This is obviously very, very good. Let me explain. The problem boils down to bad credit cards that get passed and people who bilk us using their own good credit cards. It's that simple. The solution is to authenticate clients to servers in e-commerce transactions, just as we currently authenticate servers to clients.
Nobody uses it.
Now in fairness, a small player like Jonathan's e-commerce site isn't going to be able to get away with requiring customers to acquire and use digital IDs. On the flip side, though, there has never been any authentication of clients to servers. It has to become the norm, established by the big guys, on whose coattails the little guys can ride. The protocol for establishing a binding between a person and an e-mail address is quite fascinating. Fascinating, but very dangerous.