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GENERAL ISSUE
What's so special about the Globe ID^TM Technology ?
What is intermediation ?
Are you saying that systems that don't involve a third party are insecure ?
Presumeably the Globe ID^TM system is a proprietary technology ?
Is GCTech a payment provider ?
So GC Tech is not competing against existing banking or credit card systems ?

CUSTOMER ISSUES
Why do I need Intermediation as a customer ?
How do I open a Globe ID^TM wallet ?
What happens if I crash my computer ? Are Globe ID^TM virtual wallets only used for small payments only ?
Can I pay in different currencies ?
Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a customer ? Do I need to use a specific browser or Internet access provider ?
Does my bank need to be using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Do I have to be a customer of the same bank as the merchant ?
How much would I be charged to buy goods or services from a merchant using the Globe ID^TM technology ?
Where will I have to open a bank account(s) to use the wallet after the trial ?

MERCHANT ISSUES
Why do I need Intermediation as a merchant ?
Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a merchant ?
Why provide the ability to pay or charge small amounts ("micro-payments<=) when the cost of processing such transactions is widely accepted to be far too high for them to be commercially viable ?
If I don't have the credit card information of my customers, does it mean that I don't have to worry about the financial clearing in any way ?
How much will I be charged to sell my goods or services using the Globe ID^TM technology ?
Can I still apply my classic marketing incentives and/or target my customers for specific marketing messages ?

TECHNICAL ISSUES
Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM intermediation server technology as a trusted third party ?
Does the system have support on different Web Server software ?
Does the customer have to deal with Public/Private Keys ?
How do local intermediation servers connect to foreign banks ?
Are front ends and back ends of the intermediation server connected one to one ? One to many or many to many?
Why is Globe ID^TM not using SSL & HTTP for the information flow ? Is the system fully secure ?
What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptology ?

SECURITY ISSUES
What sort of information is transmitted during a transaction, crypted or not ? What strength/bit length of RSA is used to encrypt data ? What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptography ?

GENERAL ISSUE

What's so special about the Globe ID^TM Technology ? Use of the Globe ID^TM technology is an asset both for the merchant and the customer in an electronic transaction:

The customer doesn't provide his Credit Card information to anyone but a trusted third party.
The Credit Card number is NEVER transmitted over the Internet for a transaction.
The customer gets a receipt that can be used the same way as a normal receipt is used in real life (e.g. refunds, re-delivery in case of information services...)
The customer can place orders from any computer on the Internet.
Transactions can remain anonymous, as every customer is only identified by an ID number from the merchant's point of view.
The system is entirely hassle-free:- no prior subscription or commitment is required from the customer; no need to buy special electronic money or open a new bank account; all you need to buy from a Globe ID^TM merchant is a valid Credit card.
The merchant can practise his own marketing policy (e.g. coupons, discount for specific targets, specific pricing policies adapted to the location of the customer...)
The Globe ID^TM Technology allows "micro-payments" - small amount transaction (from a few cents) to thousands of Dollars. It is therefore well suited to both for information and hard good providers.
Legal and procedural issues such as commercial relations with Credit cards companies, various tax policies processing, sales to minors, accounting, etc., can be addressed directly by the system.
The merchant can monitor his sales on an automatically updated spreadsheet, while his share of the transaction is directly transfer to his real-life bank account. What's so unique about the Globe ID^TM Technology ? Currently two important features seem to be unique to GC Tech's Globe ID^TM system:
it does not merely secure the "payment part" of the transaction but also secures and certifies the " merchant's offer" and the "customer's order" which become non-repudiable and for which "certified duplicates" are available online for authorized parties. This comprises such important information in the purchase decision as the delivery delay and mode, warranty duration, etc.
the customer is not restricted either to using a single machine or a particular computer platform - the system runs on a PC or a MAC, and indeed is also compatible with "network terminals" proposed by Sun, Oracle, IBM, and Sega, or TV-style set-top boxes. This is because the system does not depend upon a hard disk or equivalent storage medium on the customer side.

What is intermediation ?
The intermediation concept is the idea of introducing a third party between the customer and the merchant during a commercial transaction to provide greater security for all parties involved.

Are you saying that systems that don't involve a third party are insecure ?
It depends on what you understand by "secure". Even though no encryption method is completely unbreakable, technology is now capable of transmitting information with reasonable confidence that the message won't be read by anyone but the recipient. Nevertheless, this assumes that you already know and/or trust the recipient, no matter how secure the transmission. Therefore if you decide to use a system that is not controlled by a trusted third party this requires a degree of trust in any merchant in the World with whom you do business.

Presumeably the Globe ID^TM system is a proprietary technology ?
Yes, the Globe ID^TM technology has of course been patented. Nevertheless, as a technological company, GC Tech is committed to providing its technology directly or indirectly to any organisation willing to set up and operate an intermediation service for secure electronic commerce transaction and payment. Although the transaction model (referred to as the "Clearing in the Middle Transaction Model" or CMTM) is protected by a patent, the building blocks used to implement it are based upon well proven and widely accepted standards, e.g. RSA digital signatures.

Is GC Tech a payment provider ?
GC Tech is neither a payment provider nor an operator of a payment clearing system. We are a technology provider and our business mission is to work within traditional payment and clearance systems to license our technology to existing payment service providers that already act as "trusted third parties" in this domain.

So GC Tech is not competing against existing banking or credit card systems ?
Absolutely not. Moreover, it is anticipated that the Globe ID^TM technology will be adapted to use and enhance any new encryption or validation methods that such companies may introduce in the future (e.g. SET). GCTech doesn't compete with credit card companies, credit card issuers or banking institutions. Customers debit their credit cards or bank accounts in order to replenish their Globe ID^TM wallet. We consider credit card companies and banks as potential partners to whom we license a technology that enables them to operate value-added services that compliment their existing range of financial services. GCTech does not intend to operate its own trusted third party service under its own brand because this would mean competing against its own customers.

CUSTOMER ISSUES

Why do I need Intermediation as a customer ?

Trust No matter how securely your credit card information have been transmitted, you still have to trust the honesty of the recipient. The chances are you that would trust a major international bank more readily than a small business that you had just found on the Web. The intermediary also has a record of the entire transaction in the event of a query or dispute with the merchant.
Transaction Processing Costs Without intermediation, every credit card transaction has to be processed separately. For each merchant with whom you do business, this means a new credit card transaction, and currently credit card companies doesn't usually authorize transactions under $20. However, thanks to the intermediation concept, even if you plan to spend as little as $0.10 on a specific commercial web server, you can still charge it to your Globe ID^TM Wallet.
Anonymity: Thanks to the presence of the trusted third party, the customer does not need to reveal his identity to the merchant unless he wishes to do so.

How do I open a Globe ID^TM wallet ?
Just go to the Globe ID^TM web site (http://www.globeonline.com) and fill in a form to open an account. Setting up a customer account and downloading a Globe ID^TM wallet is free (apart from standard communication costs). You'll receive your account number and personal security code right away by e-mail, and that's it ! You're ready to shop anywhere in the world in total security, on any server using the Globe ID^TM technology.
Currently the Globe Online server is setup for demonstration purpose only. It does not handle real payments since it is not yet connected to the banking network.

What happens if I crash my computer ?
A customer using the Globe ID^TM technology to place online orders doesn't keep sensitive information on their computer. This means that the customer's account is not affected by hard disk problems (or indeed hardware theft) and therefore orders and account detail requests can be made from any computer connected to the Internet, provided that the Globe ID^TM Wallet is set up on the machine.
Moreover, since the Globe ID^TM technology keeps track of all purchases (even though they remain under an anonymous ID reference for the merchant), you can reload any account or purchase information for which you may have accidentally destroyed or lost the paper record.

Are Globe ID^TM virtual wallets only used for small payments only ?
Not at all. Since it operates as a gateway toward existing financial clearing systems, the Globe ID^TM technology allows the same services as those offered by existing payment instruments (credit cards, account transfers, credit lines, etc), as well as the "micro-payment" facility we usually associate only with cash.

Can I pay in different currencies ?
Yes. The intermediation service is designed to handle the appropriate exchange rates as requested.

Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a customer ? Do I need to use a specific browser or Internet access provider ?
The Globe ID^TM Wallet used by the final customer operates under UNIX, MAC, Windows 3.x or Windows 95. It will operate with any standard browser and it is not necessary to use a specific Internet access provider.

Does my bank need to be using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Do I have to be a customer of the same bank as the merchant ?
Neither the customer nor the merchant needs to be a member of the bank operating the Globe ID^TM technology. The money transfer between the account of the operator of the Globe ID^TM intermediation server and the merchant's or customer's banks uses the existing interbanking clearing systems (credit card networks, Swift, etc.).
Ultimately, GC Tech is confident that the benefits of the Globe ID^TM features will make it one of the 2 or 3 major international systems of its type, and therefore expects that most banks, credit card issuers and acquirers will adopt Globe ID^TM in order to offer a better standard of service their customers.

How much would I be charged to buy goods or services from a merchant using the Globe ID^TM technology ?
As far as the customer is concerned, no fees at all are applied. The customer is transferring money from a normal Credit card account to a Globe ID^TM Wallet just as he would get money from an ATM machine on the street. By the same analogy, if he got $100.00 in his Globe ID^TM wallet, he can buy $100.00 worth of goods and services from a merchant's web site using the Globe ID^TM system.
If he wanted to purchase something priced over 100$, the customer could choose to charge his credit card directly for the purchase (still without having his credit card number transferred across the Internet).

Where will I have to open a bank account(s) to use the wallet after the trial ?
It is not necessary to open a new bank or credit card account to operate a Globe ID^TM wallet.
The Globe ID^TM system designed and developed by GC Tech is a technology and not a service. GC Tech is licensing the technology to banks and financial institutions who will be OPERATORS of the Globe ID^TM services; there will not be one but a few Globe ID^TM "services" worldwide. Each of them will operate in its natural sphere of commercial influence: i.e. registering the merchants and customers who already naturally trust it to operate as a financial intermediary.
The several Globe ID^TM services will cooperate (through agreements) so that a merchant registered at a given Globe ID^TM service may buy from a merchant registered on another service (eg. a US citizen registered at the CityBank-controlled Globe ID^TM will be able to buy "champagne" from a small merchant registered with the French Globe ID^TM operated by group Paribas). Though advanced discussions are already underway with several banks around the world, the only licensee that can be disclosed for the moment is Kleline SA, a subsidiary of Compagnie Bancaire (groupe Paribas) in Paris. We hope to be able to announce soon a number of licensees in different countries.
However, this does not mean that as a customer you have to open a bank account with any of the licensees. What you need to do is register with one of them in order to open your Globe ID^TM wallet. This is an electronic account. The only requirement for you at registration time will be to give the Globe ID^TM service of your choice information on at least one existing credit card account (associated with a bank account at ANY bank in the world).

MERCHANT ISSUES

Why do I need Intermediation as a merchant ?
Your business is to offer the best services you can to your customers, not to worry about different local and international tax regulations, credit card order processing, etc.. Intermediation allows you to focus on what is really YOUR business, which is based on a specific marketing approach for every segment of your market. Why not continue to adapt these strategies and techniques to online commerce ? The Globe ID^TM system assures the customer's anonymity, but as a merchant you can still adapt your commercial message according to his location, age, income, etc.. "No commitment", "No strings attached". Does this sound familiar ? Especially on the Web, where your competitors are just a mouse click away, customers want to remain free from committing themselves to a specific merchant and prefer to buy from time to time rather than setting up regular commercial relations.

Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a merchant ?
The Merchant kit installed merchant web server, runs on most Unix and Windows NT machines .

Why provide the ability to pay or charge small amounts ("micro-payments<=) when the cost of processing such transactions is widely accepted to be far too high for them to be commercially viable ?
Using a credit card network is far too expensive to pay for an item costing 10 cents, but Globe ID^TM, by means of an aggregation process in the stored value facility avoids using such a network when it is not economically justified.
In addition, while everyone agrees that a small fee (around 2 or 3%) is the limit to what the market accepts for relatively large amounts, the $2 billion per year sub-dollar transactions seen on the French Minitel system demonstrates that for really small amounts a fee up to 20 or even 30% is perfectly acceptable because it corresponds to goods (information or services) for which the marginal production and delivery costs are close to zero. Yes, one can make money selling thousands of copies of detailed weather forecasts every day at 15 cts, or 1 FF, or 20 Yens, each with an payback rate of 75%.

If I don't have the credit card information of my customers, does it mean that I don't have to worry about the financial clearing in any way ?
Absolutely. All the financial clearing operation are handled by the financial institution operating the local Globe ID^TM system.

How much will I be charged to sell my goods or services using the Globe ID^TM technology ?
Costs involved in using the Globe ID^TM technology as a merchant is not an issue adressed by GC Tech, but remains a matter of commercial strategy for the financial institution operating the Globe ID^TM system. However, even though we don't address this point, we can assume that the merchant will pay fees varying from 2% to 20% of the total cost paid by the customer; the highest fees being charged for the sale of small-ticket information services, the lowest for the sale of expensive physical goods, as wine, for example. These are better rates than any of the ones that proved to be attractive on the French Minitel system for the last 12 years or any of the existing online services (AOL, Compuserve, MSM, etc.).

Can I still apply my classic marketing incentives and/or target my customers for specific marketing messages ?
As the Intermediation server brings to the merchants the certification about a corporate customer ID, this merchant will be in a position to offer specific tariffs/pricing to corporate buyers or apply specific prior agreements (e.g. offer a 10% discount to customers from a given company), just as he would in traditional commerce. However, this is not a fixed Globe ID^TM policy: Globe ID^TM simply enables merchants and customers to go about their business normally without interferring.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM intermediation server technology as a trusted third party ?
The Intermediation server which is in charge of the authentification process works under UNIX.

Does the system have support on different Web Server software ?
Of course ! The merchant toolkit will work with ANY Web server, as it plugs in as CGI Scripts: it has a set of API's that can work with Apache, Cern, NSCA, Netscape, or any brand of webserver.

Does the customer have to deal with Public/Private Keys ?
No, there are no public and private key for the customer. This feature allows the customer to purchase from ANY computer connected to the Internet (not only from his own). Also, this means that there is no problem of revocation of the keys for the customer. The only thing the customer has to remember are his Wallet ID and his PIN number (Personal Identification Number).

How do local intermediation servers connect to foreign banks ?
The Globe ID^TM system provides a platform for realizing secure transactions on the Internet. All participants in a payment transaction are authenticated. The contents of each payment message is archived in the server archive, thereby enforcing non-repudiation of operations. An intermediation server is a trusted entity that can clear a transaction through already existing financial networks. It can reach any bank this way. When a customer located in country A buys from a merchant in country B, the intermediation server of country A acts as a customer that contacts the intermediation server in country B to buy from the B merchant.
The transaction level: Interaction between Globe ID^TM operators occurs when a customer affiliated with operator A (the issuer) buys something at a merchant affiliated with operator B (the acquirer). Inter-Globe ID^TM transactions are supported by means of a"Web of Trust" model between Globe ID^TM operators. The transaction can take place if the issuer and acquirer know each other (a), or if they have a common friend (b). Scheme (a) works by reaching a peer to peer agreement between operators. Technically, the operators exchange certificates containing each operators' public key. In scheme (b), a hierarchical trust model is defined. Both operators trust at least one common organization in the trust model. Technically this is implemented by means of a certificate hierarchy.
Financial interactions: For the flow of funds between operators, Globe ID^TM leverages the existing financial infrastructure. Funds are transferred between operators using traditional clearing houses and networks. Choice of adequate mechanisms is up to the Globe ID^TM operators.
Front-end back-end interconnection: The front-end is in charge of the secure communication. Machine cycle intensive cryptographical computations are performed by the front-end. To avoid computational bottlenecks, the Globe ID^TM intermediation server implementation supports several concurrent front-end machines. Load is distributed statistically using a round-robin DNS (Domain Name Server). Using a RDBMS cluster architecture, it is also possible to run several concurrent back-end machines. Thus architecture is many (front-ends) to many (back-ends).
Account management: By stating "maintain" and "control" of accounts, we did mean "account management". Merchants are represented internally by a "merchant account", customers by a "customer account". The servers performs the following operations on accounts:

Opening and closing
Address changes and maintenance
Credit and debit operations

Are front ends and back ends of the intermediation server connected one to one ? One to many or many to many? Many to many (see previous question). Back ends are connected between themselves many to many (this is nothing but what already exists on the existing international financial networks).

Why is Globe ID^TM not using SSL & HTTP for the information flow ? Is the system fully secure ? The issue addressed by GC Tech is to secure and certify online commercial transactions including payment and not simply to provide a general purpose security mechanism. More specifically, the major requirements of Globe ID^TM users are mutual authentication, integrity protection, non replay, and non repudiation.
For business related reasons even more than for technical reasons, the choice was to provide these services to both parties through an intermediation service acting as a trusted third party. As of today the use of SSL or S-HTTP as they can be deployed and operated would have been in many ways an overkill while still not providing the required features. GC Tech's deliberate choice in the design of CPTP (the major Globe ID^TM protocol), after a carefull review of all existing solutions including SSL and S-HTTP, was to define a protocol specialy tailored for the purpose from the same building blocks (RSA, MD5, etc...). In addition to efficiency, one additional advantage of the proprietary and specific design was to avoid service or business oportunities limitations bound to international or national cryptography regulations.
In addition, because of the often contradictory requirements for privacy and encryption regulations, GC Tech was careful to design CPTP so that it could be run within within any available protected or cyphered channel when the context (tecgnical and legal) allows. Fully secure? Obviously not, Globe ID^TM claims to be a lot more secure that any other system operated in the same environment, but GC Tech is far too involved in servicing well its technology customers that it will never claim that Globe ID^TM is fully secure. No such system exists and will never exist.
Globe ID^TM achieved the ambitious challenge to provide its users the best conditions to establish and deploy electronic commerce : the intermediation operators because of the high level of security of the system are able to profitably market services with the requested financial (not technical) guarantees and highly competitive costs.

What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptology ? Globe ID^TM CPTP protocol, designed to cover the transaction securitazation needs does not directly or indirectly provide any tool for the users/parties to gain access to encryption facilities. This characteristic enabled to avoid the regulations limitations, while still using the highest level of asymetric cryptography with long keys for the few informations pieces that effectively required it.
Globe ID^TM only cyphers the few informations which allow to guarantee the authentication and the integrity. This appears to be acceptable to every where with the possible exception of Singapore for which the issue has still to be clarified.

SECURITY ISSUES

What sort of information is transmitted during a transaction, crypted or not ? For each transaction, a receipt is recorded with several information on it. Some of them are:
Customer's ID
Merchant's ID + his Electronic Signature
Product Description
Product's price
Date/Time of the transaction
Method of payment
This receipt can be used both by the Merchant and the Customer as a proof of the transaction.

What strength/bit length of RSA is used to encrypt data ? We suggest 512 or 768 bits now but this may be adapted to what each actual licensee decides.
There is no need to set up very long keys as only authentication is needed (there is no need to cypher the credit card numbers: they are NOT transmitted over the Internet) - the key length is not a serious issue from a computing power point of view as there is only a very small number of bytes to cypher.
Several keys are involved in the Globe ID^TM operations. The merchant has one key pair for signing payment requests. The intermediation server has three key pairs:

A master key pair (and certificate) for issuing certificates
A key pair for signing payment captions (i.e. the proof a payment has been done)
A key pair for signing user interactions
The Globe ID^TM technology does not enforce any particular length of the RSA keys. Choice of length is up to the Globe ID^TM operator. He will base his choice on a security versus performance trade-off. We favor the following recipe: Long intermediation master key (768-1024 bits at least), relatively short other keys (512 bits). The protocols has been specially designed to allow frequent changes of the short keys (every some days), thus keeping risk of key compromise low.

What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptography ? Globe ID CPTP protocol, designed to cover the transaction securitazation needs does not directly or indirectly provide any tool for the users/parties to gain access to encryption facilities. This characteristic enabled to avoid the regulations limitations, while still using the highest level of asymetric cryptography with long keys for the few informations pieces that effectively required it.
Globe ID only cyphers the few informations which allow to guarantee the authentication and the integrity. This appears to be acceptable to every where with the possible exception of Singapore for which the issue has still to be clarified.

	GENERAL ISSUE What's so special about the Globe ID^TM Technology ? What is intermediation ? Are you saying that systems that don't involve a third party are insecure ? Presumeably the Globe ID^TM system is a proprietary technology ? Is GCTech a payment provider ? So GC Tech is not competing against existing banking or credit card systems ?
	CUSTOMER ISSUES Why do I need Intermediation as a customer ? How do I open a Globe ID^TM wallet ? What happens if I crash my computer ? Are Globe ID^TM virtual wallets only used for small payments only ? Can I pay in different currencies ? Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a customer ? Do I need to use a specific browser or Internet access provider ? Does my bank need to be using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Do I have to be a customer of the same bank as the merchant ? How much would I be charged to buy goods or services from a merchant using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Where will I have to open a bank account(s) to use the wallet after the trial ?
	MERCHANT ISSUES Why do I need Intermediation as a merchant ? Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a merchant ? Why provide the ability to pay or charge small amounts ("micro-payments<=) when the cost of processing such transactions is widely accepted to be far too high for them to be commercially viable ? If I don't have the credit card information of my customers, does it mean that I don't have to worry about the financial clearing in any way ? How much will I be charged to sell my goods or services using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Can I still apply my classic marketing incentives and/or target my customers for specific marketing messages ?
	TECHNICAL ISSUES Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM intermediation server technology as a trusted third party ? Does the system have support on different Web Server software ? Does the customer have to deal with Public/Private Keys ? How do local intermediation servers connect to foreign banks ? Are front ends and back ends of the intermediation server connected one to one ? One to many or many to many? Why is Globe ID^TM not using SSL & HTTP for the information flow ? Is the system fully secure ? What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptology ?
	SECURITY ISSUES What sort of information is transmitted during a transaction, crypted or not ? What strength/bit length of RSA is used to encrypt data ? What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptography ?

	GENERAL ISSUE
	What's so special about the Globe ID^TM Technology ? Use of the Globe ID^TM technology is an asset both for the merchant and the customer in an electronic transaction: The customer doesn't provide his Credit Card information to anyone but a trusted third party. The Credit Card number is NEVER transmitted over the Internet for a transaction. The customer gets a receipt that can be used the same way as a normal receipt is used in real life (e.g. refunds, re-delivery in case of information services...) The customer can place orders from any computer on the Internet. Transactions can remain anonymous, as every customer is only identified by an ID number from the merchant's point of view. The system is entirely hassle-free:- no prior subscription or commitment is required from the customer; no need to buy special electronic money or open a new bank account; all you need to buy from a Globe ID^TM merchant is a valid Credit card. The merchant can practise his own marketing policy (e.g. coupons, discount for specific targets, specific pricing policies adapted to the location of the customer...) The Globe ID^TM Technology allows "micro-payments" - small amount transaction (from a few cents) to thousands of Dollars. It is therefore well suited to both for information and hard good providers. Legal and procedural issues such as commercial relations with Credit cards companies, various tax policies processing, sales to minors, accounting, etc., can be addressed directly by the system. The merchant can monitor his sales on an automatically updated spreadsheet, while his share of the transaction is directly transfer to his real-life bank account. What's so unique about the Globe ID^TM Technology ? Currently two important features seem to be unique to GC Tech's Globe ID^TM system: it does not merely secure the "payment part" of the transaction but also secures and certifies the " merchant's offer" and the "customer's order" which become non-repudiable and for which "certified duplicates" are available online for authorized parties. This comprises such important information in the purchase decision as the delivery delay and mode, warranty duration, etc. the customer is not restricted either to using a single machine or a particular computer platform - the system runs on a PC or a MAC, and indeed is also compatible with "network terminals" proposed by Sun, Oracle, IBM, and Sega, or TV-style set-top boxes. This is because the system does not depend upon a hard disk or equivalent storage medium on the customer side.
	What is intermediation ? The intermediation concept is the idea of introducing a third party between the customer and the merchant during a commercial transaction to provide greater security for all parties involved.
	Are you saying that systems that don't involve a third party are insecure ? It depends on what you understand by "secure". Even though no encryption method is completely unbreakable, technology is now capable of transmitting information with reasonable confidence that the message won't be read by anyone but the recipient. Nevertheless, this assumes that you already know and/or trust the recipient, no matter how secure the transmission. Therefore if you decide to use a system that is not controlled by a trusted third party this requires a degree of trust in any merchant in the World with whom you do business.
	Presumeably the Globe ID^TM system is a proprietary technology ? Yes, the Globe ID^TM technology has of course been patented. Nevertheless, as a technological company, GC Tech is committed to providing its technology directly or indirectly to any organisation willing to set up and operate an intermediation service for secure electronic commerce transaction and payment. Although the transaction model (referred to as the "Clearing in the Middle Transaction Model" or CMTM) is protected by a patent, the building blocks used to implement it are based upon well proven and widely accepted standards, e.g. RSA digital signatures.
	Is GC Tech a payment provider ? GC Tech is neither a payment provider nor an operator of a payment clearing system. We are a technology provider and our business mission is to work within traditional payment and clearance systems to license our technology to existing payment service providers that already act as "trusted third parties" in this domain.
	So GC Tech is not competing against existing banking or credit card systems ? Absolutely not. Moreover, it is anticipated that the Globe ID^TM technology will be adapted to use and enhance any new encryption or validation methods that such companies may introduce in the future (e.g. SET). GCTech doesn't compete with credit card companies, credit card issuers or banking institutions. Customers debit their credit cards or bank accounts in order to replenish their Globe ID^TM wallet. We consider credit card companies and banks as potential partners to whom we license a technology that enables them to operate value-added services that compliment their existing range of financial services. GCTech does not intend to operate its own trusted third party service under its own brand because this would mean competing against its own customers.

	CUSTOMER ISSUES
	Why do I need Intermediation as a customer ? Trust No matter how securely your credit card information have been transmitted, you still have to trust the honesty of the recipient. The chances are you that would trust a major international bank more readily than a small business that you had just found on the Web. The intermediary also has a record of the entire transaction in the event of a query or dispute with the merchant. Transaction Processing Costs Without intermediation, every credit card transaction has to be processed separately. For each merchant with whom you do business, this means a new credit card transaction, and currently credit card companies doesn't usually authorize transactions under $20. However, thanks to the intermediation concept, even if you plan to spend as little as $0.10 on a specific commercial web server, you can still charge it to your Globe ID^TM Wallet. Anonymity: Thanks to the presence of the trusted third party, the customer does not need to reveal his identity to the merchant unless he wishes to do so.
	How do I open a Globe ID^TM wallet ? Just go to the Globe ID^TM web site (http://www.globeonline.com) and fill in a form to open an account. Setting up a customer account and downloading a Globe ID^TM wallet is free (apart from standard communication costs). You'll receive your account number and personal security code right away by e-mail, and that's it ! You're ready to shop anywhere in the world in total security, on any server using the Globe ID^TM technology. Currently the Globe Online server is setup for demonstration purpose only. It does not handle real payments since it is not yet connected to the banking network.
	What happens if I crash my computer ? A customer using the Globe ID^TM technology to place online orders doesn't keep sensitive information on their computer. This means that the customer's account is not affected by hard disk problems (or indeed hardware theft) and therefore orders and account detail requests can be made from any computer connected to the Internet, provided that the Globe ID^TM Wallet is set up on the machine. Moreover, since the Globe ID^TM technology keeps track of all purchases (even though they remain under an anonymous ID reference for the merchant), you can reload any account or purchase information for which you may have accidentally destroyed or lost the paper record.
	Are Globe ID^TM virtual wallets only used for small payments only ? Not at all. Since it operates as a gateway toward existing financial clearing systems, the Globe ID^TM technology allows the same services as those offered by existing payment instruments (credit cards, account transfers, credit lines, etc), as well as the "micro-payment" facility we usually associate only with cash.
	Can I pay in different currencies ? Yes. The intermediation service is designed to handle the appropriate exchange rates as requested.
	Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a customer ? Do I need to use a specific browser or Internet access provider ? The Globe ID^TM Wallet used by the final customer operates under UNIX, MAC, Windows 3.x or Windows 95. It will operate with any standard browser and it is not necessary to use a specific Internet access provider.
	Does my bank need to be using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Do I have to be a customer of the same bank as the merchant ? Neither the customer nor the merchant needs to be a member of the bank operating the Globe ID^TM technology. The money transfer between the account of the operator of the Globe ID^TM intermediation server and the merchant's or customer's banks uses the existing interbanking clearing systems (credit card networks, Swift, etc.). Ultimately, GC Tech is confident that the benefits of the Globe ID^TM features will make it one of the 2 or 3 major international systems of its type, and therefore expects that most banks, credit card issuers and acquirers will adopt Globe ID^TM in order to offer a better standard of service their customers.
	How much would I be charged to buy goods or services from a merchant using the Globe ID^TM technology ? As far as the customer is concerned, no fees at all are applied. The customer is transferring money from a normal Credit card account to a Globe ID^TM Wallet just as he would get money from an ATM machine on the street. By the same analogy, if he got $100.00 in his Globe ID^TM wallet, he can buy $100.00 worth of goods and services from a merchant's web site using the Globe ID^TM system. If he wanted to purchase something priced over 100$, the customer could choose to charge his credit card directly for the purchase (still without having his credit card number transferred across the Internet).
	Where will I have to open a bank account(s) to use the wallet after the trial ? It is not necessary to open a new bank or credit card account to operate a Globe ID^TM wallet. The Globe ID^TM system designed and developed by GC Tech is a technology and not a service. GC Tech is licensing the technology to banks and financial institutions who will be OPERATORS of the Globe ID^TM services; there will not be one but a few Globe ID^TM "services" worldwide. Each of them will operate in its natural sphere of commercial influence: i.e. registering the merchants and customers who already naturally trust it to operate as a financial intermediary. The several Globe ID^TM services will cooperate (through agreements) so that a merchant registered at a given Globe ID^TM service may buy from a merchant registered on another service (eg. a US citizen registered at the CityBank-controlled Globe ID^TM will be able to buy "champagne" from a small merchant registered with the French Globe ID^TM operated by group Paribas). Though advanced discussions are already underway with several banks around the world, the only licensee that can be disclosed for the moment is Kleline SA, a subsidiary of Compagnie Bancaire (groupe Paribas) in Paris. We hope to be able to announce soon a number of licensees in different countries. However, this does not mean that as a customer you have to open a bank account with any of the licensees. What you need to do is register with one of them in order to open your Globe ID^TM wallet. This is an electronic account. The only requirement for you at registration time will be to give the Globe ID^TM service of your choice information on at least one existing credit card account (associated with a bank account at ANY bank in the world).

	MERCHANT ISSUES
	Why do I need Intermediation as a merchant ? Your business is to offer the best services you can to your customers, not to worry about different local and international tax regulations, credit card order processing, etc.. Intermediation allows you to focus on what is really YOUR business, which is based on a specific marketing approach for every segment of your market. Why not continue to adapt these strategies and techniques to online commerce ? The Globe ID^TM system assures the customer's anonymity, but as a merchant you can still adapt your commercial message according to his location, age, income, etc.. "No commitment", "No strings attached". Does this sound familiar ? Especially on the Web, where your competitors are just a mouse click away, customers want to remain free from committing themselves to a specific merchant and prefer to buy from time to time rather than setting up regular commercial relations.
	Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM technology as a merchant ? The Merchant kit installed merchant web server, runs on most Unix and Windows NT machines .
	Why provide the ability to pay or charge small amounts ("micro-payments<=) when the cost of processing such transactions is widely accepted to be far too high for them to be commercially viable ? Using a credit card network is far too expensive to pay for an item costing 10 cents, but Globe ID^TM, by means of an aggregation process in the stored value facility avoids using such a network when it is not economically justified. In addition, while everyone agrees that a small fee (around 2 or 3%) is the limit to what the market accepts for relatively large amounts, the $2 billion per year sub-dollar transactions seen on the French Minitel system demonstrates that for really small amounts a fee up to 20 or even 30% is perfectly acceptable because it corresponds to goods (information or services) for which the marginal production and delivery costs are close to zero. Yes, one can make money selling thousands of copies of detailed weather forecasts every day at 15 cts, or 1 FF, or 20 Yens, each with an payback rate of 75%.
	If I don't have the credit card information of my customers, does it mean that I don't have to worry about the financial clearing in any way ? Absolutely. All the financial clearing operation are handled by the financial institution operating the local Globe ID^TM system.
	How much will I be charged to sell my goods or services using the Globe ID^TM technology ? Costs involved in using the Globe ID^TM technology as a merchant is not an issue adressed by GC Tech, but remains a matter of commercial strategy for the financial institution operating the Globe ID^TM system. However, even though we don't address this point, we can assume that the merchant will pay fees varying from 2% to 20% of the total cost paid by the customer; the highest fees being charged for the sale of small-ticket information services, the lowest for the sale of expensive physical goods, as wine, for example. These are better rates than any of the ones that proved to be attractive on the French Minitel system for the last 12 years or any of the existing online services (AOL, Compuserve, MSM, etc.).
	Can I still apply my classic marketing incentives and/or target my customers for specific marketing messages ? As the Intermediation server brings to the merchants the certification about a corporate customer ID, this merchant will be in a position to offer specific tariffs/pricing to corporate buyers or apply specific prior agreements (e.g. offer a 10% discount to customers from a given company), just as he would in traditional commerce. However, this is not a fixed Globe ID^TM policy: Globe ID^TM simply enables merchants and customers to go about their business normally without interferring.

	TECHNICAL ISSUES
	Which platform/operating system is required in order to use the Globe ID^TM intermediation server technology as a trusted third party ? The Intermediation server which is in charge of the authentification process works under UNIX.
	Does the system have support on different Web Server software ? Of course ! The merchant toolkit will work with ANY Web server, as it plugs in as CGI Scripts: it has a set of API's that can work with Apache, Cern, NSCA, Netscape, or any brand of webserver.
	Does the customer have to deal with Public/Private Keys ? No, there are no public and private key for the customer. This feature allows the customer to purchase from ANY computer connected to the Internet (not only from his own). Also, this means that there is no problem of revocation of the keys for the customer. The only thing the customer has to remember are his Wallet ID and his PIN number (Personal Identification Number).
	How do local intermediation servers connect to foreign banks ? The Globe ID^TM system provides a platform for realizing secure transactions on the Internet. All participants in a payment transaction are authenticated. The contents of each payment message is archived in the server archive, thereby enforcing non-repudiation of operations. An intermediation server is a trusted entity that can clear a transaction through already existing financial networks. It can reach any bank this way. When a customer located in country A buys from a merchant in country B, the intermediation server of country A acts as a customer that contacts the intermediation server in country B to buy from the B merchant. The transaction level: Interaction between Globe ID^TM operators occurs when a customer affiliated with operator A (the issuer) buys something at a merchant affiliated with operator B (the acquirer). Inter-Globe ID^TM transactions are supported by means of a"Web of Trust" model between Globe ID^TM operators. The transaction can take place if the issuer and acquirer know each other (a), or if they have a common friend (b). Scheme (a) works by reaching a peer to peer agreement between operators. Technically, the operators exchange certificates containing each operators' public key. In scheme (b), a hierarchical trust model is defined. Both operators trust at least one common organization in the trust model. Technically this is implemented by means of a certificate hierarchy. Financial interactions: For the flow of funds between operators, Globe ID^TM leverages the existing financial infrastructure. Funds are transferred between operators using traditional clearing houses and networks. Choice of adequate mechanisms is up to the Globe ID^TM operators. Front-end back-end interconnection: The front-end is in charge of the secure communication. Machine cycle intensive cryptographical computations are performed by the front-end. To avoid computational bottlenecks, the Globe ID^TM intermediation server implementation supports several concurrent front-end machines. Load is distributed statistically using a round-robin DNS (Domain Name Server). Using a RDBMS cluster architecture, it is also possible to run several concurrent back-end machines. Thus architecture is many (front-ends) to many (back-ends). Account management: By stating "maintain" and "control" of accounts, we did mean "account management". Merchants are represented internally by a "merchant account", customers by a "customer account". The servers performs the following operations on accounts: Opening and closing Address changes and maintenance Credit and debit operations
	Are front ends and back ends of the intermediation server connected one to one ? One to many or many to many? Many to many (see previous question). Back ends are connected between themselves many to many (this is nothing but what already exists on the existing international financial networks).
	Why is Globe ID^TM not using SSL & HTTP for the information flow ? Is the system fully secure ? The issue addressed by GC Tech is to secure and certify online commercial transactions including payment and not simply to provide a general purpose security mechanism. More specifically, the major requirements of Globe ID^TM users are mutual authentication, integrity protection, non replay, and non repudiation. For business related reasons even more than for technical reasons, the choice was to provide these services to both parties through an intermediation service acting as a trusted third party. As of today the use of SSL or S-HTTP as they can be deployed and operated would have been in many ways an overkill while still not providing the required features. GC Tech's deliberate choice in the design of CPTP (the major Globe ID^TM protocol), after a carefull review of all existing solutions including SSL and S-HTTP, was to define a protocol specialy tailored for the purpose from the same building blocks (RSA, MD5, etc...). In addition to efficiency, one additional advantage of the proprietary and specific design was to avoid service or business oportunities limitations bound to international or national cryptography regulations. In addition, because of the often contradictory requirements for privacy and encryption regulations, GC Tech was careful to design CPTP so that it could be run within within any available protected or cyphered channel when the context (tecgnical and legal) allows. Fully secure? Obviously not, Globe ID^TM claims to be a lot more secure that any other system operated in the same environment, but GC Tech is far too involved in servicing well its technology customers that it will never claim that Globe ID^TM is fully secure. No such system exists and will never exist. Globe ID^TM achieved the ambitious challenge to provide its users the best conditions to establish and deploy electronic commerce : the intermediation operators because of the high level of security of the system are able to profitably market services with the requested financial (not technical) guarantees and highly competitive costs.
	What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptology ? Globe ID^TM CPTP protocol, designed to cover the transaction securitazation needs does not directly or indirectly provide any tool for the users/parties to gain access to encryption facilities. This characteristic enabled to avoid the regulations limitations, while still using the highest level of asymetric cryptography with long keys for the few informations pieces that effectively required it. Globe ID^TM only cyphers the few informations which allow to guarantee the authentication and the integrity. This appears to be acceptable to every where with the possible exception of Singapore for which the issue has still to be clarified.

	SECURITY ISSUES
	What sort of information is transmitted during a transaction, crypted or not ? For each transaction, a receipt is recorded with several information on it. Some of them are: Customer's ID Merchant's ID + his Electronic Signature Product Description Product's price Date/Time of the transaction Method of payment This receipt can be used both by the Merchant and the Customer as a proof of the transaction.
	What strength/bit length of RSA is used to encrypt data ? We suggest 512 or 768 bits now but this may be adapted to what each actual licensee decides. There is no need to set up very long keys as only authentication is needed (there is no need to cypher the credit card numbers: they are NOT transmitted over the Internet) - the key length is not a serious issue from a computing power point of view as there is only a very small number of bytes to cypher. Several keys are involved in the Globe ID^TM operations. The merchant has one key pair for signing payment requests. The intermediation server has three key pairs: A master key pair (and certificate) for issuing certificates A key pair for signing payment captions (i.e. the proof a payment has been done) A key pair for signing user interactions The Globe ID^TM technology does not enforce any particular length of the RSA keys. Choice of length is up to the Globe ID^TM operator. He will base his choice on a security versus performance trade-off. We favor the following recipe: Long intermediation master key (768-1024 bits at least), relatively short other keys (512 bits). The protocols has been specially designed to allow frequent changes of the short keys (every some days), thus keeping risk of key compromise low.
	What about governmental regulations restricting exportation of certain cryptography ? Globe ID CPTP protocol, designed to cover the transaction securitazation needs does not directly or indirectly provide any tool for the users/parties to gain access to encryption facilities. This characteristic enabled to avoid the regulations limitations, while still using the highest level of asymetric cryptography with long keys for the few informations pieces that effectively required it. Globe ID only cyphers the few informations which allow to guarantee the authentication and the integrity. This appears to be acceptable to every where with the possible exception of Singapore for which the issue has still to be clarified.