The laws of identity 2

The problem

“The Internet was built without a way to know who and what you are connecting to.”

A patchwork of identity “one-offs”

Since this essential capability is missing, everyone offering an Internet service has had to come up with a workaround. It is fair to say that today’s Internet, absent a native identity layer, is based on a patchwork of identity one-offs.

Criminalization of the Internet

People have begun to use the Internet to manage and exchange things of progressively greater real-world value. This has not gone unnoticed by a criminal fringe that understands the ad hoc and vulnerable nature of the identity patchwork—and how to subvert it.

Excerpts from The Laws of Identity, by Kim Cameron.