WebProNews

MySpace may be making a move in the direction of universal logins, according to a new report.  The problem - aside from traditional security concerns - is that the social network sounds more eager to issue OpenID identities than accept ones established elsewhere.

In January, Yahoo began to support the OpenID standard.  Less than a month later, Yahoo, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Verisign all joined the OpenID board.  With the addition of MySpace, it's hard to think of more than one or two top-level companies that haven't provided some sort of cooperation.

 OpenID

Yet Michael Arrington stated, "Like most large company integrations, MySpace is at first becoming an OpenID issuer only, and may integrate as a relying party down the road.  We've argued that becoming an issuer is essentially a land grab for user identities."  A veritable chorus of commenters then agreed.

So MySpace's (as-yet-unconfirmed) decision to support OpenID may not be the most functional development ever.  Add to the equation the fact that many people haven't even heard of OpenID, and the move's PR value might be nil or negative.

Meh.  Lack of interest could push MySpace to take the extra step of becoming an OpenID relying party, anyway.