Links going stale (was: Proper use of domain names).

[Jacob Palme <jpalme at DSV.SU.SE>]

At 18.06 -0500 99-08-03, srodawa wrote:
> There is a non-profit organization which has had the domain name mi.org
> since 1988.  They are about to have the domain pulled from them because
> some commercial organization is claiming to hold MI as a trademark.

Something like 15 % of all web links go stale in a years time. This
means that a provider of web pages will have to regularly, several
times a year, check if his/her links are stale, or else the quality
of his pages will be reduced. It also means that people looking for
information on the web often will find a stale link instead of the
information they look for.

Why do links go stale? Either the resource provider has changed
its URL, or removed it. A change in URL may be forced upon the
resource provider, as in the case which started this discussion,
or be done voluntarily because the provider is reorganizing his
web pages. A change in URL may also be necessary for those providers
who do not have their own domains, and who are using domains
provided by their web hotel. It may also be necessary when
organizations disappear, or when groups or people move from
one organization to another.

The URN is meant to reduce this problem, but I am not sure how
well they will work.

Another way of reducing this problem might be if IETF or W3C
issued recommendations that URLs should not be changed. People
who change URLs often are not aware of the disruption they
cause. For example, if I left my employment at Stockholm
University, is it really necessary that all URLs beginning
with "http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/"; have to go stale?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacob Palme <jpalme at dsv.su.se> (Stockholm University and KTH)
for more info see URL: http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme