AT&T Patents Trusted Intermediaries, Sues PayPal

[cubic-dog]

On Fri, 21 Nov 2003, R. A. Hettinga wrote:

> "PayPal and eBay have infringed AT&T's U.S. patent that covers transactions
> in which a trusted intermediary securely processes payments over a
> communications system such as the Internet."
> 
> 
> I wonder what American Express, VISA (and Plus), MasterCard (and Cirrus),
> Diner's Club, NASDAQ, Autex, Telerate, and even Quotron -- not to mention
> CRESTCo, DTC, and SWIFT -- would have had to say about *that*?

They won't say anything. They won't have to.
Paypal and eBay are both dangerously close to
being an underground economy. One is able
to transact business without that transaction
being tracked by Visa/mc et al. 

Just like the new banking moves are aimed at 
getting rid of "check cashing stores", these
legal manuevers are aimed at getting rid of
any kind of non-controlled commerce. 

Since the end of all of this is supposed to
be a cashless society and an "end to violence"
I wonder when john q public will realize that
one can trade goods for crack and no money
need change hands, hence these pushes are
more likely to cause even worse crime, rather
than less.