December
1999 QUESTION 4 Total Marks: 15 Marks |
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questions
SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS |
| (a) |
What are Microcent transactions ?Use an example to explain your answer,and give one argument against the use of Microcent transactions. Two marks for explanation: The idea of microcent transactions is that web users could be charged very small sums of money (e.g.$0.0001)to access web pages (1).This would allow content providers to receive income from user accesses to their pages,without needing to administer individual accounts (1). Two marks for example:For example,a newspaper may cost $0.50 at the news-stand, and contain 126 articles.That is a cost of $0.004 per article (1),so the user who wants to read just a few of those may be willing to pay a small cost although they would not buy the whole paper (1). Two marks for one of the arguments against: Difficulty of maintaining records (1)—heavy encryption needed to make payment secure,but that is overkill for a fraction of a cent (1). User resistance (1):at the moment,most things are free on the web (1). Easier to use advertising (1):being paid by a few advertisers is much easier than trying to collect money from every user (1). Current payment systems are designed for dollar-sized (or at least,tens of cents) transactions (1);overhead is quite large (1).
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| (b) |
On-line retail is becoming big business,but is seen by many as risky.Explain the risks, and discuss how they compare with those in traditional retail. These or other relevant points: The risks are that credit card numbers may be intercepted in transit (1),orbyan unscrupulous sta .member at the retail site (1).The second problem is just as big as in traditional retail (1),and the first is probably exaggerated,and can be offset by use of encryption (1).
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| (c) |
The globalization of the World-Wide Web brings different societies ’notions of free speech and reasonableness into conflict.Describe two technical approaches that have been used to implement restrictions on free-flow of information,and comment on their effectiveness. Several answers are possible (up to three marks).Here is one. The crudest approach is simply to eliminate sections of the internet from individual access,which has been seen in many countries around the world (1).This requires the cooperation or coercion of all internet service providers within a country (1).Another relatively simple approach is to .lter email,web pages,etc.based on key-word searches (1). Any technically-supported comment should be given credit (up to two marks).E.g. Both of the techniques described above are quite gross in their effect,and will result in the blocking of far more material than is intended (1).Conversely,anyone who knows the rules and algorithms being used will be able to circumvent them (1). |
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