Patent ID: 6920429

Claim:
A method of viewing and negotiating to completion, among entities using client machines, cargo shipping offers with respect to identifiable shipping lanes, the method operative in conjunction with a server, the server associated with a database of shipping information and connected to a computer network, the server including content pages that comprise a Web site, the method comprising: generating, by the server, a set of one or more content pages associated with an identifiable shipping lane; exporting, over the computer network, views of the set of content pages to client machines connected to the server, the client machines having requested information about the identifiable shipping lane, with each page of the set of content pages including then-available offers, if any, associated with the identifiable shipping lane to enable entities to participate interactively in a negotiation, within the Web site, with respect to the identifiable shipping lane; interactively negotiating cargo shipping commitments by entities, wherein the negotiation occurs by and among at least two, but not limited to two, separate entities performing the following sub-steps: (a) creating and posting for display at the server, by an entity using a client machine, for viewing by other entities having continued concurrent access to the negotiation, a cargo shipping offer with respect to the identifiable shipping lane as specified by the entity, and (b) responding, by another entity, using another client machine, by either accepting the cargo shipping offer as specified by the entity or creating and posting for display at the server, for viewing by other entities having continued concurrent access to the negotiation, a new corresponding cargo shipping offer with respect to the identifiable shipping lane; continuing the negotiation with respect to the identifiable shipping lane, within the Web site, and without restricting access to the negotiation as to any entity that desires to participate interactively, until a given cargo shipping offer with respect to the identifiable shipping lane has been accepted by a given entity.