Re FPIs for RFCs

Terry Allen (tallen@sonic.net)
Mon, 1 Dec 1997 11:33:49 -0800

Rick Jelliffe wrote:
| > |
| > | You can make up your own FPIs *now* for all MIME types using the following
| > | pattern.
| > |
| > | <!NOTATION video-mpeg
| > | PUBLIC "+//IDN ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc2046.txt//NOTATION
| > | Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions::video/mpeg//EN">
| >
| > Really, only the owners of the name space denoted by
| > "IDN ds.internic.net" should be assigning such FPIs. It will not do
| > for just anybody to be assigning names in someone else's name space.
| >
| > In your own name space you could name something belonging to someone
| > else (unless legal issues prevent), but that's different.
|
| In the general case, yes.
|
| But in this case, where internic have placed the information in a fixed
| place specifically to provide a long-term repository for the public,
| and where SGML (i.e. WebSGML) provides a clear way to express the owner,
| I don't have any qualms about intruding.

It's still not your name space, and you shouldn't be assigning names
within it. Try that trick with some commercial company's DNS name
and you'll be hearing from their lawyers - properly. Qualms or not,
don't intrude.

You assume that there is only one way to construct a name space for
RFC 2046 using the IDN mechanism. Doesn't IDN cover only the "ds.internic.net"
part? You also assume that the IETF (not Internic) has resolved on
using that URL indefinitely. Have you asked them? Don't you think
you should be referring to the MPEG spec instead anyway? What happens
when RFC 2046 is made obsolete? All those are policy questions for
the IETF to resolve without having to deal with decisions *you* made.

You should also be aware of draft-ietf-urn-ietf-02.txt, "A URN Namespace
for IETF Documents", which while work in progress may result in the
formation of URNs for RFCs.

Terry Allen Electronic Publishing Consultant tallen[at]sonic.net
http://www.sonic.net/~tallen/
Davenport and DocBook: http://www.ora.com/davenport/index.html