[OpenID] Japan Report 2008-12-13

[SitG Admin]

>Interesting to think how the elections would work if every person 
>who had an OpenID voted.

Several million users lacking the technical knowledge to understand 
OpenID's issues, probably following the trends or advertising laid 
out by the media and/or their corporate sponsors. Their votes could 
trivially be cast by the corporation that supplied them.

>And if every person that used it, paid $1 to the foundation for the 
>privilege to vote and be a part of it.

Votes are only a dollar apiece? You don't even need to be a rich 
corporation to steal elections! (Just outspend the honest ones, or 
buy votes subtly enough that noone notices.) Or everyone so inclined 
can fight it out, lining the Foundation's pockets.

What are we paying for with a membership, exactly? How are we paying 
for votes? These can be two separate questions - voting might be 
earned in some kind of meritocracy, at the risk of losing control 
over the Foundation if OpenID takes off so strongly that previously 
uninterested third parties suddenly out-perform everyone who was 
doing this before! A strong competitive atmosphere fostering OpenID's 
development, though.

-Shade