Why was XRI needed?
Early Web architecture divided Web addresses (URIs) into two types: URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) and URNs (Uniform Resource Names). The former are concrete addresses that identify resources at a specific location on the Internet (and thus can break if a resource moves). The latter are abstract addresses that persistently identify resources independent of any specific location, domain, or application. However the URN scheme addressed only two requirements that apply to some (but not all) abstract identifiers: persistence (identifiers that never change) and delegation (decentralized identifier management). Over the past decade a much wider set of requirements for abstract, cross-context identification has emerged. They have led to the need for a new identifier scheme that was: Compatible with URI and IRI. Independent of any specific transport or access protocol. Capable of expressing a wide variety of existing (and future) identifiers in a common, interoperable syntax (similar to wha
