Re: HTTP Futures

Christian Mogensen (mogens@CS.Stanford.EDU)
Thu, 01 Dec 1994 01:04:57 -0800


Terry Allen writes:
>Should I actually be able to forbid explicit reference (by UR*)
>to my published work by SOAPs? The existence of filters of this
>sort, which can be invoked automatically, offers a line of attack
>on free speech that it is difficult to duplicate in the print
>world---it's one of the few genuinely new things in life beyond
>print.

No - the intent with a SOAP (like a <LINK>) is purely advisory.
Whether or not the advice is heeded is up to a combination of the
browser and the user.

i.e. You will always be able to use Arena and browse the unfiltered web.
(Hey! new slogan: "ARENA: The Unfiltered Web Frontier") If you choose to
use the K12-WebBrowser (or let your kids use it), then that is up to you.
It's like bookstores - it's not seen as censorship, but many people choose
not to patronize adult bookstores and also prevent their kids from walking
around the red-light district.

Note that you might also choose not to censor the page but just log the
fact that it occurred. (Cue: "What are those URLs under the bed?"
discussion).

ObWWW: for Meta information - if we want meta information to implement
SOAPs, then the architecture must allow meta information to be
distributed -i.e. I may have SOAPs about your documents, and browsers
which are aware of the fact need to integrate the two sources before
presenting the result.

Christian "The CPSR pages have low ratings according to the NSA SOAP server"