New Sun software to support Liberty

Sun Microsystems has released a new version of its iPlanet directory server software that focuses on keeping track of computer users' identities and what they're authorized to do, the company said Tuesday. IPlanet Directory Server/Access Management Edition 5.0 will be available in mid-December. Future editions will conform to the specifications produced by the Sun-backed Liberty Alliance Project, the company said.

The software supports features such as letting a single sign-on to a Web page grant access to several other sites through the use of encrypted "cookie" files--a similar technology to Microsoft's Passport software. It also supports policies that can be applied to groups of computer users.