Systems, methods and computer program products for conducting regulation-compliant commercial transactions of regulated goods via a computer network

A method of auctioning regulated goods over a computer network, wherein the computer network comprises a Web site of a seller and a plurality of Web clients in communication with the Web site, wherein buyers communicate with the Web site via respective Web clients, the method comprising:

• displaying information about regulated goods to be auctioned via the Web site;
• conducting an auction over the computer network to solicit bids to purchase the regulated goods;
• declaring a buyer that submits a highest bid for the regulated goods a winner;
• and
• verifying that the winning buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods by verifying that the buyer has a valid license issued by a regulatory agency for the regulated goods.

A system for selling regulated goods over a computer network, wherein the computer network comprises a Web site of a seller and a plurality of Web clients in communication with the Web site, and wherein buyers communicate with the Web site via respective Web clients, the system comprising:

• means for displaying information about regulated goods offered for sale via the Web site;
• means for receiving an offer at the Web site from a buyer, via a respective Web client, to purchase the regulated goods;
• means for verifying that the buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods by verifying that the buyer has a valid license issued by a regulatory agency for the regulated goods;
• and
• means for sending an acceptance of the offer to the buyer in response to verifying that the buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods.

A system of auctioning regulated goods over a computer network, wherein the computer network comprises a Web site of a seller and a plurality of Web clients in communication with the Web site, wherein buyers communicate with the Web site via respective Web clients, the system comprising:

• means for displaying information about regulated goods to be auctioned via the Web site;
• means for conducting an auction over the computer network to solicit bids to purchase the regulated goods;
• means for declaring a buyer that submits a highest bid for the regulated goods a winner;
• and
• means for verifying that the winning buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods by verifying that the buyer has a valid license issued by a regulatory agency for the regulated goods.

A computer program product for selling regulated goods over a computer network, wherein the computer network comprises a Web site of a seller and a plurality of Web clients in communication with the Web site, and wherein buyers communicate with the Web site via respective Web clients, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising:

• computer readable program code that displays information about regulated goods offered for sale via the Web site;
• computer readable program code that receives an offer at the Web site from a buyer, via a respective Web client, to purchase the regulated goods;
• computer readable program code that verifies that the buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods by verifying that the buyer has a valid license issued by a regulatory agency for the regulated goods;
• and
• computer readable program code that sends an acceptance of the offer to the buyer in response to verifying that the buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods.

A computer program product for auctioning regulated goods over a computer network, wherein the computer network comprises a Web site of a seller and a plurality of Web clients in communication with the Web site, wherein buyers communicate with the Web site via respective Web clients, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising:

• computer readable program code that displays information about regulated goods to be auctioned via the Web site;
• computer readable program code that conducts an auction over the computer network to solicit bids to purchase the regulated goods;
• computer readable program code that declares a buyer that submits a highest bid for the regulated goods a winner;
• and
• computer readable program code that verifies that the winning buyer is authorized to purchase the regulated goods by verifying that the buyer has a valid license issued by a regulatory agency for the regulated goods.