[47225] in Cypherpunks
Re: DEC's MICROCASH
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (grimm@MIT.EDU)
Mon Jan 15 13:06:45 1996
From: grimm@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 12:44:36 -0500
To: jcobb@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSD.3.91.960114201707.28537C-100000@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com> (jcobb@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com)
My question becomes, "Is it harder to crack one encrypted transaction
for $10,000, or 100,000 plaintext transactions for the same amount?"
Answer: Don't know. That's why I am posting this message.
-James
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 20:19:24 -0500 (EST)
From: "James M. Cobb" <jcobb@ahcbsd1.ovnet.com>
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Friend,
01 14 96 Edupage includes:
MICROCASH
Digital Equipment filed a patent last August for a payment
system called Millicent, which enables Web-site operators
to charge as little as a tenth of a cent for each customer
"hit."
The system relies on middle-men --credit card companies or
digital banks -- to handle the transactions, but its novelty
lies in its cost-effective design geared toward tracking
minuscule amounts of cash. To keep disk storage at a minimum,
security measures providing privacy and a trail of signed re-
ceipts are not included in the system, but proponents point out
that would-be cyberthieves would have to crack a lot of trans-
actions -- 10,000 at 0.1 cent each -- to make just $10. "There
are easier ways to make 10 bucks," says Millicent's inventor.
(Business Week 15 Jan 96 p90)
Cordially,
Jim
