There is an interesting dialogue taking place in the JXTA security
discuss list [1] which is related to the issues here.

(JXTA [2], for those who are not following the various p2p projects,
is Sun Microsystems Inc.'s "open source" P2P initiative.)

The gentleman who started the thread [1] began by rightly questioning
the misleading payment project overview [3], which is a project to
implement electronic money transfers in JXTA. I will not repeat the
whole thread here - you should read it yourself - but the gist of it
is that the system being implemented [4] is neither "anonymous", nor
is it the "first" such system.

The gentleman who is answering most of the above concerns is the CEO
of IPassport Corp., which doesn't seem to have a website, but very
minimal information about the company is provided in an EPocket Cash
page[5].

I will not characterize his response to the points raised, but will
highlight that after finally admitting that the EPocket Cash system
is NOT anonymous, he did (obliquely) point out that anonymous
transactions greatly help those who are engaged in money laundering
[6,7], and that is why his company's system does not permit such
activities. Because it promotes illegal activity.

And considering the recent history [6,7] we see why systems such as
EPocket Cash have wisely chosen to implement monitoring systems which
place valuable information in the hands of banks[7].

--

Refs:
[1]: Anonymity Snake Oil in JXTA
<http://security.jxta.org/servlets/ReadMsg?
msgId=11655&listName=discuss>


[2]: JXTA
<http://www.jxta.org/>


[3]: "EPocketCash is **the first payment system designed exclusively
for the Internet**. It allows anybody to be a merchant and/or a
customer at the same time with the same account. **This anonymous
payment system** will work on any gizmos connected to the internet.
Currently we support the WEB, WAP and I-Mode phones." [**emphasis**
mine]

<http://payment.jxta.org/servlets/ProjectHome>


[4]: What is EPocketCash?

<http://www.epocketcash.com/>

[5]: What is IPassPort Corp and who runs it?
<http://www.epocketcash.com/en/corporate/history.html>
<http://www.epocketcash.com/en/corporate/executive.html>

[6]: Recent money Laundering cases: (1)
<http://www.imt.net/~mtpatriot/ciafund.htm>

[7]: Recent money Laundering history: (2)
<http://www.innercitypress.org/citi.html>