E-commerce
Conducting business online (eg buying and selling products using an electronic payment system).

Electronic Company Registration (ECR)
A system provided by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission for registering a company online. ECR uses smart cards and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to generate and authenticate digital signatures and includes an electronic payment facility.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
The transfer of information from one company to another using a network.

Electronic Magazine (E-zine)
An E-zine is an Internet form of a printed magazine.

Electronic mail (E-mail)
E-mail is where messages are transmitted from one computer user to another over communications networks or modems over telephone lines. Messages can also be sent to more than one user at the same time, called broadcasting.

Electronic signature
A generic term describing all methods by which a person can sign an electronic message or record. Different forms created by different technologies exist including: a name typed at the end of an email message by the sender; a personal identification number (ie PIN used for bank accounts); a digitised image of a hand written signature attached to electronic documents; a biometric-based identifier (eg a fingerprint or retinal scan) or a Digital Signature. Electronic signatures are usually used when checking out in a virtual store.

Elliptical curve
A new PKI technology.

Encryption
A process used to scramble data and convert it into a secret code before transmission.

Equity
Fairness and natural justice. This is a settled and formal system of doctrines and rules, founded on distinct principles that supplement, aid, or override common and statute law.

Escrow
Holding on trust by a third party until a condition is fulfilled. For example, the source code to a particular computer program may be held in escrow until the satisfactory completion of a contract for services. Often deeds or shares are held in escrow.

Extranet
An intranet partially accessible to authorised outsiders. Whereas an intranet resides behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organisation, an extranet provides various levels of accessibility to outsiders. Giving a valid username and password provides access to outsiders.