user@domain identity form musings

[Martin Atkins]

loune wrote:
> Hi List,
> 
> As I mentioned before, the draft specs for the ID system I was working 
> on, instead of using URL, it uses IDs similar to emails. I've just 
> realised that such a format could also be used with with open ID. A URI 
> could contain the form http://user@domain/ and as long as the consumer 
> passes this form to the ID server with the is_identity param, the ID 
> server can take it and then do whatever verification with it.
> 
> So the end result is that multiple people can share a website and still 
> be identified individually.

I suppose that will work, though since the user/password URL format is 
not technically allowed for HTTP I expect that it will not work for 
everyone's HTTP libraries and browsers. Internet Explorer doesn't allow 
this since Windows XP Service Pack 2, I believe.

I would be concerned that some consumers would be unable to accept such 
URLs, and even once they have the links they generate will be unusable 
for many web browsers.