Hello Laurie,

>Do any of you sell memberships via your Web site?  Do you let people enter
their > credit card numbers in your site?  Do you use encryption methods to
protect > those card numbers?  If so, what technology?  Do you issue any
sort of > disclaimer about not being responsible for the security of the
transmission?  > How many member subscriptions do you get via your Web site
in the average month?

The Kendall Whaling Museum offers our users the ability to join the museum
online using our secure server (SSL) which encrypts the credit card
numbers.  We use PGPMail and are satisfied with the results for now.  We
also offer secure online registration for our two annual symposia and
secure transactions in our gift shop.

We do not have a disclaimer on the site at present: folks either take to
the online process or they don't.  Personally, I feel lots more comfortable
sending my credit card number in an SSL environment online than I do about
sending it by fax to a machine which could be located anywhere, even in the
lobby!

I'd rather not give hard numbers, but we are very satisfied with the
results we have gotten by offering this functionality to our users.
Memberships have come to us over the net from all over the world and much
of the US.  It feels like we're getting the message out to a much greater
audience than walk through the doors of the KWM here in Sharon.

Ellen