Then, later, some graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, members of the net-based Cypherpunks mailing list, cracked another Netscape security system. Netscape was so taken by this ad hoc, kitchen table approach to security testing that it instituted a cash reward system to encourage computer scientists, cypherpunks and others to beat their system. The cypherpunks mailing list carries a daily discussion of such matters. What seems inevitable, is that by this year's end, the United States and other governments will have come to some more accommodating resolution about the use of strong cryptographic systems, other than to classify them as munitions and ban their export. Encryption will be an important and required key to any powerful use of emoney on the net.
Anonymity is the next subject that usually comes up after encryption is introduced.
Besides hiding credit card numbers, cryptographic systems also hold the promise for other digital delights, like digital signatures that can't be forged and anonymous communications and transactions. One of the latest new tools for emoney is sub-cent billing and transactions. Last year, Digital Equipment 's Mark Manasse was granted a US patent on Millicent, a digital cash system aimed at facilitating transactions worth as little as one-tenth of a cent. The sub-penny emoney would be issued by banks and credit card companies and would not be anonymous. Digital envisions the Millicent system as useful for charging for short visits to web sites and other activities and services worth less than a penny.