Abstract:
PEER BAZAAR enables, fosters and manages a global peer-to-peer sales process through a global peer-to-peer e-commerce network to distribute consumer products/services through its business model, proprietary software, and web-hosting infrastructure. PEER BAZAAR enters into distribution agreements with publishers and owners of goods/services and digital assets. The data about the goods/services and the digital assets are stored in a central server and downloaded upon completion of a peer-to-peer and/or user transaction. Users purchase products/services by downloading from PEER BAZAAR&#39;s website. Users then try out the products/services. If they are satisfied or not, they write reviews and recommend the product/service to others. Such referrals are recorded and tracked, and if anyone downloads the goods/services and/or title responsive to the referral, then the referring individual gets a reviewer credit or the like which may be a percentage from the sale of the goods/services/assets.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of PCT Application PCT/US02/40723 filed Dec. 20, 2002, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application 60/341,264 filed Dec. 20, 2001. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Peer-to-peer marketing and selling has been well established as a successful business model that has created multi-level-marketing giants such as Amway, Avon, and Tupperware. The Internet has revolutionized e-commerce between business-to-consumers and business-to-business. The consumer-to-consumer selling is done mainly through auctions of articles. The peer-to-peer e-commerce channel for distribution of products and services is still wide open.  
           [0003]    In 2002, $60 billion was spent in the U.S. on online retail sales of consumer products. This has been growing at a rate of 100% for the past five years and is projected to increase steadily in the future. If one assumes that 20% of the $60 billion currently spent on online retail purchases, goes to pay middlemen in the distribution channel, then the potential addressable market in dollar terms is 12 billion dollars. Online purchase growth predictions indicate that online purchases will be anywhere from 300 to 500 billion dollars in the next five to six years.  
           [0004]    US consumers spend on an average $300 per person per year on digital and other products such as books, home videos, recorded music, magazines and video games. These are the fastest growing segments of the entertainment market and are expected to grow to $400 per person per year by 2004. The total market size was about $40 billion in 1999 and is expected to grow. The industry spends over $80 billion in creating digital products and in publishing, promoting, and selling the products. This is also expected to grow to over $100 billion. Over 60% of these expenses are attributable to product packaging, distribution, and marketing.  
           [0005]    Peer-to-peer distribution is a brand new arena for the Internet and currently there is no viable concept emerging that is both legal and economically viable.  
           [0006]    Currently, product reviews are available on Internet sites such as Amazon, Ebay, and Cnet. However, these reviews are either written by amateurs or by manufacturer representatives. The reviews are shoddy, biased, often not truthful and definitely lack quality control. These sites accept advertising dollars from the manufacturers and as a result their impartiality is lost.  
           [0007]    A need exists for a workable business model to enable, foster, and manage a global peer-to-peer distribution channel for consumer products and services.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The present invention, PEER BAZAAR (PB), provides the technology and a business method necessary to enable, foster and manage a global peer-to-peer sales process. This invention enables a global peer-to-peer e-commerce network to distribute consumer products through its unique business model, proprietary software, and web-hosting infrastructure. This invention exploits the viral expansion possibilities of the Internet and uses the peer-to-peer sales process. The invention consists of two components: 1) a product review method that ensures integrity, trust and avoids conflicts of interests, and 2) a method of also treating every consumer as a reseller by the process of referrals. The use of a referral process makes each consumer a sales agent when they recommend a product or service to their peers. Incentives may be provided for the process of referrals.  
           [0009]    The principle revenue sources are fees for subscription by members and for transactions conducted. For subscriptions PEER BAZAAR enters into agreements with manufacturers and suppliers of products and services to post their responses to reviews by end-users of their products and for transaction revenues. Subscriptions are also entered into with consumers and end users to access the stored data and reviews about the products and services. Subscription fees range from no fee to any amount per subscription period. PEER BAZAAR enters into distribution agreements with publishers and owners of proprietary assets such as music, video, books, magazines, and periodicals who wish to use a controlled peer-to-peer network. In this case, the digital assets are stored in a central server (for example, ASP model) and downloaded upon completion of a peer-to-peer transaction. However, the invention encompasses all consumer related products and services and is not merely limited to digital assets. PEER BAZAAR is useful for sales, reselling, distribution, etc. of digital and non-digital products/services. It may especially be attractive, for example, for distribution of digital products.  
           [0010]    One example is where each member has a user name and password and starts out with, for example, an incentive fee for referring a new member. Users may be required to register with a peer-to-peer payment system such as, for example, “Pay Pal” or “Yahoo Pay”. After user log-in to a central web-site, the initial screen may show their account balances, current cash balance, income earned from reviews, transactions, referrals to date and for the year, and expenses for purchases, and the like. The initial screen has links to take the user to the current online database of available products/services, for example, new titles of digital assets, descriptions, and the like. Users purchase products/services by downloading from PEER BAZAAR&#39;s website. Users then try out the products/services. If they are satisfied, they can write reviews and recommend the product/service to their peers. Such referrals are recorded and tracked, and if anyone completes a transaction responsive to a referral, then the referring individual gets a percentage of the sale.  
           [0011]    PEER BAZAAR also solves the problem of “Digital Piracy” which is low cost distribution through the Internet and illegal copying occurring globally. PEER BAZAAR&#39;s long-term solution creates a strong economic incentive for individuals who can sell digital assets to their peers and make money rather than give it away for free. A well-organized peer-to-peer global sales network creates an orderly channel for distribution of assets with built-in incentives at the individual levels to minimize piracy over the Internet. PEER BAZAAR uses the Internet to create, foster, and develop this peer-to-peer network. The network is the asset PEER BAZAAR leverages to distribute any number of products/services. The method of organizing, hosting, and managing a global peer-to-peer sales network and technology is inclusive of the present invention&#39;s capabilities.  
           [0012]    These and further and other objects and features of the invention are apparent in the disclosure, which includes the above and ongoing written specification, claims and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a flow chart of PEER BAZAAR.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2A is a flow chart of the Global Referral and Buyer&#39;s Club for Products and Services.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2B is a continuation of FIG. 2A.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the review ranking and credit assignment scheme.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the global network supplier&#39;s interactions.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing user experience in PEER BAZAAR.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 is a flow chart detailing the PEER BAZAAR subsystem interaction.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the checkout system of PEER BAZAAR.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the supplier&#39;s interactions in PEER BAZAAR.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 9 shows the sequence of invocation of classes when a user triggers an action from the browser.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 10 is a package diagram and displays various packages involved in the application. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 is a flow chart of PEER BAZAAR. Users, new users  1  or existing members  13  who have paid subscription charges, connect  90  to a central database server  3  through any access device such as, but not limited to, personal computers, cellular devices, and/or telephones. The central database server  3  provides users with access to a Buyer&#39;s Club for Products and Services.  
         [0025]    When users access each product/service category  31 , the user may access new user reviews  33  and/or the database of reviews  35 . When users buy a product/service based on another user&#39;s review of that product/service, review credits are sent to the reviewer&#39;s account  41 .  
         [0026]    When users access each product/service category  53  or order products/services  67 , a supplier is provided from the database  57 , the order is fulfilled  59  and the user&#39;s payment escrow is released  63 . When the user buys a product/service after viewing another user&#39;s review of that product/service, a credit is sent to the reviewer&#39;s account  63 .  
         [0027]    [0027]FIGS. 2A and 2B are flow charts of a Global Referral and Buyer&#39;s Club for products and services  2  detailing new user access and member access. A New User enrollment  1  may occur through any access device such as, but not limited to, personal computers, cellular devices, modems, PDAs, and/or telephones. The new user connects to the central database server  3  where the new user is first alerted to the Club Rules and is prompted to enter user information  5 . The user selects a unique password and a code-name or a pseudonym to maintain anonymity. New users may provide, as an option, a profile about themselves.  
         [0028]    The new user&#39;s enrollment data  7  is updated in the central database  3  and screened for conflicts, security and access control. The new user is prompted to set up an account  9  for recording transactions comprising, but not limited to, subscription charges, credits for referral fees and debits for purchases. Optionally, the user may be a member of commonly available payment systems such as, but not limited to, “Pay Pal” and “Yahoo Pay”. Once the user&#39;s account is set up, the user is assigned a user defined access control. The new user is then given user access to the products/services catalog and search engine  11 , which searches by, but not limited to, categories, keywords, and function and the like.  
         [0029]    Existing members  13  access the Global Referral and Buyer&#39;s Club for products and services  2  through personal computers, cellular devices, telephones, and the like, or any other access device that may be introduced in the future. Members are connected to the central database server  3  and given user access control  15  once a password is entered and verified. The member then gains access to the products/services catalog and search engine  11 .  
         [0030]    New users, after completing the enrollment process  10 , and members that have gained access to the products/services catalog and search engine  11 , can either use the exit-application  14  to exit the central database server  3 , or continue to use the catalog or search engine  11 . The user can access the database of reviews on products and services of interests  15 . If the user desires to purchase or download a product or service, the user accesses the order processing module  19 . Then the user scans the computation of weights for reviewer credits  23  and the order is updated in the database and user bank accounts for debits and credits  21 . From here, the user may reenter the catalog or search engine  11  to continue use.  
         [0031]    The user may use links from the product/service catalog  11  and also access the product/service review area for adding to the review database  17 . Here the user can voluntarily write a short review in a pre-determined format about any product or service with which the user has personal experience and can recommend a buy rating, for example, on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the lowest rating (avoid) and 5 being the highest rating (highly recommended). Members are required to disclose any conflicts of interest but will be allowed to maintain their anonymity. Based on their experiences, other members rank the user&#39;s review for trustworthiness. Rankings are done on a scale of, for example, one to five, one being unreliable and five being the trustworthiest. These ratings are recorded and tracked on the central database.  
         [0032]    The user&#39;s adding of a review is updated to the database and user bank accounts for debits and credits  21 . From here, the central database server  3  either processes a transmission to suppliers  25 , or allows the user to return to the product/service catalog and search engine  11 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 3 is a flow chart detailing the review ranking and credit assignment scheme  32 . For each product or service category  31 , the user can view new user reviews of products and services  33 , or enter the database of reviews  35  to view the dates and reviewer&#39;s user name. The user can also view the user assigned trustworthiness index (TI), the order counter (OC) or the number of orders made by users after reading a specific view. The user then can refer to the relative rank  37  assigned based on the trustworthiness index and order counter and display list sorted by rank, from high to low. For every new order  39 , the order counter and user-assigned trustworthiness index are updated. The reviewer credits are sent to the reviewer account  41 . When updated, the order counter and trustworthiness index results are sent to the database of reviews and dates  35  to be updated.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 4 is a flow chart detailing the global network suppliers&#39; interactions  51 . For every product/service category  53 , a supplier is provided either from the database  57  or a new supplier enrollment  55 . Once the order is filled  59 , the user payment escrow  63  is released. A user&#39;s order may also be transmitted to a supplier  67 , whereupon user payment  69  occurs through bank debit, escrow, or reserve  69 . After the user accesses the supplier through the database  57 , rebates and/or commissions to the network  61  are transmitted and credits to reviewers account and to the network  63  are also transmitted.  
         [0035]    After reading one or a number of reviews, the user places an order online for a product or service by clicking on a small icon. The order is documented and transmitted to the merchant, reseller or distributor for fulfillment. The price of the transaction is entered into a database along with the product and other details. If a member places an order, the database is reviewed for the path taken by that member in arriving at a buy decision and the relative trustworthiness rankings to credit each of the influencer&#39;s or reviewer&#39;s account with a relative-rank-weighted share of a percent of the transaction price for the product or service.  
         [0036]    In another preferred embodiment, the PEER BAZAAR system is composed of, for example, four modules; the Financial Transactions Module (FIG. 7), the Review Tracking Module (FIG. 5), the Product Search Module (FIG. 5), and the Account Management Module (FIG. 6). The Financial Transaction Module is responsible for obtaining customer payment information, recording necessary transaction information, routing the transaction through a third party payment destination, and placing an order to the product supplier. The Review Tracking Module is responsible for creating, and managing product reviews. The Product Search Module provides users with the ability to locate specific products and place queries to discover new products within the PB system via a proprietary search engine. The Account Management System is responsible for creation and management of user accounts, the management of user profiles, credit allocation, purchase history, and referral distribution.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing the user experience in PEER BAZAAR. If a user is not registered with PEER BAZAAR and desires membership, the user is taken to the new user registration  70  section of the system. Prompting the user for a unique nickname or assigning a unique alphanumeric-ID to ensure the user&#39;s anonymity within the system initiates user registration. This process is followed by the submission of a user chosen password. The user then enters his or her profile information, including payment-processing information such as credit card or other micro-payment service IDs such as, but not limited to, “Pay Pal” or “Yahoo Pay,” with the information remaining confidential and private to the specific user. If PEER BAZAAR finds any incorrect or missing information, it will ask the user to re-enter the information. Periodically PEER BAZAAR will ask the user to verify their information.  
         [0038]    Upon successful login  73  to PEER BAZAAR from login screen  72 , the system will decide if the user entered the system via a product referral  75 . If the user was referred, the system immediately displays a list of product reviews  74  which provide insightful information to the user from previous purchasers of the product. This feature is be managed by the review subsystem  76 . The user will have the chance to purchase the product at this stage in the system and is provided with the opportunity to give credit to the reviews that influenced the purchase decision. If credit is acknowledged, the respective reviewer&#39;s review credits are incremented. If the credit is not acknowledged then all the reviews read by the user gets equal weighted scores. The user then enters the checkout component  78  of the system to finalize the transaction. At this stage, the referrer&#39;s referral credits are updated.  
         [0039]    If a user was not referred, the user enters the main section  80  of PEER BAZAAR, where several navigation options may be shown. These options include, but are not limited to, Product Search, Club Rules and/or Help  82 , Create/Edit Review pages  84 , View Past Purchases  86 , Personal Profile  88 , Referral Tool  94 , and Logout  92  of the system. The Club Rules and Help  82  define the regulations and restrictions of becoming a member of PEER BAZAAR club. Create/Edit Review  84  pages provide opportunity for the user to write commentaries of his or her past purchasers. Personal Profile  88  allows the viewing and editing of user specific information including name, address, e-mail, and credit card information. The user may also create a buddy list of existing PEER BAZAAR users, which is utilized by the Referral Tool  94 .  
         [0040]    The Referral Tool  94  creates a conduit for users to obtain new customers for a product through direct solicitation. This tool allows users to send referral notices to existing and external users of PEER BAZAAR in hopes of stimulating a product purchase. If a referred user purchases a product through the referral, the referrer receives referral credits.  
         [0041]    If the user decides to search for a product, a search query  95  is submitted to the system, which in turn returns a list of search results  96 . If unsatisfied with the search results, the user has the opportunity to refine the search query through resubmission  98 . However, if satisfied, the user can select a product from the search results and enter the product review section  74  described previously.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 6 is a diagram detailing the PEER BAZAAR subsystem interaction. The subsystems are protected by the security module  100 , which protects a set of confidential and private user events and processes. This set may consist of checkout  102 , profile editing  104 , and review editing  106  and the like. User events such as product searching  108  from product catalogue  120  do not need to be protected by the security module due to its insensitive nature. The security architecture  101  creates a virtual wall to protect the mentioned events through well-proven existing technologies such as “Secure Socket Layer” (SSL). Once the user is ready to checkout  102  the orders are fulfilled  110  and distribution initiated. This triggers the commission manager  112  to review and credit commissions to the account manager  114  as well as triggers the payment transfer which may also be monitored by the accounts manager  114 . The system may query and review past transactions from a transaction database  116  before any transaction is completed. The review manager  118  analyzes reviews posted by users and monitors popularity of products independently as well as with data from the commissions manager  112 .  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 7 describes the checkout process of PEER BAZAAR. This subsystem is instantiated  122  when the user makes a decision to purchase a product. Payment information  124  is supplied by the purchaser to PEER BAZAAR in the forms of, but not limited to, an electronic payment system such as “Yahoo Pay” or “Pay Pal”, or through a credit card or other payment systems. If the transaction is approved, the subsystem determines if product reviews  126  were used to assist in a purchase decision. If so, PEER BAZAAR allocates review credits to the respective reviewer&#39;s accounts or referral credits to those who enabled a sale through a direct referral.  
         [0044]    The review credit  126  creates incentive for users to provide insightful feedback to future purchasers of a product on the product&#39;s relevant pros and cons. A portion of PEER BAZAAR&#39;s margin (from it&#39;s distribution agreements with suppliers of products and services) of each purchase is allocated  128  to a credit pool specific to the product. At arbitrary time intervals such as a week, a month, a quarter, or the like, the credit pool is divided amongst reviewers who were recognized, acknowledged and/or cited as providing beneficial insight into the purchase of the product. The distribution of the pool amongst reviewers is allocated based on weighted scores earned by the reviewers. The weighting scheme may be based on any arbitrary scheme such as relative frequency of readership or the credits given by readers prior to making a purchase.  
         [0045]    The reviewers are ranked relative to each other over time based on a tool to gauge the value of a review on the Trustworthiness Index. This index indicates the frequency at which purchases were made based on the effectiveness of a review. Users can apply the Trustworthiness Index in deciding which reviews are most beneficial for a product category, and to determine which reviewers consistently provide accurate and trustworthy reviews.  
         [0046]    Upon completion of review credit distribution, the subsystem prompts and records all pertinent information necessary to conclude the transaction  128 . This information may include, but not be limited to, the purchaser, the product, a shipping address and the like, if for example, the product is non-digital, which includes any consumer goods/services.  
         [0047]    Transfer of the product from PEER BAZAAR to the customer may depend whether the product is digital  130  or not. Digital products may be available for immediate download onto the user&#39;s electronic device  132 . These devices include, but are not limited to, personal computers, cellular devices, modems, MP3 devices, satellite and radio devices, PDAs and/or the like. The digital product uses any and all available copy protection schemes that include among others, but is not limited to, encoding of buyer&#39;s information within the digital asset, etc. If the product is non-digital, the user&#39;s shipping address  134  is retrieved and supplied along with an order  136  to the supplier of the product for delivery.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 8 is a flow chart detailing the supplier&#39;s interactions in PEER BAZAAR. This subsystem is responsible for control and management of supplier&#39;s products through tools  144  that provide the ability to add/edit products  150  and set price levels, and an accounting system  152  to view revenue information and consumer purchase behaviors. This subsystem can be accessed through a login process  140  where the supplier is authenticated for entry. Upon successful login  142 , the supplier has access to the subsystem&#39;s management tools  144  and is provided with the ability to logout  146  of the subsystem. If a supplier has not registered with PEER BAZAAR, the supplier must undergo a new supplier registration  148  which must be approved by PEER BAZAAR.  
         [0049]    PEER BAZAAR attracts and retains valued customers through an incentive structure. Incentives are placed on product referrals and product reviews. The core component of the incentive structure is the credit, which is awarded with respect to product referrals and reviews. A credit may represent, for example, a financial unit, which allows a PEER BAZAAR user to purchase other products by debiting the user&#39;s credit account or which allows the user to simply receive a credit to their account.  
         [0050]    PEER BAZAAR is different from existing systems for several reasons. PEER BAZAAR assumes that every buyer of a product is automatically a reseller. The system also provides incentives for consumers and deterrents to minimize piracy. PEER BAZAAR creates a unique method of rating for trustworthiness of reviewers for products and services and creates incentives for them. The system effectively creates a global peer-to-peer distribution channel for both digital and non-digital products and services.  
         [0051]    The target audiences for the present system include: consumers that provide detailed reviews of products and services, consumers that provide simple ratings, consumers that browse reviews prior to buying, consumers that sign up to receive product and service alerts, businesses that want to add responses to consumer complaints.  
         [0052]    Multiple databases are utilized in the present invention. The databases may be separate or consolidated and are based on MYSQL regional databases. Examples of possible databases include: reviews for each product or service, reviewers with detailed personal information, products and services (including previews of upcoming future products and services), government actions (such as product recalls), public complaints or court judgments on products and services, institutional members (businesses and institutions that provide products and services), payments to reviewers by review, consumers that sign up for entail alerts on specific products and services, and payments from institutional members by product or service category.  
         [0053]    Outputs from the system are easy to use. Consumers are able to locate information using keywords and/or hierarchal tree structures. Reviews and other information are arranged by category, manufacturer, product name, brand name, etc. Review output is a standard output that is simple, elegant and user friendly. Additionally, the reviews may contain hyperlinks to help consumers in ordering the product or getting more information.  
         [0054]    Businesses and institutions providing goods and services have the ability to generate ad hoc reports by querying the review databases. Allowing these businesses and institutions to subscribe to the site and obtain information regarding reviews of the products or services generates income. Subscriptions to information may be monthly, quarterly, annually, or at any other period. Businesses and institutions get a chance to respond to adverse reviews and responses are displayed for consumers along with the complaints. Previews of upcoming products will also be displayed. Subscribers to the service will also get notices when reviews are posted regarding products and services.  
         [0055]    Additionally, managers of the present system can create ad hoc reports from the information in the various databases. Managers are allowed full access to all information.  
         [0056]    In a preferred embodiment, not all consumers become reviewers. Anyone can submit a review by filling out a detailed standardized web-based form. If a product or service category does not exist, then any user can suggest a new one that may be added by an editorial board. The editorial board will select any number of reviews, for example but not limited to, anywhere from one to approximately ten reviews for each product and the selected reviewers will earn incentives, such as but not limited to, credits, discounts, payments of set amounts, and the like. Some of the reviewers may be invited to join the editorial board and receive additional incentives, for example, get paid more than the original reviewers. The list of reviews displayed on the system is dynamic and can be changed over time as new reviews are submitted. The editorial board determines the quality of the reviews. Both positive and negative reviews are solicited and used. Reviewers provide detailed personal information and are randomly checked for bias, conflicts of interests, and the like. Consumers may sign up for email alert services for specific products or services.  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 9 shows the sequence  201  of invocation of classes when a user triggers an action from the browser. The details of preferred embodiments of each of the classes/layers include, but are not limited to the examples described below:  
         [0058]    JSP/User Interface Components  203 —This layer may comprise various JSP pages that take input from the user. JSP Pages can be replaced with Tiles (Struts framework). Tiles build on the “include” feature provided by the JavaServer Pages specification to provide a full-featured, robust framework for assembling presentation pages from component parts. Each part (“Tile”) can be reused as often as needed throughout the application. This reduces the amount of markup that needs to be maintained and makes it easier to change the look and feel of a website. Each event triggered in this layer may be mapped to a single, or plural, Controller Servlet.  
         [0059]    Controller Servlet  205 —This is a Servlet identified in the Struts framework to provide an MVC architectural approach. The main purpose of this is to convert User actions in Business Events identified by the system.  
         [0060]    Action Form  207 —Action Form classes will extend PeerBazaarAction class. These are basically aimed at form validation, session validation &amp; Authorization. The following include, but are not limited to, the core functionalities:  
         [0061]    Validate the session  
         [0062]    Verify the permission for the user to access this action (security)  
         [0063]    Start the transaction  
         [0064]    Execute transaction  
         [0065]    End transaction  
         [0066]    PeerBazaarAction class extends from the class “org.apache.struts.action.Action”. All Subclasses will override the executeTransaction method to do their transaction. This main functionality of this section is authentication, authorization and Business Event delegation.  
         [0067]    Business Objects  209 —All Business Objects extend the AbstractBusinessObject and will enforce business rules. These will either use the search package to search or the entity objects to read &amp; write data.  
         [0068]    Entity objects  211 —The application master data divided into various entity objects for maintaining cache and performing business operation. The entity will contain the code to create, load and save respective data into database. All the entity class could extend from AbstractEntityObject class. Some examples of Entity classes are: User, Address, AttributeGroup, Attribute, Category, Product, Review, Comments, ReportTable, Column, Report, and Filter.  
         [0069]    [0069]FIG. 10 is a package diagram  213  and displays various packages involved in the application. Packages displayed in the bottom row are the third party packages  215  that are used. com.peerbazaar.user  217  &amp; com.peerbazaar.category  219  are sample packages created for understanding purposes. Each of the packages has one or more Business Objects  209  that enforce business rules. All business objects extend the AbstractBusinessObject class.  
         [0070]    com.peerbazaar.util  221 —Contains utility classed which can be used across the application, exemplary instances: HtmlUtils, StringUtils, and StringCrypt.  
         [0071]    com.peerbazaar.framework  223 —Contains base classes of the framework, exemplary instances: AbstractEntityObject, AbstractFactory, Giver, Transaction, and TransactionManager.  
         [0072]    com.peerbazaar.search  225 —Contains framework for search functionality, exemplary instances: Search, CachingSearch, SearchRequest, and SearchResults.  
         [0073]    com.peerbazaar.general  227 —Contains exemplary wrapper classes for data source, action, action form and giver.  
         [0074]    com.peerbazaar.user  217 —Contains exemplary user management related classes.  
         [0075]    com.peerbazaar.category  219 —Contains exemplary category management related classes.  
         [0076]    Logging—The application may use Log4j API  229  for logging. The logger can be retrieved from giver by accessing the method “giver.getLoggero”. The method returns an object of class org.apache.log4j Logger. The following method is used to log the message.  
         [0077]    Logger.log(Priority, message);  
         [0078]    Logger includes the following non-limiting priorities  
         [0079]    1. DEBUG—this is used for the developer to debug the error. This log message will not be printed in production server.  
         [0080]    2. INFO—this is used to log messages, such as time of use logged, logout, all operations in entity objects like load, save, delete and insert.  
         [0081]    3. WARN—this is used to log messages related to security. For example, if the user trying to access a page without enough permission will not be logged.  
         [0082]    4. ERROR—this is used to log messages about the data inconsistency. All the messages related to support team would be logged at this level.  
         [0083]    5. FATAL—this is used to log messages about the crash in PEER BAZAAR application.  
         [0084]    Encryption—The class “StringCryptjava” provides method for encryption and decryption.  
         [0085]    Security—Security check is handled in PeerBazaarAction class. For each request based on user&#39;s role the feature will be checked to access the page.  
         [0086]    DB Configuration—Connection pooling will be done in the JBoss Application server. The administrator will configure the connection pools prior to deploying the application.  
         [0087]    The following are the major components involved in the framework. The list is not exhaustive and is only exemplary.  
         [0088]    Giver—This is a singleton class, and responsible for holding reference for all factories instance.  
         [0089]    Factory—Each entity type will have a factory to maintain the cache. All entity objects should be retrieved from factory. All the factory class may extend from AbstractFactory.  
         [0090]    AbstractEntityObject—All the entity class will be extended from this class. This class has common methods like load, save, insert and delete.  
         [0091]    PeerBazaarAction—This class extends from the class “org.apache.struts.action.Action”. All the action class will be extended from this action. Subclass will override the executeTransaction method to do their transaction. This may include the following exemplary functionalities:  
         [0092]    1. Validate the session  
         [0093]    2. Verify the permission for the user to access this action (security)  
         [0094]    3. Start the transaction  
         [0095]    4. Execute transaction  
         [0096]    5. End transaction  
         [0097]    AbstractBusinessObject—This abstract class provides the basic prototype for each of the business Rule Management classes. An example of business rule is to check for user duplication when a new user is being created.  
         [0098]    New features of the present invention include, but are not limited to: Registered User Sign-Up page, Reviewer Sign-Up page, Home page, Product Search, Advanced Product Search, Category drilldown, Product Details page, Write Review, List reviews, Subscribe email alert for Product/Category, Invite friend to join PEER BAZAAR, Email alert configuration, Change password, Suggest Produci/Category, View suggested Products/Categories, My PEER BAZAAR, My Account, Approve/Reject review, and Confirm/Withdraw review for reviewer.  
         [0099]    In summary, PEER BAZAAR is an e-commerce system that sells a variety of products and/or services online. Customers are attracted to purchasing online from a web site that provides unbiased, truthful product reviews and at the same time delivers low cost, efficient, hassle free buying experience. Currently, product reviews are available on Internet sites such as AMAZON, EBAY, and CNET. However, these reviews may be biased, not truthful and lack quality control. These sites accept advertising dollars from the manufacturers and as a result their impartiality is lost.  
         [0100]    PEER BAZAAR improves on these previous methods by:  
         [0101]    1. Offering incentives to the user of products to write accurate, extensive, truthful reviews using PEER BAZAAR&#39;s protected business method process. Competition is introduced for the reviewers by paying only the top ten reviewers of any product and then by continuously updating the top ten reviews periodically. In addition to initial payment for selected reviewers, a portion of commission received by PEER BAZAAR is paid to the reviewers as the products are sold.  
         [0102]    2. PEER BAZAAR uses traditional discount available from normal Internet sale sites as well as creates relationships with other sites and manufacturers.  
         [0103]    3. Consumers are asked to write reviews about products that each consumer is using and that are not currently in the PEER BAZAAR database. When enough interest is generated, PEER BAZAAR will offer that product to consumers. In this manner, PEER BAZAAR offers items that are most demanded by the consumer.  
         [0104]    The following is an example of, but not limited to, a preferred embodiment of PEER BAZAAR transactions. At startup, the current system offers products in, for example, 5 categories: music, magazines, books, software and videos. In all, at startup, a number of lines, for example, 10 product lines are offered. PEER BAZAAR may get, for example, 10 reviews on about 100 products (10 products in each of the 10 categories) before the launch. In this way the customers to the web site have products to review and buy. In addition, consumers are asked to write reviews on new products they are currently using. This gives the current system additional leads on products that customers want and builds the database.  
         [0105]    The consumers of the product review are paid some incentive, for example, approximately 100 dollars each once a certain number, for example, ten viable product reviews are received and accepted by the editors of PEER BAZAAR, and PEER BAZAAR decides to offer that product for purchase. The top ten reviewers may be paid a commission, in this example, ⅓ of the commission received by PEER BAZAAR anytime a product is purchased. In addition, when a consumer purchases one of these products, they are encouraged to fill out a survey form. Every six months, editors of PEER BAZAAR review the submitted reviews for a given product and select new top ten reviews. The new reviewers are paid incentives, for example, approximately 25 dollars for the review and are now entitled to the commission on the product as the product is sold.  
         [0106]    Once a consumer reads a review (or reviews) hr/she has the option to buy the product from PEER BAZAAR. The actual sale may be directly from the retailer or from one of the Internet sales channels such as AMAZON, CNET, YAHOO, etc., depending on what PEER BAZAAR has negotiated. In each case, PEER BAZAAR strives to offer the lowest cost to the customer. With each sale of this type, PEER BAZAAR receives a commission. These commissions provide the revenues for the company in addition to other resources, such as but not limited to, membership dues.  
         [0107]    The significance of PEER BAZAAR&#39;s technology is not only in the benefit that it provides consumers, but also in the advantages it provides for vendors. PEER BAZAAR provides vendors with additional marketing channels on which to sell their goods. In addition to this, PEER BAZAAR provides vendors with access to large pools of marketing and survey data. Access to this data provides a second source of revenue for PEER BAZAAR. Participating vendors are charged a fee, for example, approximately 1000 dollars per year per product/service for access to PEERBAZAAR&#39;s data and research.  
         [0108]    Some other advantages for suppliers include, but are not limited to: Lower cost than mass-market promotions or advertisement campaigns, lower distribution and sales costs, supports JIT production, piracy protection solution for digital asset sales (movies, video&#39;s, etc.), and the like.  
         [0109]    The current system is useful to distribute music, magazines, books, software and videos and all other consumer/business oriented products and services via the Internet. The use of peer-to-peer recommendation and distribution is already very popular, and the unique system of the present invention allows for more helpful reviews and purchasing and with the unique incentive system helps prevent web piracy. Digital as well as non-digital products and services may be distributed and reviewed. The technology offers consumers the ability to recommend products to one another and purchase products they decide to buy. Given that none of the on-line sales channels offer this ability, PEER BAZAAR fulfils that need. PEER BAZAAR provides customers unparalleled, cost effective product purchasing experience by providing them with accurate product reviews by peer product users, and buying from sales channel that is most efficient in terms of price and convenience.  
         [0110]    PEER BAZAAR generates revenues from several sources. For example, PEER BAZAAR may charge suppliers a fee per product listing per month to list their products in their database. Another form of revenue may come from commissions from products sold through the PEER BAZAAR site. Other revenue sources are well within the scope of this invention.  
         [0111]    The prime competition for the current system comes from the online review markets that are either based on an advertising model (CNET and EPINIONS) or e-commerce and order fulfillment (AMAZON and BEST BUY). All of these sites provide reviews of products, however, the reviews are not as extensive as the ones that will be provided by PEER BAZAAR. In some cases the quality of the review is suspect since these sites accept advertising and other considerations from the suppliers.  
         [0112]    PEER BAZAAR differentiates itself from competitors by providing truthful, unbiased, extensive reviews of products. The review by the customer is filled online and experienced PEER BAZAAR consumers judge its quality. Despite the growing number of websites, the quality and breadth of information remains limited. As indicated above, a number of websites exist that provide information on products; the reviews are not comprehensive.  
         [0113]    Another main differentiator between the current system and the existing competitors is the quality and validity of the PEER BAZAAR reviews. Today&#39;s reviews are often written by biased individuals or are so high level they do not add much credible value. As a result, many Internet buyers today act on gut feeling or good faith. PEER BAZAAR reviews structure and completeness and the review process is much more valuable and complete. The reviews consist of a very detailed questionnaire. Reviewers are asked to sign a letter to say that they have purchased and used the product. The proof of purchase (i.e., UPC label) is verified in some instances. The questionnaire has questions that try to ascertain whether the buyer has used the product. The incentive for the reviewer to do a thorough job includes initial payment and commissions for at least six months if their review is among the top ten reviews of the product, as determined by PEER BAZAAR editors.  
         [0114]    While the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the following claims.