[Service Insurance] RE: ambiguous match and business transaction

Excellent points - please see comments below marked with [JMC].
 
Kind Regards,
Joe Chiusano
Booz Allen Hamilton
Strategy and Technology Consultants to the World
 


________________________________

	From: public-sws-ig-request@w3.org
[mailto:public-sws-ig-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of sam.watkins@bt.com
	Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 7:24 AM
	To: public-sws-ig@w3.org
	Subject: RE: ambiguous match and business transaction
	
	
	If we have "service insurance" as described by Joe, 
	"I see you did not receive a response on the above point yet:
What this comes down to is electronic trust, and potentially SLAs
(service-level agreements). For example, Web Service A is provided by a
service provider (that we will call Service Provider A). The service
consumer would need to have an SLA with Service Provider A that makes
Service Provider A responsible for the authenticity and non-harmful
nature of Web Service A. 

	 

	What is missing in this is something that I foresee a need for
in the future - and that is some type of insurance policy (call it
"service insurance") by which a service provider can be held liable for
damages by a service that they offer (whether the damages be theft of
personal information as you describe above, or interruption to business
operations if a service is down for longer than the agreed-upon
permissible time, etc.). A service consumer would then be entitled to
some monetary award by filing a claim with the service insurance
provider. This is an incentive for a service provider to ensure the
authenticity, non-harmfulness, and dependability of their services. I
foresee the existence of this new type of insurance provider within the
next 10 years.  

	 

	An e-business registry - such as UDDI or ebXML Registry - might
also be involved here. In this case, the service consumer would have an
SLA with the registry provider, who vouches for the authenticity,
non-harmfulness, and dependability of the services within its registry."

	 
	However, as with any business transaction, I protect myself by
using trust worthy suppliers so will not require such insurance.  I do
not trust businesses until I have established trust.
	 
	[JMC] What does "trust" really mean? Let's suppose I buy a new
car from an auto dealer. I may not have dealt with that dealer before
(as I only buy a new car every 5-7 years or so), so there is not really
a "trust" relationship. If someone I trust (for example, a friend)
recommended the dealer, I might have a higher level of trust in the
dealer. However, I might have a high degree of trust in the auto
manufacturer (for example, I like Toyotas because they are highly
dependable). But that does not mean that the car will last for 5-7 years
without anything breaking - hence the need for a warranty (which is not
really equivalent to insurance, but we can perhaps draw somewhat of a
parallel). The warranty is a mechanism by which I am protected against
car equipment failure.
	 
	[JMC] Also, what if a company one "trusts" is subject to a
situation (such as the unavailability of a service) that affects one's
business operations? Trusting the company does not automatically negate
the possibility of such situations occurring. I believe this goes beyond
trust.
	 
	Kind Regards,
	Joe Chiusano
	Booz Allen Hamilton
	
	Strategy and Technology Consultants to the World
	 
	As such, I would not insure myself against this loss as an
individual.
	As a supplier I would aim to only deal with companies I knew and
trusted - and I certainly would not request or pass on credit card
details unless I were using them.  So again I would not buy such
insurance.
	
	Anyway, with a credit card, I would expect that any fraud of
this kind would be covered by the credit cards insurance...
	
	 
	regards,
	Sam J Watkins

	
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