[4241] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Another great invention by Microsoft
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Hettinga)
Sat Feb 27 18:38:31 1999
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 15:17:59 -0500
To: cryptography@c2.net, cypherpunks@cyberpass.net, dcsb@ai.mit.edu
From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
--- begin forwarded text
From: brands@xs4all.nl
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 23:21:16 +0100
To: dbs@philodox.com
Subject: Another great invention by Microsoft
Sender: <dbs@philodox.com>
List-Subscribe: <mailto:requests@philodox.com?subject=subscribe%20dbs>
Hi,
Microsoft recently got their second patent on groundbreaking electronic money
methods. It's good to see that there is so much good new work being done in
the field!
Regards,
Stefan
=========================
US5872844: System and method for
detecting fraudulent expenditure of
transferable electronic assets
Inventor(s):
Yacobi; Yacov , Mercer Island, WA
Applicant(s):
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
Issued/Filed Dates:
Feb. 16, 1999 / Nov. 18, 1996
Abstract:
An electronic asset system includes tamper-resistant
electronic
wallets that store transferable electronic assets. To
break such
tamper-resistant wallets, the criminal is expected to
spend an initial
investment to defeat the tamper-resistant protection. The
electronic
assets are issued by an institution to a wallet
(anonymously or
non-anonymously). During expenditure, the electronic
assets are
transferred from a payer wallet to a payee wallet. The
payee wallets
routinely submit the transferred assets for possible
audit. A fraud
detection system samples the assets submitted for audit to
detect
"bad" assets which have been used in a fraudulent manner.
Upon
detection, the fraud detection system identifies the
electronic wallet
that used the bad asset and marks it as a "bad wallet".
The fraud
detection system compiles a list of bad electronic wallets
and
distributes the list to warn other wallets of the bad
electronic wallets.
The list is relatively small since it only contains
identities of
certificates of bad wallets (and not bad coins) and the
certificates
have short expiration terms, and hence can be stored
locally on each
wallet. When a bad wallet next attempts to spend assets
(whether
fraudulently or not), the intended recipient will check
the local hot list
of bad wallets and refuse to transact business with the
bad wallet.
CLAIMS:
I claim:
1. An electronic asset system comprising:
a plurality of electronic wallets;
a plurality of transferable electronic assets stored
on the
electronic wallets, the electronic assets being
transferred from
payer electronic wallets to payee electronic wallets
during
transactions; and
a fraud detection system to sample a subset of the
transferred
electronic assets to detect bad assets that have been
used in
a fraudulent manner, the fraud detection system further
identifying the payer electronic wallets that
transferred the bad
assets.
[66 other inventive methods and apparatus omitted]
============================================
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Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
