Tell your online merchant ...
you will not be using their services if they use Verisign. That will get the ball rolling! It couldn't hurt to encourage the industry as a whole to adopt better models. Some folks I know join the IEEE or other groups to help improve the standards.
I belong to a political action group called Save the Internet, and 'Consumer's Union' has a knack for trouble in this area too. We have made a difference in congress more than once.