E-COMMERCE FUNCTIONS

The following ten functions must be provided in order to EC to occur; in essense, they are the
enablers of EC:
Standards setting body
WAN service provider
Hosting service (i.e. data center)
Software developer
Certification authority
Publisher/Aggregator (presence provider)
Copyright broker
Metering authority
Auditing authority
Information consumer
The provision of the above ten E-Commerce functions does not necessitate
the involvement of an equivalent number of parties; many of these will be
carried out by the same provider. For example, the Hosting Service can be
the same organization as the Publisher/Aggregator.