New electronic distibution company Infobank International (Multimedia) Plc, the one-year old start-up that launched a CD-ROM computer catalogue earlier this year (CI No 2,610), has set up an on-line shopping catalogue of the same ilk. Accessed via the World Wide Web, the service enables users to order and buy computer-related items, mobile phones and business information, using encryption software downloaded from Infobank’s home page. The company said the service is aimed at small businesses where employees are individually responsible for ordering software and may need a few business books or financial information along the way. Companies already displaying their wares on the on-line service include Microsoft Corp, Lotus Development Corp, IBM Corp, Digital Equipment Corp and Compaq Computer Corp. Infobank orders the product direct from the supplier or distributors and guarantees next day delivery unless customers make a bulk purchase in which case it may take a bit longer. It says all products are competitively priced but that does not necessarily mean any cheaper. Users are charged an extra ú6 to ú12 to cover delivery costs. The catalogue has 1,500 Web pages containing information on 1,800 products which it says will grow to more than 10,000 products in the next six months. The encryption software was developed by International Software Development Inc, a Jersey-based software company that developed the interface for BACS, the Bankers’ Automated Clearing System, and it is used by UK banks to process credit card transactions.
Algorithms were so secret
International Software receives a cut of the on-line service business from Infobank. Optimistically named Titan the encryption software uses a combination of public, private and secret key encryption. Secret key encrytion was described by the company’s managing director, Carl Dalby, as a process where the software automatically generates and transfers encrypted code to a designated server without the sender’s or receiver’s knowledge. Dalby said the algorithms were so secret that he could not explain the encryption any further. However, his confidence in the software is such that he expects American Express Co to endorse Titan shortly as the most secure encryption software. Infobank is using the on-line service to promote its CD-ROM Corporate Collection catal ogue and will offer cut-price single-user versions for ú15 and a subscription version for ú40, down from the usual ú180. The company is also talking to Maid Plc and Phonelink Plc, the two newly-public providers of on-line business information services, with a view to offering abridged versions of these services to customers with its CD-ROM set. It sees the CD-ROM and on-line catalogue services as complementary and hopes many users will buy both, using the on-line service for more accurate software prices and the CD-ROM to purchase and then download software onto their own machines.
