Parties involved in a particular transaction in an E-marketplace each
identify and submit to the E-marketplace relevant characteristics related
to that transaction. The identification of the party is not revealed with
this submission. To achieve this, an attribute certificate is created
which contains attributes related to a buyer or seller's potential
participation in a transaction. The attributes that are selected pertain
to specifics of the transaction and not to the certificate holder. Each
of the attributes are verified by a trusted authority (e.g., the
E-marketplace acting as an intermediary for the transaction) so that when
the attribute certificate is supplied to a party, the party is assured
that the information it contains is accurate. In this manner, parties to
a negotiation in a particular transaction are able to know immediately
and with a high level of assurance that certain critical elements to the
proposed transaction are met (or are capable of being met). This
information is made available to all who wish to participate in the
bidding/negotiating process (as opposed to being available only when
specifically authorized by the certificate owner) but without the need to
identify the certificate owner.