[OpenID] PR: OpenID.co.uk - "MobileNumber.OpenID.co.uk" as URI

[sites at thirdvisit.co.uk]

Hi,

My re-cap: (I probably won't post back to the group after this reply)

Allen wrote:
>A completely different issue regarding phone based
>OpenIDs is that phone numbers are often recycled.

Not in the UK they aren't.

>Is the OP supposed to periodically verify that
>the user still owns the claimed phone number?

Yes, in the UK if you sign-up to cell tracking request by network provider it's mandatory to send a request for confirmation every 6 months I believe, and yes I would/will do this.

>What happens if the phone number changes ownership?

In the UK we have number portability between network providers. I can assume by your question - that in your country you don't have facility, that a shame.

Here the only numbers that change tend to be local geographic codes which have an additional number(s) prefixed at the front. (See my previous group posting on this.)

And if you change your phone number - in post business people's opinion, your business has just dropped off the face of the planet, it's like letting your domain expire! Queue a lot of expense.

>Is the OP required to hand over the OpenID to the
>new owner? If so, is the original owner locked out
>of all the sites that where he used his OpenID?

Part of the spec for OpenID is that you can redirect?

In my case (for the UK) the person would pop the old SIM card in a draw, apply for a new number on my platform and I would map the two over each over, old & new.

In the UK if you register both a .com and .co.uk then advertise the .com in the "printed press", 90% of people will type the .com and 10% type in the .co.uk (I used to be the 52nd largest domain registrar in the UK and had the stats to prove this paragraph cicra 2004.) When you have a .co.uk domain and advertise your business as "domain.co.uk" 99% of UK people type in the .co.uk and 1% the .com

Having "mobilenumber.OpenID.co.uk" is immensely better on the side of your van than "JohnSmith2344 at aol.com" - which in the UK is quite common believe me.

I will not be forcing anybody to use their mobile with my domain.

Martin
>Telephone numbers are meaningless and unmemorable

I think that you maybe mixing up branding with functionality.
Number related OpenID URIs provide a lot of utility.
Branding of an OpenID URI is another subject altogether.

<My personal opinion>
The future of computing is the mobile device, a number is infinitely easier to enter via a numeric keypad and it would be possible to offer the following software on the phone.

- You type a the number, this would get checked against several OP registries to see if the number was registered with them. (Of course the registry may have pay to get on the checking list!) If the number is registered, then you would be able do a Q & A / capchta and then you would be able to populate the name, address etc into your device."
</My personal opinion>

Right last one folks:

Phone spamming

- You don't have to subscribe to my OP using a mobile number
- Companies hire call centres in countries with no reciprical telecommunication rules who presently use war-dialing software. I personally believe that using a mobile number as a OpenID component will have no impact on increasing phone spam whatsoever. The software calls up X people a time and when someone picks up it gets passed to a salesperson. They started at number range X & continue till the sun goes down...

<personal belief>
As phone cost continue towards the zero, we will end up using whitelists on our phone numbers anyway. And using an OpenID OP could be a nice way to implement this or well as for email whitelisting. For example if you number is terminated on a VOIP platform, then when an unknown caller hits your number (because call line identification is suppressed or it's an overseas call, you can force someone to speak to a machine; which has a series of challenge questions etc) Eventually all calls will be VOIP and thus it will stop the CLI suppression rubbish and overseas call centres who operate boiler room sales for clients will die a rapid death.
</personal belief>

But I thank all of you for your feedback, it did take a good night's sleept to formulate a half decent reply!

Cheers Mark