Kim Cameron: The 5th Law of Identity

31 December, 2004 - 10:30am

Kim Cameron, leading thinker on digital identity and all-around-nifty-chap, posts another of his laws of digital identity.

This one is called "The Law of Pluralism" and is stated thus:

A universal identity system MUST channel and enable the interworking of multiple identity technologies run by multiple identity providers.

Read more in his blog.

Kim Cameron on SXIP vs. Microsoft Passport

5 December, 2004 - 5:44pm

Kim Cameron, one of the architects of Microsoft's digital identity ideas, posts briefly on SXIP vs. Microsoft Passport.
Read more in his blog.

Big brother and protecting your privacy

2 December, 2004 - 10:34am

Sxip's CEO, Dick Hardt, gives his perspective on controlling identity disclosure and the privacy benefits of the Sxip Network in his blog blame.ca.

The posts between Dick, Kim Cameron, and Dave Kearns center around Orewellian fears of inappropriate access and use of identity information.

Built to jive with open standards

2 December, 2004 - 10:32am

That's how we're described by blogger, Will Pate. He goes on to say that it's what Microsoft Passport wanted to be.

"SXIP's advantage over Passport and newcomer TypeKey is that it isn't built by one of the vendors themselves. SXIP's true advantage in the market is neutrality". Read more in his blog.

Sxip supports single sign-on and provides other goodies

25 November, 2004 - 10:35am

Doc Searls recently wrote about us in his Linux Journal column.

This article builds on the excellent closing keynote address Doc gave at the DIDW conference last month. Check out what he has to say about Sxip as a grassroots solution to identity problems and the contrast with the siloed identity approach of Liberty Alliance.

Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Work at Sxip

19 November, 2004 - 11:47am

We're hiring for quite a few positions. The most recent one posted is for a Systems Support Engineer, and we thought of some compelling reasons of why someone might want to join the company.

Top 10 reasons why you should join Sxip:

1. no stupid politics, no idiots, and a place where your opinions matter
2. waterfront office with a rooftop deck
3. we know that shell and Perl have nothing to do with the ocean
4. being a member of the tinfoil hat brigade isn't seen as paranoid
5. we're Canadian, eh!
6. working with open source is fun
7. Vancouver based - need we say more?
8. you can call the CEO a "Dick"
9. weekly sci fi movie nights
10. Have your interview at 230 KPH (down a cobblestone street)

Check out our careers page for a complete listing of available openings.

Somthing Big

19 November, 2004 - 10:37am

This is how we were described by a cool Canuck, Stephen Downes, in a recent blog entry of his -- "what is Sxip? Something big: a simple, secure and open platform for true digital identity."

Read more on his perspective of Perl, us, and Microsoft Passport.

How to solve comment spam

19 November, 2004 - 10:36am

How do you solve comment spam on blogs? Everyone implement Sxip -- Blogging guru Roland Tanglao recommended this in his talk "Building 21st Century Websites" at New Media BC this week.

He also discussed elements of Web 2.0, social software and RSS. His blog entry and presentation are available here.

Security Innovation - What's New, What's Hot

18 November, 2004 - 10:57am

This may be a bit over the top, but we're participating in a panel described as "an unique opportunity to see and hear from the potential future giants of the Security world!!"

If you're in Vancouver on November 22, come by to hear our Founder and CEO, Dick Hardt, speak on the West Coast Security Forum's Innovation Panel about Sxip's disruptive effect on the digital identity space.

Hope to see you there!

Single Sign-On at Last

18 November, 2004 - 10:38am

A recent blog about Sxip describes the Network's potential as "the final missing piece of the puzzle of online collaboration".

Read what else Martin Terre Blanche has to say here.

Universal Internet Identity for Everyone

17 November, 2004 - 10:40am

A friend of ours, Marc Canter, has blogged about an article on Sxip in the Vancouver Sun, the main daily newspaper in Vancouver.

Read his posting (without permission) of the story.

The piece fostered quite a bit of feedback to the Sun. If you have any additional input, we'd love to hear from you on our discuss list. You can subscribe by sending a blank email here.

Sxip Provides SSO

17 November, 2004 - 10:39am

We spoke with Dave Kearns at Digital ID World a couple weeks ago and he's now written about Sxip, which he states exemplifies more personal control of identity information, in his NetworkWorldFusion newsletter.

Web Developer Seeking a New Home?

9 November, 2004 - 11:49am

Sxip might be the right place for you. Do you have a flair for design and technology? Want to work with a bright team of people who are setting new standards for personal digital identity?

We're a well-funded tech company located on the harbor front in beautiful downtown Vancouver, Canada. We're looking for an exceptional Lead Web Developer who has the right skills to take our current web presence to the next level in function, usability, and design. We have high standards for technical expertise as we work with a wide variety of Open Source projects.

A good candidate will enjoy the web, be current with the latest trends and technologies (RSS, blogs, wikis), and be comfortable taking responsibility in a great team. Strong communication skills both written and oral with the ability to help drive the company's message are necessary.

Specific areas of technical skill:

• Ability to code valid (standards compliant) CSS and XHTML
• Understanding of Drupal, MovableType, and Plone
• Comprehensive knowledge of website security including XSS

Preferred qualities:

• Programming experience in PHP, Perl, Python, Java, and JavaScript
• Active participant in the open source community
• Experience as a webmaster

If you have the personality and enthusiasm to work for a fast-paced Internet startup please apply at .

Want a career on the cutting edge of digital identity?

4 November, 2004 - 11:51am

We're hiring .NET and Active Directory developers!

Interested in social networking and online communities? We are too!

Sxip is the first distributed public identity network. We're located on Canada's west coast in the heart of beautiful downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, and are looking to add to our team.

We're seeking exceptional .NET developers with a proven track record implementing large scale, mission critical web solutions through all phases of the lifecycle. Minimum three years development experience required.

In addition we're seeking a developer with proven expertise designing and implementing solutions centered around Active Directory.

If you're interested in Sxip Networks and think you've got what it takes to work in the forefront of new technology, contact .

For more information visit our careers page.

Can the Net Survive without Strong Identities?

1 November, 2004 - 11:16am

Come hear Sxip Networks advisor Ben Hyde speak on the digital identity panel at the Next Generation Networks conference in Boston.

Topics that will be explored:

• What constitutes a strong identity? To what do we assign strong identities?
• Is there any (hope for) international or even inter-organizational consensus on credentialing criteria for verifying individuals and device identities?
• What are identity federations? Who oversees a federation? How are inter-federation relationships established? What problems persist?
• What kinds of credentials satisfy both strong identity requirements and the practical need for (consumer) ease of use?
• What steps can organizations take now to prepare an identity management infrastructure that will scale to large populations and have a high probability of fitting into the federation model?

When: Wednesday, 11/3 from 1:30pm-2:45pm
Where: Salons A-D, Boston Marriott Copley Place

ABOUT NGN:
The NGN 2004 conference will offer in-depth information on the key networking technologies and issues in the years ahead. These include broadband wireless, IP telephony, network convergence, new first mile broadband technologies, storage networking, new switching/routing techniques, network security and many more.

Hope to see you there!

SXIP Module for Drupal Now Available

26 October, 2004 - 12:02pm

Sxip Networks and Bryght have completed an authentication module for Drupal, Open Source content management software. Drupal's tremendous popularity with online communities makes it a natural fit with Sxip, the first distributed personal digital identity network.

The SXIP module ties into Drupal's existing authentication structure. The module uses the PHP Membersite Development Kit (MDK) and has the following capabilities:

• single sign-on for any user with a SXIP account who can use a "sxip in" button to authenticate with the Drupal site
• if the user has an existing account on the Drupal site (determined by matching email addresses with the SXIP persona), the existing account is re-used

"Working with Sxip has been great. We needed built-in authentication for a large federated deployment that can interoperate with other applications and user bases, and the Sxip Network offered the best means to accomplish this," said Boris Mann, head of business development, Bryght. "Plus Sxip's commitment to Open Source and its extensible protocol made it a good fit."

Further enhancements to include full profile synching and mapping of user information fields will follow in the next few weeks. You can download the SXIP module for Drupal 4.5 at http://www.drupal.org/project/releases.

More information about the Sxip Network is available at sxip.org.

ABOUT BRYGHT

Bryght sells managed community content and web publishing through their hosted Drupal services. In addition, they provide custom consulting and development services for Drupal-based community solutions.

Sxip looking for Mac and Linux software developers

20 October, 2004 - 11:55am

Are you looking to join an innovative company on the cutting edge of personal digital identity? Interested in social networking and online communities? Love working with open source? So do we!

Sxip Networks, the first distributed personal digital identity network, is a well-funded startup located on Canada's west coast in the heart of beautiful downtown Vancouver, British Columbia.

Successful candidates will be exceptional developers with a proven track record implementing large scale, mission critical web solutions through all phases of the lifecycle.

Experience contributing to or participating in Open Source development projects is a definite asset. Minimum three years development experience required. Details on the specific job responsibilities and experience are posted on our careers page.

If you think you've got what it takes to work in the forefront of new technology please contact .

Identity for Us?

19 October, 2004 - 11:21am

Sxip Network's CEO Dick Hardt is participating in the panel "Identity for Us" at next week's Digital Id World conference in Denver. Moderated by Linux Journal's Doc Searls, the panel is from 5-6 pm on Tuesday October 26.

Come hear the panel discussion, participate in the Sxip BoF during Wednesday's lunch, or stop by the Sxip booth to see a demo of the Network and get some of our cool new swag.

Can't make it to the conference and have some questions? Email us directly at .

Learn more about Sxip's open source IdM network in Vegas

15 October, 2004 - 11:26am

The Sxip Network Evangelist, Zak Greant, is speaking at the ISESTORM Open Source symposium. Zak will give a brief overview of SXIP and will discuss how to integrate SXIP into open source projects.

The Sxip Network and protocol are community-driven and open to all. The protocol can be easily extended to support identity initiatives between communities, organizations, and standards groups. The development tools and applications are all Open Source projects, maintained and developed by the community and are designed to be easily integrated with existing projects. Additional details on the community are on sxip.org.

The non-profit, open source community, ISECOM is hosting an exhibition and forum, ISESTORM, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as part of their security event specifically for open source developers, thinkers, creators, and drivers of privacy and security.

Read more about SXIP...

Sxip Network Homesite Package Now Available

14 October, 2004 - 12:07pm

Sxip Networks released today the first Homesite Package for webmasters who wish to become a user access hub within the Sxip Network.

Homesites are a repository for their Sxip Network's user data and authenticate their users' identity. The Homesite Package is a downloadable J2EE application that enables website administrators to implement their own Homesites.

The Sxip Network and protocol is intended to be community-driven and open to all. The protocol can be easily extended to support identity initiatives between communities, organizations, and standards groups. The development tools and applications are all Open Source projects, and are designed to be easily integrated with existing projects.

Current sxip.org subscribers are eligible to download this release for free. If you are not a member of sxip.org, register for an account here !

A number of documents that describe the Sxip Protocol and how it works are available for download, including:

• The Homesite Developer's Guide< - provides details on how to create your own Homesite.
• How Sxip Works- describes how it works from a user, Membersite, and Homesite perspective.
• The Sxip Network Overview - explains the problems the Sxip Network solves and describes how the Network operates.

For more information please email us at

Update: these links in this post have been obsoleted and removed.

Beta Release of mod_sxip Apache Module

14 October, 2004 - 12:05pm

Sxip Networks has released a public beta version of mod_sxip, an Apache module that eases Membersite integration with the Sxip Protocol.

mod_sxip is an Apache module that provides a simple way to obtain a Sxip user's shared cookie.

In order to do this, the module performs a transparent redirection to a site on the Sxip network (referred to as the Membersite's shadow domain) and attempts to acquire the value of the shared cookie. If the cookie is not found, a configurable default response is returned.

mod_sxip can be downloaded from here.

Sxip Network presents a free Webinar - Sept. 28th

28 September, 2004 - 11:30am

Introducing the Sxip Network -- a Webinar that explores the first distributed public identity network.

Date: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 Time: 10:00 am, PDT (GMT -07:00, San Francisco) 1:00 PM EST

Sxip founder & CEO Dick Hardt presents a webinar that covers:

• why you should care about Identity Management
• how Sxip solves single sign on, privacy concerns, and registration fall off
• the benefits of joining this loosely coupled, extensible network
• what it takes to get up and running and next steps

To register for this meeting, please click here

Once you have registered for the meeting, you will receive an email message confirming your registration. This message will provide the information that you need to join the meeting including teleconference number.

For more information on Sxip Networks, go to www.sxip.net or www.sxip.org

Sxip Network Specs & Perl Membersite Devkit Now Available

14 September, 2004 - 12:10pm

Sxip Networks has released the Sxip Network Specs and Perl Membersite Dev Kit.

The specifications and the Perl Membersite Development Kit (MDK) for the Sxip Network are now available at https://sxip.org. To access the files, you'll first need to register at demohomesite.com and then click on the sxip in button.

We've added a document How Sxip Works that explains how it works from a user, Membersite, and Homesite perspective. You can also view The Sxip Network Overview to see what problems the Sxip Network solves and describes how the Network operates.

We're also planning a number of near-term releases which include:

• Membersite Development Kits:
  • Perl MDK (available now).
  • PHP (mid-September 2004).
  • Python (mid-September 2004).
  • Java (late-September 2004).
• Homesite Application:
  • Demohomesite.com - a reference Homesite for testing Membersite applications (available now).
  • A Homesite application in Java - easy to install and configure (late September).

We're hosting a webinar scheduled for 10 am PST, Tuesday September 28, 2004 to present an introduction to Sxip Networks, How to Integrate, and Next Steps. Registration details will follow.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions at .

Update: Some of the links in this post are obsolete and have been removed

Sxip Network Preview Release of IdM Platform

17 June, 2004 - 12:13pm

Sxip Networks previews its identity management platform -- technical specifications now available through Sxip Pioneer program.

Sxip Networks yesterday previewed its identity management platform at an invitation-only event held in Vancouver, BC.

Sxip Networks founder and CEO, Dick Hardt demonstrated how the Sxip Network will benefit consumers, web portals, and online communities by enabling single sign-on and property exchange between web sites. Participants saw a live demonstration of the system and got information on how to participate in the Sxip Pioneer program at https://sxip.org.