¥Web
architecture does not determine what any names, including URIs, refer to. It only
determines what they access. The relationship between access
and reference is essentially arbitrary; it is ours to decide.
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¥Since most
of the things referred to by names are not accessible, references to them can
only be determined by description, perhaps based on other pre-existing
naming conventions. If, for example, a URI is intended to denote the city of
Paris, this reference cannot be established by ostention, since Paris isnÕt
accessible. It has to be done by description. And descriptions can never pin down a
referent exactly. There will always be some slack, some possible doubt about
what exactly is being referred to.
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