Q. Can I process credit card transactions from my web site?
A. Yes, but you will need either a Merchant Account through your bank, or an account with one of the many reseller services that proliferate on the Net. However, it is vitally important that you research the service in advance. We hear horror stories about reseller services that do not transfer funds in a timely manner or that provide bad service to their merchants. Expect to pay a sign up fee, a monthly service fee and an assortment of transaction fees. Compare fees, but avoid basing your decision solely on price.

Q. Can I conduct my transactions online, in real time?
A. Yes. This is called an Internet Merchant Account. It may be available through your bank, or can be purchased from reseller services that are offering this feature. It's worth paying for the convenience, but be sure that the reseller is using technology that is sophisticated enough to intercept online fraud. The better ones have an excellent track record in this respect.

Q. Can I set things up so customers can automatically download the files that they have purchased?
A. Yes, but you will need special software or special programming code to accomplish this. Shopping cart software is available that will perform these functions for you, or you could engage a programmer to write code that would automate this process. Shopping cart software ranges in price from free to sky's-the-limit. Whatever software you use must be compatible with both your web server and with the technology that your ecom service is using. The lower priced or free shopping cart software usually requires that you customize and install it yourself. This requires some knowledge of CGI programming.

Q. Can I protect my digital products from piracy?
A. Partially, and it will cost you. Digital piracy is a big problem and even big names like Microsoft haven't found a way to protect their software from theft. You can try adding password protection to your files. You can try incorporating a registration number that is needed to open the file. This will "slow down' some of the piracy but will not eliminate it, since customers can still distribute the files to their friends provided they remember to save the password or registration numbers.

Q: Can I protect my site from hackers?
A. Yes, to a certain extent, but you will need special technologies or features that usually come with a price tag. Security features depend upon the web server and the settings that the web administrator is making available. Ask your web administrator what they can do and what they recommend.

Q: Can I use the free web site that my ISP provides as part of the package?
A. Inadvisable. The free sites do not provide you with CGI capabilities. CGI is a powerful programming language that allows you to do many things that you cannot do with basic HTML. CGI is both server side and client side. This means that the server hosting your web site must have CGI software installed (server side) and your web page (client side) contains coding that will interact with the CGI that is installed on the server. To use CGI, you need a web- hosting package that provides you with a private CGI bin that you use to store your CGI scripts. Then, you will be able to run shopping cart software, add password protection to the web site, offer a site search, provide a bulletin board, or perform many other sophisticated functions. When you purchase a web hosting package with CGI bin included, you still have to acquire the scripts that will perform the functions you want. Some hosting packages include scripts for add-on value.