Trusted infrastructure support systems, methods and techniques for secure electronic commerce electronic transaction and rights management

Abstract

An integrated, modular array of administrative and support services are provided for electronic commerce and electronic rights and transaction management. These administrative and support services supply a secure foundation for conducting transaction-related capabilities over electronic networks, and can also be adapted to the specific needs of electronic commerce value chains. In one embodiment a Distributed Commerce Utility having a secure, programmable, distributed architecture provides these administrative and support services. The Distributed Commerce Utility may comprise a number of Commerce Utility Systems. These Commerce Utility Systems provide a web of infrastructure support available to, and reusable by, the entire electronic community and/or many of its participants. Different support functions can be collected together in hierarchical and/or networked relationships to suit various business models or other objectives. Modular support functions can be combined in different arrays to form different Commerce Utility Systems for different design implementations and purposes.

1 . A Distributed Commerce Utility providing administrate and support services to electronic community participants, the Distribute Commerce Utility comprising:
 at least one Commerce Utility System providing a secure execution space, the Commerce Utility System performing at least one component based service function, the component based service function comprising at least one secure component for execution within the secure execution space; and   a communications facility permitting the Commerce Utility System to communicate secure control information with at least some of the electronic community participants.   
     
     
         2 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the secure execution space comprises a protected processing environment. 
     
     
         3 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the secure execution space comprises a hardware based secure processing unit. 
     
     
         4 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the Commerce Utility System provides a rights operating system, and the service function executes as an application of the rights operating system. 
     
     
         5 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the Commerce Utility System comprises plural physically separated secure protected processing environments, and the service function is distributed between the plural protected processing environments. 
     
     
         6 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the secure component includes at least one reciprocal method instance for cooperation with at least one further reciprocal method instance operating at a remote location. 
     
     
         7 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one financial clearing operation. 
     
     
         8 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one usage information clearing operation. 
     
     
         9 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one rights and permissions clearing operation. 
     
     
         10 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one certifying authority operation. 
     
     
         11 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one secure directory services operation. 
     
     
         12 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one transaction authority process control operation. 
     
     
         13 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one security checkpoint operation. 
     
     
         14 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function comprises a combination of independent, scalable operations defined by at least one business model. 
     
     
         15 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one payment aggregation operation. 
     
     
         16 . A Distributed Commerce Utility as in  claim 1  wherein the service function includes at least one payment disaggregation operation. 
     
     
         17 . A method of distributing at least one administrative or support service operation comprising:
 providing a reciprocal control method comprising first and second elements;   performing. based on the first element, at least a part of a first service operation within a first protected processing environment;   performing, based on the second element, at least a part of the second service operation within a second protected processing environment; and   reciprocally coupling the first and second elements to provide an overall distributed administrative or support service operation.   
     
     
         18 . A method as in  claim 17  wherein the reciprocally coupling step comprises performing at least one interactivity technique from the set of intermediation, authentication to proceed, notification and prior authorization. 
     
     
         19 . A transaction authority for controlling a process involving plural participants, the transaction authority comprising:
 a commerce utility system architecture including an event notification database; and   a communications facility that communicates event notifications between the plural participants and the transaction authority, wherein the transaction authority performs at least one service process based at least in part on the event notification database to monitor and/or direct the activities of at least one of the plural participants.   
     
     
         20 . (canceled)