Sun Microsystems to Unveil ID Initiative

Network computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. will announce a “digital identity” initiative today, a move that appeared to take aim at an old foe--Microsoft Corp.--and the software giant’s Passport system for Internet commerce.

Sun said that Chairman and Chief Executive Scott McNealy will unveil the initiative “surrounding digital identity solutions” with an alliance of industry partners in a morning conference call.

A Sun spokeswoman declined to elaborate, but the company has said it would take on Microsoft in this market, seen as key to making the Internet easier to use.

Microsoft’s Passport system seeks to speed Web commerce by keeping files of sensitive data on users so that a Passport user signed into the system no longer has to reenter often-used information and passwords.