View source for BitPass

{{Short description|American company}}
{{Infobox company |
  name     = Bitpass, Inc.|
  logo     = <!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:BitPass_logo.png]]  -->|
  type     = [[Private company|Private]] |
  founded          = {{Start date and age|2002}} in [[Mountain View, California]], United States |
  defunct          = {{End date|2007|01|26}} |
  location         = [[San Mateo, California]], United States|
  key_people       = [[Kurt Huang]], Founder<br />Gyuchang Jun, Founder, CTO<br/>Doug Knopper, CEO|
  industry         = Consumer Internet,<br />Digital content,<br />Online payments|
  products         = Bitpass buyer account,<br />Bitpass Professional merchant account,<br />  Bitpass Studio merchant account|
  revenue         = undisclosed|
  num_employees        = undisclosed|
  homepage         = [http://www.bitpass.com/ www.bitpass.com]
}}

'''BitPass''' was an American company that from 2002-2007 that developed an [[online payment]] system for digital content and services including [[micropayment]]s. It was founded in 2002 by [[Kurt Huang]] and Gyuchang Jun. One of its best-known projects was the Mperia [[online music store]] catering to unsigned artists. The company shut down in 2007.

==History==

[[Kurt Huang]] and Gyuchang Jun founded BitPass. Michael O'Donnell was brought on as CEO in 2004, but left by April 2005, and was eventually replaced by Doug Knopper in November 2005.<ref name="ceos">(16 November 2005). [http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2005/11/14/daily30.html?jst=b_ln_hl After a long wait, a new CEO at BitPass], ''San Francisco Business Times''</ref>

Although the origins of the idea for the company dated back to 1999, the company incorporated and got off the ground with $1.5 million in joint venture funding led by Garage Technology Ventures in late 2002. The first test version of the product was launched in June 2003.<ref name="times">Tedeschi, Bob (21 July 2003). [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/21/business/e-commerce-report-companies-are-trying-once-again-find-ways-turn-penny-ante.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm E-Commerce Report; Companies are trying once again to find ways to turn penny-ante charges for Web viewing into profits], ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref><ref name="paw">White, Elizabeth (28 January 2004). [http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/morgue/2004/2004_01_28.bitpass28jd.shtml Innovating bit by bit], ''[[Palo Alto Weekly]]''</ref>  In late 2004, a second funding round of $11.75 million was announced.<ref name="money">Napier, H. Albert, et al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=znX7zZAToUMC&pg=PA171 Creating a winning E-business], p. 171-72 (2d ed. 2006) ({{ISBN|978-0619217426}})</ref>

For the content buyer, Bitpass worked like a pre-paid telephone card: the buyer signed up for the service and put money into an account using a credit card or PayPal.  This stored-value amount could be used to purchase digital content or services.  Transaction fees were paid by the content provider. For payments under $5, the charge was 15% of the price paid by the buyer (Bitpass Professional merchant account fee). BitPass also partnered with major technology and financial services companies such as [[Microsoft]], [[PayPal]], the [[Royal Bank of Scotland]] and [[First Data]].{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

On January 19, 2007 Bitpass announced that they were shutting down, and operations officially closed on January 26, 2007.<ref name="shutdown1"/><ref name="shut2">(19 January 2007). [https://venturebeat.com/2007/01/19/bitpass-croaks-is-this-the-end-of-micropayments/ Bitpass croaks — is this the end of micropayments?], ''[[VentureBeat]]''</ref>

==Mperia==
[[File:Mperia logo.png|thumb]]
'''Mperia''' was an online music store founded in 2003 by BitPass to use the BitPass payment system. Launched by Huang and Joshua Ellis, it was aimed toward allowing independent musicians to sell their music online.<ref name="Gordon2005">{{cite book|author=Steve Gordon|title=The Future of the Music Business: How to Succeed with the New Digital Technologies : a Guide for Artists and Entrepreneurs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kDjWp3pTwFAC&pg=PA228|accessdate=18 June 2014|year=2005|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-844-5|pages=228–}}</ref><ref>http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1036A4943874038A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011121805/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1036A4943874038A&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |date=2014-10-11 }}</ref>  Artists could upload their own music directly, and could price their own music, with tracking costing between US$0.25 and US$1.50. No [[digital rights management]] features were permitted. Artists kept 70% of each track's revenue.

In 2004, Mperia partnered with [[CD Baby]] to sell tracks from CDBaby's catalog.<ref>{{Cite web|title=CD Baby Gets Digital with BitPass|url=https://sonicstate.com/news/2004/12/05/cd-baby-gets-digital-with-bitpass/|access-date=2021-03-18|website=Sonicstate|language=en}}</ref>

With the shutdown of BitPass, Mperia also shut down in early 2007.<ref name="shutdown1">Vitka, William (20 January 2007). [https://archive.today/20130130132728/http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/gamereport/item_MFfkEqYiOXBB3n8bTUXyPK Mperia, Bitpass Shutting Down], ''New York Post''</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040724085110/http://www.bitpass.com/ Bitpass site]
* [http://www.scottmccloud.com/3-home/essays/2003-09-micros/micros.html Misunderstanding Micropayments] - article by cartoonist [[Scott McCloud]] about micropayments and Bitpass

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitpass}}
[[Category:Payment systems]]
[[Category:Digital currencies]]
[[Category:Companies based in San Mateo, California]]
[[Category:American companies established in 2002]]
[[Category:Failed financial technology companies]]
[[Category:Financial services companies established in 2002]]
[[Category:Financial services companies disestablished in 2007]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 2003|Mperia]]
[[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 2007|Mperia]]
[[Category:Defunct online music stores]]
[[Category:Defunct digital music services or companies]]
[[Category:2002 establishments in California]]
[[Category:Defunct online companies of the United States]]