i just got an e-mail back from Interactive Brokers
Dear Mr. xxxxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for your interest in Interactive Brokers. The minimum to open an account with us is US $ 10,000 (or the equivalent of). We do no charge a fee for our software platform but there is a minimum activity fee of $ 10 monthly, also market data quotes are an additional charge. Please reference the following link for additional information :
We do offer the ability to trade penny/pink sheet/OTCBB stocks the cost is .005 cents per share, which is the same cost for NYSE (Big Board Stocks). We do not allow the shorting of Pink Sheet/OTCBB stocks.
If you have any further questions please let us know.