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Passport gets stopped at the border

Microsoft's Passport service took another blow the other day, with online auction giant eBay announcing that it will no longer support the ability for members to sign on using Passport. Members currently using Passport will have to sign in through eBay directly.
Written by Joe McKendrick, Contributing Writer

Microsoft's Passport service took another blow the other day, with online auction giant eBay announcing that it will no longer support the ability for members to sign on using Passport. Members currently using Passport will have to sign in through eBay directly. It appears that Passport, created by Microsoft as a single sign-on capability across Web sites and Web services, may be relegated to more of an internal role within Microsoft's upcoming Longhorn operating system, .NET Framework, and Websites, rather than as a global sign-on service.

Monster.com dropped support for Passport in October, and analysts are increasingly skeptical about Passport's chances. Single sign-on standards supported by the Liberty Alliance have gained more traction as of late as a federated network identity, with support from end-user companies and vendors such as IBM, Sun, and Oracle. Some industry observers speculate that perhaps Microsoft may even consider joining the Liberty Alliance, a move that could help seal a large potential gap in Web services identity management -- between Windows/.NET applications and other platforms.








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