Microsoft put a stop to their Hailstorm initiative today, reports The Register and other trade rags. I'm not surprised. I participated in some of the early Liberty Alliance planning meetings, and in those meetings there was strong sentiment among banks, credit card companies, and the other players that Microsoft couldn't be allowed to be a middle man between them and their customers. Microsoft got greedy. That's what did Hailstorm in.
Looks like the next go-round will have Microsoft as a software supplier rather than services supplier.