[Stuart D. Gathman]
For comparison, getting a Verisign certificate costs $900/yr.
Which is why you should seek a better alternative. I just got a *3-year
wildcard certificate* (unlimited host names for my domain) for $1000.
And the issuer is trusted by every browser we've tested. A three-year
standard cert from the same provider costs just $99 a year, or $239 for
three years. Well within any small business budget. I'm sure some
provider would step in with even cheaper SMTP-only certificates for
vanity domains, if SMTP/TLS were to become popular.
All these cert providers do is provide a modicum of background checking
before issuing the certificate; Verisign charges for too much for this
service (and actually performed less research on my company and myself
than the bargain provider did!).
Regards,
Ryan