The OpenID Foundation membership has approved OpenID Provider Authentication Policy Extension 1.0 as an OpenID specification by a vote of forty-two to three, with seven abstentions.  This is a significant development for the OpenID community for two reasons:  First, this is the first new specification to be developed under the OpenID Foundation’s IPR policies and procedures, which ensure that all are free to use it (like the existing approved specifications) – paving the way for additional specifications to come.  Second, the PAPE specification provides an important security enhancement to OpenID Authentication, which can be used with both OpenID 1.1 and OpenID 2.0.

Specifically, the PAPE Specification enables Relying Parties to request that OpenID Providers employ specified authentication policies when authenticating users and for OpenID Providers to inform the Relying Parties which policies were actually used.  With PAPE, for instance, a Relying Party can request that the OpenID Provider employ a phishing-resistant authentication method for authenticating the user, and know whether such a method was used or not.  The specification can also be used to request multi-factor authentication and to learn what NIST level (or other levels) the authentication conforms to.

At the time of this writing, the working group is aware of at least four implementations of the specification:  PHP, Ruby, and Python development versions from OpenID Enabled and a .NET version from the DotNetOpenID project.

The PAPE working group looks forward to seeing use of the specification help make OpenID interactions more secure in the real world!

– Mike Jones, for the PAPE Working Group

I’m pleased to report that 175 out of 217 eligible members voted in the election for OpenID Foundation community board members. The election results (listing candidates and number of votes received) are as follows:

Elected to serve 2-year terms:

Elected to serve 1-year terms:

Not elected:

The seven elected community board members will take office on January 1st, 2009. The five corporate board members will remain in office.

I’d like to thank all those who ran for their commitment to serving the OpenID community. I look forward to working with many of you on advancing OpenID over the coming year, including, I’m sure, many of you who were not elected to the board in this election.

– Mike Jones, for the Elections Committee

The 60 day public review of the Provider Authentication Policy Extension (PAPE) Specification draft is complete.  No comments were received that the working group believed required changes to the draft specification.  Therefore, it is the recommendation of the PAPE working group that the membership approve the draft as an OpenID specification, per the OpenID IPR Procedures.  Members should vote at https://openid.net/foundation/members/polls/2 between December 22nd and December 29th.

The specification draft is available at these locations:

• http://openid.net/specs/openid-provider-authentication-policy-extension-1_0-07.html
• http://openid.net/specs/openid-provider-authentication-policy-extension-1_0-07.txt

If approved, this will be the first specification to be completed under the IPR Policy and Procedures of the OpenID Foundation — a significant milestone for the OpenID community.

The first OpenID Foundation election of community board members opened on December 10th. All members of the OpenID Foundation are eligible to vote for candidates. If you are not already a member of the OpenID Foundation, you can join as an individual member for $25/year.

There are 17 candidates running for a total of seven seats. You may vote only once, for as many as seven different candidates. The candidates are (alphabetized by first name):

• Allen Tom
• Brian Kissel
• Chris Messina
• David Recordon
• Dick Hardt
• Eran Hammer-Lahav
• Eric Sachs
• Johannes Ernst
• John Bradley
• Joseph Smarr
• Luke Shepard
• Martin Atkins
• Mike Kirkwood
• Nat Sakimura
• Peter Nixey
• Scott Kveton
• Snorri Giorgetti

All candidates listed above received the requisite three seconds to run for the election. The four candidates who receive the most votes will serve two year terms and the three candidates receiving the next highest numbers of votes will serve one year terms. (This allows us to institute staggered two-year terms going forward.)

Board membership requires a substantial ongoing investment of time and energy. Board members will be called upon to serve both on the board and on its committees where the work of the foundation is conducted, and to actively contribute. The best candidates are passionate about OpenID and advancing digital identity, will have the time to devote to community service in this manner, and are people who gets things done and work well with others.

Voting requires that you sign in with the OpenID that you used to register when you joined the Foundation. If you experience problems participating in the election or joining the foundation, please send a note to membership@oidf.org.

Voting began on December 10 and ends on Wednesday, December 24. Results will be announced by Wednesday, December 31, with the new board terms starting the next day, on Thursday, January 1.

Upon completion of the election, the new board will elect the officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) as well as the Executive Committee.

The OpenID Foundation is holding its first election of community board members. All members of the OpenID Foundation are eligible to nominate themselves, second the nominations of others who self-nominated, and vote for candidates. If you’re not already a member of the OpenID Foundation, we encourage you to join.

Board participation requires a substantial ongoing investment of time and energy and is a commitment that should not be undertaken lightly. Rather, should you be elected, expect to be called upon to serve both on the board and on its committees where the work of the foundation is conducted, and to actively contribute. That being said however, if you’re passionate about OpenID and advancing digital identity, have the time to devote to community service in this manner, and are a person who gets things done and works well with others, we welcome your candidacy for the OpenID board of directors.

Voting and nominations are conducted using the OpenID you registered when you joined the Foundation. Log in with that OpenID to participate in the election. You should have also received instructions on how to participate in a separate note from membership at oidf.org if you’re already a member. If you experience problems participating in the election or joining the foundation, please send a note to membership at oidf.org.

Seven community directors are being elected to the board. The four candidates receiving the most votes will serve 2 year terms and the three candidates receiving the next numbers of votes will serve 1 year terms. (This allows us to institute staggered 2-year terms going forward.) In order to be eligible for election, your candidacy must have been seconded by at least three other members.

The election will be conducted on the following schedule:
Nominations open: Monday, November 24
Nominations close: Monday, December 8
Election begins: Wednesday, December 10
Election ends: Wednesday, December 24
Results announced by: Wednesday, December 31
New board terms start: Thursday, January 1

Upon completion of the election, the new board will elect the officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) as well as the Executive Committee.