Q How are most global companies handling the issue of displaying sensitive content to only the appropriate country? Price differences between Asian countries, European countries and the United States are our most sensitive issue, and we don't want to make it easy for customers to compare prices between countries. We are currently using IP address detection to channel customers to the correct country view, but it is sometimes a challenge to manage the database of IP addresses. We're considering changing to a system that shows anonymous visitors only generic content and shows visitors who log in country-specific list pricing, account-specific pricing or other sensitive information.

A You've raised one of the most thorny topics of being on the Internet. Many companies have different price lists by region or nation. These price lists are often governed by distributor agreements forged well before the Internet started to change the rules, so they can't be broken overnight. IP address detection, as you've found, is an uphill battle that is destined to get worse as the number of users explodes worldwide. There's no perfect answer, but it looks like you're on the right track by requesting a log-in to guide users to the appropriate content. The ticking time bomb here is that your customers aren't stupid. If it costs $100 to buy your product in the United States and $500 in Japan, they're going to figure it out. Now's the time to question whether your regional pricing is defensible based on the services that you provide and the real costs.

Q How do you evaluate the viability of an online business model that's based on consumers buying various products from a variety of name-brand retailers? I have read that B2C models are not expected to thrive nearly as well as B2B models in the world of e-commerce. What is your opinion?

A I'm convinced that there's very little new about the businesses that have sprung up on the Internet. Whether they are B2B or B2C, the model is still all about providing a valuable service to a distinct set of customers. Open your local Yellow Pages, and you'll find all the same business models that have driven the Internet Revolution -- retailers that specialize in price, variety or service, and wholesalers, distributors and auctioneers. Forming a successful business on the Internet means learning what makes these brick-and-mortar businesses work. They deliver specific value to a group of customers, they make sure their target customers know that they are providing this value, and they have to do it profitably. In doing so, they compete for market share against other businesses that provide similar goods and services. All of this holds true for Internet-based businesses, too. You have to be able to answer the question, What makes my company different? Recently, B2C dotcoms have been slammed in the financial markets. In my opinion, rightly. There are a lot of these businesses chasing a finite number of customers with a finite amount of money

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