(fwd) Statement on Merchants - Mark Twain Banks

[Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>]

I knew it!

There *is* an echo in here...

;-).

Cheers,
Bob Hettinga

--- begin forwarded text


X-Sender: merchant@172.16.1.10
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 14:16:17 -0500
To: ecash@digicash.com
From: Ecash Merchants <merchants@marktwain.com>
Subject: Statement on Merchants - Mark Twain Banks
Sender: owner-ecash@digicash.com
Precedence: bulk

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Ecash - Its Your Money!

Mark Twain Bank both supports and promotes free speech.  Our adoption
of the Ecash secure payment system written by DigiCash is one of the
most important statements we think we can make about our belief in
privacy.  We believe that all sites should have the ability to publish
or promote as they choose, and to do business with whom they choose.

Mark Twain is a public company regulated by multiple governmental
entities.  In the ordinary course of business, the company chooses
with whom it does business every day. The company has no obligation to
                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
conduct business with anyone it deems to be inappropriate.  The
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ;-).
company will decline to accept any web site that sells graphics or
items that would, in the sole and conservative judgement of the Bank,
be offensive to the primary constituents of the Bank and other online
vendors. Defining what is acceptable is an ongoing process of the
Bank's Oversight Review Committee. Anyone with questions about
specific acceptability should contact the committee by email.

At this time the regulatory framework for Ecash and other online
payment mechanisms is not established.  We expect that we will be
required to present the case for this new payment mechanism before
legislative and regulatory bodies.  This means that the ultimate
success of Ecash will depend, in part, on our ability to provide
regulatory bodies with a rational argument why current restrictive
regulations should be broadened.  If opposing parties are able to
divert the discussion away from these essential elements into an
argument about controversial products that may be available, then the
goal of universal acceptance may not be met.

As banks from around the world adopt Ecash, customers will be able to
use their Mark Twain issued Ecash to make purchases globally without
restriction.  Mark Twain believes that all Ecash issuing banks should
be inter-operable, and that such purchase transactions are private
matters of the individuals utilizing Ecash.  One could certainly
imagine that merchants not acceptable to Mark Twain could be
acceptable elsewhere.

Thank you for your patience, and your comments.

Mark Twain Bank
merchants@marktwain.com
www.marktwain.com

"Ecash" is a trademark of DigiCash bv
"Mark Twain Banks" is a trademark of
 Mark Twain Bancshares, Inc.


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--- end forwarded text



-----------------
Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com)
e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"If they could 'just pass a few more laws',
  we would all be criminals."    --Vinnie Moscaritolo
The e$ Home Page: http://thumper.vmeng.com/pub/rah/