A formal yet practical approach to electronic commerce

摘要

This work explores (semi-) automated EC on the WWW. The EContractsframework enables EC WWW sites and EC automated tools to presentstandardized information. This information (1) allows each party todecide whether it wishes to engage in an EC activity with the otherparty, (2) enables automated negotiation between the parties, and (3)enables the establishment of an electronic contract, i.e., a formaldescription of an agreed upon EC transaction. The EContracts frameworkdefines the basic software components of an EC party and theirinterconnections. Based on the EContracts framework, variousapplications can be built. Examples are deal making applications, dealfeasibility checkers, brokers etc. Furthermore, the definitions of thedata structures and the algorithms enable a theoretical investigation ofautomated commerce