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Microsoft Joins the OpenID Foundation

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the embrace-and-extend dept.

wertigon writes "Windows Live ID just became yet another OpenID-provider. While the cynical me wonders how long it'll be before Microsoft transforms OpenID to something proprietary, they have undoubtedly put even more weight behind the OpenID initiative. So, how long before I can use my OpenID to post on Slashdot?" Patches are always welcome, wertigon ;)

7 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Color Me Confused by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Informative

    Microsoft Joins the OpenID Foundation

    What a joke.

    Windows Live ID just became yet another OpenID-provider.

    True.

    they have undoubtedly put even more weight behind the OpenID initiative.

    False.

    So, how long before I can use my OpenID to post on Slashdot?

    Oh poor poor wertigon. You won't even be able to log into MS Live with it. I can go to wordpress, verisign, aol and all that jazz and login with my OpenID. I can go to sites listed as OpenID and login when I've never even been there before. Yet, when I go to the page that Microsoft lists for Live, I can't. Why is this? Because they're only providing IDs, not accepting other OpenIDs.

    You will soon be able to use your Windows Live ID account to sign in to any OpenID Web site!

    That's it. That's all you get. No future plans are listed to accept OpenID accounts either.

    OpenID's mission is to have one single login for every single website out there. So far, it was doing great. Now, I want to check my hotmail with my (pre-existing) OpenID. No luck. Unless you start at Windows Live and move to the rest of the OpenID sites, you are no closer to achieving OpenID's goal and vision. This is a ridiculous mangling of a great idea.

    When Microsoft fully supports it--when they both accept and provide IDs--that's when I'll agree with this headline. Microsoft should be implementing a way to associate your Live ID with your OpenID and use your OpenID to login to Live. But they aren't & I doubt they ever will.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Color Me Confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      A lot of OpenID participants are provider only. Microsoft isn't helping the problem, but they aren't worse than a lot of other companies in this regard.

    2. Re:Color Me Confused by Zebedeu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly, and this half-functionality is why this move undermines OpenID and what it stands for.

      You see, OpenID still works, but it works *better* if you use Microsoft's version. Soon enough you'll find that everyone's reaching for those MS ids just to remain compatible, and MS will get what they couldn't with their Passport scheme, or LiveId or however it's called these days.

      It's the same embrace, extend, extinguish bullshit again, and in my opinion, the community should just reject these MS-provided ids until they learn to play ball.

    3. Re:Color Me Confused by HungryHobo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I just don't get the point of this. I go to a website and there's a little note *You can use your openid here!* and I sign in with it. but wait! it was a trick, they grabbed my username and password, now they have my openid login.

      Unless I've missed the point somehow and there's some way to know if the site you're on is accredited.

    4. Re:Color Me Confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's no accredation. Login occurs by redirecting you back to your provider. You log in, or the provider establishes you're already logged in by means of cookies. Then your provider redirects you back, saying "yep, he's the holder of that openID".

      At no point does the accepting site get your user name and password. You can verify this by looking at your address bar. If you're still at the accepting site and they ask you for your user name and password, they're either doing it wrong or you're being phished.

  2. Re:Tinfoil Hat by dnwq · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Note to the oblivious: OpenID doesn't eliminate anonymity. Far from it.

    Wikipedia:

    Since OpenID is decentralized, any website can use OpenID as a way for users to sign in; OpenID does not require a centralized authority to confirm a user's digital identity.

  3. Re:Tinfoil Hat by DragonWriter · · Score: 5, Informative

    In what ways does the OpenID system promote user anonymity?

    It promotes anonymity by allowing services to operate that require associating the initiator of one action with the initiator of a prior action, without requiring the "meatspace" identity of either. That is, it provides a reasonable means for a subscription-based service to verify "the person accessing this resource is the one that established this account" without ever identifying who the person is that established the account.

    Since many services rely on providing that kind of relation between the person establishing an account a person requesting a resource, it promotes anonymity to provide a means that allows those services to fill that need while users remain anonymous.