Applications include contactless transactions such as payment and transit ticketing, keys, data transfers including electronicbusiness cards, and access to online digital content.
But this obliges publishers to essentially run two businesses at once: a traditional publisher that sells bound books to stores and an electronicbusiness that sells e-books online.
To rev up growth, the company has tried shifting its business into new areas including discounted online goods, software for small businesses and electronic payments.
For a godfather of electronic trading, Mr Madoff ran the business along antediluvian lines: clients and feeder-fund managers were denied online access to their accounts.