In this project, particular emphasis has been given to creating a framework for managing digital objects that incorporate intellectual property rights over very long periods of time. Most URN proposals use domain names as an authority naming scheme and DNS to resolve URNs. Handles use a separate authority naming scheme. This is hierarchical in the sense that, if n1 is a naming authority, then n1 can create a sub- naming authority n1.n2. However, the handle name space is flat in the sense that each handle is considered an opaque string for the purpose of resolution.
Handles are a general purpose class of identifier.
Alternatively, handles can be used as identifiers for catalogs, indexes, URCs, or other indirect retrieval methods, which may themselves use handles to identify objects. C. Recent Developments 1. The global handle server described in David Ely's paper has been operational for several months. This includes both the global handle service and the caching server for local operation. CNRI will soon have eight servers available, capable of resolving about 1,500 handles per second.