SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that eBay Inc. will soon drop support for its Passport service, originally intended to make the world’s biggest software maker the gatekeeper of Web identities.

But Microsoft said it will keep Passport up and running, despite the loss of one of its earliest and most important partners.

EBay said in a message to users on Wednesday that in late January it will stop allowing them to sign on to its Web marketplace through Passport.

Passport allows users to store such things as passwords and credit card information for use across the Web. With its launch in 1999, Microsoft aimed to insert itself in a key position in e-commerce transactions.

But the service has since fallen short of that goal due to several significant hurdles — including security and privacy concerns.

The move by eBay, far and away the most popular U.S. shopping Web site, ends a partnership forged in 2001 and underscores consumers’ unwillingness to embrace Passport outside Microsoft’s own MSN Internet network.

“A very small percentage of eBay users regularly signed in using Passport,” said eBay spokesman Hani Durzy, who added that the company also has provided alternatives to users who receive eBay alerts through Microsoft’s .Net service.

Source: Reuters