MSO Authentication taking off

As if we needed more validation that the MSOs are asserting their power in the industry, NewTeeVee reports that NBCU will be tightening their authentication methods for the 2010 Olympics. This is not so much as interesting for the Olympics but for the industry at large. The big question I have:

Is someone/ some entity creating a middleware layer that will assert entitlement on behalf of all of the MSOs?

This entire business of entitlement is similar to what Microsoft Passport, Facebook Connect, OpenID and other global authentication systems have tried to achieve. There are technical challenges that cannot be ignored most importantly scale and security (ask anyone who has been involved with SSO projects). IF we assume that the MSOs are successful in building these systems we then must theorize how will the business models take shape. Consider the following:

• The NBC Olympics model is one where multiple MSOs work around one destination
• Comcast's On Demand Online is a 1:1 relationship with a Comcast consumer and a Comcast owned portal
• Time Warner Cable appears to be building a set of middleware that will allow for content companies to build/ maintain their own entitlement products (less work than Comcast, but what impact will this have to the end user experience? Did we learn nothing from Hulu?)

While the Comcast model is relatively straightforward, if we dive into the Time Warner model the scenario gets more interesting. If TWC can easily assert a users cable subscription/ rights, will this allow sites like BravoTV.com, Discovery.com, and others to unlock their long form content for these subscribers in an on site player? Will it then force other MSOs to pursue a similar model? Finally how do you track/ analyze behavior across such a diffuse set of properties?

Interesting to say the least...