Here's a perfect example as to why the wave meter will ultimately be the downfall of inadequate software solutions for transactions involving content over the net:
July 27, 1998, Issue: 725
Section: News & Analysis
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Payment Protocol Suffers SETbacks
John Evan Frook
It looks like suppliers of Internet payment software and services are just about giving up on the SET payment technology and falling back on the old, reliable SSL protocol.
That was what analysts were saying last week in the wake of several moves by Internet payment leaders in the market.
CyberCash Inc. last week purchased First Virtual Corp.'s "wallet-based" accounts for an undisclosed sum and said it plans to convert those customers to simpler Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption software.
Digital wallets are client-based applications that carry the digital certificates necessary for lock-tight verification procedures enabled by the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol.
Meanwhile, SSL stalwart PaymentNet said it will target enterprises with batch-oriented payment systems that make no accommodation for consumer wallets based on the SET certificate-based protocol.
The two disclosures follow IBM's move a week earlier to add an SSL module within its Net.Commerce platform, which many observers deemed a hedge against slow SET adoption in the United States.
Executives at these vendors were candid about what is already widely documented: SET could take far longer to gain a hold than initially expected. And, for that matter, it may never catch on.
"It is possible for us to do double-certificate processing under SET, but we don't believe there's enough market weight to support it," said PaymentNet CEO Bruce Hendrix.
"We're listening to the market, and the market wants SSL today," said Maureen Loftus, CyberCash's senior vice president for marketing and strategy.
A new CyberCash wallet, scheduled to be released within 30 days, will offer both SSL and SET support, but will likely be tapped primarily for its SSL qualifications, Loftus said. The accounts First Virtual sold to CyberCash will migrate to SSL solutions initially, she said.
Championed by credit card associations MasterCard International and Visa International, SET was once regarded as the Holy Grail for secure commerce on the Internet, capable of assuaging customer fear over buying on the Internet by integrating digital certificates to verify the identity of all parties in a payment transfer.
But the expense and complexity of the technology is holding it back, said Vernon Keenan, an analyst at consulting firm Keenan Vision Inc.
"I see wallet-based transactions to be a nonstarter, because installing them on the user side often requires support," Keenan said.
Copyright r 1998 CMP Media Inc.
*************I especially like the part about the complexities of these systems being their downfall because "installing them on the user side often requires support.
it won't be long now. . .
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