This morning Microsoft announced they would support OpenID in future identity server products. Although this is a huge endorsement for OpenID, there will likely be many people that are fearful of what Microsoft’s involvement may do to OpenID. At ActiveState I worked with Microsoft to bring Perl and Python technology to the Windows platform. This was a win for Perl and Python programmers that wanted to use their tools on the Windows platform. It was also a win for the community at large, as a fair amount of the threading and Unicode support that is in Perl today was funded by Microsoft. Just as I bridged the Microsoft and Open Source worlds back in the 90s, I look forward to bridging the Microsoft and OpenID worlds today. The team at Microsoft get what we are doing in OpenID, and want to enable their technology to take advantage of the reach of OpenID, as well as enable the OpenID community to take advantage of CardSpace technology. This looks like a win-win for everybody. Here is the joint statement from JanRain, Microsoft, Sxip and VeriSign:

Microsoft to Work With the OpenID Community, Collaborating With JanRain, Sxip, and VeriSign

JanRain, Microsoft, Sxip, and VeriSign will collaborate on interoperability between OpenID and Windows CardSpace™ to make the Internet safer and easier to use. Specifically:

• As part of OpenID’s security architecture, OpenID will be extended to allow relying parties to explicitly request and be informed of the use of phishing-resistant credentials.
• Microsoft recognizes the growth of the OpenID community and believes OpenID plays a significant role in the Internet identity infrastructure. Kim Cameron, Chief Architect of Identity at Microsoft, will work with the OpenID community on authentication and anti-phishing.
• JanRain, Sxip, and VeriSign recognize that Information Cards provide significant anti-phishing, privacy, and convenience benefits to users. Information Cards, based on the open WS-Trust standard, are available though Windows CardSpace™.
• JanRain and Sxip, leading providers of open source code libraries for blogging and web sites, are announcing they will add support for the Information Cards to their OpenID code bases.
• JanRain, Sxip and VeriSign plan to add Information Card support to future identity solutions.
• Microsoft plans to support OpenID in future Identity server products.

The four companies have agreed to work together on a “Using Information Cards with OpenID” profile that will make it possible for other developers and service providers to take advantage of these technology advancements.

Dick Hardt, Sxip Identity
Kim Cameron, Microsoft
Michael Graves, VeriSign
Scott Kveton, JanRain