¥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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