I'm sure they'd like to have it "applied to Internet network money."....

FRANKFURT, Oct 3 (Reuter) - Bundesbank President Hans Tietmeyer said on Thursday a new government policy to give only banks the right to issue pre-paid cards, or ``electronic purses'', should also be applied to Internet network money. Tietmeyer said in the text of a speech to The Economic Club of New York that G-10 central bank governors were addressing the new payment forms because they may cause difficulties for central banks to ensure the integrity of payments. Tietmeyer noted European Union central bankers have agreed that only banks should issue the pre-paid cards. The policy is expected to be widened to include the rights to create and maintain Internet-based electronic cash systems. ``In our opinion, the same should definitely also apply to network money,'' he said. Tietmeyer said electronic forms of money tend to crowd out currency and deposit money, which may increase the potential for credit institutions to create money. ``Electronic money may impair the supervisory functions of the central bank, or, in other words, its function of ensuring the integrity of payments,'' Tietmeyer said in a text of the speech released in Frankfurt under embargo. ``That would increase the risk of crises in one country spreading out to engulf payment systems worldwide,'' he said. Electronic purses are plastic cards with a built-in micro-chip which stores the electronic cash value of an account and can be reloaded at special machines. The proposal to restrict such projects to banks is part of a new German banking law which is still under preparation but expected to be enforced in 1997. Tietmeyer said it was difficult to create definitive regulations for electronic money at ``this early stage''. ``The evolution of electronic money is only in its infancy. But it is a characteristic feature of today's world that tomorrow's world will be upon us in no time,'' he said. Electronic purses, also known as smart cards, are not yet available in cash-dominated Germany but tests are being run on several projects. Internet banking is slowly gaining credence in Germany after some of the top banks, including Dresdner Bank AG, launched securities trading accounts via the Internet.

Regards, He who foresees calamities suffers them twice over. -? Joseph Reagle http://rpcp.mit.edu/~reagle/home.html reagle@mit.edu E0 D5 B2 05 B6 12 DA 65 BE 4D E3 C1 6A 66 25 4E