This is coming up a whole lot in reviews, so here are the points that I answer with:
FindMeOn was heavily inspired by OpenID, but has nothing to do with it — OpenID is a decentralized service focused on interactive identity ( login , authentication , secure transport ), Fndmeon is focused on passive identity — no interaction with any server is necessary.
Findmeon grew out of a use where I *really* wanted to use OpenID , but the design of the protocol just didn’t support it.
OpenID is simply amazing though, and I encourage everyone to use it when applicable.
ClaimID is focused on publicly claiming an ID for search / analytics. It’s great for the things that you want people to know about — like your family photos, personal blog, corporate email & writings — and in that arena, claimID is incredibly useful and your best choice for promotion. Most people I know are either already using it or should be using it.
FindMeOn, on the other hand, is compltely different. We’re focused on being able to claim an ID through a specific ‘lens’ of another ID, and shielding it from the rest.
Lets say you have a myspace page thats a little ’sketchy’ — you probably don’t want your mom& dad googling you, finding that profile, and seeing you flirting with 16 yr old girls who make jokes about you buying them beer the night before.
You probably also don’t want those people on myspace seeing your family photos on flickr ( maybe your regular photos are ok, but the ones with pix of your house, and your brother & little sister )…
So thats why we have FindMeOn. Using public/private key cryptography, instead of linking accounts to one another, we link accounts to keys — and then we can control which account can see the other accounts through the keys.
In my opinion, the 3 projects — while they are very similar — their design/function/features are mutually exclusive and serve completely different purposes. I’d like to think there’s not just room, but a need for all 3.