[OpenID] Musing on FaceBook, OpenID and the next mountain to climb

[Allen Tom]

David Recordon wrote:
> Is there really anything that Facebook did that couldn't be  
> accomplished with OpenID Authentication 2.0 and OpenID Attribute  
> Exchange? 
Facebook Connect has a nice set of libraries/apis that RPs can just drop 
in relatively easily on their site. The JS libraries implement much of 
the sign in flow (displaying inline sign-in forms as well as a 
permissions screen) which means that the FB Connect user experience is 
consistent across all RPs.

They also seem to have implemented Single Sign Out, because signing out 
of FB seems to also sign you out of the RP.

Additionally, FB Connect also authorizes the RP to write to the user's 
FB News Feed, so there's an authorization component as well. The 
authorization seems to expire when the browser session is closed, so 
it's not quite like OAuth.

And finally, FB Connect requires that the RP pre-register with FB to get 
an api key which presumably allows FB to authenticate the RP, and also 
gives FB the ability block the RP if necessary.

Unlike the OpenID/OAuth/AX services currently in the wild, the FB 
Connect stack is highly integrated, with built in privacy controls and a 
standard UI. But as you correctly stated, I believe most, if not all, of 
the stack could have been built upon open standards.

Allen