Sun Microsystems, the network computer manufacturer, has
collaborated with more than 30 other companies including Cisco,
Nokia, Sony, Vodafone, General Motors, NTT DoCoMo and eBay to
establish an on-line ID alliance to rival Microsoft’s Passport.
The project, to be called “Liberty Alliance” represents the most
significant competition to Passport which, with a claimed 165
million accounts, is a powerful leader in the field of user
identity and authentication. The Liberty Alliance differs from
Passport in that sensitive data will be held by several companies
rather than being controlled by a single party- a feature for which
Passport has faced recent criticism.
The Alliance embodies three main objectives: to securely
preserve personal information, to provide a universal, open
standard for single sign-on and to ensure that this spans all
internet connected devices including mobile phones, portable
computers, TVs or even cars.
Through this decentralised authentication system, The Alliance
hopes to smooth the way for commerce on the internet with users
requiring a single log-in for access to many diverse internet
resources. The Alliance also hopes to benefit businesses which will
be able to adopt one technology which gives access to all users
regardless of the device being used.
Last week, Microsoft proposed to share its Passport technology
with other companies such as rivals AOL Time Warner, to establish a
network of compatible technology in order to exchange information
in much the same way as networks of bank ATMs.
Microsoft’s aim for Passport to become the industry standard has
faced criticism in terms of data security, an element that Tim
O’Reilly, CEO of technology publisher O’Reilly & Associates
describes as essential to such a system: “we need an open,
distributed system with implementations available from multiple
technology providers…operating in a web of trust.”
