Secure Socket Layer

You say that security on the iSeries could be compromised because of an increased connection to the Internet. Why will it be affected and how? Evans: The iSeries system architecture for security is excellent. The actual security validation is done by the hardware micro code, which prevents tampering with security checks. The change in marketing focus by IBM will have both positive and negative impacts on the system security. On the positive side, the increased focus on enabling the iSeries for e-business has added a number of features such a SSL (Secure Socket Layer), VPN (Virtual Private Networks) and the Kerbros (Authentication Protocol). These additional features are essential for the iSeries to be an effective player in e-business. On the negative side these added security features have complicated the task of properly securing the iSeries and unless properly secured, the e-business features have introduced new holes that a hacker can exploit. What makes the iSeries so much more secure than other platforms? Evans: I often say that Unix was made by hackers for hackers. The designers of Unix were interested in allowing access to information. Using security to restrict or limit access to information was secondary. As a result, security was added onto Unix systems as an afterthought. I feel that the security of the iSeries is far superior to Unix implementations. The iSeries has security built into the hardware instructions. The machine instructions will not allow access to data unless the user is authorized. Applications implemented using Intel instructions must add additional code to validate user access as part of the application. Since the application is responsible for security there is an increased possibility of the application designer missing or incorrectly checking user access in the Intel based applications. While in the iSeries programs the hardware enforces access control and cannot be circumvented.
Does setting the iSeries up for access to the Internet pose any problems? Evans: Stated simply, the denial of service attack is possible and a production system should not be connected to the Internet. A separate Internet system (firewall or Internet Only iSeries) must be used. This multiple system configuration complicates the network design. The task of the system manager is more complex because the enabling the system for e-business now means new concepts such as firewalls and encryption.
Is there anything about the machine, such as its architecture or software, which makes it especially secure for Web issues? Conversely, what makes it less secure? Evans: As I stated previously, the machine architecture where security is built into the hardware instructions makes the iSeries much better than non-iSeries solutions. Another aspect that should not be overlooked is that most hackers are not familiar with the iSeries. As a result, hackers are less likely to attempt to attack the iSeries. While lack of knowleYou don't recommend putting a production iSeries directly on the Internet? How does a firewall protect the machine, then?Evans: A firewall is a computer and program that as screener of requests only allowing requests that you have designated through to the production system. In the case of the denial of service attack there is provision for detection and rejection of multiple requests from the same location. In the simple example of the phone being called repeatedly it would recognize the calling number and shut down reject requests from that number. The denial of service attack can and will keep the firewall busy rejecting the requests. This can effectively shut down your network access but other processing can be done on the systems on the network that are protected by the firewall
Does this mean that administrators will be paying more attention to security? Evans: Yes. There has been much trade and daily press about the security threats of the Internet and system. As a result, a growing number of system managers are concerned that they get security right before a system is placed on the Internet.
Will we hear about the iSeries being hacked as much as we do machines from other companies? Evans: Not at the level of other platforms. I anticipate that there well be cases where security is breached because of improper or inadequate security design in an iSeries installation. You can have the best door on your house but if you fail to close and lock the door a thief will not have a difficult time break-in. So it is with iSeries security. dge is not security in itself, it is an effective deterrent for many hackers. Why break into an iSeries when there are so many other systems that are easier to attack?

The European Commission

The European Commission wants to extend the existing rules for value-added tax on European e-commerce transactions.
The extension would go to Dec. 31, 2008, to give Europe enough time to get more permanent measures passed. Read on for More About The ITIL V3 Foundation Certification Kit As the industry standard in terms of Process, Service and Lifecycle Management for IT, the ITIL Foundation exam is the most popular entry-level certification. This kit prepares you for the certification exam by offering valuable information on the ITIL framework, ITIL certification and IT Service Management as a practice. This certification kit contains both the study guide and access to our online program that together provides everything you need to prepare for the ITIL V3 Foundation certification exam, including:
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The directive on e-commerce took effect on July 1, 2003. It states that electronic services supplied for consumption outside of the European Union are exempted from VAT.
Without an extension, the Commission warned, the rules for services supplied electronically would revert to those in existence before the directive was introduced.
That would mean that EU suppliers would be subject to VAT, even for services supplied to clients outside the EU--and they would face competition from suppliers in non-EU countries that would not be subject to the sales tax at all.
"I urge the EU Council of Ministers to rapidly reach an agreement on this extension, as I cannot imagine we would revert to the rules prevailing before the e-commerce directive was introduced," taxation commissioner Laszlo Kovacs said in a statement.
He also called on the EU Council to adopt the two proposals, which would give permanent effect to the measures in the e-commerce VAT directive as soon as possible.

Routine Investigation

The Department of Justice has asked Yahoo and Microsoft to supply it with more information about its proposed search advertising tie-up that the duo announced earlier this summer. Both companies have said they are cooperating with the inquiry. Indeed, they all but predicted this would happen when their partnership was first announced.Sidetracked by an Ad
As I go to pay, I am sidetracked by an alluring ad for a City PremierPass credit card ("the best card for travel rewards" according to Expedia and Smart Money magazine). I don't really want or need another credit card, and perhaps the advertiser understands that my initial reaction is a common sentiment these days. The ad has been personalized for my trip; I can pay $201 instead of $301 if I apply now! The gimmick works, and I click through to investigate. The terms are good -- 0 percent APR for six months -- but given the upheaval in the credit card industry right now, I doubt that even Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke could qualify for the best rate.
I then go on to navigate my way through the myriad value-add purchases Expedia would like me to make before I pay for my ticket. Some are interesting enough that I don't automatically relegate them to wallpaper status. There is a Travel & Leisure magazine subscription for $1; there's a dinner at Hard Rock Cafe in nearby Biloxi for $20.
I can also pay for preflight airport parking at BWI on this page -- a very handy item I have never noticed on other sites.
The offers work -- my repriced total is $334.90.
"As expected, we have received a request for additional information from the Department of Justice," Yahoo spokesperson Nina Blackwell said in a statement emailed to the E-Commerce Times.
"The request for more information is consistent with our expectations and as we've indicated previously, we're hopeful the agreement will close in early 2010," she added.
The deal has already been hampered by many twists and turns -- and in some cases dead-ends -- and there will likely be more to come before it reaches the end zone. There is still the lingering specter of last year's proposed Yahoo-Google search advertising partnership, which dissolved last year following pointed inquiries from the Department of Justice.
Advocates of the Microhoo deal -- which, ironically, include many in the search advertising space that would like to see more competition -- worry that it too could be derailed.

Routine Investigation
As of now, the Justice investigation can be considered routine.
"I see it as part of the process to make sure that there is no behind-the-scenes tie-up that may prevent advertisers having the option to move away from Microsoft-Yahoo if they choose," said N. Venkat Venkatraman, a business professor at Boston University.
"From a market share point of view, there is less concern if we take today's relative positions. I see this as the Department of Justice doing its job as part of the review process," he told the E-Commerce Times.
"When you look at big names like Microsoft and Yahoo, there will always be some inquiry conducted," noted Stephen Y. Chow, an attorney with Burns & Levinson.
"Because the field of search engine providers is so concentrated," he told the E-Commerce Times, "it's not unusual for the DoJ to look into this further, because it constitutes further concentration by economic measures, even though it may be procompetitive."
Terms and Conditions
The 10-year arrangement gives Microsoft access to Yahoo's content and advertisers. Microsoft will be paying traffic acquisition costs to Yahoo at a rate of 88 percent of search revenue generated from Yahoo's sites for the first five years of the agreement.
There's a clause that provides an out for Yahoo if the deal doesn't pay off as the two companies originally expected, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Yahoo may terminate the search agreement if the "trailing 12-month average of the RPS (revenue per search query) of Yahoo and Microsoft combined queries falls below a specified percentage of Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) estimated RPS measured on a comparable basis or if the combined Yahoo and Microsoft query market share in the United States falls below a specified percentage."
From the beginning, it was assumed that the bigger challenge for the Microsoft-Yahoo collaboration would be the antitrust scrutiny it was bound to undergo, both in the U.S. and Europe. The consensus has been -- and still is, for the moment -- that the deal will eventually be green-lighted by the Justice Department. That's because even combined, Microsoft and Yahoo are still just a puny adversary for Google, which has an iron grip on the search advertising market.
"Based on the fact that neither company has a significant portion of the search market, it is unlikely that DoJ will [block] this deal," Ryan Radia, an information policy analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told the E-Commerce Times. "For that to happen it would require legal action, and a court would have to review the decision."
More likely would be the attachment of conditions for DoJ approval, he said. For instance, there is a possibility that Justice might side with privacy advocates who would like to see limitations placed on the type of data that could be collected in a tie-up between the two companies.
Depending on how onerous the requirements are, Radia speculated, the deal could conceivably be less effective for the companies. "In the end, though, I believe the DoJ will conclude that there are no anticompetitive consequences to the deal.

Never Miss a Deal

Deals and Tips
Several of the features could stand additional development on the back end.
For instance, on its "Never Miss a Deal" screen, I was invited to give my email address to receive sales and coupons, but there were no inquiries about my preferred travel modes or destinations.
Perhaps the customization would come afteIt's clear the down economy, with the lack of credit access and low consumer confidence, has dampened consumer spending. The e-commerce sector has been able to weather the economic storm better than some, but is far from immune to the effects of the recession.
A key outgrowth of declining consumer confidence and increased hesitation is shopping cart abandonment. Abandonment rates range from 41 percent to 50 percent, according to The E-tailing Group. Marketing Sherpa reports average rates at 60 percent.
There is an enormous opportunity for retailers to improve their checkout process and recapture these lost sales. Although Q3 is upon us, there's still time to implement new tactics to decrease shopping cart abandonmentr the email account info was provided. I typed in my junk email address, but I was no wiser as to this field's purpose. I would begin receiving exclusive deals, tips and promotions at Orbitz informed me, when I was done.
Price Guarantee
Continuing down the column, I saw the Orbitz price guarantee -- a promise that I wouldn't pay a higher price elsewhere. I greeted it with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Let me be clear: I don't mean to single out Orbitz as the target of my cynicism. Most travel sites seem to give themselves plenty of wiggle room with these guarantees. For instance, they typically require that the competing and better offer must be reported within 24 hours of making a ticket purchase.
Orbitz didn't pull that stunt, though. The way its guarantee worked, according to the Web site, was that the site would automatically track all purchases, and if another Orbitz customer subsequently booked the same flight or hotel at a lower price - on Orbitz I would get a refund for the difference. That's not a bad deal for customers, who don't even have to do the legwork to see if a lower deal is available.
Here's another promise Orbitz made, one that intrigued me: The hotel price listed would be the total price I would pay up front. I decided it was time to indulge in booking my dream vacation -- that is, a trip that wouldn't involve visiting my far flung family or friends. That is, a trip where I would actually stay in a hotel for fun, not business.
Top 10 Destinations
A new feature on the site offered a good place to start. It was a list of Orbitz's top 10 fall destination hot spots with links to special deals. Chicago, Miami and New York didn't appeal to me at all; Cancun however, did.
I clicked through to see my options. Then I blinked. I was presented with several appealing possibilities - and a myriad of booking choices that quickly became confusing. I found a five-star resort that seemed reasonably priced with a US$135 "average" nightly rate. (I guessed the total upfront price promise would kick in later).
To give Orbitz the credit it's due, there was ample information -- and plenty of photos -- about the resort, the La Amada Beach & Spa. The site gave me the option of a three-night hotel and flight package for $499 per person, or a five-night flight and hotel package for $748 per person. Opting for five nights, I clicked through to make my purchase.
It turned out the $748 price was from a Dallas origination point, approximately half a country away from where I live. I clicked on the Baltimore Washington International airport as my starting point and watched the price go up. With an American Airlines flight, I could get the package for $831 per person, although Orbitz informed me I was saving $140 with its special offer.
My flight selected, I was then made aware of the fact that La Amada was expecting me to bring company -- someone who would also pony up $831. The final bill would be around $1,662 -- assuming I (we) didn't buy any of the myriad of services that lay in wait before final booking can occur. Deflated, I navigated back to the start page to begin again.
Starting Over
Opting for the featured specials section, I clicked on Hawaii. I was presented with several choices of hotels that were offering savings and specials. I picked the Sheraton Waikiki: Total price for four nights -- and it did seem to be the final price -- came to $760.15 in the four-star hotel's Oceanfront Escape section.
One Continental ticket later, I was $656 poorer. Orbitz, like Expedia, made a point of highlighting the final price for the flight as I was booking it, a touch I do appreciate.
I tried booking the same trip as a package and saved $100.
Whether or not that was a good price, I can't say, but after navigating the- let's face it disorganized Orbitz site, I was not in a mood to comparison shop elsewhere.
The site did offer some value-add touches I appreciated -for example, a click-to-chat customer service function, which I haven't noticed on other sites.
There was also a customer service email option, with a statement that Orbitz would do its best to get back to me within three hours. Very few sites offer time frames for responses.
Bottom line: I booked the trip I wanted at what seemed to be a good price. Getting to that point, though, felt like more trouble than it was worth.

ot NEarth-Shattering

ot NEarth-Shattering
The move is likely to boost Wal-Mart's sales and profits, but isn't likely to turn the e-commerce world on its head the way the retailer's rise to dominance upended the entire brick-and-mortar supply chain, said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research's principal e-commerce analyst.
Wal-Mart's move into third-party sales isn't likely to pose a direct challenge to Amazon which dominates the online space the way Wal-Mart dominates the brick-and-mortar space, Mulpuru told the E-Commerce Times. The company's online sales lag far behind other retailers in terms of percentage of the overall business.
"I don't think they'll make Amazon quake in its boots or anything," she said.
Instead, it will help Wal-Mart shore up weaks spots in its portfolio.
"This is essentially an extension of its drop ship model but working with other retailers instead," noted Mulpuru. "Very smart on their part they don't have to manage fulfillment headaches, they have best-in-class partners, and they collect a piece of the revenue which is actually at least as profitable and probably more so than the core part of the Web business."
Walmart.com is the 13th-largest Web retailer, according to Internet Retailer, which compiles a list of top e-commerce sites. Amazon is first, with US$19.2 billion in sales in 2008, according to the site.
Internet Retailer ranked CSN stores 63rd on its list and eBags 93rd. Dreams, the parent company of ProTeam, ranked 217th, according to Internet Retailer.
How It Works
Unlike rival Amazon, whose third-party marketplace is relatively open and accessible, Wal-Mart is exercising tight control over its partners. Explanations to customers on the Web site note that it is approving only established e-commerce retailers for the program but expects to add more in the coming months.
Wal-Mart's site search feature integrates products from marketplace vendors into its overall product mix. A notice appears on each product from Marketplace partners alerting customers that it's offered for sale not by Wal-Mart itself but by a participant in the Marketplace program.
As with Amazon and other third-party services, Wal-Mart's site give customers access to retailer ratings, plus shipping and customer service information.
Wal-Mart will manage checkout through its systems. It will then be up to the retailer to manage the order, including shipping and returns.
Strategic Partner Choice
The choice of retailers the service launched with is clearly strategic, said Nikki Baird, managing partner of RSR Research.
The offerings are heavy on furniture, home decor and apparel items, all chinks in Wal-Mart's armor, Baird said.
The addition of partner retailers could help it cash in on apparel and accessory sales, a particularly weak spot for the retailer, Baird told the E-Commerce Times.
"They have relaunched their apparel and accessories strategy three or four times," she said.
However, it's having partners offer, stock and deliver bulky, floor-space-intensive items such as furniture that's likely to really benefit Wal-Mart, observed Baird.
The effort "to put the level of inventory to truly support furniture across 4,000 Wal-Mart stories is not worth making," she said.
What's Next
While eager to grow its third-party program, Wal-Mart is unlikely to open it to the sort of small, unestablished retailers that have taken to other third-party services, said Walmart.com spokesperson Ravi Jariwala.
"We will continue to be very careful," he said. "We will stick with established retailers."
The company has no plans at this time to integrate sales of third-party products with its site-to-store program, which offers free shipping to local Wal-Mart stores for items purchased at the company's Web site.
However, the company will listen to customers and may re-evaluate its strategy later, Jariwala said.
It's a move the company should make to differentiate itself from Amazon, suggested Baird.
"If I'm Wal-Mart, I've got 4,000 stores, and if I can find a way to build in all of the advantages and services of Amazon Services and tie them into my store, then I've got something Amazon doesn't have," she said.

$125 million when the deal is concluded.

eAbout the Sale
eBay will receive about $1.9 billion in cash and a note for $125 million when the deal is concluded.
It's expected to go smoothly because the buyers have the money and the deal is not subject to financing conditions.
eBay president and CEO John Donahoe called the purchase Thrifty's In
Coupon use had been declining since 1992 as consumers found less need for or some embarrassment in using them. However, as the economy worsened, frugal became cool and their popularity grew.
Use of electronic discounts and coupons more than doubled in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period last year as overall coupon use rose 23 percent, according to coupon-processing company Inmar. They now account for more than 3 percent of all coupons used, up from roughly 2 percent in 2008.
While they still represent a small part of the total coupons used, they have strong potential -- growing quickly and providing a new way for shoppers to stretch increasingly tight budgets.
"It does take some significant outside forces for people to wake up and pay attention to the savings opportunities available to them," said Matthew Tilley, director of marketing for Inmar.
On a recent shopping trip to the grocery store, Englebert tucked a clutch of offers under her tattooed arm. Besides the store's printed circular, there were manufacturers' coupons she'd gotten by e-mail and coupons she'd bought on eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) . Using in-store sales and coupons, she bought 14 items -- including macaroni and cheese, meat and other items -- for a grand total of $5.98, saving $24.88.
Englebert said she spends about five hours a week hunting for coupons -- checking her favorite blogs for the hot deals of the day, searching manufacturer Web sites for special promotions and finding groups on Facebook or through Twitter feeds, among other tools. She even hits eBay, where something like a $5-off coupon may not be of any value to someone who isn't going to use it but is worth the 99 cents she might pay for it.
High-Tech Penny Saving
Users can print digital coupons from Web sites or e-mail, but many are entirely electronic. They can be uploaded to a store's loyalty card or arrive on a cellphone as a promotion code or image. There are also iPhone applications, handheld devices in stores and screens built into grocery cart handles that alert shoppers to deals in stores. Retailers continue to try new formats.
Electronic coupons offer the same benefits for retailers as any discount program: driving consumer traffic, building loyalty, increasing sales and attracting new customers.
They also eliminate printing costs, reduce paper waste, can be updated more quickly and have higher redemption rates than their print counterparts.
Coupon aggregators such as Coupons.com and Cellfire say online coupon users tend to skew younger and more affluent than the traditional coupon user. Cellfire, for example, says 60 percent of its users are between 18 and 35.
However, technological hurdles remain in syncing electronic coupons with checkout systems and in preventing counterfeiting and hacking.
Many Internet coupons are designed to limit customers to only two per computer, but some users try to find ways around that.
Newer coupons can have serial numbers or a user's name built in so any abuse can be tracked, said Charles Brown, cochair of the coupon council for the Promotion Marketing Association and vice president of marketing for NCH Marketing Services.
Learn as You Go
However, companies are still figuring out the new dynamics of managing the array of coupons and how fast they can spread.
Marsh Supermarkets had to halt a recent Facebook deal offering $10 off a $10 or more purchase as the coupon spread much further and faster through the social networking site than the Midwest grocer had intended.
"It just went everywhere. We did not anticipate that," company spokesperson Connie Gardner said. "We would not have issued it if we had known."
Most notoriously, KFC faced traffic jams and overwhelming demand this spring at several restaurants and ultimately offered rain checks to cope with unanticipated demand for free grilled chicken meals offered in a coupon posted on TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey's Web site.
Overall, electronic coupons lack the reach of print because consumers must seek them out -- as opposed to finding them in the mailbox or on the front step, Brown said.
Experts say both electronic and traditional print formats are likely to grow, though it will be a while before they match the all-time peak in coupon use of 7.9 billion in 1992. In 2008, consumers redeemed just 2.6 billion coupons of all types.
"When airplanes were invented, trains didn't go away. When TV was invented, radio didn't go away," Brown said. "Various medias work together and reach consumers at different times." a great deal. "We've acted decisively on a deal that delivers a high valuation, gives us significant cash up front anad lets us retain a meaningful minority stake with talented partners," he said when announcing the sale.
"We're spinning off from eBay to become an independent company once again," Josh Silverman, whom Donahoe tapped to turn Skype's fortunes around, wrote on the Skype blog.
The Buyers
The buyers consist of an investment group led by Silver Lake Partners. Other members are Index Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Danny Rimer and Mike Volpi, both at Index Ventures, were among Skype's earliest Board members and supporters, according to Silverman's blog post.
Silver Lake is a private investment firm focused on technology with $13 billion under management. Andreessen Horowitz is a new venture capital (VC) fund formed by former Netscape founder Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in July. Andreessen will continue as chairman of the online social networking creation site Ning and will remain on the boards of Facebook and eBay.
Index Ventures is a VC that invests primarily in the information technology and life sciences sectors.
eBay's Troubled History With Skype
Skype never quite fit into eBay's plans and was often a thorn in its side. First, there was the money -- in addition to the initial purchase price, eBay shelled out another $530 million to Skype's founders under an earn-out deal, according to Barron's Technology Trader.
"The original plans when eBay bought Skype included integrating Skype flawlessly into eBay for sales and for the auction and classified sides," Peter M. Zollman, founding principal of the Advanced Interactive Media Group (AIM), told the E-Commerce Times. "That really hasn't happened."
eBay CEO Donahoe made that plain when announcing the Skype sale. "Skype is a strong standalone business, but it does not have synergies with eBay's e-commerce and online payments businesses," he said.
There has been a lot of infighting at the two companies, Laura DiDio, principal at ITIC, told the E-Commerce Times. "eBay's buying Skype has generally proved to be a bad deal," she pointed out. "eBay has spent a lot of time writing down the value of Skype."
One possible indicator of the infighting is a comment Skype's Silverman made in his blog post about the deal. "It means we're back to being a fully independent company again but with a new group of owners who believe passionately in our mission and in the ability of our team to deliver on it," he wrote.
The Best-Laid Plans
eBay had initially planned to issue an IPO for Skype this year. That idea took a hit when eBay got into a dispute over intellectual property rights with Joltid, a company created by Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis.
Joltid claims it owns the patents to one of Skype's technologies and threatened to yank the technology, leading to a lawsuit in a UK court and to Skype pouring funds into trying to create a workaround.
Despite the ups and downs, Donohoe remained bullish about Skype's prospects, saying that a $2 billion valuation would be too low.
A Diamond in the Not-so-Rough
He may be right -- Skype's purchasers may have got a good deal. The service remains popular. The iPhone's Skype application saw 4 million downloads by July, five months after it was launched in March, according to Peter Parkes, writing on the Skype blog.
Also in July, Skype released the final version of Skype 2.8 for Mac. Last month, it got another boost when AT&T (NYSE: T) said it might authorize VoIP capabilities on the iPhone for use on its 3G network. The carrier said this in response to the ongoing Federal Communications Commission investigation into Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) refusal to approve the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Voice app for its app store.
"Skype remains the leading VoIP service and, as such, it has a substantial amount of value, particularly when positioned competitively against Google Voice," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told the E-Commerce Times.
The Joltid lawsuit won't amount to much in regard to the purchase, he said. "If the investors were smart, they worked in contingencies to anticipate this," Enderle said. "These aren't stupid people."
Skype offers considerable growth and revenue potential, AIM Group's Zollman said. "There are no direct major competitors on the horizon, and Skype is relatively young in terms of revenue and growth."
At press time, eBays stock prices were down 47 cents, or 2.12 percent, to $21.67.