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Chapter 7

E-Commerce

The Internet, Intranets, and Extranets

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What is the Internet?

The Internet connects millions of servers.

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• Growth of the Internet– Number of servers

• From a few hundred in 1991, to more than 115,000,000 by mid-2000

– Number of users• More than 200 million;

increased rapidly during 1999

What is the Internet?

World growth of the Internet

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Internet Domains

• A domain name is assigned to each IP address.

• Domain names are registered by one of a group of companies authorized to assign unique names.

The number of Internet domain servers continues to grow

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The World Wide Web

• Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)– Allows shared communication of text, full-color

graphics, tables, forms, video, and animation

• Hypertext Mark-Up Language (HTML)– Code for tagging Web files for display

• Browsers– Software to access the Web

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Creating Web Files

– HTML: System of standardized “tags” that format elements text, graphics, and animation

– Web page editors: Translate well-known or intuitive commands into code

– Java, ActiveX, and XML: Web scripting languages

– Frames: Sections of a Web page that let a browser explore a site in different ways on the same page

– Cookies: Special file a Web site saves on the surfer’s hard disk so the site can remember something about the surfer later

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Intranets and Extranets

– Intranet• A within-organization computer network

that uses Internet technologies to communicate

–Extranet • Uses Internet technologies to facilitate

communication and trade between an organization and its business partners, such as suppliers

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Intranets and Extranets

intranet, an extranet, and the Internet from an individual user’s perspective

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Establishing a Web Site

• Site Name

• Points of Presence

• Line Capacity

• Site Maintenance

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Business on the Internet

• Business-to-Business Trading

• Electronic Data Interchange

• Exchanges and Auctions– E-catalogs

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Business-to-Consumer Trading

Advertising•Portals

•Free Internet applications

E-Shopping•E-Payment

•Auctions and reverse auctions

•Selling content

•Selling software

•Data push

•Stock trading for all

Web-shopping benefits

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Business Considerations

• Web Costs– The least costly sites are those constructed

simply to showcase the company’s products or services.

– The most expensive sites are those designed to enable electronic commerce.

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Risks to Organizations– Computer viruses– Interception of passwords and codes by an

unauthorized hacker– Interception of charge account numbers– Illegal or socially objectionable use of a site– Potential misrepresentation

• Risks to Consumers– Eavesdropping and interception – Misrepresentation