From: Michael J Gebis <gebis@ecn.purdue.edu>
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 23:32:06 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Digicash will not fly (not)
Message-ID: <199510301515.KAA13367@purcell.ecn.purdue.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text


> >While Chaum is a brilliant cryptographer, he is an incompetent businessman
> >He has demonstrated this in numerous ways.
> >The latest being "Cash" where the bank skims off 4% to 10% every time.
> >No one is going to use digicash under these kinds of terms and 
> >conditions.

> Doesn't just about everyone do precisely this when they pay sales tax?
> Every time a buck arrives or departs a hand one pays a tax yet the
> system (you and I)continues accepting these terms albeit painfully.

Theoretically, when I pay sales tax I get something in return (better
roads, nicer schools, improved NSA wiretaping, and other government
services.)  With digicash, you're paying for the use of the money
itself.

What sort of charges do Visa/Mastercard impose upon merchants?  I
thought it was 3%; if so, I would suspect that this is the level of
"off-the-top" skim that the market will sustain, and DigiCash should
probably use a similar rate.

-- 
Mike Gebis  gebis@ecn.purdue.edu  Corporate Operating Systems Still Suck