I termed this model "microsubscriptions" when I was pursuing it in the context of website funding.<p>There are difficulties.<p><i>Gaming the system</i><p>Folks will absolutely distort their software, buy fake github stars, spam out bazillions of typosquatting packages etc. We know this because there is already a weak financial incentive to subvert: supply chain attacks for cryptominers. Direct cash will be a much stronger incentive for fuckery.<p><i>Banking</i><p>In general, financial institutions don't like services that aggregate and transmit funds. They attract extensive regulatory burden and more importantly, they attract fraud and chargebacks.<p>Chargebacks and fraud are expensive to deal with, banks hate it, so they generally tell you to just sod off entirely.<p><i>Regulation</i><p>You are on the hook too. Anti money laundering laws are complex and can come with criminal charges for failures. Taxes are complicated and you need to keep correct books. Got it wrong? Too bad, you owe the taxman cash you don't have.<p><i>Credit card money laundering in general</i><p>This is where someone with a stolen card uses your service to launder money taken from it. They sign up with the card, patronise their own software, then run off with the cash. Later a chargeback arrives which is levied against <i>you</i>, not the attacker.<p>The easiest defense is to limit the subscription amount, so that an attacker with a stolen card can't benefit much. But they can still use you to test that the card is active. A second defense is to hold the funds for a period of time, so that you can pay chargebacks. Even so, you will be looked at poorly by any banks or processor companies if your chargebacks pile up, regardless of whether you could cover them or not.<p><i>Trusts</i><p>This one is the biggest mistake I see, and I see it again and again.<p>If you receive money from person A so that you can pay it to person B on A's behalf, you are a trustee. You generally don't need a document to become a trustee and you don't even need to <i>intend</i> to be a trustee. Trusteeship arises from the facts.<p>What does trusteeship entail? Fiduciary duty. That is a high bar and you almost certainly don't meet it.<p>Mingling funds from multiple donors without incredibly scrupulous accounting? Problematic. Mingling donor funds with your own funds? You're in deep shit.<p>Further: trusts have purposes, which the trustee has to abide by. These again can arise from the mere facts. If you said you would take funds from A to pay to B, that's <i>all</i> you can do with it. Can't find B? Stiff shit. B doesn't want the funds? Stiff shit again. You now have money that is like radioactive waste: it's dangerous, you are responsible for it and it won't go away.<p>----<p>In <i>general</i> I like microsubscriptions as a model for <i>some</i> things. I spent a lot of time, emotion and treasure on doing it myself. But it is harder than it looks.