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Re: Ownership of Names (was Re: Public identifiers and topic maps)

• From: John Cowan <cowan@l...>
• To: XML Dev <xml-dev@i...>
• Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 14:44:59 -0400

W. Eliot Kimber wrote:

> So I maintain my assertion that names, not just name spaces, are ownable
> things.

The difficulty is that there are so many names that are public domain;
their meaning is settled by tacit agreement among the users, not by
registration.  (This does not mean that the *referent* is necessarily
in the public domain.)

For example, the name "Spencertown, New York" is not registered anywhere.
Spencertown is a part of the Town of Austerlitz ("Towns" in New York
State and New England are roughly what is called "townships" elsewhere
in the U.S.:  registered land units larger than a county).  But it
is custom alone that says what is, and what is not, Spencertown.

Nevertheless, it makes sense as a topic of conversation.  "I am going
to Spencertown" is intelligible even though Spencertown is not
subject to precise definition.  How shall we handle names of this sort?

-- 
John Cowan	http://www.ccil.org/~cowan		cowan@c...
	You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
	You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
		Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)

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• Follow-Ups:
  • Re: Ownership of Names (was Re: Public identifiers and topic maps)
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• References:
  • Re: Public identifiers and topic maps
    • From: "W. Eliot Kimber" <eliot@d...>
  • Public identifiers and topic maps
    • From: John Cowan <cowan@l...>
  • Ownership of Names (was Re: Public identifiers and topic maps)
    • From: "W. Eliot Kimber" <eliot@d...>

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