[DaveInTucson]

I think the problem is that "payment required" is an issue that's better dealt with in a layer higher up the protocol stack.

One can simply respond with the appropriate redirection code to a login/signup page (or whatever) when the client attempts to access a page where "payment is require" (just like any other authentication/authorization issue).

[tjoff]

That is not what the user would want though.

Getting nothing is adequate when nothing exist. Pretending it was something else is just confusing at best.