Single Sign-On Service

Password fatigue, anyone?

How many usernames and passwords can one person be expected to juggle?

Let's face it. It's a hassle to have to remember a new username and password for each Web site you join. It would be so much easier to have a standardized way to log on once, and browse everywhere with confidence that your data and identity are secure.

Finally, that solution is here. It's called OpenID, and it's a new way to identify yourself on the Web. With your i-name as your own personal OpenID, you can login to any OpenID-enabled site (over 2,500 and growing every day) without needing to register a new username or password. The site will securely confirm your OpenID login with your i-broker as your OpenID service provider.

An open protocol for an Internet-wide problem.

Most importantly, OpenID is an open protocol (see OpenID.net for more information). It has gained support from all aspects of the Internet industry from open source developers to large vendors like Microsoft and Sun, major sites like AOL, and industry consortia like the Liberty Alliance. Developed by a broad cross-section of the Internet community, including members of the OASIS XRI Technical Committee (XRI is the open standard for digital identifiers on which i-names are based), OpenID has emerged as the overwhelming solution to the Internet single sign-on problem.

Your i-name is your OpenID.

Best of all, OpenID 2.0 supports i-names as OpenID identifiers, and all XDI.org-Accredited I-Brokers offer OpenID authentication service for their i-name registrants. There are many reasons i-names make an ideal OpenID:

• A personal i-name such as =name or =first.last is very short, simple, and easy to remember.
• A business or community i-name such as @community*member is also easy to remember and type.
• An i-name is the safest OpenID because it will never be recycled. Every i-name is automatically mapped to an underlying i-number that is yours forever (even if your i-name registration lapses). This prevents any future registrant from ever taking over your OpenID login.
• Should you ever be dissatisifed with your OpenID service, your global i-name and i-number are guaranteed portable to any XDI.org-Accredited I-Broker, i.e., you are never locked in to just one OpenID service provider. (Note: community i-names and i-numbers may not be portable.)
• Global personal i-names (=names) cost no more than personal domain names, yet come with stronger security and privacy protection - for example, there is no public database of i-name registration data, so there is no need to pay extra to keep your registration data private.

I-names will work with all Internet identity technologies.

Although i-names are excellent OpenID identifiers, the open OASIS XRI specifications on which i-names and i-numbers are based were created to provide interoperable digital identifiers for any Internet identity technology, including OASIS SAML, Microsoft CardSpace, the Liberty Alliance architecture, and the open source Higgins Project. So you are safe investing in an i-name identity no matter how Internet identity infrastructure evolves.