Joi Ito wrote today about Global Voices (blog, wiki) which is "a name, an identity, a watchword to ward away the chills of restricted expression. A place for coordinating ideas; a source for inspiration; an optimistic, collaborative manifesto".

Stephen Downes makes some observations that are indicative of some of the misunderstandings that surround i-name technology. I will briefly address two issues in particular:

I-names can be free

While so-called "global" i-names cost money, there are at least two type of free i-names, and I expect the large majority of i-names issued will be free.

Olivier Travers writes of the need for open APIs. We at Identity Commons consider open APIs to be crucial (as well as open governance, open privacy and security mechanisms, etc.).

One of my favorite technology bloggers, Jon Udell, mentioned Identity Commons in his blog today. But even he got a part of the picture wrong. I don't know how we're going to do it, but we've got to get our message clearer. John quotes Owen Davis as saying that [global] i-names will be priced similarly to DNS names. My goal (and I believe Owen shares it) as founder of 2idi.com (the first i-broker) is to provide [community] i-names for free as soon as possible.

Wow - we just got Slashdotted! (And our servers seem to have withstood a sustained load over six times what their previous peak had been - whew!) Anyway, it seems clear that our messaging around how we work has got some holes in it... First, it appears many people think that this is a centralized system. Actually, i-brokers, which are based on the open OASIS XRI, XDI and SAML standards, are not centralized.

I'm still reeling from the un-reality of it all. I think my sister summed it up well when she said:

i think they'll get a few surprises pretty fast : the economy will tank, the taxes will go up, their jobs will go to calcutta and their kids will be drafted to iraq. but of course, hetero marriage has been protected so maybe they'll figure it's a fair trade

Not to dwell to long on what's happened, but part of me wonders if her absentee ballot even got counted, given that it was mailed from France and was for Kerry...

I'm trying to get work done (ok, I am getting work done) but I'm also nervous as all get out regarding the results of the election. Who are these people who can vote for Bush when it's been proven that he's lied to the American public about WMDs, the link between Iraq and al Quaeda not to mention his domestic promises for better health care, schools and jobs? If Bush wins again, I think that any slack that the rest of the world has given U.S.

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