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ecash Press Release
DIGICASH PRESS RELEASE
World's first electronic cash payment over computer networks.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Release Date: May 27, 1994)
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Payment from any personal computer to any other workstation, over
email or Internet, has been demonstrated for the first time, using
electronic cash technology. "You can pay for access to a database, buy
software or a newsletter by email, play a computer game over the net,
receive $5 owed you by a friend, or just order a pizza. The
possibilities are truly unlimited" according to David Chaum, Managing
Director of DigiCash TM, who announced and demonstrated the product
during his keynote address at the first conference on the World Wide
Web, in Geneva this week.
Electronic cash has the privacy of paper cash, while achieving the
high security required for electronic network environments
exclusively through innovations in public key cryptography. "It's the
first software only solution. In the past we've pioneered such cash
for chip cards and electronic wallets, always with a tamper-resistant
chip for storing the value--now all you have to do is download the
software and you're up and running" continues Dr. Chaum.
The product works with Microsoft(R) Windows TM, Macintosh TM, and
most UNIX TM platforms. It was shown integrated with Mosaic, the
most popular software for people accessing databases, email, or other
services on the Internet and World Wide Web. The graphic user
interface allows intuitive "dragging and dropping" of icons
representing stacks of coins, receipts, record books, etc.
The company will be supplying the technology through other firms who
will release the products, under various cooperation and trial
programs. The user software, which allows both paying and receiving
payment, will be distributed free of charge.
The product was developed by DigiCash TM Corporation's wholly owned
Dutch subsidiary, DigiCash TM BV. It is related to the firm's earlier
released product for road pricing, which has been licensed to Amtech TM
Corporation, of Dallas, Texas, worldwide leader in automatic road
toll collection. This system allows privacy protected payments for
road use at full highway speed from a smart card reader affixed to the
inside of a vehicle. Also related is the approach of the EU supported
CAFE project, of which Dr. Chaum is Chairman, which uses
tamper-resistant chips inserted into electronic wallets.
The underlying 'blind signature' technology was described in the
article "Achieving Electronic Privacy," by David Chaum, Scientific
American, August 1992.
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For more information contact:
DigiCash bv [email protected]
Kruislaan 419 tel +31 20 665 2611
1098 VA Amsterdam fax +31 20 668 5486
The Netherlands
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--
Matthew Gream
Consent Technologies
Sydney, (02) 821-2043
[email protected]