Electronic Cash on the InternetStefan

It is generally realized that the Internet will not be able to ooer full-edged electronic marketplace capabilities without a suitable electronic mechanism for processing payments. The electronic payment mechanism that is presented ooers a variety of features that are believed to be particularly appealing in this respect. To participate, an Internet user must interface to his computer a tamper-resistant device with an ordinary 8-bit microprocessor, typically a PCMCIA card, and install some software. Internet service providers do not need special hardware. Payments can be made oo-line, and are untraceable and unlinkable. Multi-party security is guaranteed without parties having to trust other parties. Transaction processing speeds are such that even modestly equipped computers will be able to meet the performance levels required by demanding Internet payment applications. One particularly interesting such application is click-and-pay ability when travelling WorldWide Web links.