Such a system requires low service costs, a guarantee that customers receive the information they request, and that merchants receive payment for goods delivered. NetBill uses an account server, which maintains accounts for both customers and merchants, linked to conventional financial institutions. The NetBill server acts as an aggregator to combine many small transactions into larger conventional-sized transactions. The payment structure is designed for the easy construction of pseudonyms to allow buyers of information to protect their identities. The basic steps in the protocol are the following.
Customer requests a price quote from the merchant.
The merchant responds with a quote to the customer. The customer accepts or rejects the price quote. If the quote is accepted, the merchant delivers the information in encrypted form. The customer sends an electronic payment order to the merchant. The merchant sends the electronic payment order and key to the NetBill server.