Computer software used in conjunction with smart cards and smart card readers for providing multi-user access to the Internet, e-mail, home shopping services, banking services, and participation in television shows, over cable television lines via the use of digital set-top boxes and televisions; Computer software and magnetic cards for sending, receiving, storing, securing and processing digital and other electronic data, and for managing secure electronic events and transactions; and Computer software for use with encoded smart cards, namely, software relating to cards providing cardholder identification and/or cashless payment for goods and services; software for browsing and providing telecommunications connections to global and local computer networks, user authentication, ensuring user security and database management; smart-card based and global-network based management application software; smart cards containing software applications and applications software for smart cards to transmit user authentication and user personal data over global and local computer networks