eBay puts final stamp in Microsoft Passport

Online auctioneer eBay officially has notified customers that it will no longer allow them to log on through Microsoft's identity management service, Passport.

As previously reported, the move is the latest blow to Passport, which had originally been marketed as a single online storage place for internet users' sensitive data. The authentication system has been scaled back to support only services from Microsoft and its close partners.

"As of 24 January, 2005, eBay will no longer support Microsoft Passport as a means to sign in," the online auctioneer stated in an email message dated Wednesday and seen by silicon.com sister site CNET News.com.

A representative of eBay confirmed that the company had sent messages to its members and that it would stop supporting Passport authentication beginning on 24 January.

Microsoft previously stated that the move was expected, as the software giant has slowly been paring back the Passport service. The service has had to fight security problems, plus regulatory problems and the desire of competitors to create their own system, known as the Liberty Alliance.

Microsoft made changes to its service that prompted eBay to drop support, the online auctioneer previously stated.

eBay on Wednesday missed Wall Street earnings expectations for the first time in at least three years, sending its shares down 12 per cent and taking other internet stocks lower.

The online marketplace didn't benefit as much from a weaker dollar as analysts had expected, and the disappointment was compounded by its previous record of blowing past estimates.

eBay's fourth-quarter net profit rose 44 per cent to $205.4m, or 30 cents a share, from $142.5m, or 21 cents, a year earlier. Excluding items, eBay's profit was 33 cents a share, one cent shy of analysts' expectations.

Stephen Leeb, president of Leeb Capital Management, said: "I think investors are just used to eBay beating the Street numbers, not just by a little but by a lot."

However, Leeb said it appeared eBay had not benefited as much as expected from dollar weakness due to currency hedges.

Net revenue rose to $935.8m from $648.4m.

Robert Lemos writes for CNET News.com. Reuters contributed to this report.