There a clearinghouse network allows electronic settlement of all plastic-money transactions for any type of card or issuing bank.

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Electronic trading has shortened settlement times, lowered bid-ask prices for frequently traded stocks, reduced brokerage costs and improved the flow of information.

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The Commission also plans to adopt measures aimed at facilitating electronic payments and billing and simplifying the settlement of online disputes.

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An example is virt-x, a small electronic exchange for European blue-chip shares which offers clearing and settlement alternatives: nearly all the liquidity has migrated to just one of them.

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But they will factor heavily into any settlement terms struck by Google and Viacom, says Fred von Lohmann, senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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