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http://ege-inc.org/ Of course, you'll have to help them finish http://giftfile.org/ first. ;-)

Micropayments is exactly what giftfile is made for, and see by yourself (http://www.giftfile.org/ it seems very promising.

Quoting directly from http://giftfile.org/about (emphasis added):

A nonproprietary intellectual work is a work of authorship such as music, literature, or computer software that may be used, copied, modified, and redistributed by anyone without charge. In other words, we are speaking of works from which the public has the freedom to benefit. ... Software works can be nonproprietary only if they include source code.

To answer your question directly, free but non-open-source (ie. gratis, but not libre) software does provide some public benefit, but it is not the kind of benefit that the giftfile project is interested in supporting. There are very good reasons for this, most of which are the same as open-source vs non-open-source.

With specific regard to the tax exemption, the laws there talk about charitable work and "the public good" and stuff like that. It's much easier to justify that angle (ie. to the powers that be) if you only allow open source software, where people have far more freedoms than non-open-source software (even when it is gratis).

So yes, the definiton of nonproprietary used by the giftfile project specifically doesn't allow gratis but closed source software. But it's a deliberate choice, and these are the reasons behind it. (Although I'm not affiliated with the giftfile project - this is just my take on these things.)

RTFA. Donations are to "giftpools", which are non-profit organisations. Producers of giftfiles can apply to the giftpool for a "grant" of the amount of donations which have been allocated towards their giftfile. The grant may be subject to taxation, however the donation would be eligible as a deduction. It is, however, futile if you donate $500 to your friend and then claim back $500 in a grant which came from him (via the giftpool). In fact, it's pretty stupid, since the giftpool takes a small amount of the money for their operating costs.

From the last link in the story:

... other participants in the giftfile system make allocations to giftfiles as described above, yet do not produce giftfiles themselves. The way they gain privilege to make allocations is by donating cash to a giftpool. Such donations are tax deductible, because giftpools are nonprofit entities chartered to fund nonproprietary works.

and

Be aware that giftpool grants may need to be declared on your taxes.

When I post my software on my website under an unenbcumbered license, every and all can come by and grab it. And if I want the unencumbered software of another that has been publicly posted, I can go and grab it. Neither side needs a special system to participate in.

That is still the case. The system is of course completely voluntary and optional. As a producer of software you can choose to participate in the system by creating special "giftfiles" for your works (your software). You distribute the giftfiles with your software (same as you would an .asc or .md5 checksum file), and then anyone can use this giftfile to send you a donation via the giftpool. You're still free to release your software under whatever free license you choose (assuming the giftfile system supports it, which includes BSD and GPL). You don't need to register with a central authority to receive donations. Neither do users. OpenPGP based keys are used to sign giftfiles and their supporting works, to keep things secure.

This is simply an innovative decentralised way of allowing donations in support of "nonproprietary intellectual works" (eg. free software). There were a lot of links in the article, and the last one seems to be the best overview.