Would seem to make sense to take a step back and look at what Persona and Accounts can/should be good at. Persona could/should be an awesome single sign on service that doesn't leak personal data all over the place and provides good security. Unfortunately it seems doomed to failure because the operating model chosen relies on competitive services to adopt it. In other words why would Google become an IdP for Persona when it competes with Google Sign On?
Firefox Accounts, in addition to Persona, could actually move the needle. If Mozilla would drop the idea that email providers should be IdP and instead step into the role themselves (like they kinda are with Accounts) this could all work.
More simply put why not do Persona as an SSO solution independent of email providers (Mozilla or a partner is the single IdP). Optionally attach data to that identity (several technical ways to do this) to hold more data such as that envisioned by Firefox Accounts (email, TOS acceptance, ...).
Firefox Accounts, in addition to Persona, could actually move the needle. If Mozilla would drop the idea that email providers should be IdP and instead step into the role themselves (like they kinda are with Accounts) this could all work.
More simply put why not do Persona as an SSO solution independent of email providers (Mozilla or a partner is the single IdP). Optionally attach data to that identity (several technical ways to do this) to hold more data such as that envisioned by Firefox Accounts (email, TOS acceptance, ...).