Beckon’s Open Commerce Networks via Internet and Email Analogies

Ravi Prakash, Principal Architect at Beckon and co‑author of the Beckon protocol specifications, provides an overview of the technology. Beckon’s purpose is to create “open commerce networks” that accelerate innovation in e‑commerce and product engineering.

Understanding Open Networks: Analogies from the Internet

The internet functions as a collection of standards, technologies, applications, and formats that together form a protocol stack such as TCP. Anyone wishing to communicate on the internet must implement this stack or use an existing implementation. Public digital infrastructure—typically Internet Service Providers—offers the “plug point” that connects devices to the wider network.

Discoverability requires an address, for example an IP address, while human‑readable identification is obtained by purchasing names through the Domain Name System (DNS). Trustworthiness for online transactions is proven through the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) infrastructure, which relies on SSL certificates issued by Certificate Authorities. The layered nature of the internet allows any two systems to exchange data regardless of physical distance.

Understanding Open Networks: Analogy from Email

Email is presented as an open network built on open standards like the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Email clients and servers communicate using the standardized rules and message formats defined by SMTP. SMTP itself depends on lower‑level layers such as DNS and IPv4 to route messages, much like a postman delivers mail without needing to understand its contents.

Within SMTP, sender and receiver identities are expressed as email addresses. Because the specification is open, any business—whether hosted on different clouds or operating in separate locations—can exchange messages as long as it adheres to SMTP. This openness stems from the fact that SMTP, DNS, and related protocols are publicly documented and freely adoptable.

Mechanisms & Explanations

Internet Communication Layering – Open standards enable devices to talk through Wi‑Fi, local gateways, the internet, and DNS, forming a layered communication system.
Email Communication – Clients and servers translate email content into structured packets using SMTP as a common language; DNS and IPv4 handle routing from source to destination.
Interoperability via Common Specifications – When different entities follow the same open specification, such as SMTP for email, they can understand each other even if they are distinct businesses or located in different regions.