by Eolake Stobblehouse

MacCreator interviews Kurt Huang of BitPass, a company which is making a strong showing in micropayments, an area which many thought was dead, but which can become very important for online creative types.

Kurt Huang, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Kurt is the architect of the company's micropayment technology. Prior to founding BitPass, Kurt was a doctoral candidate in Biomedical Informatics at Stanford University where he did research in artificial intelligence. Kurt holds an AB in computer science from Harvard College and earned an MD from Stanford University.

MacCreator: Could you explain what is Micropayments? How is it different from other kinds of online payments?

BitPass: There is no universally accepted definition of micropayments. However, micropayments have typically been characterized by the ability to charge for anything below $3, down to as low as $0.01. At low prices such as $0.25, other payment systems charge between $0.30 to $2.00, meaning it would cost more for the payment system than for the actual price of the goods.

MacCreator: What is your philosophy? What do you hope to accomplish?

BitPass: Our philosophy is that people are willing to pay for items for less than $3 online if it were only easy enough and they found value in it. Our mission is to enable diversity in ecommerce online by allowing people to charge small amounts for their content and subscriptions.

MacCreator: Micropayments have been attempted for many years. What is BitPass doing different from all the more or less failed attempts?

BitPass: It comes down to implementation, timing, and technology. The BitPass system is far easier to use for buying, selling, and donations that previous and competing offerings. The timing is such that people are catching on that a free internet does not support expensive services. The number of internet companies and site that have gone under based on free or advertising support shows this. Lastly, technology changes have made the earning process as simple as upload and install a file, while also allowing the spending process to serve dynamic information during a one or two click frictionless purchase.

MacCreator: What is micropayments good for, and what is it not suitable for?

BitPass: We have seen micropayments applied successfully in many categories. Examples of these are listed on our web-site, however, a few key areas with strong sales include stock and professional photography, online music purchases, streaming and archived film and video, business and legal documents, and comics. It's quite diverse. Micropayments are not suited for higher ticket items, especially in the physical goods space.

MacCreator: Who are the founders of BitPass, and what motivated you?

BitPass: The founders of BitPass are Gyuchang Jun and Kurt Huang, both who are PhD candidates on hiatus from Stanford University. We were motivated by the disappearance of diversity on the web as more and more websites went out of business during the Internet crash in 2001 through 2003. We felt there needed to be a way to help support the diversity that developed in the Internet boom --- but with a better business model.

MacCreator: Many of MacCreator's readers are artists, writers, and musicians. How could micropayments help those guys?

BitPass: Creative types have been our strong supporters. Photographers, graphic designers, illustrators, musicians, and even movie makers have signed up to use our services. We've been encouraged by the level of talent and overall quality of work that has come through. Since we don't charge for setup or monthly fees, we've also put some efforts in place to help these types make money from their works online - sometimes for the first time.

MacCreator: Do you use any Macs?

BitPass: Both founders are Mac users. I'm also sure you noticed that Guy Kawasaki, of Apple fame, and several earners in our system are prominent Mac proponents.

MacCreator: How cross-platform is BitPass for merchants? And for users?

BitPass: Our merchants are called earners since they earn their keep. In most cases, people won't pay a quarter or even a nickel if the content isn't worth it, so they really do earn it. We currently support earners using Mac, Linux, Unix, Solaris, and even Windows Servers. We've successfully tested our buying technology on Mac Safari, Windows browsers, several PDA, and even mobile phones.

MacCreator: BitPass has been out of beta for a little while now. Any success stories you'd like to share about sellers who use the system?

BitPass: There are two success stories that are worth mentioning, both around creative types. One of our earners, iStockphoto, provides a way for photographers, graphic designers, and illustrators to sell their works. Since brochure, website, and other designers are always looking for royalty free photography, we're just starting to see how this creative outlet has done is rewarding photographers for their skills. Another example is about our Mperia site. We have bands using Mac music software putting together music and uploading songs for sale as they make them, one track at a time.

MacCreator: Are any particular kinds of content doing better than other kinds? (Music? Video? Articles? Stories? Online Comics?)

BitPass: Again, the creative types dominate in the number of sales. Online comics, photography and images, and music have strong showings in the number of transactions. Some of our more interesting content, though, may be found in our video section, with mockumentary about an assassination of Bill Gates, Alicia Keys "making of" video, and even a matrix spoof. The prose and stories are interesting as well, so it's hard to tell which will be the gems since we're so new.

MacCreator: Do you see any psychological barriers yet to be overcome for micropayments to really take off? (On one of my sites I am selling the same kind of content both on CD and by BitPass micropayments, and frankly the CDs are selling a lot better. Much to my surprise, for I really like micropayments.)

BitPass: The physical goods phenomenon is one barrier that we are addressing. Since people like to hold things, a download may not fulfill that latent psychological need. On the other hand, the creators of Bill Gates Assasination Mockumentary, "Nothing So Strange", were so happy with our digital download efforts, that we are also the payment mechanism for their physical DVD sales. As we find more and more earners who are happy with micropayments and our low fee structure, we become a more popular alternative for online and physical goods payment systems.

MacCreator: Any new and future developments you'd like to share?

BitPass: We have just launched our music site, Mperia, for independent music and community, and the response has been positive. We are getting many garage band and even more established artists taking an interest in it. We are also introducing an even easier-to-use service to allow artists to set up and sell their content in five minutes or less. We are currently looking for people interested in trying this out for a limited time, and MacCreator is the first outlet we are telling about this. For those interested, email earner-support[at]bitpass.com and mention MacCreator and the BitPass studios product.