XRI canonical id question

Dick Hardt dick at sxip.com
Tue Oct 10 19:05:39 UTC 2006


Ok, I think I get the justification now:

i-numbers are in unlimited supply and have no inherent value except  
as a handle, so they don't need to be managed the same way

i-names are a namespace and hence are limited, and have value to  
humans, so there is value in separating the handle from the human  
readable part

Am I getting it?

-- Dick

On 10-Oct-06, at 11:55 AM, Drummond Reed wrote:

>>> On 10-Oct-06, at 11:00 AM, Drummond Reed wrote:
>>>
>>> Again, this is why I recommend RPs don't even store the i-name, but
>>> instead
>>> store their own display name for the user. The display name and the
>>> i-number
>>> (CanonicalID) never need to change, whereas an i-name may be
>>> reassigned.
>>
>> Dick wrote:
>>
>> why would an i-name be reassigned?
>
> Just like a domain name, an i-name registration can lapse and be  
> returned
> back into the name pool, where it can be registered by a different
> registrant.
>
>> why would an i-number not be reassigned?
>
> I-numbers are functionally URNs. They are assigned once by a registry
> (globally or at any level of delegation) and never reassigned. Even  
> if the
> registration lapses, it can only be renewed by the original  
> registrant (or
> their trustee).
>
> I-numbers are one of the most unique features of XRI registries.  
> See the
> XDI.org Global Services Specifications at http://gss.xdi.org for  
> much more
> than you ever wanted to know about the policies around persistent  
> identifier
> management. Good lawyers took as many years as the technologists to  
> come up
> with this stuff ;-)
>
>> who owns the i-number?
>
> The original registrant - forever. Even if they die, they can  
> appoint one or
> more trustees to continue to own/manage the registration.
>
>> I thought that who is authorative for an i-name was managed by a
>> registry that was separate from the i-broker, and that mechanism
>> provided the separation of identifier management from IdP.
>
> It does. The same way domain name registrations are portable from  
> one DNS
> registrar to another, global i-name and i-number registration are  
> portable
> across IdPs (in XDI.org XRI infrastructure they are called i-brokers).
>
> The role of the IdP/i-broker, like the role of a DNS registrar, is to
> perform transactions with the registry on the registrant's behalf,  
> i.e.,
> register, update, delete, and transfer registrations.
>
> =Drummond
>
>




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