System and method for providing warranties in electronic commerce

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for providing warranties that financially guarantee one or more facts associated with an electronic transaction. In a preferred embodiment, warranties issued in the present system comprise a contract between a first party and a second party in which the first party: (1) warrants one or more warranted facts (2) for damages up to a warranted amount (3) if claimed by a relying customer within a claim period. The warranty is preferably issued by a participant in response to a request received from a customer that specifies a desired warranted amount and claim period. The participant and root entity evaluate the request in light of a plurality of factors and determine whether or not the warranty should be issued. In a preferred embodiment, the warranty comprises a contract between the buyer and its issuing participant. The seller is preferably a third-party beneficiary of this contract.

1 . A method for providing warranties that warrant one or more facts associated with a digitally-signed electronic message, comprising: 
 assigning a warranty cap to an entity that issues digital certificates;    tracking a warranty volume for the entity;    receiving a request for a warranty from a subscriber to whom the entity issued a digital certificate, the request for a warranty specifying a warranted amount and claim period;    evaluating the request for a warranty to ensure that the warranted amount will not cause the entity's warranty volume to exceed the entity's warranty cap;    transmitting a message that confirms issuance of the requested warranty, the message being digitally signed by a component maintained by the entity, the warranty comprising a contract between the entity and the subscriber, a relying party being a third-party beneficiary to the contract;    receiving a validation request from the relying party, the validation request requesting validation of a digital certificate for the component that signed the message confirming issuance of the requested warranty;    transmitting a validation response to the relying party.