Re: USPS

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

The USPS does have a role in the world of e-commerce, but I think it's 
likely to be much less than they think. Bilateral agreements are often 
more efficient for long-term work, but for general one-off transactions, 
it's cheaper to have a _small_ number of commonly trusted third parties.

For this reason, I think it would make a lot of sense to have DMVs serve 
as certification agencies (a role they fill today).

You don't necessarily have to trust them any more than you trust a 
drivers licence for applications where 100% certaintiy is what you need, 
but for your typical commercial situation it'll do fine. 

Simon.

p.s. 
 has anyone done any studies on the cost of making different kind of 
trust decisions (both of the 'trust a CA' and various orders of the web 
of trust model? (i.e. trust as introducer^n) 



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