIG. 125A, block 4886). Assuming that Bob agrees to sign the
document (e.g., after he has read it) (FIG. 125B, block 4848A), Bob
may indicate his assent through biometric sensing or other
techniques as described above--and his protected processing
environment 500 may at that point send an object 300 with
"agreement" controls to the trusted go-between 4700 (FIG. 125,
block 4888).
[0692] The trusted go-between 4700 may notify Alice of Bob's
intention to sign the contract (FIG. 125B, block 4890). Alice may
then send the trusted go-between her signature with electronic
controls making the signature conditional on Bob's signature (FIG.
125B, block 4892). The trusted go-between 4700 may archive Alice's
signature, and send Bob notification of Alice's conditional
signature (FIG. 125B, block 4894). Bob may the sign the contract
conditional on Alice's signature (FIG. 125B, block 4858A), and send
the conditionally signed and sealed contract to the trusted
go-between 4700 (FIG. 125B, block 4896). The trusted go-between
4700 may apply Alice's signature and/or seal to the contract based
on the controls she sent to the trusted go-between at block 4892
(FIG. 125B, block 4897). The trusted go-between 4700 may deliver
the completed, signed and sealed contract to both Alice and Bob
(FIG. 125B, block 4898), and may optionally itself notarize and/or
archive the signed, sealed contract (FIG. 125B, block 4899).
ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES
[0693] The following are some non-exhaustive examples of how system
4050 provided by the present inventions can be used in a variety of
different, illustrative contexts.
Example
Automobile Purchase
[0694] FIG. 126 shows an example of how trusted electronic
go-between 4700 might help to coordinate and complete a complex
contractual arrangement, such as the purchase of a car. Suppose
buyers 4070A want to buy a car from manufacturer 4070B through car
dealership 4070C. Buyers 4070A could use an electronic appliance
600 to specify the car model, options and price they are willing to
pay. They could also fill out a credit application, provide a down
payment, package all of this information into a secure electronic
object 300A, and send the electronic container to trusted
electronic go-between 4700. Trusted electronic go-between 4700
might then contact the car dealership 4070C, present the buyers'
offer and receive (in another secure electronic object 300B) the
car dealership's counter offer concerning price and availability.
Trusted electronic go-between 4700 could negotiate or mediate
between the two parties, and supervise the creation of a contract
68 finalizing the deal. Trusted electronic go-between 4700 could
send a copy of the final contract 4068 to the buyers 4070A and to
the car dealership 4070C, using secure electronic objects 300C and
300D to ensure secure electronic delivery of this information.
Trusted electronic go-between 4700 could include the buyers' down
payment within secure object 300D for receipt by car dealership
4070C. Trusted electronic go-between 4700 could also forward the
buyers' credit application within yet another secure electronic
object 300E to a credit company 4070D. The credit company could
provide the proceeds of an automobile loan to car dealership 4070C
to pay for the new car. Meanwhile, car dealership 4070C could send
an order to the manufacturer 4070B who could manufacture and
deliver the new car to the buyers 4070A either directly or through
the car dealership 4070C.
Example
Document Notary
[0695] FIG. 127 shows an example of how system 4050 could be used
to notarize a contract, statement or other document. In this
example, Bob (4070a) and Ted (4070b) may enter into a contract
using electronic or other means. They may sign the contract
electronically by having their electronic appliances 600, 600'
insert their handwritten and digital signatures (and if desired,
also their own personal seals or other affirmations). They may then
individually or jointly place the executed contract 4068 into one
or more electronic containers 302(1) and transmit the contract to a
trusted go-between 4700 for registration.
[0696] To prevent either party from later repudiating the contract
4068, trusted go-between 4700 may require certain secure
indication(s) allowing the trusted go-between to verify that Bob
and Ted are who they say they are. These indications required by
trusted go-between 4700 should have sufficient reliability that
they will later stand up in a court of law. One possibility is for
trusted go-between 4700 to capture biometric information such as
photographic images, fingerprints, handprints, retina patterns or
the like. Another possibility is to rely on the digital signatures
(and thus the security of the private keys) of Bob and
Ted--possibly in conjunction with digital certificates and
biometric sensing techniques as described above. In system 4050,
Bob's private key and Ted's private key might never be exposed
outside of their respective secure electronic appliances 600,
600'--preventing each of them from voluntarily exposing their
private keys as a basis for repudiating the contract.
[0697] Trusted go-between 4700 may be completely electronic and
automatic. It may receive container 302(1), and open the container
to access the contract 4068 it contains. Trusted go-between 4700
may create a notarial seal 4200 on the document encoded with
information encrypted using the trusted go-between's private key.
This encrypted information might indicate the time and date the
trusted go-between received the document; a digital certificate
number that securely identifies the trusted go-between; and the
"hash" value of the signed contract 4068 (see FIG. 103 above).
Trusted go-between 4700 may include this resulting digital
signature within its notarial seal 4200 and/or may place the
digital signature elsewhere on the document 4068 to create a
notarized version 4068'.
[0698] Trusted go-between 4700 may then store the notarized
document 4068' within its secure electronic archive 4702. The
trusted go-between 4700 may also, if desired, supply copies of the
notarized document back to Bob (4070a) and Ted (4070b) within
additional electronic containers so they each have record copies of
the notarized contract 4068'.
[0699] Suppose a dispute arises between Bob and Ted. Bob wants to
enforce the contract 4068 against Ted. Ted claims he never signed
the contract. Trusted go-between 4700 supplies a copy of the
notarized contract 4068' to a court of law 5016 or other dispute
resolver. By electronically analyzing the executed contract 4068',
the court 5016 can read the notarization assurance of trusted
go-between 4700 that Ted did in fact execute contract 4068. So long
as the trusted go-between 4700 required sufficient verification of
Ted's identity before electronically notarizing the document 4068',
the court 5016 should accept the notarization as conclusive
evidence that Ted executed it.
[0700] Because of the extremely high degree of trustedness possible
using system 4050, the FIG. 127 example could be used to
communicate national security secrets or highly sensitive criminal
investigation results (e.g., wiretaps) between authorized
government agents. Trusted go-between 4700 might be authorized to
register (but not open) the containers 302(1) it receives for later
use as evidence in court 5016.
Example
Teleconferencing
[0701] FIG. 128 shows the variation on the FIG. 127 example
including a teleconferencing capability. In this FIG. 128 above,
intelligent kiosk appliances 600, 600' are each equipped with a
video camera 4124 that allows sender 4052 and recipient 4056 to see
and speak with one another in real time. Sender 4052 can see
recipient 4056 on the sender's display, and recipient 4056 can see
sender 4052 on the recipient's display. Similarly, the sender and
recipient can each hear each other through microphones/speakers
4128 (and/or telephone handsets 4110) their intelligent kiosks are
equipped with.
[0702] This teleconferencing capability can be useful, for example,
to allow sender 4052 and recipient 4056 to verify they each are who
they say they are, and to assist in negotiating contract 4068 or
otherwise discussing the content of an item 4054. In order to
further assure the authenticity of the communication, a secure
communications link may be established using key exchange
techniques (e.g., Diffie-Hellman) and encryption of the signal
between the stations.
[0703] Secure containers 302 may be used to encapsulate the video
and audio being exchanged between electronic kiosk appliances 600,
600' to maintain confidentiality and ensure a high degree of
trustedness. Thus, in this example, each secure container 302(2)
might contain some portion of or multiple video images and/or some
portion of or multiple audio segments. Electronic appliances 600,
600' can exchange such secure container 302(2) back and forth in
rapid succession to provide real time audio and video transmission
In order to improve performance, the containers themselves may
remain at the users' sites, and only the encrypted contents
transmitted between the participants. This may allow one or two
containers to protect the entire communications between the
parties.
[0704] In still another variation, the teleconferencing shown in
FIG. 128 does not need to be simultaneous. For example, sender 4052
could walk up to kiosk appliance 600 and operate the kiosk to
record a brief video and audio recording of a message. Sender 4052
could use appliance 600 to review and approve the recording, and
then send the recording to recipient 4056 in more or more secure
containers 302. Recipient 4056 could present himself to the same or
different electronic appliance 600' at a later time. The electronic
appliance 600' could verify that recipient 4056 is who he says he
is, and then play back the sender's recording.
Example
Doctor Management/Coordination of Health Records
[0705] FIG. 129 shows how system 4050 might be used to help a
doctor 1000 manage and coordinate health records. In this example,
after seeing a patient, doctor 5000 might use an electronic
appliance 600 (such as a personal computer for example) to
electronically create a patient record 5004 and a drug prescription
5006. The doctor 5000 could instruct electronic appliance 600 to
package a copy of patient record 1004 and drug prescription 5006
into one or more secure electronic containers 302(1). Doctor 5000
could specify to electronic appliance 600 (in the form of
electronic controls 4078) that: [0706] neither document can be
modified; [0707] each document is highly confidential; [0708]
patient record 5004 may be revealed only to the patient's insurance
company 5008; and [0709] drug prescription 5006 may be revealed
only to the patient 5002 and to the patient's chosen drug store
5010.
[0710] The doctor 5000 may then send container 302(1) to a trusted
go-between 4700. Trusted go-between 4700 could be a computer within
a doctor's office, or it could be a commercially operated trusted
go-between specializing in health care transactions or usable in
general types of transactions. Trusted go-between 4700 might be
instructed by electronic controls 4078 to time and date stamp
electronic container 302(1) upon receipt, and to store the
electronic container within its secure archive 4702. It might also
be instructed to maintain patient records 5004 completely
confidential (indeed, controls 4078 may prevent the trusted
go-between 4700 from itself having any access to these patient
records), but to forward a copy of the patient records 5004 to the
patient's insurance company 5008 so the insurance company can pay
for the medical services rendered by the doctor 5000. For example,
the trusted go-between 4700 in one example has no access to the
content of the container 302(1), but does have a record of a seal
of the contents. If trusted go-between 4700 has the seal, it can
interact with other parties to confirm the contents of the
seal--without needing to know or disclosing (as the case may be)
the contents. Controls 4078 might also instruct trusted go-between
4700 to forward the drug prescription 5006 to the patient's
selected drug store 5010 upon the request of patient 5002.
[0711] The patient 5002 could make such a forwarding request, for
example, by operating an intelligent kiosk 600' at the drug store
5010. The patient's electronic request 5012 could be sent to
trusted go-between 4700, which in response might retrieve the drug
prescription 5006 from its secure archive and forward it
electronically within a secure container 302(3) to the drug store
5010 chosen by patient 5002.
[0712] One of the patient records 5004 might be a consent form that
was executed by patient 5002. To help prevent the patient 5002 from
later repudiating his consent, doctor 5000 might register this
consent form with trusted go-between 4700--which could then
"witness" it by notarizing it and affixing its seal, date stamp
and/or digital signature. Trusted go-between 4700 could provide
this consent form 5014 to a court of law 5016 and/or medical
malpractice company in the event that patient 5002 sued the doctor
for medical malpractice.
Example
Complex Business Transaction
[0713] FIG. 130 shows an example of how system 4050 might be used
to accomplish a real estate transaction. In this example, seller
5030 wants to sell his house 5032, and buyer 5034 wants to buy the
house. The seller 5030 and buyer 5034 and their respective real
estate agents 5036, 5038 write a legal contract which the seller
and buyer then sign. The seller 5030 and buyer 5034 use an
electronic appliance 600 to create an electronic version of
contract 4068 (or the electronic execution techniques discussed
above could be used to initially create the contract). They place
the executed electronic version of the contract 4068 within one or
more secure electronic containers 302(1), and send the contract to
trusted go-between 4700.
[0714] Trusted go-between 4700 registers the contract 4068, and
then creates an electronic list of rules based on contract 4068. A
partial example rule list is shown in FIG. 130A. Although the FIG.
130A conditions are shown as being written on a clipboard, in the
preferred embodiment the "clipboard" is electronically implemented
by a computer and comprises one or more electronic control sets
4078 that specify the conditions that must be satisfied in order
for the overall real estate transaction to settle.
[0715] Trusted go-between 4700 may need to communicate with each of
a number of parties in order to determine whether the conditions
have been satisfied. For example: [0716] trusted go-between 4700
may need to confirm, via a secure communication 302(2) with an
escrow bank 5040, that the buyer 5034 and buyer's agent 5038 have
deposited a purchase money deposit with the escrow bank; [0717]
trusted go-between 4700 may assist buyer 5034 in creating and
filing loan applications with one or more banks 5042, along with
supporting documentation, and may require confirmation from the
lending bank 5042 that the buyer's financing has been approved so
the transaction can go forward; [0718] trusted go-between may have
to coordinate with an inspector, appraiser and/or surveyor 5044 to
ensure that house 5032 has no termites, has an appraised value in
excess of the value buyer 5034 is attempting to borrow from lender
5042, has been properly surveyed as required by the lender, etc.;
[0719] trusted go-between 4700 may need to coordinate with a lawyer
5046 to ensure that the title to the property for sale is clear and
unencumbered; and [0720] trusted go-between 4700 may need to
communicate with other parties to take care of other details
leading up to the transaction completion.
[0721] In this example, trusted go-between 4700 may receive
electronic notifications in secure containers 302 as each step in
the overall process is completed. As illustrated in FIG. 3A,
trusted go-between 4700 can electronically check each completed
condition off of its electronically-maintained condition list as it
receives such event notifications. Trusted go-between 4700
maintains this electronic list 4704 in a secure, validated and
authenticated manner using system 4050--requiring, for example,
receipt of electronic containers having event notifications that
are signed cryptographically with one or more digital signatures
from the appropriate parties. In this way, trusted go-between 4700
can maintain a highly reliable and validated, authenticated audit
of the transaction steps as the overall transaction proceeds.
[0722] In addition, trusted go-between 4700 may, if desired, be
empowered to issue additional requirements and/or instructions to
facilitate the progress of the transaction. For example, trusted
go-between 4700 might be a private trusted go-between operated by
lender 5042--and thus, might be empowered to select which lawyer
5046 to use and to send that lawyer, automatically, appropriate
instructions and forms for completing the transaction. As another
example, the trusted go-between 4700 may be part of the business
operated by lawyer 5046 or other settlement agent, and may thus be
empowered to select and instruct escrow bank 5040.
[0723] When trusted go-between 4700 determines, based on the
electronic rules/control set 4704 and the notifications it has
received that all conditions for settlement have been satisfied,
the trusted go-between may allow the "atomic transaction" to settle
by issuing appropriate notifications and/or instructions--once
again using secure electronic containers 302 and the receipt,
verification, authentication, and other mechanisms discussed above
to ensure reliability, confidentiality and a high degree of
trustedness. For example: [0724] The trusted go-between 4700 might
instruct the lender 5042 to deposit the loan proceeds into loan
escrow bank 5040. Upon receiving notification from escrow bank 5040
that the loan proceeds have been properly deposited and the money
is available, the trusted go-between 4700 could instruct escrow
bank 5040 to transfer the funds to seller's bank 5048 and thereby
release the seller's outstanding mortgage on the property. [0725]
Trusted go-between 4700 might also instruct escrow bank 5040 to
transfer or otherwise pay the seller's agent 5036 and the buyer's
agent 5038 their appropriate commissions as set forth in contract
4068. [0726] Trusted go-between 4700 might also notarize the deed
which seller 5030 has executed in favor of buyer 5034, and could
electronically file the deed with the court 5016 (or other
governmental authority) for recordation. [0727] Trusted go-between
4700 might also at the same time file the lender's 5042 deed of
trust and a release executed by the seller's bank 5048.
[0728] All of these various coordination steps can be performed
nearly simultaneously, efficiently, rapidly and with an extremely
high degree of trustedness based on the user of electronic
containers 302 and the secure communications, authentication,
notarization and archiving techniques provided in accordance with
the present inventions.
Example
Court Filings and Docket Management
[0729] FIG. 131 shows how system 4050 could be used to manage
filings in a court of law. In this example, the plaintiff's
attorney 5050 and the defendant's attorney 5052 can electronically
exchange court filings and other documents (e.g., letters,
discovery requests, discovery responses, motions, briefs,
responses, etc.) by sending secure containers 302 between their
respective electronic appliances 600, 600'. Because of the high
degree of security and trustedness provided by system 4050, even
confidential information can be exchanged using this technique with
little risk that the information will fall into the wrong hands (of
course, the system cannot prevent people from making mistakes, in
addition to the chance--however remote--that a determined adversary
could dedicate sufficient resources to cracking the system (such
as, for example, through brute force techniques to "crack" the
algorithms). The lawyers can specifically specify who can open the
containers 302 and have a very high degree of trust that no one
other than the specified individuals (e.g., opposing counsel and
the court 5056) will be able to access the information within.
[0730] For example, defendant's attorney 5052 can specify one
container 302 for opening by his co-counsel, client or client's
in-house counsel, and program another container 302 for opening
only by opposing (plaintiff's) counsel 5050. Because of the unique
trustedness features provided by system 4050, the defendant's
attorney 5052 can have a high degree of trust and confidence that
only the authorized parties will be able to open the respective
containers and access the information they contain.
[0731] Appliances 600, 600' may issue highly trusted and reliable
return receipts as described above. These highly trusted electronic
return receipts may substitute for certificates of service if court
5016 permits.
[0732] The lawyers 5050, 5052 can also electronically file any of
these exchanged documents with the court 5056 by sending the
documents to the clerk 5054 via secure electronic containers 302.
In this example, the clerk 5054 may actually be a computerized
trusted go-between 4700 (represented here by a person but
implemented in practice in whole or in part by one or more secure
electronic appliances 600). The clerk 5054 may present a digital
certificate evidencing that it is authorized to open a secure
container 302 it has received. The clerk may then date stamp each
received document (this may involve placing a seal 4200 on the
document but more typically might involve simply placing a digital
time signature on the document). The clerk 5054 may file the
document electronically within a secure electronic archive 4702
that can provide a database for linking related documents
together.
[0733] The judge 5056 might have a secure electronic appliance 600
in the courtroom or in chambers that could be used to view and/or
print documents from the secure electronic archive 4702. The judge
5056 could instantly call up any filing to determine when it was
received by the clerk 5054 and to review its contents. Different
authorizations and/or encryption strengths could be used with
respect to publicly available documents and documents under seal
(for example, so that sealed documents could only be opened by the
judge 5056 or her staff).
[0734] The judge 5056 could write her orders and opinions using
electronic appliance 600. She could then send these documents
within a secure electronic container 302(3) for filing by the clerk
5054 in secure electronic archive 4702, and for automatic service
on the lawyers 5050, 5052.
[0735] In this example, the clerk/trusted go-between 4700 could
also be used to ensure compliance with the local rules of court.
For example, the clerk/trusted go-between 4700 could maintain, in
electronic form, electronic controls 4078 indicating the time and
formal requirements with respect to different kinds of filings. The
clerk/trusted go-between 4700 could automatically check all
incoming filings from the lawyers 5050, 5052 to ensure compliance
with the local rules, and to issue notices and other appropriate
forms in accordance with the local rules. Use of a dynamic
interface technology may be used to generate and deliver a set of
controls to the sender's system that defines the parameters of
receipt--and default controls may be used to specify appropriate
parameters, formats, etc.
[0736] FIG. 131 shows that this system can be extended to allow
communications between defendant's counsel 5052, his co-counsel
(e.g., defendant's in-house counsel) 5052A, and his client (e.g.,
the defendant's Chief Executive Officer) 5052B. Because of the high
degree of trustedness and security provided by system 4050, there
is no danger that privileged communications between defendant's CEO
5052B and defendant's litigating counsel 5052 will be disclosed to
plaintiff's counsel 5050. On the other hand, defendant's litigating
counsel 5052 could automatically distribute certain documents
(e.g., court filings not under seal, discovery requests and
responses, etc) to defendant's CEO 5052B and defendant's inside
counsel 5052A in addition to sending them to the court 5016 and to
plaintiff's counsel 5050. In this example, defendant's litigating
counsel 5052 could enforce any/all of the following different
electronic control set options on electronic container contents:
[0737] accessible by inhouse counsel 5052A and CEO 5052B only
(e.g., for privileged, attorney-client communications); [0738]
accessible by the court 5016, plaintiff's counsel 5050, inhouse
counsel 5052A, CEO 5052B (e.g., for court filings not under seal);
[0739] accessible by the court 5016, plaintiff's counsel 5050, and
inhouse counsel 5052A but not CEO 5052B (e.g., for court filings
under seal); [0740] accessible by the court 5016 only (e.g., for
documents being reviewed in camera).
[0741] Note that in this example, documents can be controlled
independently of where they are routed. For example, defendant's
litigating counsel 5052 could specify electronic controls that
would allow court 5016 to access a document that need not be filed
with the court but which might be of interest to the court at a
later date (e.g., letter between opposing counsel later used as an
exhibit to a motion). The fact of document transmission (along with
some information about the document such as document title and
identifier) could be transmitted without actually transmitting the
document itself--allowing the court to retrieve the document itself
independently at a later time if desired.
Example
Patent Office Automation
[0742] FIG. 132 shows how system 4050 might be used for Patent
Office automation. In this example, an inventor 5060 might file her
patent application 5062 by sending it to the Patent Office 5064 in
one or more secure electronic containers 302(1). The high degree of
trustedness, confidentiality and security provided in accordance
with these inventions ensure that the patent application 5062 will
arrive at the Patent Office 5064, and will not be disclosed to or
accessed by anyone other than the Patent Office.
[0743] Upon receiving the patent application 5062, a trusted
go-between 4700 within the Patent Office 5064 could open the
container 302(1) and access the patent application 5062. Trusted
go-between 4700 could electronically examine the patent application
5062 to ensure it meets all formal requirements, and could also
date/time stamp the received patent application in order to
document its filing date.
[0744] Trusted go-between 4700 could automatically issue the
inventor 5060 a filing receipt based upon secure receipt of the
patent application 5062 using the return receipt techniques
described above. Trusted go-between 4700 could then deposit the
patent application 5062 into a secure electronic archive 4702 to
await examination. Trusted go-between 4700 could include
appropriate routing information based on a routing slip as
described above to route the patent application 5062 to the
appropriate group and/or patent examiner 5064 within the Patent
Office 5064.
[0745] A patent examiner 5064 could examine the patent application
5062 by requesting a copy of it from electronic archive 4702. All
communications could take place within secure electronic containers
302(2) to ensure confidentiality and reliability--completely
avoiding the problem of lost files. The patent examiner 5064 could
conduct prior art searches using the same electronic appliance 600'
used to review the patent application 5062. The examiner 5064 could
print out a copy of the patent application 5062 as desired.
[0746] The patent examiner 5064 could also use electronic appliance
600' to draft office actions and notices. The examiner 5064 could
communicate these notices and actions via trusted go-between 4700
to the inventor 5060. Trusted go-between 4700 could maintain copies
of the examiner's actions and notices within secure electronic
archive 4702--ensuring their confidentiality and also making sure
they do not become lost. System 4050 could provide a return receipt
when the inventor 5060 opened the electronic container 302
containing the examiner's actions or notices--thus proving in a
highly reliable and trusted fashion that the inventor had in fact
received what the examiner sent. Similarly, inventor 5060 could
file responses (and could even teleconference with the examiner
5064) via electronic appliance 600. The high degree of trustedness
and confidentiality provided by system 4050 along with the return
receipt and other options discussed above provide a highly
reliable, confidential communications means that can be used to
demonstrate when items were actually filed.
[0747] Once the examiner--after conducting a lengthy prior art
search and carefully analyzing the patent application 5062 to
ensure that the invention is patentable--is fully and completely
satisfied that the inventor 5060 is entitled to a patent, the
examiner 5064 could instruct the trusted go-between 4700 to grant
the application as a patent. Trusted go-between 4700 could retrieve
a copy of the application 5062 from the secure electronic archive
4702, use automatic means to transform it into an issued patent,
and insert a seal 4200 (for example, bearing the digital
certificate of the Patent Office 5064) onto the document. The
trusted go-between 4700 could then issue the granted patent 5066 to
the inventor 5060 by sending it in a secure electronic container
302(3) --thus ensuring that it does not get lost and is in fact
received by the inventor.
[0748] Members of the public could obtain a copy of the issued
patent 5066 by requesting one from trusted go-between 4700. Trusted
go-between 4700 could maintain a copy of the issued patent 5066
within secure electronic archive 4702, along with electronic
controls 4078 that specify the document is a matter of public
record and can be disclosed to members of the public. Other
documents in secure electronic archive 4702 (e.g., patent
applications 5062 that have not yet been published) can be
maintained confidential by use of electronic controls 4078
specifying that only certain people (e.g., patent examiner 5064)
can access them.
[0749] The FIG. 132 example also provides a convenient mechanism
for registering invention disclosure documents with the patent
office or other organization. For example, inventor 5060 could use
electronic appliance 600 to file an invention disclosure document
with the trusted go-between 4700. Trusted go-between 4700 would
notarize or witness receipt of the document upon receipt by
embedding the document with a digital signature specifying the
trusted go-between's identity, the current time and date, and a
hash value for use in an integrity check. Trusted go-between 4700
could then file the invention disclosure document within secure
electronic archive 4702. At a later date, inventor 5062 could prove
the invention disclosure document had been created as of a certain
date by requesting trusted go-between 4700 to produce a copy of the
invention disclosure document from secure electronic archive 4702.
Trusted go-between 4700 would thus provide a secure, trusted
independent corroboration of document creation--since it could
demonstrate (based upon its imprinted digital signature) that it
had received the document on a certain date and that the document
had a certain contents.
[0750] The disclosure service could also simply send the inventor a
signed hash value, and then discard the document; since the hash
value could be used with a copy preserved by the inventor. The
service could archive the signed hash value themselves as well
(although that is not required).
Example
Tax Filing System
[0751] FIG. 133 shows an example of how system 4050 can be used to
facilitate filing of income or other taxes. Sender 4052 can use
electronic kiosk appliance 600 to file her income tax return 5070.
Appliance 600 transmits the income tax return 5070 to the
governmental taxing authority 5072 within a secure container
302(1). Secure container 302(1) ensures that the tax return 5070 is
opened by no one other than the governmental tax authority 5072.
System 4050 can electronically provide a return receipt to sender
4052 proving that tax authority 5072 received the tax return
5070.
[0752] Appliance 600 may help the taxpayer 4052 complete her tax
return 5070. For example, the appliance 600 could ask a series of
questions based on a preprogrammed electronic script. The appliance
600 could calculate the taxes owed, and--once taxpayer 4052
approved the tax return 5070--allow the taxpayer to electronically
sign the return as described above. Appliance 600 could accept tax
payments via credit or smart cards, debit authorizations from bank
accounts, etc. Appliance 600 could also issue a paper or electronic
receipt to the taxpayer 4052 assuring the taxpayer that the tax
return 5070 has been filed. A court might accept this receipt as
evidence of timely filing.
[0753] Tax authority 5072 may include an internal trusted
go-between 4700 that registers and securely date stamps all tax
return filings 5070 and places them into a secure electronic
archive 4702. The trusted go-between 4700 can also analyze each tax
return 5070 to ensure that it complies with electronic rules
embodying the tax laws (some of this process could be performed by
humans and some by computers if desired). Trusted go-between 4700
can provide, to a payment mechanism 5074, an electronic container
302(2) requesting the payment mechanism to issue a refund to (or
collect a deficiency from) the tax payer 4052. In one example,
payment can be in the form of electronic currency carried within
one or more secure containers 302(3). If the return is structured
appropriately for automated processing, tax calculations and
application of relevant tax rules can also be automated by the
trusted go-between.
Example
Inter and Intra Organization Communications
[0754] FIG. 102 (described above) shows an example of secure
trusted electronic go-betweens for use within and outside of
organizations such as corporations. As described above, the secure
electronic go-betweens 700(A), 700(B) can be used to facilitate
secure item handling and delivery within an organization. As one
example, suppose a confidential memo needs to be approved by users
600(A)(1), 600(A)(3) and 600(A)(5) (who can each revise the memo)
before being distributed to each of users 600(A)(2),
600(A)(7)-600(A)(10) and 600(A)(12) (none of whom can change the
memo), with copies to users 600(A)(1), 600(A)(3) and 600(A)(5) (who
also can't change the memo after all three of them have signed off
on it) and to no one else. Private trusted go-between 4700(A) can
maintain a rule set that specifies these requirements. Trusted
go-between 4700(A) can: [0755] send the memo (in secure containers)
in "round robin" fashion to each of users 600(A)(1), 600(A)(3) and
600(A)(5) for approval. [0756] If any one of these users changes
the memo, then trusted go-between 4700(A) can circulate the revised
memo to the other two for additional comments and revisions. [0757]
Once all three of users 600(A)(1), 600(A)(3) and 600(A)(5) approve
the memo, trusted go-between 4700(A) may be empowered to place each
of their digital and/or handwritten signatures or initials on the
memo, place it into one or more secure containers with a control
set specifying it is read only and can only be read by users
600(A)(1)-600(A)(3), 600(A)(5), 600(A)(7)-600(A)(10) and
600(A)(12). [0758] Trusted go-between 4700(A) may then send a copy
of the memo in a container to each of these users, or could require
the same container to circulate from one to another. [0759] The
trusted go-between 4700 may require the electronic controls to
maintain a secure audit trail indicating where the container has
been, who has opened it, who has accessed the memo it contains, and
when. Trusted go-between 4700(A) might thus increase personal
accountability by evidencing whether a particular person had seen a
particular document, when, and for how long.
[0760] Organization A's Intranet 5104 might also be used to
exchange and/or distribute highly confidential design
specifications. System 4050 can provide a highly secure audit trail
indicating who has had access to a container containing the
confidential design specifications; when the person(s) accessed it;
and what they did with the specification (print a copy, view it on
screen for so many minutes, make a copy of it, etc.) System 4050
(with or without the assistance of a trusted go-between 4700(A) can
also maintain, in digital form, a detailed record of who has
"signed off" on the design specifications--thus ensuring personal
accountability and providing a high degree of efficiency.
[0761] Private transaction authorities 4700(A), 4700(B) can also
provide a "firewall" function to protect confidential information
from escaping to outside of the respective organizations A, B.
Suppose for example that organization A is an integrated circuit
design house and organization B is an integrated circuit foundry.
Organization A designs and specifies the circuit layout of a chip,
producing a "tape out" that it sends to organization B.
Organization B manufactures an integrated circuit based on the
"tape out", and delivers chips to organization A.
[0762] System 4050 can be used to facilitate the above business
transaction while protecting confidentiality within each of
organizations A and B. For example: [0763] organization A's private
trusted go-between 4700(A) can supervise an overall design and
specification development effort within organization A. All
communications take place in secure containers 302 over
organization A's Intranet 5100(A) to maintain confidentiality.
Trusted go-between 4700(A) can maintain a secure archive of
historical design documents, works in progress, and specification
versions as the design process progresses. [0764] Organization A's
private trusted go-between 4700(A) can manage the final design
specification development--ensuring that all conditions required to
finalize the design specifications are followed. [0765] Once the
design specification has been finalized, trusted go-between 4700(A)
can circulate it within secure containers 302 to those individuals
within organization A that need to "sign off" on it. Their
respective appliances 600(A)(1), . . . 600(A)(k) can affix and/or
embed digital signatures, handwritten signatures, seals and/or
electronic fingerprints as described above to indicate
specification approval. [0766] Upon being satisfied that the
specification has been "signed off" by the appropriate people,
trusted go-between 4700(A) can send it over Internet 1104 within a
secure container 302 to public trusted go-between 4700(C). Public
trusted go-between 4700(C) may be a commercial trusted go-between
retained by organizations A and B to act as a liaison between them.
Organization A's private trusted go-between 4700(A) can filter (or
protect) all information it sends to public trusted go-between
4700(C) to ensure that organization B can access only that
information intended for it. For example, private trusted
go-between 4700(A) might provide additional electronic controls
within the container to prevent organization B from seeing any
detailed audit information showing where the specification has been
within organization A. [0767] The public trusted go-between 4700(C)
might act as an independent trusted third party, notarizing the
design specification to later evidence that organization A
delivered it on a particular date and time in accordance with a
contract. [0768] Public trusted go-between 4700(C) could then
forward the design specification (still within a secure container)
over Internet 5104 to organization B's private trusted go-between
4700(B). [0769] Organization B's private trusted go-between 4700(B)
could automatically send a copy of the design specification over
organization B's Intranet 5100(B) to the appropriate users
600(B)(1), 600(B), (N) within organization B. No one outside of
organization B would need to know who received a copy of the
specification. On the other hand, organization A's trusted
go-between 4700(A) could, if desired, include electronic controls
restricting access to only certain engineers within organization
B--and these secure controls would be carried along into
organization B and securely enforced by electronic appliances
600(B)(1), . . . , 600(B)(N). [0770] Organization B's trusted
go-between 4700(B) could manage the chip manufacturing process,
ensuring that all steps and conditions required to manufacture
chips in accordance with organization A's design specification are
followed.
Example
Integration with Communications Switching
[0771] Telecommunications are becoming ubiquitous in
post-industrial societies. As a convenience to customers, the
trusted go-between could offer many of its services as part of, or
in conjunction with providers of telecom services. In one
non-limiting example shown in FIG. 134, a trusted go-between 4700
is co-located and integrated with a telephone switch that connects
to a telephone or other telecommunications network via wires (or
other connections) 5100 (in another example, the switch and
trusted-go between 4700 cooperate, but are not co-located). In one
example, a person with a laptop 5102 or other computer lacking a
PPE 650 wishes nontheless to take advantage of a subset of secure
item delivery services. The computer 5102 is equipped with a fax
modem and associated application software. The computer dials a
special number which may be an "800" number and is connected to the
trusted go-between 4700 who authenticates the sender using a
pre-established password and/or stronger methods such as biometric
measurements. The sender indicates the telephone number of fax
machine to receive the document.
[0772] After selection of delivery options and trusted go-between
services, and after making arrangements for payment, the sender's
computer 5102 faxes the document pages 4058d, 4058e, 4058h to the
trusted go-between 4700. In one example, the trusted go-between
4700 applies seals 4200 to each page 4058d, 4058e, 4058f of the
faxed document and an additional seal for the overall document. The
trusted go-between 4700 then faxes the sealed document to the
recipient fax machine 5104. The trusted go-between 4700 also
archives and notarizes the sealed document in case the sender or
other authorized party requires proof that the document was sent on
a particular time and date to a device with a particular telephone
number. In the event that the sender's and/or recipient's appliance
is VDE aware (e.g., fax machine 4014c equipped with a protected
processing environment 650), this service will be provided with
additional levels of security and trustedness.
[0773] In another example, the sender may prefer to have the
document delivered in a secure container over a network such as the
Internet, in which case, the sender may indicate the recipient's
network address. The sender may connect a personal computer 5102
with a modem to another special number and send a digital item to
the trusted go-between 4700 using Internet protocols. In this one
example, the sender may not have yet installed VDE, and so the
trusted go-between takes the document or item and puts it in a
secure container along with controls selected by the sender and
delivers the secure container to the recipient, who in this
example, does have VDE installed.
[0774] These examples illustrate the more general point that the
trusted go-between 4700 may provide a range of value-added services
even to parties who do not yet have the VDE installed on their
appliances, and can enhance the security and trustedness of item
delivery nevertheless.
[0775] While the invention has been described in connection with
what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be
limited to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is
intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements
included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *