Discusses the Internet and the need to build network infrastructure based on experiences in Japan. Proposes a system in which the information superhighway can be built, maintained, and routinely upgraded by small scale servers, where a structure composed of three servers arranged in a triangle is called the base delta. (Author/LRW)

Examines Internet payment systems (IPS): third-party, card, secure Web server, electronic token, financial electronic data interchange (EDI), and micropayment based. Reports the results of a Delphi survey of experts identifying and classifying IPS effectiveness criteria and classifying types of IPS providers. Includes the survey invitation letter…

Discusses business use of the Web and related search engine design issues as well as research on general and academic links before reporting on a survey of the links published by a collection of business Web sites. Results indicate around 66% of Web sites do carry external links, most of which are targeted at a specific purpose, but about 17%…

Introduces an extension of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for closed multiparty conferences; the extension expands SIP for discovery of participant identities in a conference, and ensures that each participant is notified before a new participant joins. Verifies this extension by applying it to two SIP conference models. Concludes with an…

Considers the problem of improving the performance of Web access by proposing a reconstruction of the internal link structure of a Web site to match quality of the pages with popularity of the pages. Provides a set of simple algorithms for local reorganization of a Web site, which results in improving users' access to quality pages in an easy and…

Explains the background to experimental work intended to measure aspects of the World Wide Web, which inadvertently caused two perceived security breaches on remote systems. Describes the nature of these incidents and considers why, when over 700,000 addresses were sampled, only two sites considered the activity to be an attempt to breach their…

Provides an introduction to the communication resources of the Internet and provides several specific examples of business solutions in the areas of electronic mail communications, business applications software support, system design, and databases, Advantages and disadvantages for management when integrating the Internet into a business…

The current version of the IP protocol, IPv4, is the most widely used protocol in computer networks. This article describes mechanisms that can be used to facilitate the transition to the new version of the IP protocol, IPv6, and examines usability, usefulness and manageability. Describes how some of these mechanisms were applied to the Greek…

Multicasting is a necessity for a broadband metro-area-network; however security problems exist with current multicast protocols. A stateful multicast access control mechanism, based on MAPE, is proposed. The architecture of MAPE is discussed, as well as the states maintained and messages exchanged. The scheme is flexible and scalable. (Author/AEF)

Presents an overview of the security architecture of the IP multimedia core network subsystem (IMS) of the third generation mobile system, known in Europe as UMTS. Discusses IMS security requirements; IMS security architecture; authentication between IMS user and home network; integrity and confidentiality for IMS signalling; and future aspects of…

Proposes a framework for commercial Web application development based on prior research in hypermedia and human-computer interfaces. First, its social acceptability is investigated. Next, economic, technical, operational, and organizational viability are examined. For Web-page design, the functionality and usability of Web pages are considered.…