It seems we're worrying about something that is between a non-problem and a simple copy of an existing problem. Today we use paper cash and paper forms. I go to the bank to make a withdrawal, I fill out a paper form requesting money. They take the form, fail to give me cash, claim that I have been given cash. What recourse do I have? (Several is the answer, but the point is that it's not a problem new to digicash.) Today I order from a supplier. I send a paper form of payment (P.O., check, paper copy of my CC #, etc.). They cash such form and do not send me goods (or claim that they did and they were lost in transit). What recourse do I have? (Again, several. Again the point is that digicash does not seem to be introducing new problems; rather it's giving us new forms of old ones.) As a side note: one of the reasons I use credit cards (even though it gives a record of my purchases that can be used for marketing and other unintended purposes) is that the CC company does a large volume of business and guarantees my transaction. If I dispute a charge with the merchant, the CC company automatically takes my side. They take it out of the merchant's hide. Plus, since the merchant doesn't want to be in a bad way with a big customer (Visa, say) -- there is a huge incentive for him to make good, much more incentive than if he were dealing with me directly. For these reasons, I think that something like CC houses will still prosper under a digicash regime. --Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker, Author, and Cyberspace Bard Media Lab - Advanced Human Interface Group wex@media.mit.edu Voice: 617-258-9168, Pager: 617-945-1842 PUBLIC KEY available by request Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational.