In 1997, the Hewlett Foundation provided funding for the establishment of a Center for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts and in 1999,the online auction site eBay, asked the Center to conduct a pilot project to determine whetheronline mediation could assist in the resolution of disputes between buyers and sellers.12 eBaycurrently has over one hundred and sixty million registered users and over twenty five milliontransactions take place each week. eBay itself is not a party to any transaction and, in general, assumes no responsibility for problems that arise between buyers and sellers. While thepercentage of transactions that lead to disputes is low, the number of such disputes is considerable.The UMass pilot project handled over two hundred disputes in two weeks. As a result of thesuccess of the project, eBay selected an Internet start-up, SquareTrade, to be its disputeresolution provider.13 SquareTrade realized that, in order to handle large numbers of cases,technology needed not only to allow parties to communicate at a distance but that it needed toassist parties in negotiating effectively and assist them in reaching consensus. Thus, SquareTrade designed a two step dispute resolution process. The first step was a Web-based technologysupported negotiation process in which parties tried to resolve the dispute themselves. If this failed, the parties could request a human mediator.