Digital Money/Anonymous mailing: an idea

[covin@cs.uchicago.edu]

I haven't yet read enough on digital money to know the intricacies,
but here's a possible use (note that a variant of this is possible *now*,
due to the extremely insecure way that credit card charges are handled):

If a good way of implementing digital cash were found (maybe it has been?),
it would be possible to operate a truly anonymous *commercial* remailer.
You send the remailer a message, encrypted by its public key, containing
the message you want re-sent, the destination, and *payment for the service*.
For hit&run anonymity the remailer doesn't even need to ever know who you
are...

The main advantage of this is that it would allow someone to run a remailer
without having to fund it out of the goodness of their heart...  It's a
valuable service, and I'm sure there's a market... Also, it would provide a
*real* use for digital cash, thus starting the ball rolling on that...

Comments?

                            -David