March 25, 2004

The Center for Citizens' Media

Jeff Jarvis has announced that he is working on a Center for Citizens' Media, and is hoping to have NYU involved.

March 23, 2004

The FAQs About TypeKey

Six Apart has posted the anticipated FAQ for their upcoming TypeKey authentication service. It looks like there will be many different ways for a web site to make use of TypeKey, or to use an alternative of their own making. Cool!

March 20, 2004

Dave Winer's Questions for SixApart

Six Apart's announcement about TypeKey is generating some heat - and questions from Dave Winer. By way of a post by Snappy the Clam:

3. Will it be possible for Movable Type and TypePad users to plug into a non-SixApart authentication system?

4. Will the process for designing the API be open or will it be designed exclusively by SixApart? Source

My position on this matter is that centralized user authentication is likely to be run as a business operation, and a service such as TypeKey ultimately helps smaller services compete with agglomerated services such as Yahoo and Google.

It would be ideal for the social software community if SixApart were to create an open, federated system which allows others to maintain alternatives. If they don't, well, we can always work more on an open alternative (there are several out there).

TypeKey: Centralized User Authentication

Six Apart has posted information about their upcoming TypeKey privacy-protected authentication service. TypeKey is clearly a critical aspect of Movable Type 3.0 and Six Apart will be allowing other web sites and services to participate. In time, this web service could evolve into a practical alternative to Microsoft Passport.

TypeKey is a free, open system providing a central identity that anyone can use to log in and post comments on blogs and other web sites. Source