Posted on 12/30/2004 7:24:30 PM PST by Straight Vermonter
eBay (EBAY:Nasdaq - news - research) is dropping its support for Microsoft's (MSFT:Nasdaq - news - research) authentication service, the auction company announced this week.
By late January, eBay users will no longer be able to log into the auction site using Microsoft's Passport system, eBay said in a post on its announcement board for users. eBay also will stop sending alerts to buyers and sellers' computers and mobile phones through the software giant's .Net service.
eBay spokesman Hani Durzy declined to comment on why the company decided to drop support for Passport. But in a report by Reuters, Durzy was quoted as saying that only a "very small percentage of eBay users regularly" used the service.
Microsoft representatives were not immediately available for comment. But in a statement, a representative for the company's MSN Internet service said that while Passport is one of the "largest" authentication systems in use and Microsoft continues to support customers who use it, the company is no longer aggressively seeking customers for it.
"Over the past couple of years, Microsoft ... shifted the focus of the service to serve as a great single sign-on solution for consumers of MSN and Microsoft online services," the representative said.
Microsoft and eBay signed a deal in 2001 under which eBay decided to use Passport, and Microsoft agreed to incorporate eBay's auction listings on some of the sites listed within its MSN portal. By signing the deal, eBay instantly became one of the leading supporters of the Passport service.
The idea behind the Passport service was that Internet users could have one user ID and password that they could use to log on to any Web sites and that could be linked to credit card numbers and other personal data. Microsoft initially used the service for Hotmail, its free e-mail service, and some of its other sites, but had hoped to find wide support for the service across the Web.
But the software giant had trouble convincing other companies or Web users to adopt the service. Microsoft faced privacy complaints over Passport that eventually led to an investigation by and settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Other companies and Web users raised concerns about Microsoft's increasing power on the Web and giving the company insight into personal financial transactions and purchases.
In response, a coalition of companies led by Sun Microsystems (SUNW:Nasdaq - news - research) formed the Liberty Alliance to develop a rival authentication standard.
Shares of Microsoft closed regular trading on Thursday off 14 cents, or 0.5%, to $26.76. eBay's stock closed up 20 cents, or 0.2%, to $117.77.
Come here, little girl... I'm your friend.... really I am... You can trust me...
It doesn't suck enough
That's the reason I would never use it. Microsoft has no understanding of either privacy or security. Why would I want companies with which I have never done business to have access to my personal information and credit card number?
I never used it. Good idea but I wouldn't trust my sensitive personal info to Microsoft.
...yup, I'm glad to see eBay loose this wetdream of an all-in-one web authentication and that whole deal of letting Microsoft be in charge. Think about it -Microsoft would be data warehousing YOUR personal data (including CC numbers and web transactions, etc) on THEIR fine computers and server software..and to some degree it still does this for winXP registered user authentication.
Why is that you are still forced to give personal details and Company name unless they were building some profile about YOU?
Microsoft's OWN servers have been hacked many times before -if you think your data is safe. And an army of bad guys world-wide are probing the known world for vulnerable home and business machines using WIN products along with their corporate and web servers 24 hours a day -7 days a week.
While at the same time Microsoft dribbles out pathetic patches and in the future are discussing making YOU pay for their future security fixes.
Use LINUX instead, sleep well at night, and let them have their monopoly over -nobody-.
You are right. Microsoft refuses to believe no matter what they do people no not want their personal data centralized out of their control. It is one thing to have is in seperate places that do not talk to each other, it is another to centralize it with monopoly microsoft.
Microsoft more and more is looking like a company that does not know what business they are in.
5.56mm
so you are saying I should own more shares of Microsoft?
And remember folks, MICROSOFT DOES HAVE A CRIMINAL RECORD!
Would you want a CONVICTEDD FELON handling your most private personnel data? Ummm, guess not :0)
I don't give stock advice, especially when the company involved is a FELON. But further, I work for a major corporation that has some involvement with that other entity -so anything I say could be construed as insider trading, I will not offer you advice. I myself do not own M$ stock.
M$ days of huge profits are at their peak, they no longer have a cash cow of an OS or OFFICE suite. Why use and pay $500 for the next OFFICE 200X release, when you can get the FREE OPENOFFICE.ORG program for the download that does just as much and works on all platforms -if not better?
LINUX will TSUNAMI them in short order, and Microsoft has to be in other key technologies as the home/office is not the place to be (with throw-away computers nowadays).
M$ wants to be in the MEDIA delivery biz (look at XBOX, etc), but you see the big studios and record companies bleeding money, I can only laff if they pull that off.
Invest elsewhere, IMHO.
"Use LINUX instead, sleep well at night, and let them have their monopoly over -nobody-."
A monopoly would mean Microsoft is the sole provider of a good in a given market. However, you contradict that in your own statement by indicating the existance of Linux, a competing product in the same market.
no contradiction at all, in fact Microsoft was charged and convicted of multiple felony charges over just such a thing - MONOPOLY.
The only competition is what Microsoft see's as a threat. they are falling all over themselves to gain market share in countries that are closing their doors on their biz model and biz practices in favor of open source solutions. And has had to begin selling WINXP Lite versions in Asia because of their bleeding bottom line...
Linux is no more a competitive product to WIN, than is a Jumbo Jet to a Stealth bomber. more power to them...
"A monopoly would mean Microsoft is the sole provider of a good in a given market." ...yes, and that's what they were charged with under Sherman Anti-Trust Laws. You may not remember that not-too distant past, but you could not BUY a computer without having some OEM version pre-installed and paying that hefty M$ tax -whether you liked it or not. No Linux, Solaris, or other OS...just M$.
Nowadays, you can order a computer from Walmart with YOUR CHOICE of OS: WIN, LINUX, -or none at all-. That wasn't always the case til M$ got spanked AND also had to refund money for people that REMOVED WINDOWS from their machine -per State Attorney litigation.
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