Open-source ID project awaits Microsoft's blessing

An open-source rival to a Microsoft identity tool has been in limbo for months, awaiting the software giant's go-ahead on certain patent-related issues.

Developers working on the Higgins project want to create a tool equivalent to Microsoft's Windows CardSpace, but fear the software giant's legal wrath if they don't receive permission on certain features. Although parts of the project continue to move forward, proponents say it may not reach its full potential without Microsoft's help.

"There are some pieces that we would not be able to release that we would like to," Mary Ruddy, a Higgins project leader, said Thursday. "We want to make sure that the intellectual property for all of our open-source projects is really clean, so that people can feel confident about using our code."

Open-source ID project awaits Microsoft's blessing.