Chi.mp is Evolving OpenID
Chi.mp is OpenID + FriendFeed and the service has been in closed alpha for several months. The big difference between Chi.mp and other identity and streaming services is that it’s giving away domains. Once accepted into the alpha, you get yourname.mp for free.
The OpenID offering is straightforward. Any site that accepts OpenID accounts can take a yourname.mp login. Chi.mp handles the authentication.
Other OpenID providers use sub-domains instead of domains. However, you can make any domain an OpenID, as long as you own it.
Where Chi.mp breaks away from OpenID providers is that it expands on identity. Chi.mp includes an activity stream, which aggregates the feeds from several services, similar to FriendFeed. Chi.mp is short for “Content Hub and Identity Management Platform.”
You can also connect to your friends who are on Chi.mp. Then you can decide how much you allow each friend to see. Chi.mp claims three levels of privacy: professional info, friend info (choose who can see it), and private info.
Chi.mp calls itself a “friendly garden,” in comparison to the walled gardens of many social networks. It shares the goals of the DiSo project, which aims to make a social network of individual websites. Though it’s great to see a site call for openness (the Chi.mp blog says “Own. Don’t be owned.”), it’s unclear whether yourname.mp can be moved away from Chi.mp’s service.
The .mp domain names are being made available free to individuals for social networking by U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. Chi.mp is the only way to get your own .mp right now. Trademark holders are able to reserve their own .mp for $50 per year before September.
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