Abstract: A system for processing transactions in a distributed network is disclosed. In the system, various parties interact by means of client subsystems that allow them to use public key cryptography to digitally sign and verify messages. The parties send these messages to each others' client subsystems and to a transaction server, which carries out financial transactions on behalf of the parties. All financial transactions generate receipts signed by the transaction server and the initiating party, creating a secure and fraud-resistant audit trail. The integrity of the system can be verified on a continuous and ongoing basis by examining the receipts that result from transfers. The risk of fraud arising from deposits and withdrawals between the system and external sources is mitigated by isolating such transactions. Parties in the system may generate digitally signed offers specifying financial payments and/or non-financial terms and conditions that may be accepted by other parties in the system.

Abstract: A system, method and apparatus for locating and accessing information resources in a distributed information network is disclosed. When an end user desires to retrieve an ID for a particular profile associated with a resource, a client program (resident on a client computer) sends a an ID request in the form of an HTTP request to an ID authority server computer. In response to the ID request, the ID authority server computer returns a URL of an ID registry server computer corresponding to the requested profile type. The client program then sends a query based upon the returned domain name to the ID registry server. The ID registry server, in turn, returns a URL of an ID host server computer associated with the requested ID so, in one implementation, the client can invoke a program that is a superset of the domain name. Once the client program has the location of the ID host server computer, the client program sends a request to the identified ID host server computer.