I’m very happy to hear that Ted agrees with me on personal identity management. I do disagree, somewhat, with his view that identity must be wrapped in a centralized trust model. It seems to me that there are a myriad of ways which you could assert identity based on relationships we already have: banks, churches, lawyers, etc. I know it’s not necessary to provide a guarantor to get a passport in the US, but it is in Canada. In fact, if you’re living abroad, you have to provide two in order to get a passport, and they have to be people who have known you for a minimum of two years and who come from a limited number of backgrounds / professions. Why couldn’t I visit a notary, provide some verifiable credentials and be issued a certificate? Surely a decentralized model, based on the trust relationships that already exist in society could be just as workable.
Bloviating, eh Ted? Oi!
American Heritage Dictionary – Cite This Source
blo·vi·ate (blÅ’vÄ“-Ät’) Pronunciation Key 
intr.v. blo·vi·at·ed, blo·vi·at·ing, blo·vi·ates Slang
To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner: “the rural Babbitt who bloviates about ‘progress’ and ‘growth’” (George Rebeck).
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Talking of Personal Identity Management check out Sxip and my good friend Dick Hardt making a fantastic presentation on the subject at: http://identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/
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