robert said:
>   This is one of the very few internet startups that I have seen lately 
>   that I think makes a lot of sense. 

oh yes, to be able to send and receive money via e-mail
is a fantastic capability that i've been eagerly anticipating.

it's been one of the missing links to make money from e-publishing.

and it might very well help shareware authors get more payments.

another interesting development is millicent.com, which will be 
facilitating micropayments as small as one-thousandth of a cent,
keyed to your customer visiting pages on your website.
(where, for instance, they might receive your file via ftp.)

when you can take payments of as little as a penny or two,
i suspect you'll be opening the door to million-unit sales.
(a million sales at two cents each will net you $20,000.)

i've been trying to sign up at paypal.com since jay mentioned it.
no luck.  (i can get on their site, but not to their secure server.)

however, i did get signed up at x.com.

even though x.com and paypal.com are merging,
they say it'll be a while, so i suggest signing up with both.

and, if i remember correctly,
x.com does _not_ charge you any fee
when you fund your account with your credit card...

-bowerbird