[OpenID] "OpenID" selected as the 3rd runner up in the 2008 IT Buzz Words in Japan.

[Chris Messina]

Thanks for your notes, Nat. Yes, that does help and provides good guidance
for what the OIDF needs to do.

On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Peter Williams <pwilliams at rapattoni.com>wrote:

> Several cultural issues in the note.
>
> Can make money.... Some view this as a commune, where nobody is supposed to
> be making money. Can folks formally resolve to remove this silly rule in the
> next board session? The commune rule out of date. It done its job, during
> the evangelism phase.
>

Just to respond to this. I'm not sure that what you're saying is true.
I think it's perfectly reasonable, and in fact, necessary, for people to
make money. And I actually think OpenID can be a great driver of commerce.

That said, there is a need for balancing the needs of individual members of
the foundation with the needs of the broader ecosystem. If you enter
financial motivation and incentives into the picture prematurely, you're
liable to stifle innovation as companies invest in premature solutions.

Until we arrive at a compelling competitor to Facebook Connect -- or -- in
other words -- develop a complete solution stack for identity technologies
for the open web, or work is incomplete. Competing, and thereby
consolidating, on what we have today for technology is a non-starter. It's
just not good enough.

So when there's a hesitancy to talk about monetization, it's not because
there isn't money to be made. It's that the ecosystem as a whole would
suffer if our standardization work ceased today, before we've really created
new roads, highways and a tool chain for making new cars and providing the
opportunity for clever entrepreneurs to envisage and build "vehicles" that
we haven't even begun to imagine yet -- but that our technology allows them
to build -- and sell to a market at scale.

I think this is critical in understanding the role of the OIDF and why we
must be proactive about corporate membership, involvement and activism.
There is a tension to be struck between open-web-at-all-costs enthusiasts
and business interests that can sustain our efforts over the long term. We
are at the naisance of that process.

Chris

-- 
Chris Messina
Citizen-Participant &
 Open Web Advocate-at-Large

factoryjoe.com # diso-project.org
citizenagency.com # vidoop.com
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