Excerpts from mail: 13-Jan-95 Re: a mechanism for getting..
tribble@netcom.com (996*)

> A couple of more things.  AMIX was tracking state taxes for people in
> different states, had automated support for contract resolution, had
> arbitration services in place to resolve disputes, didn't transmit credit
> cards over the net, etc.  FV may have some of these (though my impression
> is not many), but I worry about the security of their payment mechanism
> (and people's credit card numbers).

Well, let's take them one at a time:

1) Automated support for contract resolution:  I really don't know what
you mean by this, because we have a standard terms & conditions
document, no contracts required.  (Do you sign a contract each time you
go to the store?)

2)  Arbitration service:  We inherit the dispute resolution process for
credit cards, since they're the underlying payment scheme, but we layer
on some additional buyer protection because we allow ANYONE to be a
seller, without going through the Visa/MC merchant approval process.

3)  Credit cards on the net:  We never send your credit card number over
the net.

If you're worried about the security of credit card numbers, you don't
understand how the system works -- the numbers never appear on any
Internet machine, either in clear text OR encrypted.  How much safer can
you get?  -- Nathaniel