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Thursday, November 2,1995 "PvD I ( JJOL Putting your money Ifs interesting how major media organizations periodically "discover" new areas of the Internet and telecommunications, as if they didn't exist before they made the cover of Time or Newsweek. First "netporn" was all the rage. And now, since that story has been hyped to pieces, it looks like we might be moving on to the hot new story about "e-cash." Yes, "e-cash" is just what it sounds like. It's e-money. Ifs cybercash. If s the digital equivalent of those green and white pieces of paper you carry around in your pocket everyJ A J 1 ' 1 aay. Ana, magazines ana newspapers loualy proclaimed last week, it has arrived. Well, I hate to burst anyone's technological bubble, but it hasn't really arrived. It has just taken another baby step on the road to viability. Before we hash out the problems with e-money, let's take a look at the impressive ideas and technology that is making it possible. Some would argue that e-money already exists. After all, we use credit cards and phone cards. Major businesses and financial institutions have transferred funds electronically for years. Isn't that e-money? Well, those are transactions that electronically move money. However, corporate transfers, phone cards and credit cards all lack a very important feature that physical money has: anonymity. Need an example? If you have a physical $10 bill, you can quickly walk into your local 7-Eleven, buy a Playboy (or Playgirl, as the case may be) and then leave without anyone knowing who you were or being able to trace what you purchased. Anyone who has ever sneaked a peek at their credit report knows that credit cards don't offer near that kind of privacy protection. Now, many companies are working on the creation of e-cash that is fast, authenticatible and, in many cases, anonymous. Big names, like Microsoft, Visa and Mastercard, and new companies with names like DigiCash, CyberCash, Mondex and First Virtual, are busy authoring various forms of e-money. DigiCash has been among the most prominent of these companies and thousands of users worldwide have been testing its anonymous "cyberbucks" during the past year. I have been among those using DigiCash's play money to see how well e-money might work in the future. During the trial period, DigiCash was willing to to give Do you know whe ^HBHi Although the placi is no longer impor your (rez ii ma) m The Garnet & Black Quarterly is executives for the remainer of the scl Account executives will work 15-2C schedules. Not only can you develop you will also have the opportunity to of magazine advertisements. The st? students just like you. To apply, simply come up to the adv of the Russell House. Applications v, basis. No prior experience is necessary, oui If there are any questions, call Dougl; k ') i mK] T m A T j 1 T A L LARS where your modem is i $100 in cyberbucks to any World Wide Web user who wanted them. Thecyberbucks, of course, had no monetary ypliif value. Users could download the bucks B // m* their personal computers, where the i 8/51^^Xy^Sl Clicks resided on the hard drives. Then, users could browse the web pages of vendors that supported the DigiCash TFDiinRARRI F systemiPwiUWWM If they saw something they liked, Marc LaFountain they could use a small application to spend the required number of cyberbucks to immediately purchase it. Because the trial cyberbucks had no value, the trial cyberproducts didn't have much value either. You could donate cyberbucks to charity, purchase the right to view graphic images online, use bucks to cast a wish in a virtual wishing well, etc. (Hey, one of my wishes even came true.) While the trial products weren't impressive, the technology behind the trial itself was. You could donate to charity, make a wish or pay to view images without anyone knowing who you were or what you bought. DigiCash employs high end cryptography coupled with the ability for you to keep cyberbucks on your own personal computer. Vendors can use DigiCash software to verify that cyberbucks are real, but they can't tell who they came from. This, theoretically, leaves you untraceable as a purchaser. The recent frenzy of media attention concerning e-money has occurred because DigiCash is now giving cyberbucks real value. The company has formed an alliance with the Mark Twain Bank of St. Louis to began accepting applications for U.S. dollar denominated e-cash. Yes, now you can spend real money on the Internet for real products, and best of all you can do it with anonymous and untraceable e-cash. More information can be found at httpyAvww.digicash.com/ or at http://www.marktwain.com/. This could mean major change for net commerce. Most estimates place annual sales on the Internet at less than $200 million. Most of that is using conventional credit cards that are often seen as a security risk by buyers and sellers alike. E-cash has the ability to make net shopping easy and untraceable. Sales should skyrocket. Ok, so all of this sounds wonderful. But, as I mentioned earlier, there are problems with e-money. Some are technire the accent goes? WF ement of the accent tant, the content of ost definitely is. in need of advertising account 100I year. > hours a week making their own i and improve your sales skills, work with the layout and design iff is comprised completely of rertising office on the fourth floor all be accepted there on a rolling r accent is on enthusiasm. as Habgood at 777-4249. VP QUARTERLY * re. f - ? mwrnrnmm ^H*tw ^ ^ ^ mm Wk ^ cal: For instance, you can currently lose e-cash stored on your computer if your hard drive crashes. Some problems are societal: Law enforcement agencies are concerned that untraceable e-money moving at the speed of the Internet will make the whole world a giant Swiss bank, a technohaven for underworld cybercounterfeiters and money launderers. And while those are important concerns, they pale in comparison to the hurdles that must be overcome to integrate emoney into the world's financial system. Think about it. The U.S. dollar has value because it is backed by the United States government. People trust in the dollar because they believe in the power of the government. But, who believes in the power of DigiCash or even giant Microsoft to the point that they are willing to base their currency on them? Are people ready to place their trust in businesses and banks when it comes to the very basis of their economic system, namely money itself? Are you willing to entrust your e-currency to businesses based in different countries than your own? We are entering an age when banks and corporations will try to create new forms of money. Which kind is safe? Who can you trust? The answer is that you may not be able to trust anyone. Small companies can go bust. Companies of &L)ownlii U ACADEMIC SKILLS PROGRAMS SPONSOR i ^ save your ! work; Final exams are cor you wondering how y< off? This workshop coordinating your successful in the doi the end of the VWE CAN Bring your Textb to Russell House i uesaayi ixu 6:30 to 8: The workshop ^ *Task analysis: course as: Time analysis: conversior * Developing a daily study i * Writing term papers "Textbook study technique: "Organizing and using lect For more info contat 777-6 c t m Jj J a. PEREZ The Gamecock all sizes and nationalities can have theh wtography bm ?n or have secret agendas of their own In short^M* can allow the commercial sector to have total control ove 6m WMeTm not usually one to advocate government regu. iation ol anything, 1 believe this is one case where the federal government's presence will become vital. I think private companies should create the digital money of the future, bul I also think government has the right to set standards on how that money is created and used. We need e-money that if safe, fair and equal for all. The technical and societal issues of the e-money must bt worked out before it has any chance of success. And, once we are certain the system can function, we have to decide how much control companies and banks should be able to have over our cyberwallets. Most importantly, we should start dealing with these issues before they become problems. Marc LaFountain, a journalism senior, can be e-mailed ai lafbuntain-marc@sc.edu. To subscribe to an electronic versiori of this column, send email to listserv@univscvm.csd.sc.edii with "SUB T-BABBLE YourFirstName YourLastName" ill the body of the message. 1 . i SEMESTER 5HOP$ riing up soon; are )u're going to pull it is geared toward resources to be Afnhill race toward semester. HELP! ^ ooks & Syllabi i Room 30S ivember 7 00 p.m. will focus on: signments & tests 1 to real hours ?lan and "to do" list s ure notes :t Academic Skills 573