Dan Gillmor’s new blog is kicking ass. In this case, the ass happens to belong to Bill Gates. Go, Dan!

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NetMesh Inc. has announced its proposed solution for the digital ID problem. Called LID (Lightweight ID), it gives the user complete control over her digital ID by putting the actual info on the user’s site. It differs from the Identity Commons idea by using a simple URL as the pointer to the information, rather than a special “URN”; a url has the advantage of being more familiar, and is accessible to anyone who knows how to type in a Web address. LID supports standards, including Jabber’s XML version of VCards, FOAF and XPath. In his blog, NetMesh’s Johannes Ernst argues that it also supports Kim Cameron’s Laws of Identity.

Unfortunately, currently to create a LID, you have to have your own URL, have to be comfortable loading a Perl script, and have to have GPG and the right Perl XPath module installed. I asked Johannes via email why that isn’t too high a hurdle. (It’s too high for me. At the very least, I’d like a LID-o-Matic that, like FOAF-a-Matic, creates a LID file for me.) He replied that they’re aiming initially at the tech community, releasing code that allows would-be LID implementors to understand how it works and what’s required to support it, hoping that that will light a fire that will encourage some horizontal apps to take advantage of the standard. Johannes tells me that NetMesh is working with several organizations that are planning their own LID implementations targeted more towards mainstream consumers.

I also asked Johannes what happens if I change urls. He responded with a set of ways that could be handled. For example, they could add a “secured. forward” protocol to LID, a centralized server could let a 404’ed LID URL look for the new one, or, “most intriguingly, one could use one’s social network (basically the content of the FOAF file) to ‘vouch’ for somebody’s new LID URL. (That’s the way the real world works and it wouldn’t be very hard to codify in software…).” But his key point was: “All ideas that I mentioned can be implemented by people other than us — just like new vocabularies (VCard, FOAF, … whatever-is-hot-next-week) — which makes LID more than just an identity technology but a true platform for identity-related innovation. And at the end of the day, that’s what is exciting about LID.”

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Hoder reports that Iran has cut off access by Iranians to all blogging services and some social software sites, including Orkut. As Dan Brickley writes, “There go 65,000+ Iranian blogs (per blogcensus) and 7%+ of Orkut’s user base, in a flip of a switch.” Hoder suggests some actions we can take, including having the EU and US demand an end to Net censorship during their negotiations with the government.

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Terry Heaton raises an important issue: Many of us tend to be, um, lax about copying copyrighted material onto our own servers so that we can make it more broadly available. At some point, we’re going to get sued.

Just in case you were looking for something else to worry about…

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Larry Lessig is on The Connection for an hour, live at 11am, EST. Click for local times and stations, or for WBUR where you can pick up the live stream.

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Scott Kirsner has a good piece in the Boston Globe appreciating “pure entrepreneurs” who go ahead and build stuff without asking for funding or permission. One of those he cites is my friend Pito Salas who is creating BlogBridge, an aggregator with lots of potential, currently in alpha. He also points to Paul Cosway who is working on what sounds like a very cool, portable Internet radio, called “Radeo.” And he interviews Dan Bricklin and Bill Warner (Avid).

Three cheers for pure entrepreneurs!

BTW, I don’t know Paul Cosway, but I can attest that Pito Salas is not “loopy” (which Scott meant in an affectionate way).

[Note: I am on BlogBridge’s board of advisors.]

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Terry Heaton interviews Ed Cone about the newspaper-sponsored local blogging community.

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Does the Web have seasons? Discuss amongst yourselves…

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Culture Cat has a list of blog entries that talk about gender issues in the blogosphere.

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Google’s logo today features playful polar bears. I assume that if you come to Google from the southern hemisphere, it doesn’t have a winter theme, but I don’t know how to check…

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