At 15:22 11/16/95 -0500, Arley Carter wrote:

3. I'm getting tired of seeing posts this list about what is more dangerous cyberspace or restaurantspace. Let's focus on the real mechanics of how the ground rules of credit card clearing will operate in cyberspace. The credit card consortiums can advance the cause of electronic commerce by stating in unambigous terms what their views are of these ground rules. Developers, cardholders and merchants can then make a judgement on whether those risks are acceptable to each party respectively.

I agree. I doubt we can completely eliminate the risk by technical fixes. I do think we may be able to reduce the risk below what it is in non-cyberspace commerce. (e.g. phone orders and in-person card presentation). If we can do that, and a significant part of commerce moves to cyberspace, then we can see a reduction in the fraud premium that we all pay (no matter who "offically" pays for it). While cash-like instruments will be an important part of cyberspace, I think that credit arangements may be more important. In non-cyberspace commerce, almost all big-ticket purchases are made with time-payment credit. Whether the total of the "candy bar" transactions will exceed the total to the big-ticket transactions, I don't know. Certainly if we are dealing with tangable goods, shipping costs encourage large orders. Bill ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz Periwinkle -- Computer Consulting (408)356-8506 16345 Englewood Ave. frantz@netcom.com Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA