Jerry,

>BTW, knowing Microsoft's track record and its declining net earnings, it is a sure bet that sometime in the near future the Web page listing the Passport license will be changed to include access fees, which you will, not doubt, gladly pay. Others will not.

Microsoft have announced at the PDC this week that the .NET Passport, .NET Alerts and .NET Presence parts of .NET MyServices (formerly Hailstorm) will be free of charge to end-users. Some of the profile information normally contained in the earlier version of Passport, however, is being moved into .NET Profile, which will have some kind of user charge (probably for those without MSN service, which would likely include it in the normal fee).

For most Passport authentication uses, such as logging into a site, the barebones Passport would be sufficient. Other applications that allow you to authorize use of the more detailed profile information or access to insert items into your .NET Calendar will require you to be signed up with those services.

I'm pressing MS for an official quote from someone about MS's commitment to keep the Passport, Alerts and Presence services free forever. We'll see...

They have already said that even though the 3 services will be free, some devices, such as cellphones, may require a charge if the device service provider charges MS an access fee or transaction charge.

That's all I know for now, and I'm sure it's not enough to ease your suspicions...