A secure methodology for interchangeable services
Computing today requires the use of many software packages, but only a few packages are used on a daily basis. This infrequent usage pattern often does not justify purchasing full licenses and therefore motivates a need for a more flexible way to use and pay for the usage of software. This paper describes a design philosophy in which similar services provide the same interface to clients. Services based on this design are interchangeable, allow payment per use, handle payment conveniently and securely, are platform independent, and frequently do not require local installation. Clients can therefore easily utilize resources based on application needs and services available at the time that the application is executing. An example implementation using this methodology is also discussed.
e-commerce environments common object request broker architecture interoperability secure electronic transaction software licensing models