At the launch of the first specifications from the Liberty Alliance on Monday, seven companies promised products and services which would use the standard for online authentication. Liberty members' subscribers could help Liberty catch up on Microsoft's Passport -- which is itself showing some signs of openness.
"In a year or two we'll look back and say, 'What was all the fuss about?'" said Michael Barrett, vice president of Internet strategy for American Express and a member of the Liberty Alliance, talking about the identity wars that started last year. The launch of Microsoft Passport -- a centralised authentication service run by Microsoft -- prompted Sun Microsystems to start Liberty, a proposal for a system where many services are "federated", sharing information to give single sign-on for the Internet.
After a slanging match between Microsoft and Sun over Liberty, Sun appears to be stepping back from the limelight, in the hopes that Liberty will no longer be seen as an anti-Microsoft alliance.
Microsoft has announced
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