Programmers can create what the Alliance refers to as an open source, "technically agnostic" alternative to Microsoft's Passport service by using the specification, which can be downloaded free at the Liberty Alliance website.

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Identification services are intended to simplify electronic purchases by making users' names, passwords, address, financial information and preferences instantly available to e-commerce sites. Marketing experts believe the universal identification systems offered through Passport and the Alliance will be a critical aspect of the Internet's commercial future.

But consumers have so far been lukewarm to the identification systems. Their skepticism rests on privacy and security concerns, as well as confusion over what actual benefits authentication systems provide, according to a recent survey conducted by the Gartner Group.

Version 1.0 of the Liberty Alliance specifications details a somewhat basic sign-in protocol which will allow Internet users to log on at one "linked" website and then be instantly identified upon arrival at any other Web page that supports the alliance's specification.

Identification systems built using Version 1.0 will not transmit personal data such as users' credit card numbers or addresses. That feature is slated for the next release.

The alliance has already addressed some privacy concerns in version 1.0's specification, with features such "opt-in account linking." According to the project specification, users will be able to choose which of the participating vendors and services they want to link. Personal information will be shared only between those selected vendors.

Users can also choose exactly what sort of information will be shared, and can maintain separate identities with different linked accounts associated with each ID.

The alliance didn't reinvent the wheel with its specification. Security of the transmitted data will be handled with existing technology such as Security Assertion Markup Language, an open-source XML-based standard for exchanging security and authentication data. SAML is being developed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards.

The alliance will gradually introduce the specification's features so website developers can implement each new version without difficulty, said Eric Dean, chairman of the Liberty Alliance management board.

Dean outlined the project specification at a launch event held in San Francisco on Monday.

Sun Microsystems formed the Liberty Alliance last September. The project was quickly backed by a consortium of prominent companies which now includes American Airlines, America Online, Bank of America, eBay, Fidelity Investments, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, Software Information Industry Association, Sprint, United Airlines, Visa International and Xerox.

Microsoft has yet to commit to supporting the Liberty Alliance specification. Officials at Sun and Microsoft have said that Passport and Liberty are not competing products, but executives of both companies have also spoken publicly about the strategic importance of having their company's authentication specification widely accepted as the Internet standard.

Authentication services are expected to be the "shining future" of the commercial Internet, according to Manhattan Web marketing consultant Fredrick Farrell.

"Essentially and eventually, authentication will result in the Web becoming one huge interconnected site where everyone who you want to do business with already knows who you are and what you like," Farrell said. "It will be as if the Web was custom-designed just for you."

But most consumers would much rather interact with a generic Web, according to a study released in May by the Gartner consultant group.

After conducting two polls of more than 2,000 users, Gartner analysts said many consumers are simply not interested in authentication services, citing a perceived lack of usefulness along with security and privacy issues as the main concerns.

Farrell agreed. "Universal authentication will only be widely used if people feel safe and feel they are getting fair value for giving up some privacy," he said.

"As a positive example, Amazon's suggestions regarding new products that I might be interested in based on my past purchases are valuable to me. But if every single website soon starts shrieking at me, 'Buy this, Fred, because you've already bought that,' I will certainly be less than thrilled."