Implementing universal micropayments on the web

15 thoughts
last posted April 24, 2015, 2:29 p.m.

2 earlier thoughts

1

Overview of my proposed method

  1. The web server, responding to a request for a web page, includes an HTTP header that says, in effect, Price is $0.01, payment should go to john@hisdomain.com.
  2. The user's browser sees this header and notes this amount in a ledger.
  3. Every so often (exactly when would be configurable) the user would see a report saying "Here's how much web usage you've incurred", breaking the amount down by site
  4. The user would have the ability to adjust payment up or down. This could be done on a total basis (thus adjusting payments to individual sites proportionally) or on a site-by-site basis. Payments are voluntary.
  5. The browser connects securely to a payment processor (I nominate Gratipay or Patreon for starters) with whom the user has already signed up. It sends a list of payees and amounts for each, in a standardized format.
  6. The payment processor pays sites out of the user's balance as directed.

12 later thoughts