The "info" URI initiative was launched in 2003 [1] to fill a requirement for using identifiers on the Web that derived from public namespaces but that had no canonical URL form. A draft RFC was completed and published in April 2006 [2].

When work on the "info" URI scheme began, the W3C 'Architecture of the World Wide Web' (2004) had yet to be published, and the currently emerging framework for Linked Data was scarcely in its infancy. Using the HTTP protocol for both access and persistent identity can be seen to be problematic in certain respects, although it has the undeniable virtue of requiring no additional registration infrastructure. Also, the need to guide and validate registrations of "info" URI namespaces created an approval process bottleneck that is inimical to the rapid and flexible progress that is seen to be the hallmark of the Web.

The Linked Data idiom is currently ascendant, and accommodates both resource resolution and identification, which is different than the simple "info" premise of URI identification alone. This approach to resource identity is likely to conform more closely to evolving practice.

For these reasons, it has been deemed appropriate to close the registry to further "info" namespace registrations. The "info" registry will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future, although prudent adopters should consider migrating their resource identity requirements towards mainstream Web practices over the long term.

 [1] "info" URI Scheme. <http://info-uri.info/>.
 [2] Van de Sompel, H., Hammond, T., Neylon, E. and S. Weibel, 'The "info" URI Scheme for Information Assets with Identifiers in Public Namespaces', RFC 4452, April 2006. <http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4452.txt>.