Authors:
Cătălin V. Bîrjoveanu
1
and
Mirela Bîrjoveanu
2
Affiliations:
1
Department of Computer Science, “Al.I.Cuza” University of Iaşi, Iaşi, Romania
;
2
Continental Automotive, Iaşi, Romania
Keyword(s):
B2C/B2B, Multi-Party Electronic Commerce, Chained Transactions, Complex Transactions, Fair Exchange.
Abstract:
In this paper, we introduce the concept of chained transaction as a transaction in which the customer obtains a physical product from a provider using one or more active intermediaries (brokers). Even if there are many multi-party fair exchange protocols with applications in buying digital or physical goods, digital signature of contracts and certified e-mail, no one can be used to solve our problem: complex transactions in which a customer wants to buy several physical products, where each product is acquired in a chained transaction, providing fair exchange. In this paper, we propose the first solution to the problem mentioned above. Our protocol is optimistic and provides fairness, timeliness, non-repudiation and confidentiality.