By Felicity Ussher, 12 March 1999 17:01
NEWS Internet technology company, Centraal has boosted its RealNames Web navigation system by offering instant access to the archives of three US authorities. Surfers can now reach individual documents from the Web sites of the US Patent Office, the Securities Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenues Service without going via intermediary pages. They need only type the name of a patent or tax return in a RealNames-enabled browser, or the AltaVista search engine. This is the first use of Centraal's Active Namespaces technology, which the firm announced yesterday. Bill Washburn, chief of content, information and language logic at Centraal, said the new feature saves time for people searching for dynamic information - like patents and tax returns. "We wanted to put our stake in the ground and offer services of value to the Web community, but it could work for any organisation with a computerised archive," he said. "In some cases we can do this for them, but it depends on how transparent their systems are." Washburn expects major corporations to want similar services, once they see how the model works. "We would set up pricing arrangements with major corporations, but the service would remain free for end users," he said, adding that he is open to offers from outside the US.
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