What features do XRIs have that URIs don ?
• XRIs are “location-independent” – the content of an XRI is decoupled from the network location of any data or services associated with the XRI. This means, among other things, that accessing a resource associated with an XRI isn’t limited to a particular network location or protocol. (Most URI schemes in wide use today use identifiers that imply a close association to a network location or protocol.) • XRIs can assert persistence of all or parts of an identifier. XRIs allow two types of separators (persistent and reassignable) between segments of an XRI, so the XRI can suggest that certain parts of the identifier are intended to be long-lived “primary keys” (a concept borrowed from database technology) and others are subject to change. Most URI schemes, on the other hand, are all-or-nothing. With URNs, for example, the entire identifier is persistent. With HTTP URIs, the entire identifier is potentially transient. The XRI scheme allows both characteristics to be combined in one feder
