1. Supporting the Legal Identities of Contracting Agents with an Agent Authorization Platform
Changjie Wang, Ho-fung Leung
Dept of Comp Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
{cjwang,
Dickson K. W. CHIU
Dickson Computer Systems
Irene Kafeza
Faculty of Law,
University of Hong Kong
Eleanna Kafeza
Department of Marketing and Communications, Athens University of Economics and Business

2. Motivation and Background
No legislations governing automatic agent transactions except one preliminary attempt in the USA
Can be used easily as a means for fraud and deception
The rules are not clear: lack of adequate legal response, international standards, and the cross-border nature of electronic trade
Hinders massive adoption
What happen if the agent does not act as the user’s expectation
Wrong user instructions?
Malfunction of the agent?
The agent is manipulated by a third party?
System failure? … ???
Difficult to proof
Key problem rooted at the necessary means of trust
Authorization management in agent delegation
Legal identity of agents
Proposed solution: Agent Authorization Platform
Agent Authorization Platform

3. Elements of a Contract
“A contract is a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in someway recognizes as a duty.” (US Laws of Contracts)
(1) An agreement
Examine whether the negotiations that have taken place between the parties (offeror / offeree) can be defined as an offer and acceptance
(2) An intention from both parties to be legally bound
Attribute to the person his executed intention and not what was present in his mind
For agents, check how it acted on relevant situations and what are the parameters of the user’s instructions on how to react under these situations. (difficult!)
(3) A valuable consideration
Agent Authorization Platform

4. Valid and enforceable contracts
Requires persons with contractual capacity
Legal obligations are connected to contracts
USA: Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) –
provides a full set of commercial law rules for computer information transactions
An “Electronic agent” is defined as a computer program, or electronic or other automated means, used by a person to initiate an action, or to respond to electronic messages or performances, on the person’s behalf without review or action by an individual at the time of the action or response to the message or performance
Agent Authorization Platform

5. Agents as legal person Physical Persons vs. Legal Persons Debatable …
Examples of legal persons - a corporation, a government entity, a ship
Exist only when they have assets
Legal personality will enable agents to
have rights and duties
to sue and be sued
to own assets
Agent Authorization Platform

6. Can agents convey a promise?
When intelligent agents negotiate a deal, they cannot manifest assent in the same way as humans.
A party that enters into a contract has to be aware of the commitment and this is guaranteed if the party manifests assent of the terms.
Many law scholars point out that we can assume that a person manifests assent by conduct when using an electronic agent.
One might consider that intelligent agents serve the same function as human agents => legal personality.
Difficulty: a mutual assent on the nature and scope of the rights and obligations between the parties (meeting of the minds) is necessary – need a new technical solution for the case of agents
Agent Authorization Platform

7. Solution Overview Legal Solution: Proper legal identity of agents
Compare agents with a registered corporation
Possibility of real asset granted from owner
Agents then sue and be sued
Future work …
Technical Solution: Agent Authorization Platform for agent authorization and identity management
Agent Authorization Platform

8. Overview of Agents’ Contractual Capability
Increasing Autonomous Capability
Agent Authorization Platform

9. Major Functions of the AAP
Issue of electronic agent certificates
Authentication of the users and their agents through electronic certificates
Validation of agents’ bids
Witness of electronic contracts with validation to ensure contract terms are with the agents’ authorization limits
Alert agents’ owners in case of authorization violations
Non-repudiation support
Agent Authorization Platform

10. A Conceptual Model for Agent Authorization
Agent Authorization Platform

11. AAP System Architecture
Authorization
Database
Authorization Validator
Alert Management
System
Web / WAP Access
Alert
Agent Programmatic Interface
Non-Repudiation
Server
Desktop
Laptop
PDA
Mobile
Human Users
Agents
Agent Authorization Platform
AAP
Portal
Internet Alert Sender
Authorization Profile Editor
Agent Certification Center
Agent cert
Agent registration request
E-contracts
Validation logs
Violation
profile
AVR = Authorization validation request
AVR
Front-end Tier
Logical Tier
Back-end Tier
Certificate Authorities
Agent Authorization Platform

12. AAP Protocol Overview Authorization Platform (AAP) (3)Agent issuing
(1)Agent request
Customer
agent
Verification Module
(4)Agent verification
(2)Agent preparation
(5)Negotiation
Agent certificate center
Seller
(6)Authorization validation
Authorization Database
Non-repudiation Database
(7)Contract
signing
agent
(8)Agent return
Authorization
Platform (AAP)
Agent Authorization Platform

13. Agent Request Flow Chart
Customer C
Verification Module
Customer request ReqC
Record agent authorization
Verification failed, reject the request
Authorization Database
Record non-repudiation data
Non-repudiation Database
Agent generation receipt
Inform agent formatting
Agent certificate center
Agent Authorization Platform (AAP)
Agent Authorization Platform

14. Agent Certificate Agent identification number (AIN) Buying description
Authorization Profile
Time stamp and the period of validity
Agent public key
Other static data
Public Key Algorithm specification
SigAAP(Above data)
AAP certificate CertAAP
Agent Authorization Platform

15. Authorization Validation Protocol
Agent
Authorization
Platform (AAP)
Verification Module
Agent
Pre-contract signing
Authorization validation request
Agent certificate center
Host
Authorization confirmation and final contract signing
Authorization Database
Non-repudiation Database
Authorization profile update
Customer
Agent Authorization Platform

16. Advantages of our approach
AAP provides a solid foundation for establishing enforceable trust
proper encoding of users’ requirements, intention, and preferences
ensure whatever happens cannot violate the agents’ authorization limit
the final electronic contract is validated against the agents’ authorization or with the users’ explicit consent
adequate evidences to avoid most of the legal ambiguities
Technical aspects - agent reliability
Social aspects - build up of trust and a positive image of technical reliability
Agent Authorization Platform

17. Summary Various legal ambiguities rooted at
Authorization management in agent delegation
Legal identity of agents
AAP provides a technical solution
Legal solution
We do not intend to solve all the legal issues immediately but we propose a solid foundation
Expect gradual adoption, cf. adoption of PKI in e-commerce
Agent Authorization Platform

18. Future Work Maintaining legal personality Contributions to reliability
Transfer of assets to agents
Insurance for agents
Contributions to reliability
Constraints and requirement specifications
Application of Semantic Web and ontology
Enactment of new legislations similar to the legal acceptance of e-certs in electronic transactions
Agent Authorization Platform

19. Question and Answer
Thank you!
Agent Authorization Platform