Echarge Corporation

George A Fleming

Robin B Hutchison

Iain M Begg

P Carl Linkletter

Darren W Hagman

Roberto Dominguez

Jun Huang

Denis N Heinrichs

Michael T G Maydaniuk

David Birch

Robert J Llewellyn

David Griffiths

Michael Tg Maydaniuk

Alan Chedalawada

A billing system that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered good or service by its telephone service provider. When a consumer orders a product over the Internet, a plug-in component of the consumer's computer establishes an Internet connection to a billing server. A billing server component transfers an encrypted version of the product to the plug-in component. The plug-in component then disconnects from the Internet and establishes a point-to-point (PPP) connection with the billing server. During the PPP connection, the billing server component transfers an access key assigned to the order to the plug-in component so that the plug-in component may decrypt the product. The consumer is charged a unit rate or 'drop-charge' for the product by the telephone service provider when the PPP connection is established using a premium telephone number assigned and administered by the telephone service provider.

Method and apparatus for ordering goods, services and content over an internetwork

A billing system that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered product by its telephone service provider. When a product is ordered over the Internet, a plug-in component of the consumer's computer establishes an Internet connection to a billing server. A billing server component transfers an encrypted version of the product to the plug-in component. The plug-in component then disconnects from the Internet and establishes a point-to-point (PPP) connection with the billing server. During the PPP connection, the billing server component transfers an access key assigned to the order to the plug-in component so that the plug-in component may decrypt the product. The consumer is charged a unit rate or 'drop-charge' for the product by the telephone service provider using a premium telephone number assigned and administered by the telephone service provider.

A billing system that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered good or service by its telephone service provider. When a consumer orders a product over the Internet, a plug-in component of the consumer's computer establishes an Internet connection to a billing server. A billing server component transfers an encrypted version of the product to the plug-in component. The plug-in component then disconnects from the Internet and establishes a point-to-point (PPP) connection with the billing server. During the PPP connection, the billing server component transfers an access key assigned to the order to the plug-in component so that the plug-in component may decrypt the product. The consumer is charged a unit rate or 'drop-charge' for the product by the telephone service provider when the PPP connection is established using a premium-rate telephone number assigned and administered by the telephone service provider.

A billing system is provided that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered good or service by its telephone service provider. The billing system comprises a plug-in component (), a billing server component (), and in some embodiments, a merchant session gateway component (). When a consumer orders a product over the Internet (), the plug-in component () of the consumer's computer () establishes an Internet connection to a billing server () located elsewhere on the Internet () to order the product. In a first embodiment, the billing server component () of the billing server () transfers an encrypted version of the product to the plug-in component (). The plug-in component () then disconnects from the Internet () and establishes a point-to-point (PPP) connection with the billing server (). During the PPP connection, the billing server component () transfers an access key assigned to the order to the plug-in component () so that the plug-in component () may decrypt the product. The consumer is charged a unit rate or 'drop-charge' for the product by the telephone service provider when the PPP connection is established using a premium telephone number assigned and administered by the telephone service provider. In a second embodiment, the consumer is charged a per minute rate for his or her time spent accessing the product, rather than a drop-charge. In the second embodiment, the billing server component () transfers a premium telephone number associated with the ordered product to the plug-in component() rather than an encrypted version of the product. The plug-in component () then establishes a PPP connection with the billing server () using the premium telephone number during which the consumer's computer () downloads the ordered product from a merchant server () located elsewhere in the Internet (). The consumer is then billed for the ordered product based on the duration of the PPP connection established using the premium telephone number. Prior to downloading the ordered product, the merchant session gateway component () provides the plug-in component () with the information necessary for locating and accessing the ordered product.

A virtual payment card system for ordering and paying for goods, services and content over an internetwork is disclosed. The virtual payment card system comprises a commerce gateway component () and a credit processing server component (). The virtual payment card system is a secure closed system comprising registered merchants and consumers. A consumer becomes a registered participant by applying for a virtual payment card. Likewise, a merchant becomes registered by applying for a merchant account. A consumer can instantly open an account on-line. That is, the credit processing component () immediately evaluates the consumer's virtual payment card application and assigns a credit limit to the account. Once an account is established, a digital certificate is stored on the registered participant's computer. The consumer can then order a product, i.e., goods, services or content from a merchant and charge it to the virtual payment card. When the product is shipped, the merchant notifies the commerce gateway component (), which in turn notifies the credit processing server which applies the charges to the consumer's virtual card account. The consumer can settle the charges using a prepaid account, a credit card, or by using reward points earned through use of the virtual payment card. A consumer may create sub-account that have additional limitations imposed on the owner of the sub-account.

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White Rock, Canada

George A Fleming