ValiCert Press Release
ValiCert Merges with Receipt.com
Combined Companies Provide First Global, Secure Infrastructure for
e-Transaction
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., December 15, 1999 -- ValiCert, Inc., the
leading provider of digital certificate validation solutions and
services, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to
merge with Receipt.com, the leading provider of trusted transactions
and XML data interchange for e-commerce.
The newly combined company will be known as ValiCert, Inc., and will
expand from its leadership position in digital certificate validation
to provide the first complete solution for creating the
infrastructure that businesses need to conduct secure, provable and
legally-binding e-Transactions globally over the Internet.
ValiCert's expanded offerings will make it safer for today's
paper-driven business processes to be performed over the Internet by
providing enterprises, business-to-business marketplaces, financial
service providers, Web merchants and consumers with protection
before, during and after electronic transactions. ValiCert's
software and services provide complete, end-to-end e-Transaction
security and non-repudiation, including digital certificate
validation, secure data transport, digital receipts, time stamping,
secure transaction archival and proof services, as well as tools to
enable e-commerce applications to take advantage of this
functionality.
Industry analyst Forrester Research estimates that
business-to-business electronic commerce transactions will reach one
trillion dollars per year by 2002. Gartner Group predicts that
companies will spend $9 billion on software and services per year to
support this level of commerce.
The merger will also add many of the top names in the banking and
financial services, insurance, and business-to-business e-commerce
industries to ValiCert's client list, including Aetna, Blue
Cross/Blue Shield, Healtheon, Dun & Bradstreet, the National
Association of Securities Dealers, Hong Kong Telecom, The
Sun-Netscape Alliance and EDS.
"ValiCert and Receipt.com are, for the first time, making it
possible for organizations and end users to conduct legally binding
e-Transactions on the Internet even if they are not using digital
certificates," said Yosi Amram, president and CEO of ValiCert. "The
merger announced today allows ValiCert to bring to market secure,
end-to-end e-Transaction solutions, and gives us the critical mass we
will need to carry out our strategic vision."
"Our two companies have a shared vision of providing proof, security
and management for electronic transactions that until now has only
existed in the paper-based world," said David Jevans, president and
founder of Receipt.com. "ValiCert's services and software create a
secure common ground for companies to engage in business-critical
e-Transactions, regardless of which digital certificate provider they
choose. Likewise, Receipt.com allows companies to deliver, track,
manage and prove their online transactions, contracts and documents
from any of their customers, suppliers or partners. Our combined
companies can now move forward to provide our world-class customers
and partners with a complete solution for e-commerce security and
protection."
Together ValiCert and Receipt.com have technology and marketing
alliances with leading worldwide providers of security, hardware,
software and e-commerce solutions, including: Baltimore Technologies,
Compaq, CyberTrust, a GTE Company, Entrust Technologies, IBM, RSA
Data Security, Sun-Netscape Alliance, VeriSign and many other leading
vendors.
About ValiCert
ValiCert is the leading provider of end-to-end, secure infrastructure
solutions for e-Transactions. ValiCert's Validation Authority
services and software, combined with its unique Digital Receipt
technology, provides customers with comprehensive trust and
non-repudiation solutions for e-Transactions. The company's
comprehensive solutions incorporate digital certificate validation,
provable digital receipts, secure data transport for e-Transactions,
trusted time stamping and secure transaction archival.
ValiCert has technology and marketing alliances with leading
worldwide providers and users of security services and products and
its customers include Global 2000 organizations in financial
services, telecom, healthcare and government sectors. ValiCert is
headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is available on the
World Wide Web at http://www.valicert.com.
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What are digital receipts?
A Digital Receipt is an XML document which captures the digital
signatures of the sender and the receiver, a verifiable time stamp
and standardized transaction details. Digital Receipts may contain
information about related receipts permitting complicated
transactions to be reassembled and reconciled. Digital Receipts also
support real-time assurance such as online notaries, insurers and
auditors.
How do they work?
Digital Receipts create electronic evidence with xml and a time stamp
that proves to an independent third party that a document or
transaction was sent and received at a specific time by a specific
person or company. Non-repudiation requires an irrefutable trail of
digital evidence, as well as protocols and procedures for transaction
verification, dispute resolution, auditing and reconciliation.
What is non-repudiation?
Non-repudiation, at its most basic, is the ability to prove to an
objective third party-after the fact-that a specific communication
originated with and was submitted by a certain person, or was
delivered by a certain person. Non-repudiation, then, defines the
means used to prevent illegitimate breaches to contractual agreements
on the same grounds.
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Where do I store them?
Receipts are stored in a Digital Receipt Warehouse that performs the
following functions::
* Receive receipts from one or more Stampers
* Convert XML receipts into RDBMS relational data
* Store Integrity Reports in an Oracle 8I database through JDBC
* Send Integrity Reports to trusted third party service providers
* Respond to Hierarchy of Trust requests from third party
service providers
* The Digital Receipt Warehouse is written in Java 1.2, and is
supported on the Windows NT and Solaris 2.6 operating systems.
* The Warehouse uses JDBC to store receipts in an Oracle 8I database.
What is FileDrive?
FileDrive is a secure file transfer solution. FileDrive is used by
major banks, insurance companies and Fortune 500 companies to
securely exchange business critical documents and transactions over
the Internet.
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Receipt.com (formerly Differential, Inc.) is the leading provider of
trusted transactions and data interchange for E-commerce's Global
2000 companies. Receipt.com sets a new standard for proof and
security over the Internet, providing a level of risk management and
liability protection that is comparable to the secure private
networks utilized by banks.
Founded in 1996 by David Jevans and Kent Davidson, Receipt.com is
receiving widespread industry recognition for creating a platform to
help move e-commerce forward. The company founders are active
participants in standards-setting groups, including the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF).
Digital Receipts is the company's most recent product line. Digital
Receipt technology is based on the emerging XML standard. Receipt.com
also offers FileDrive for secure file transfer and Extranet Creator
for document sharing. The combination of Digital Receipts, FileDrive
and Extranet Creator provides a complete solution for secure and
provable e-commerce transactions and communications.
Digital Receipts addresses the increasingly important issue of
electronic non-repudiation-the ability to prove to a third party that
an e-commerce transaction actually took place. This is especially
critical for business-to-business e-commerce, insurance providers,
and financial institutions. Receipt.com offers its customers the
trusted third party service to provide a complete non-repudiation
solution.
Receipt.com is a privately held corporation with financial backing
from U.S. Venture Partners and SoftBank Holdings, Inc.
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http://www.receipt.com/annotatedxml.pdf