Showdown looms over Passport

Cole claimed there are more than "200 million Passport accounts performing more than 3.5 billion authentications each month." But on Thursday, Gartner said the true number of consumers is closer to 25 million, with each using many multiple Passport accounts. The MSN executive also rebuffed Borthwick's allegation that Passport is a "closed" system. Cole referred to Microsoft's September announcement about opening Passport to other authentication systems. "In entering into agreements with Web site developers, Microsoft has not required Web sites to use Passport on an exclusive basis," Cole testified. "By contrast, I understand based on Mr. Borthwick's direct testimony that America Online has entered into an agreement with Amazon.com...to use its Screen Name Service authentication service exclusively." Borthwick and Schwartz also addressed the Liberty Alliance, a Sun-sponsored authentication service and rival to Passport. "Although Microsoft has not joined the Liberty Alliance to date, Microsoft hopes to work with America Online, Sun Microsystems and other members of the Liberty Alliance to achieve interoperability among online authentication systems," Cole testified. "Microsoft sees interoperability as good for consumers." Cole also addressed allegations that Windows XP nags consumers to sign up for Passport, which is required to use Windows Messenger and some other features. "Although several optional services in Windows XP use Passport, Windows XP does not require users to have or use a Passport, and a Passport is not required to access the Internet from Windows XP," he testified. On the stand In court, during cross-examination, states attorney John Schmidtlein attempted to get Cole to agree that Microsoft hoped to use Windows XP to drive Passport adoption. He asked the witness if Passport sign-ups had increased since Windows XP's launch in October. "I don't have data on that," Cole responded. But he later estimated Microsoft signs up between 1 million and 1.5 million new Passport accounts each month. But he emphasized that Hotmail, with 160 million users, is more important for Passport than Windows XP. Cole estimated Microsoft's signs up about 14 million new accounts each month. Schmidtlein latched onto Hotmail, MSN Messenger and some Windows XP features as Passport-account generators. "Yes, Passport is necessary to use a number of services that come with Windows XP," Cole explained. The answer didn't satisfy Schmidtlein. "Passport is more than just an enabler (of these services), it's an absolute prerequisite," he charged. "Yes, Passport is an enabler of those services," Cole replied. But he gave no ground on the prerequisite portion of the question. Schmidtlein proceeded onto other Microsoft services requiring Passport, such as MSN Messenger and .Net Alerts. Without hesitation, Cole conceded Microsoft's 40 million MSN Messenger users need a Passport account to use the service as do those subscribing to .Net Alerts. Schmidtlein also tried to attack the portion of Cole's written testimony pertaining to how much information Microsoft collects during Passport sign-up. Cole had said only an e-mail address, which could be fictitious, and password. But Schmidtlein noted that Hotmail, which requires a Passport account, collects a lot more information, including name and address. Cole explained that this is different, because Hotmail is a free service supported by advertising. "Hotmail generates revenue...this demographic information allows us to do that," he said. Cole's cross-examination is expected to continue on Monday. Microsoft still has another possible 20 or more witness that could testify during the proceeding. The company expects to release the upcoming week's witnesses as early as Friday.

Have your say instantly in the Tech Update forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

« Previous
1
2
Next »

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

openhgs has made the point for Windows 8 multiple monitors without realising it! With Windows 7 you have to switch the mouse and so your focus...

27 minutes ago by PatrickG on Windows 8 could speed multi-monitor uptake

Mozilla has threatened to stop supporting Linux. I guess that UBUNTU is going with another browser. I indicated that if Mozilla stops supporting...

2 hours ago by Leslie Satenstein via Facebook on Firefox rapid release improves Fedora Linux

Much as I abhor Microsoft's licensing practices, this is almost certainly down to purchasing IT equipment via 3rd party consultants - you get the...

2 hours ago by Andy Bolstridge via Facebook on 6 million wasted licences and £1,200 PCs: welcome to government IT

@openhgs Windows users have had multiple desktops since Linus started writing Linux. They just haven't shipped as standard because not enough...

19 hours ago by Jack Schofield on Windows 8 could speed multi-monitor uptake

@Phil at Cloud4 What, Microsoft gets £1,200 per PC and £1,622 per server? Gosh, I'm amazed....

19 hours ago by Jack Schofield on 6 million wasted licences and £1,200 PCs: welcome to government IT

You guys have no idea what is going on at Autonomy. Autonomy could have been a much more profitable organization. The sales operations at Autonomy...

20 hours ago by craigsc on HP cuts 27,000 staff as Autonomy chief Lynch leaves

How does this impact on dual or multi booting? Seems to me to more or less prohibit this, from Windows 8 anyway. Will Grub 2 recognise Windows 8,...

20 hours ago by Moley on Windows 8 start-up speed forces USB boot workaround

I don't understand why there cannot be a slight pause during the boot process so the user can press a key. Many operating systems do this, even if...

22 hours ago by apexwm on Windows 8 start-up speed forces USB boot workaround

You can now buy the Xi3 modular computer in the UK at http://www.ocdistribution.com . This can be bought with the Tand3m software, pricing and...

22 hours ago by Gavin Goodman on CES 2012: Xi3 microSERV3R

I agree: Mike Lynch can clearly build a business and manage strategy. I suspect the exit of Mike is more likely the end of a planned handover...

1 day ago by Phil at Cloud4 on HP cuts 27,000 staff as Autonomy chief Lynch leaves

This is unbeleivable government wastage with only one winner... Microsoft 1 - Tax payer Nil!

1 day ago by Phil at Cloud4 on 6 million wasted licences and £1,200 PCs: welcome to government IT

So what do you do when you can't boot into windows? Why can't I just hold Shift while I power up instead of having to boot into windows and click a...

1 day ago by Mispam on Windows 8 start-up speed forces USB boot workaround

I've also seen that Mac OS X for Intel machines is supposed to run in VirtualBox, which would also be a nice solution. I've never tried it though.

1 day ago by apexwm on xTreme Triple Booting: Linux, Mac & Windows

What I wonder is why when companies are caught bang to rights in not providing contracted services, people bend over to smear the customers? Surely...

1 day ago by dave heasman on Virgin throttles broadband for high-speed customers

Strange statement from HP regarding Mike Lynch and not capable of scaling a company. Autonomy was a $7bn purchase which started as a small company...

1 day ago by pjc158 on HP cuts 27,000 staff as Autonomy chief Lynch leaves

Or - possibly, they will destroy business by ensuring people do not invest where there is no return. Another socialist idea, well beyond it's...

1 day ago by lojolondon on Open Data Institute will act as biz incubator

Good stuff Jake, very interesting. Thanks. jw

1 day ago by J.A. Watson on xTreme Triple Booting: Linux, Mac & Windows

"the cost of a second LCD screen is about the same as one day of an office worker's time, so this should soon be recouped in extra productivity."...

1 day ago by openhgs on Windows 8 could speed multi-monitor uptake

I also installed the KDE version; I also will probably try out razorqt since I really haven't had a chance to before. I'm looking forward to the...

2 days ago by Thomas Gellhaus via Facebook on Mageia 2 Released

Acquiring when reinvention/cannibalization is too challenging for a large organization can be an excellent strategy- still, so many mergers stumble...

2 days ago by francisabigail on Ariba buy parks SAP on Oracle's cloud turf

Featured white papers

Latest jobs