With bitcoin you can do some surprisingly complex things. Such as move money into a fund that the other people can verify are there, which only pays out on a trigger condition.
An escrow account? :)
Yes, but totally verifiable and automated. Which means less trust than a regular escrow account.
What triggers it being paid? Surely that part can't be automated, someone (or combination of someones) has to have power to say pay/don't pay.