DOCUMENT STORAGE AND CLASSIFICATION

An electronic commerce system for storing and classifying documents includes one or more document repositories that store documents. The system also includes a global content directory that includes a plurality of product and document classes organized in a hierarchy where each class categorizes a number of the documents and is associated with one or more attributes of the documents categorized in the class. At least one of the classes has one or more associated pointers that identify the one or more document repositories. The system further includes a global content directory interface that facilitates retrieval of the documents. A security module encrypts the documents to protect confidential information contained in the documents and decrypts the documents when a buyer has a required permission level.