In-Class Exercises #12

Exercise A
How should consumers pay for purchases they make on the Internet? Read about the SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) standards currently being created by VISA and MasterCard. What are these standards? What do they promise the consumer? What are the drawbacks of using credit cards for shopping on the Internet in light of these standards? Note that the links to the SET standards are all found on the note page for this lecture.

Send me a brief e-mail message with your answer (remember to set your Netscape browser). To get credit, your e-mail message must be received before the timestamp on an e-mail message I will mail to myself at the end of the exercise.

Exercise B
In addition to credit card transactions, there are other ways of making purchases on the internet. Visit the First Virtual, E-Cash, and CyberCash home pages. Evaluate each of these three products. Describe each product. Then compare and contrast the three. What are the strengths of each product? The weaknesses? How are they different from using a credit card (note that some of these three alternatives make use of credit cards)? Which one would you recommend? All of the necessary links for these credit card alternatives are found on the note page for this lecture.