Ecash
Ecashwas conceived byDavid Chaumas an anonymous cryptographicelectronic moneyor electronic cash system in 1982. It was realized through his corporationDigicashand used asmicropaymentsystem at one US bank from 1995 to 1998.
Design
[edit]Chaum published the idea of anonymous electronic money in a 1983 paper;[1]eCash software on the user's local computer stored money in a digital format, cryptographically signed by a bank. The user could spend the digital money at any shop accepting eCash, without having to open an account with the vendor first, or transmitting credit card numbers. Security was ensured by public key digital signature schemes. TheRSAblind signaturesachieved unlinkability between withdrawal and spend transactions. Depending on the payment transactions, one distinguishes between on-line and off-line electronic cash: If the payee has to contact a third party (e.g., the bank or the credit-card company acting as an acquirer) before accepting a payment, the system is called an on-line system.[2]In 1990, Chaum together withMoni Naorproposed the first off-line e-cash system, which was also based on blind signatures.[3]
History
[edit]Chaum started the companyDigiCashin 1989 with "ecash" as its trademark. He raised $10 million fromDavid Marquardtand by 1997Nicholas Negropontewas its chairman.[4]Yet, in the United States, only one bank — the Mark Twain bank in Saint Louis, MO — implemented ecash, testing it as micropayment system;[5]Similar to credit cards, the system was free to purchasers, while merchants paid a transaction fee. After a three-year trial that signed up merely 5,000 customers, the system was dissolved in 1998, one year after the bank had been purchased byMercantile Bank,a large issuer of credit cards.[5]David Chaum opined then “As the Web grew, the average level of sophistication of users dropped. It was hard to explain the importance of privacy to them”.[4]
In Europe, with fewer credit cards and more cash transactions, micropayment technologies made more sense.[5]In June 1998, ecash became available throughCredit Suissein Switzerland, was available fromDeutsche Bankin Germany,Bank Austria,Sweden'sPosten AB,andDen norske Bankof Norway, while in Japan Nomura Research Institute marketed eCash to financial institutions.[5] In Australia, ecash was implemented bySt.George Bankand Advance Bank, but transactions were not free to purchasers.[4]In FinlandMerita Bank/EUnetmade ecash available.[6][7]
DigiCash went bankrupt in 1998, despite flourishing electronic commerce, but with credit cards as the "currency of choice".[4]
DigiCash was sold to eCash Technologies, including its eCash patents.
In 2000 eCash Technologies sued eCash, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. eCash counterclaimed that eCash Technologies' trademark registration was fraudulently obtained, because it failed to disclose eCash 's registration of the "ecash" domain name to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.[8]The court rejected eCash 's counterclaim saying a trademark applicant must disclose a third party's rights only if they are "clearly established." The court argued because the "mere registration of a domain name does not confer trademark rights, let alone" clearly established "rights, ECash Technologies had no duty to disclose defendant's registration of the “ecash” domain name to the PTO, however eCash Technologies subsequently went bankrupt and the domain "Ecash" remained in possession of the original owner.
In 2002 eCash Technologies was acquired byInfoSpace,[9]currently known asBlucora.As of 2015, the term eCash is used for the digital cash that can be stored on an electronically sensitive card including online or alternative payment portals and mobile applications.[10][11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Chaum, David (1983). "Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments".Advances in Cryptology(PDF).Vol. 82. pp. 199–203.doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-0602-4_18.ISBN978-1-4757-0604-8.
- ^Berry Schoenmakers (1998)."Basic security of the ecash payment system"(PDF).In Preneel, B.; Rijmen, V. (eds.).Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography: State of the Art and Evolution.Retrieved30 October2014.
- ^Chaum, D.; Fiat, A.; Naor, M. (1990)."Untraceable electronic cash"(PDF).In S. Goldwasser (ed.).Advances in Cryptology – CRYPTO '88 Proceedings.New York: Springer-Verlag. pp. 319–327. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-09-03.Retrieved2012-10-10.
- ^abcdPitta, Julie (1 November 1999)."Requiem for a Bright Idea".Forbes.Retrieved26 October2014.
- ^abcdTim Clark (2 September 1998)."DigiCash loses U.S. toehold".Cnet.
- ^Salonharju, Inkeri.Elektra-projektin loppuraportti (conference).Retrieved2013-05-18.
- ^Järvinen, Petteri (1996).Internet - muutostekijä.Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö.ISBN951-0-21704-2.
- ^United States District Court; C.D. California (30 October 2000)."eCash Technologies, Inc. v. Guagliardo d/b/a Ecash, Netconcept Interactive, Netconcept, & Netconcept Inc., Defendants & Counterclaimants. 127 F.Supp.2d 1069 (C.D. Cal. 2000)".
- ^Steve Bills (1 March 2002)."In Brief: InfoSpace Buys eCash Technologies".American Banker.Retrieved30 October2014.
- ^"E-cash supersedes 'old school' pocket money".
- ^"Mobile ecash payment for merchants now made easy by Ezetap".
Literature
[edit]- Schneier, Bruce. Applied Cryptography, Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 1996.ISBN0-471-11709-9(Chapter 6.4)
- Richard A. Mollin:RSA and Public-key Cryptography.p. 143-148. 2002,ISBN1-58488-338-3,ISBN978-1-58488-338-8.
- Goldwasser, S.andBellare, M."Lecture Notes on Cryptography"Archived2012-04-21 at theWayback Machine.Summer course on cryptography, MIT, 1996-2001. pp. 233.
External links
[edit]- An introduction to ecashat theWayback Machine(archived October 9, 1997)
- "Detecting Double-Spending"-(Hal Finney's introduction to Chaumian digital cash)
- "eCash"Archived2023-08-21 at theWayback Machine-(eCash )