Yahoo! joins! the! OpenID! party! (and Error'd)

It's IT Blogwatch: in which Yahoo! announces its support of OpenID. Not to mention the 489°F hard drive...

Juan Carlos Perez reports:

People with a Yahoo user name and password will be able to use that ID information to access non-Yahoo Web sites that support the OpenID 2.0 digital identity framework, reducing the amount of different log-in information people need to create, remember and enter online. Already, almost 10,000 Web sites support OpenID, an open framework available for free to end users and Web site operators alike, according to the OpenID Foundation. Yahoo's move will triple the number of OpenID accounts to 368 million. [more]

Joel Hruska adds:

Unlike certain earlier initiatives such as Microsoft's Passport, however, OpenID does not store all end-user information in a single centralized dataserver. An OpenID user with a Yahoo account, for example, could enter his OpenID (JohnDoe@yahoo.com) at any web site where the authentication standard is supported. JohnDoe would then be redirected to a secure Yahoo server and asked to enter his Yahoo login and password. This process can be completed at as many web sites as the end user wishes. [more]

Yahoo's Jeremy Zawodny relaxes:

It feels good to be able to talk publicly ... It's been in the works for a while and I was one of the early squeaky wheels poking people to see if we could get on board ... Both yahoo.com and flickr.com will act as OpenID 2.0 providers ... I've been a fan of OpenID for a long time--not just because of it's simplicity but because of the philosophy behind it. It puts more control in the hands of us: the end users. [more]

What is the sound of one hand clapping, Jason Snyder?

Placing users at the center of identity transactions, OpenID is a relationship-based approach to authentication, in which relying parties ping a user's identity provider of choice to validate the user's identity. The model is part of a larger trend that involves the incorporation of user-centric technologies in pursuit of ever-elusive federation ... Yahoo has yet to outline plans for reciprocity. In other words, Yahoo will allow you, Web site, to trust its relationships but won't be accepting the word of any other OpenID identity provider at this time ... OpenID's success as a whole hinges on the channel of authentication queries being a two-way street. [more]

Michael Arrington has something like an answer:

Yahoo Director of Membership and Registration Raj Mata ... would not confirm when (or if) Yahoo would also become what is called a “relying party” (allowing users with third party OpenIDs to log in to Yahoo). He did say that the goal was to move in that direction ... Yahoo is also announcing that both Plaxo and JanRain will allow Yahoo OpenID sign-ins from January 30. [more]

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Kaliya Hamlin: [Get on with it -Ed.]

It should do a lot to encourage relying party adoption of OpenID. It also means mainstream user education has just begun. It is also interesting to see the narrative in the ‘media’ that get the story wrong ... The story of community collaboration to get to OpenID2.0 to happen is quite remarkable (bringing together 4 different “competing” efforts) and I hope that some media outlet investigating what this all means actually gets it right ... The funny part for me is that my Yahoo! ID kinda sucks ... I don’t really want to use it as a handle around the web. I wonder if thy will have other users with this challenge and how they will address it. [more]

David Heinemeier spots a fly in the ointment:

Put that together with the fact that AOL made their AIM logins work as OpenIDs as well and most everyone in the US at least will already have an OpenID ... It seems the Yahoo! system is still under development, though. And it does require that systems accept OpenID 2.0, which is the only just-minted new standard (what everyone else in the first rush just implemented was 1.1). So we’ll be making sure that our systems will be ready for OpenID 2.0 and all the new Yahoo!-wielding OpenID users coming on board. [more]

Marshall Kirkpatrick is hungry for more:

Today's announcement is good news, but let's not throw too big a party yet ... will the company offer important functionality like multiple personas (for privacy and user control), search friendly microformats and anti-phishing technology? There's a wide variety of ways to implement OpenID. I'd recommend you check out the site SpreadOpenID for a feature comparison of a large number of OpenID providers. Just authenticating OpenID is only the beginning, there's a wide range of features offered by various vendors too. [more]

And finally...

• Is it just me, or is it hot in here?

Buffer overflow:

• Groklaw: Microsoft Says It Will Release Binary Office Formats - Which?
• Silicon Valley Watcher: 2008Watch: BrightIdea - How To Manage Innovation
• Bryan Gardiner: IBM to Sully iPhones and iPod Touches with Lotus Notes
• Meridith Levinson: Microsoft Expected to Name New CIO Today
• Coding Horror: Typography: Where Engineers and Designers Meet
• StorageMojo: Commodity crunch is here
• Nate Anderson: Canadian prof offers eight-point copyright reform plan
• 9 to 5 Mac: Amazon, others lower prices on iPod Touch
• Anton Chuvakin: Scary World Ahead?!

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Eric Lai: Sun+MySQL=bad news for MySQL users
• Mike Elgan: Inside the secret world of digital nomads
• Shark Tank: Don't talk to me about crumbs in the keyboard!
• Mark Hall: Are docs apps?
• Patrick Thibodeau: PCs ship in boxes and corrugated box orders are down
• Douglas Schweitzer: Federal encryption standardization
• Shark Bait: Microsoft support -- better late than never

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 22 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend...

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Sun pays MySQL ONE BILLION DOLLARS (and squeezenote)
• MacBook Air's thin line: love/hate (and Harry Notter)
• Google <3 iPhone (and Chinglish)