© The Open Trading Protocol ConsortiumPrinted 12/01/98 10:45Internet Open TradingProtocolPart 2: SpecificationVersion 0.9Date 12 January 1998Status Draft for Public CommentNote. The intention is that this document will, in due course, be submittedto an appropriate International Standards Authority.Internet Open Trading Protocol Part 2: Specification, V 0.9 Prefaceii Draft for Public Comment© The Open Trading Protocol ConsortiumCopyright The producers of the OTP Specification have a copyright on this material. Copying and/orduplicating this material is allowed but using the material for any purpose other thancontemplating, considering or actually developing an OTP based capability is not allowed.There are plans for an OTP Service Mark and only those who respect the guidelines outlinedabove will be allowed to apply for an OTP Service Mark for OTP based products or servicesthey develop.Preface Internet Open Trading Protocol Part 2: Specification, V 0.9Draft for Public Comment iii© The Open Trading Protocol ConsortiumHistoryVersion 0.1 20 February 1997 Initial draft for commentVersion 0.2 14 April 1997 Revised draft including changes arising fromcommentsVersion 0.2a 24 April 1997 Same as version 0-2 with typographic correctionsVersion 0.3 9 October 1997 Revised draft for comment including revisedencoding approach using [XML]Version 0.4 31 October 1997 Published draft for limited public review bygroups working within OTP devVersion 0.9 12 January 1998 Revisions following limited public review – maybe used for prototype developmentVersion 1.0 Planned 1Q98 Published draft for unlimited public review anduse. Production pilots expected from this releaseInternet Open Trading Protocol Part 2: Specification, V 0.9 Prefaceiv Draft for Public Comment© The Open Trading Protocol ConsortiumThis Version 0.9 of the document is forpublic comment which should be sent [email protected] email sent to this list will be archived inthe Public area of the OTP websitehttp://www.otp.orgReceived comments will be incorporatedand product developers are advised toexpect a revised Version 1.0 by the end of1Q98.Any products built from the Version 0.9and/or the Version1.0 are expected to provefunction and live interoperability.Therefore it may be necessary for earlyreleased products developed with thisVersion 0.9 to be changed for compatibilitywith the Version 1.0 of this protocol.Any responsibility or liability for suchchanges is expressly disclaimed.Preface Internet Open Trading Protocol Part 2: Specification, V 0.9Draft for Public Comment v© The Open Trading Protocol ConsortiumPrefaceThe interest in electronic commerce is everywhere. As merchants, financial institutions,technology providers and newcomers scramble to understand the market and establish theirpresence it is clear that there is little overall cohesion to the myriad efforts.There have been some co-ordinated activities that while not guaranteeing success havedemonstrated the benefits of a co-operative multi-enterprise effort to produce something for theadvancement of this phenomenon known as electronic commerce.Examples are the development of:• SET – Secure Electronic Transaction from MasterCard, Visa, American Express etc• JEPI – Joint Electronic Payment Initiative from CommerceNet and W3C (the WorldWide Web Consortium)• EMV - Debit/credit cards using chip technology from Europay, MasterCard andVisa• E-Check – Electronic Checkbook on a smart card from the US based FinancialServices Technology Consortium and FSTC members; Federal Reserve Bank,NationsBank, Bank of Boston, Huntington Bancshares, IBM and Sun Microsystemsand others.OTP shares many of the high level objectives of these efforts and in part builds on some ofthem. The OTP specification provides a unifying framework within which these and others notnamed or even contemplated can exist and successfully interoperate.OTP seeks to provide the virtual capability that safely replicates the real world, the paperbased, traditional, understood, accepted methods of trading, buying, selling, value exchangingthat has existed for many hundreds of years. The negotiation of who will be the parties to thetrade, how it will be conducted, the presentment of an offer, the method of payment, theprovision of a payment receipt, the delivery of goods and the receipt of goods. These areevents that are taken for granted in the course of our real world and OTP has been produced toprovide the same for the virtual world, and to prepare and provide for the introduction of newmodels of trading made possible by the expanding presence of the virtual world.The other fundamental ideal of this effort is to produce a definition of these trading events insuch a way that no matter where produced, two unfamiliar parties using electronic commercecapabilities to buy and sell that conform to the OTP specifications will be able to complete thebusiness safely and successfully.In summary, OTP supports:• Familiar trading models• New trading models• Global interoperabilityInternet Open Trading Protocol Part 2: Specification, V 0.9 Prefacevi Draft for Public Comment© The Open Trading Protocol ConsortiumCommerce on the Internet – a Different ModelThe growth of the Internet and the advent of electronic commerce are bringing about enormouschanges around the world in society, politics and government, and in business. The ways inwhich trading partners communicate, conduct commerce, are governed have been enrichedand changed forever.One of the very fundamental changes about which OTP is concerned is taking place in the wayconsumers and merchants trade. Characteristics of trading that have changed markedlyinclude:• Presence: Face-to-face transactions become the exception, not the rule. Alreadywith the rise of mail order and telephone order placement this change has been feltin western commerce. Electronic commerce over the Internet will further expand thescope and volume of transactions conducted without ever seeing the people whoare a part of the enterprise with whom one does business.• Authentication: An important part of personal presence is the ability of the partiesto use familiar objects and dialogue to confirm they are who they claim to be. Theseller displays one or several well known financial logos that declaim his ability toaccept widely used credit and debit instruments in the payment part of a purchase.The buyer brings government or financial institution identification that