So, it will be difficult to select a single mechanism without introducing inefficiencies for one application or another. The application wishes to accept icons in the form of JPEG data. Since icons are relatively small, it is convenient to include the JPEG icon data within the icon publishing request. In this case, simply base64-encoding the icon is an attractive solution while referencing the icon data with a URI is somewhat inefficient.
Publishers advertise the availability of a audio file in a centralized catalog.
Consumers then browse the catalog and select audio files for download or immediate listening. Additionally, publishers require the ability to update the content of the file without updating the central catalog. In this scenario, due to the potentially large size of the audio files, and the need for decentralized content management, URIs are convenient for conveying the binary data. Also, having a requirement to establish a normative method for handling binary data may conflict with DR700, which talks about the need for application-specific content.