[OIDFSC] Backplane Protocol Working Group Charter Submission

Sun Jun 10 18:58:54 UTC 2012

Hi Greg,

Could you please send the board and specs-council a list of the individuals who have contributed to the specs and which of them you have OpenID IPR agreements from?  That would help me (primarily as a board member) better understand where we are on this.

Note:  Having this isn't a requirement for approving creation of the working group.  But having the work be IPR-clean is a requirement for eventually publishing Implementer's Drafts or Final Specifications.

Best of wishes on moving this forward!

                                                            Thanks,
                                                            -- Mike

From: openid-specs-council-bounces at lists.openid.net [mailto:openid-specs-council-bounces at lists.openid.net] On Behalf Of Keegstra, Greg
Sent: Friday, June 08, 2012 2:08 PM
To: Allen Tom
Cc: openid-specs-council at lists.openid.net; specs at openid.net; Johnny Bufu
Subject: Re: [OIDFSC] Backplane Protocol Working Group Charter Submission

Hi Allen,
Appreciate the feedback on the proposal for the Backplane working group.  Let me respond to each of your questions below.

>>Does the Backplane community already have signed IPR agreements from all contributors to the existing Backplane specs?
In progress.

>>What is the expected output of the working group? Finalized Backplane 2.0 spec(s)? A reference Backplane server implementation?
The primary output is a finalized Backplane specification.  The reference implementation is just a side effect but it is not the focus.

>>Will the OIDF host any services for Backplane? (similar to accountchooser.net<http://accountchooser.net/>)
None are planned, unless we want the OIDF to take over the Backplanex.com site.

>>The WG Proposal says that one of the goals is to create a trust framework. Will there be some sort of certification process to determine if the apps/users/websites are trustworthy?
None is planned but interested in your feedback here.  The proposed trust framework will be presented primarily for reference purposes.  Since the trust framework is between a site and the widgets on the site there is no immediate need for certification across a "global" trust framework.

>>Is the scope limited only to websites and JS widgets that embedded by websites? Does it also include native apps?
The scope encompasses both external and internal widgets.  The origination of the widget is irrelevant to its utilization of the Backplane.

Thanks,
Greg
On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 10:30 AM, Allen Tom <allentomdude at gmail.com<mailto:allentomdude at gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi Greg,

Thanks for submitting the Backplane WG proposal. A few questions:

  1.  Does the Backplane community already have signed IPR agreements from all contributors to the existing Backplane specs?
  2.  What is the expected output of the working group? Finalized Backplane 2.0 spec(s)? A reference Backplane server implementation?
  3.  Will the OIDF host any services for Backplane? (similar to accountchooser.net<http://accountchooser.net>)
  4.  The WG Proposal says that one of the goals is to create a trust framework. Will there be some sort of certification process to determine if the apps/users/websites are trustworthy?
  5.  Is the scope limited only to websites and JS widgets that embedded by websites? Does it also include native apps?

Thanks,
Allen

On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 12:50 PM, Keegstra, Greg <greg at janrain.com<mailto:greg at janrain.com>> wrote:
This is a formal request to the OpenID Specs Council to review the charter proposal for creating a Backplane Protocol working group.

Participation and interest in the development of the protocol has grown out of recent Internet Identity Workshops.  The potential formation of an OpenID work group is an opportunity to provide awareness about the Backplane Protocol globally so that more application vendors and website publishers will have the opportunity to guide its development and collaborate around use cases.

If there is a positive response from the Specifications Council, we would like to work with the OIDF to schedule time at the 2012 CIS event in July to have more discussions on this topic and to seek additional workgroup members.

I look forward to your review of this charter proposal and welcome feedback you may have on its scope and purpose.

Regards,
Greg

Charter submission for the Backplane Protocol Working Group

There is an interest in creating an OpenID workgroup to broaden collaboration in the development of the Backplane Protocol specification.

Charter Proposal

Following the OpenID Foundation's IPR policies and procedures this note proposes the formation of a new working group chartered to broaden input into the development of a Backplane Protocol specification.  The proposed charter is below and may change during the initial feedback period.

I. Name

Backplane Protocol Working Group

II. Statement of Purpose

Facilitate the creation of a trust framework between end users, websites and third-party applications such that all can exchange information with each other in a standardized way.

While the messages exchanged through the Backplane Protocol are not required to be identity related or reference OpenID-authenticated users, these represent the most interesting use case and have constituted one of the main drivers behind the Backplane efforts to date.

If Backplane continues to build momentum and becomes widely adopted for inter-widget/inter-application identity message exchange, it would benefit all parties involved if the development of the protocol continued within the OpenID Foundation.

This workgroup intends to solidify the current proposed protocol  by ensuring the specifications, reference and production implementations

  *   adhere to best practices in online security as it pertains to broadcasting of user identity between multiple applications on a website
  *   are extensible to support other application scenarios or message types to broaden the scope of inter-widget communications beyond identity messages

III. Background

Echo conceived the protocol and designed it as an open standard.  They later partnered with Janrain and together have evolved the protocol, incorporating feedback received from interested Relying Parties as well as the community, including the Internet Identity Workshops in the Spring and Fall of 2011.

The Backplane Exchange Protocol is currently used today by application vendors including Echo and Janrain and by website operators<http://backplanex.com/showcase/> including ABC, Discovery Channel, NBC Universal, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, Universal Music Group and USA Networks.

IV. Scope

The initial scope of effort by the working group is to ensure that the protocol

  *   adheres to best practices in online security as it pertains to broadcasting of user identity between multiple applications on a website
  *   is extensible to support other application scenarios or message types to broaden the scope of inter-widget communications beyond identity messages

Scope also involves standardizing the definition and nomenclature of constructs that describe various aspects of the protocol e.g. message types or application scenarios,  such that it appeals to the technology community at large.

Scope does not include definition of additional message types (also currently known as application scenarios) or recruiting additional members beyond the initially formed working group.

V. Specifications

The core Backplane Exchange protocol specifications can be found at the URLs below:

Version 2.0 (Latest Work)
Backplane Exchange Specification 2.0<https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=forums&srcid=MTQ2NzA4MzgwMDk0MDY4NDM0MDABMTM2MTI2MTk1ODQ1OTQ4NDI5MTcBNEZCNDAxNUYuODAyMDUwNUBqYW5yYWluLmNvbQEyAQ&authuser=0>  (draft 13, June 2012, HTML)
Backplane Exchange Specification 2.0<http://backplane.wordpress.janrain.com/files/2012/05/backplane-2_0-draft12.pdf>  (draft 12, May 2012, HTML)
Backplane Exchange Specification 2.0<http://backplane.wordpress.janrain.com/files/2012/05/backplane-2_0-draft12.pdf>  (draft 10, March 2012, HTML)
Backplane Exchange Specification 2.0<http://backplanex.com/documentation/backplane-specification-2-0/>  (draft 07, January 2012, HTML)

Version 1.0 (Currently in Production)
Backplane Exchange Specification 1.2<http://backplanex.com/documentation/backplane-specification-1-2/> (June 2011, HTML)
Backplane Exchange Specification 1.1<http://backplanex.com/documentation/backplane-specification-1-1/> (June 2011, HTML)
Backplane Exchange Specification 1.0<http://backplanex.com/documentation/backplane-specification-1-0> (November 2010, HTML)

VI. Anticipated Audience

Interested parties would include:
*       Website Operators that need to use third-party applications on their sites and want to improve usability and interoperability.
*       Relying Parties that are looking to distribute personalized services on other portals versus their own websites.

A number of participating websites and vendors interested in Backplane Protocol and the advancement of the specifications are listed here.<http://backplanex.com/showcase/>

VII. Language of business

English.

VIII. Method of work

Mailing list discussion.  Posting of intermediate drafts at http://backplanex.com<http://backplanex.com/> or the OpenID Wiki.  Virtual conferencing on an ad-hoc basis.

IX. Basis for completion of the activity

When all items set forth in Section IV Scope have been addressed and agreed upon by members of the working group.

X. Initial Membership

Johnny Bufu, Janrain
Greg Keegstra, Janrain
Vidya Shivkumar, Janrain
Tom Raney, Janrain
Vlad Skvortsov, Echo
Yuri Lukyanov, Echo
Alexander Zhuravlev, Echo
Chris Saad, Echo

XI. Expected contribution

Draft: Backplane Exchange Specification 2.0 (draft 13) <https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=forums&srcid=MTQ2NzA4MzgwMDk0MDY4NDM0MDABMTM2MTI2MTk1ODQ1OTQ4NDI5MTcBNEZCNDAxNUYuODAyMDUwNUBqYW5yYWluLmNvbQEyAQ&authuser=0>

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--
Greg Keegstra, Strategic Alliances Director, Janrain, Inc.
e: greg at janrain.com<mailto:greg at janrain.com>  |  w: (415) 317-1142 |  twitter: @keegstra
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