Problems with WWW

Now that we have seen all the great things the Web can do, we turn to a number of problems in the Web.

HTML is too limited as a presentation format; Hypercard 10 years ago was much better:

HTML+ (HTML Level 3) is on the way.

URLs are fixed descriptions; they become invalid when information is reorganized:

URI and URN's are in the works.

Security (connections, authentication and authorization) will become a concern:

Groups are looking at this issue (See Access Authorization in WWW, Shen: A Security Scheme for the World Wide Web, The Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol).
A few Commercial Organisations are also doing work in this area to allow electronic commerce, for example SPRY AIR Mosaic Online Ordering - Secure Encrypted Transactions (SET) & Mosaic Communications - The SSL Protocol.
See also World Wide Web Security.

Dealing with Electronic Commerce in general:

A number of Commercial entities are working on the Internet Electronic Commerce issues (in Alphabetical order):

CommerceNet

CommerceNet is a consortium of companies and organizations formed to facilitate the use of an Internet-based infrastructure for electronic commerce to allow efficient interactions among customers, suppliers and development partners to speed time to market and reduce the costs of doing business. More than 60 commercial, educational, non-profit and government entities currently are members.

CyberCash

CyberCash, Inc. was founded to enable electronic commerce by providing a safe, convenient and immediate payment system on the Internet. The CyberCash(tm) payment system facilitates the purchase of goods and services on the Internet by providing a secure environment for transactions between consumers, merchants and their banks as well as between individuals.

DigiCash

DigiCash's mission and primary activity has been to develop and license payment technology products--chip card, software only, and hybrid -- that both show the true capability of technology to protect the interests of all participants and are competitive in the market.

First Virtual Holdings Inc

FIRST VIRTUAL Holdings Incorporated is a financial services company created specifically to enable virtually anyone with Internet access to buy and sell information worldwide using the Internet. FIRST VIRTUAL Internet Payment System accomplishes safe transactions for Internet users without the need to purchase or install additional software or equipment.

Internet Shopping Network

The Internet Shopping Network (ISN) is the world's largest shopping mall, offering products from more than 600 companies which can be delivered to you the next business day. ISN is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Home Shopping Network.

Netscape Communications

Netscape Communications offers a full line of open software to enable electronic commerce and secure information exchange on the Internet and private TCP/IP-based networks.

Open Market

Open Market (OMI), Cambridge, MA, develops and markets software, services and custom solutions to facilitate electronic commerce on the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Exponential Growth is going to overburden the most popular sites:

Perhaps caching, higher bandwidth networks, compression and faster CPUs will help. (See also Proxy Info at CERN and Reseacrh interests: WWW Proxying and Cacheing).

Last modified: Fri Apr 21 21:47:51 1995