[OpenID] Facebook Cooperation with German Email Providers?

[Carsten Pötter]

Yesterday German email providers Web.de and GMX released a press release
stating that their users will be able to log in to Facebook using OpenID (
http://faz-community.faz.net/blogs/netzkonom/archive/2009/08/24/facebook-chooses-german-e-mail-provider-web-de-and-gmx-as-first-open-id-partner-in-europe.aspx).
Both email providers are subsidiaries of United Internet and dominate the
German email market.
So far both providers offered users a "navigator" to log in to various
social networks, online merchants,... However users had to provide usernames
and passwords -> password anti-pattern. If I got things right, both
providers have to become OpenID Providers now. Though why is there an
explicit cooperation with Facebook?

Is Facebook eventually accepting OpenIDs?
Are Web.de/GMX and Facebook using any vendor specific APIs or extensions?

Anyone from Facebook here who can shed some light on the topic? Thanks!

Carsten
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