Hilmar,
It seems to me that domain-specific resolution systems are rather a
fact and we deal with them all the time.
This is what we try to avoid. The reasoning should not be: Oh, we
should use it because it is already there. The reasoning should be:
would it be better if we do it in another way? Web is all about
communication so data interoperability is the ultimate goal. Using
different domain resolution system fragment the web. If LSID will be
used exclusively used by a selected group of people and will never need
to be communicated outside of that community, then, by all means use
whatever the community feels the most comfortable with. But is this the
case?
Domain names are quickly bought, used, and sold to someone else, and
this is not just theoretical.
Most, if not everything can be bought, used, and sold, or corrupted to
someone else.
For example, the journal Phyloinformatics discontinued recently and
the domain name phyloinformatics.org is now for sale. If they had used
HTTP URIs using their domain name, the next owner of the domain would
probably choose not to maintain any of those, or worse, reassign them
to something else.
Had I own a LSID domain, can I transfer the ownership? Of course, I
should be allowed to do so because if not, ID will die with me. If I am
allowed to transfer the ownership, does it matter if money or anything
is exchanged? Again, stability is a social issue, what it needs is effort.
Xiaoshu
