Re: Micropayments are Crap

[Simon Spero <ses@tipper.oit.unc.edu>]

I've had this argument lots of times, and I tend to flip-flop between 
several positions, but I think you're missing the big big win of 
micropayments(*). Micropayments allow an individual to charge for 
information which is of value to the reader, but the magnitude of which 
is too small to handle by conventional means; for example, a single 
article or comic strip in a newspaper is too cheap to perform a complete 
SET/{VISA,MC,NOVUS) transaction for. The journalist cannot sell the work 
direct- instead she must sell the work through a middleman who takes by 
far the biggest cut. 

 Micropayments allow each author to be her own wire-service. _This_ will 
be the triggering point for the new media. These services can be combined 
into edited newspapers without the editors needing to set up complex 
traditional arrangements (I'd pay for John Young's Daily News :)

Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own the vending machines

Simon


(*) For the purpose of this message, micropayments are defined to be low 
value transactions below the minimum values acceptable for conventional 
payment networks



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