Priceline 2011 Annual Report Download - page 9

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Operations and Technology
Our business is supported by multiple systems platforms, which were designed with an emphasis on scalability,
performance and reliability. The platforms are largely independent among Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda and
rentalcars.com. The software platforms and architecture use a variety of tools within each corporate implementation, including
server-side Java, C++, ASP, .Net and Perl, and SQL scripts integrated with Oracle, MySQL and Microsoft SQL-server
relational database systems. These internal platforms were designed to include open application protocol interfaces that can
provide connectivity to vendors in the industries in which we operate. These include large global systems, such as airline and
hotel room reservation systems and financial service providers, as well as individual suppliers, such as individual hotels. Our
Internet servers utilize digital certificates to help us conduct secure communications and transactions, as appropriate.
The systems infrastructure and web and database servers of our international operations are primarily hosted in
England, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. Each location has backup generators and infrastructure typical of hosted data
centers.
Our systems infrastructure and web and database servers in the U.S. are hosted at two U.S. data center locations, each
of which provides network connectivity, networking infrastructure and 24-hour monitoring and engineering support. Our
network operations center is located in our Norwalk, Connecticut headquarters and monitors all web hosting facilities. All data
center facilities have a continuous power supply system, generators, redundant servers and multiple back-up systems. If one
hosting facility were inaccessible, for any reason, we would need to shift all traffic to another hosting facility.
Customer service for our international business is provided primarily through in-house customer call centers. We
outsource most of our U.S.-based priceline.com call center and customer service functions, and use a real-time interactive voice
response system with transfer capabilities to our call centers and customer service centers.
Intellectual Property
Over time and through acquisitions, we have assembled a portfolio of patents, trademarks, service marks, copyrights,
domain names, and trade secrets covering the Priceline Group's services. We regard the protection of our intellectual property
as critical to our success. We protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights in the
U.S. and internationally, as well as a variety of administrative procedures. We also rely on contractual restrictions to protect
our proprietary rights in our services. We have entered into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our
employees and contractors and nondisclosure agreements with parties with whom we conduct business in order to limit access
to and disclosure of our proprietary information.
We pursue the registration of our domain names, trademarks, and service marks in the U.S. and internationally. We
currently hold numerous issued United States patents and pending United States and international patent applications. We file
additional patent applications on new inventions, as appropriate. Effective trademark, copyright, patent, domain name, trade
dress, and trade secret protection is expensive to maintain and may require litigation. As the Priceline Group expands
internationally, we must protect our intellectual property rights and other proprietary rights in an increasing number of
jurisdictions, a process that is expensive and time consuming and may not be successful in every location. See, "Risk Factors -
We face risks related to our intellectual property."
Governmental Regulation
The services we provide are subject to various federal, state, international and local regulations. For example, our
travel service is subject to laws governing the offer and/or sale of travel services as well as laws requiring us to register as a
"seller of travel" in certain jurisdictions. In addition, our services may be subject to various federal, state, international and
local taxing regulations. See "Risk Factors - Adverse application of state and local tax laws could have an adverse effect on
our business and results of operations" and "We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities."
We are subject to federal, state and international laws that require protection of user privacy and user data. In our
processing of travel transactions, we receive and store a large volume of personally identifiable data in the United States,
Europe and Asia. This data is increasingly subject to legislation and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world,
including the Commission of the European Union through its Data Protection Directive and variations of that directive in the
member states of the European Union. Such government action is typically intended to protect the privacy of personal data that
is collected, processed and transmitted in or from the governing jurisdiction.