diff --git a/app/models/Invite.js b/app/models/Invite.js
index 2a6dfee..dd5bcec 100755
--- a/app/models/Invite.js
+++ b/app/models/Invite.js
@@ -14,4 +14,8 @@ var InviteSchema = mongoose.Schema({
     exp: Date
 });
 
+InviteSchema.methods.use = function(canonicalname, cb) {
+    return this.model('Invite').updateOne({code: this.code}, {recipient: canonicalname, used: Date.now()}, cb);
+};
+
 module.exports = mongoose.model('Invite', InviteSchema);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/models/User.js b/app/models/User.js
index f979948..5e4c514 100755
--- a/app/models/User.js
+++ b/app/models/User.js
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ var UserSchema = mongoose.Schema({
         unique: true,
         required: true
     },
+    canonicalname: {
+        type: String,
+        unique: true,
+        required: true
+    },
     scope: [String],
     uploadCount: {
         type: Number,
@@ -19,6 +24,6 @@ var UserSchema = mongoose.Schema({
     date: Date
 });
 
-UserSchema.plugin(passportLocalMongoose);
+UserSchema.plugin(passportLocalMongoose, {usernameField: 'canonicalname'});
 
 module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/routes/auth.js b/app/routes/auth.js
index d67a82a..3de29fa 100755
--- a/app/routes/auth.js
+++ b/app/routes/auth.js
@@ -6,57 +6,124 @@ var Invite = require('../models/Invite.js');
 
 var passport = require('passport');
 
-function checkInvite(code, callback) {
+var async = require('async');
+
+// Normalizes, decomposes, and lowercases a unicode string
+function canonicalize(username) {
+    return username.normalize('NFKD').toLowerCase();
+}
+
+// Checks if an invite code is valid
+// Returns the invite object if valid
+function checkInvite(code, cb) {
     Invite.findOne({code: code}, function (err, invite) {
-        if (err) return callback(err);
-        if (!invite || invite.used || invite.exp < new Date())
-            callback(null, false);
+        if (err)
+            cb(err);
+        else if (!invite)
+            cb('Invalid invite code.');
+        else if (invite.used)
+            cb('Invite already used.');
+        else if (invite.exp < Date.now())
+            cb('Invite expired.');
         else
-            callback(null, true, invite);
+            cb(null, invite);
     });
 }
 
-function useInvite(code, username) {
-    Invite.updateOne({code: code}, {recipient: username, used: new Date()}, function (err) {
-        if (err) throw err;
+// Validates the username, then registers the user in the database using the given invite.
+function registerUser(username, password, invite, sanitizeFn, cb) {
+    async.series([
+        function (cb) {
+            // Canonicalize and sanitize the username, checking for HTML
+            var canonicalName = canonicalize(username);
+            var sanitizedName = sanitizeFn(canonicalName);
+
+            if (sanitizedName !== canonicalName)
+                cb('Username failed sanitization check.');
+            else if (canonicalName.length > 36)
+                cb('Username too long.');
+            else
+                cb(null);
+        },
+        function (cb) {
+            User.register(new User({
+                username: username,
+                canonicalname: canonicalize(username),
+                scope: invite.scope,
+                date: Date.now()
+            }), password, cb);
+        },
+        function (cb) {
+            invite.use(canonicalize(username), cb);
+        }
+    ], function (err) {
+        cb(err);
     });
 }
 
-router.post('/register', function (req, res, next) {
-    // Validate the invite code, then hand off to passport
-    checkInvite(req.body.invite, function (err, valid, invite) {
-        if (valid) {
-            User.register(
-                new User({username: req.body.username, scope: invite.scope, date: Date.now()}),
-                req.body.password,
-                function (err) {
-                    if (err) return res.status(403).json({'message': err.message});
-                    passport.authenticate('local')(req, res, function () {
-                        req.session.save(function(err) {
-                            if (err) return next(err);
-                            useInvite(req.body.invite, req.body.username);
-                            req.session.username = req.body.username;
-                            res.status(200).json({'message': 'Registered.'});
-                        });
-                    });
-                }
-            );
+// Authenticates and creates the required session variables
+function setupSession(username, req, res, cb) {
+    // Body needs to contain canonical name for proper authentication
+    req.body.canonicalname = canonicalize(req.body.username);
+
+    passport.authenticate('local')(req, res, function () {
+        req.session.save(function (err) {
+            if (!err) {
+                req.session.username = username;
+                req.session.canonicalname = canonicalize(username);
+            }
+            cb(err);
+        });
+    });
+}
+
+router.post('/register', function (req, res) {
+    async.waterfall([
+        function (cb) {
+            checkInvite(req.body.invite, cb);
+        },
+        function (invite, cb) {
+            registerUser(req.body.username, req.body.password, invite, req.sanitize, cb);
+        },
+        function (cb) {
+            setupSession(req.body.username, req, res, cb);
+        }
+    ], function (err) {
+        if (err) {
+            res.status(401).json({'message': err});
         } else {
-            res.status(401).json({'message': 'Invalid invite code.'});
+            res.status(200).json({'message': 'Registration successful.'});
         }
     });
 });
 
 router.post('/login', function (req, res, next) {
-    passport.authenticate('local', function(err, user, info) {
-        if (err) return next(err);
-        if (!user) return res.status(401).json({'message': info});
-        req.logIn(user, function(err) {
-            if (err) return next(err);
-            req.session.username = user;
-            res.status(200).json({'message': 'Logged in.'});
-        });
-    })(req, res, next);
+    // Take 'username' from the form and canonicalize it for authentication.
+    req.body.canonicalname = canonicalize(req.body.username);
+
+    async.waterfall([
+        function (cb) {
+            passport.authenticate('local', function(err, user, info) {
+                cb(err, user, info);
+            })(req, res, next);
+        },
+        function (user, info, cb) {
+            if (!user)
+                cb(info);
+            else
+                req.logIn(user, cb);
+        },
+        function (cb) {
+            req.session.username = req.body.username;
+            req.session.canonicalname = canonicalize(req.body.username);
+            cb();
+        }
+    ], function (err) {
+        if (err)
+            res.status(401).json({'message': err});
+        else
+            res.status(200).json({'message': 'Login successful.'});
+    });
 });
 
 router.get('/logout', function (req, res) {
@@ -64,17 +131,18 @@ router.get('/logout', function (req, res) {
     res.status(200).json({'message': 'Logged out.'});
 });
 
-router.get('/session', function(req, res) {
-   if (req.session.passport.user) {
-       User.findOne({username: req.session.passport.user}, function(err, user) {
-           res.status(200).json({
-               user: user.username,
-               scope: user.scope
-           });
-       });
-   } else {
-       res.status(401).json({'message': 'Unauthorized.'});
-   }
+router.get('/session', function (req, res) {
+    if (req.session.passport.canonicalname) {
+        User.findOne({canonicalname: req.session.passport.canonicalname}, function (err, user) {
+            res.status(200).json({
+                username: user.username,
+                canonicalname: user.canonicalname,
+                scope: user.scope
+            });
+        });
+    } else {
+        res.status(401).json({'message': 'Unauthorized.'});
+    }
 });
 
 module.exports = router;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server.js b/server.js
index dff6036..baea354 100755
--- a/server.js
+++ b/server.js
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
 app.use(bodyParser.text());
 app.use(sanitizer());
 app.use(methodOverride('X-HTTP-Method-Override'));
-app.use(passport.initialize());
 
 
 //app.use(favicon(__dirname + '/public/img/favicon.ico'));