[PP-main] working towards peer press 1.0

[Nick Lothian]

[snip]
> does everyone think that the system would be better if *any* sort of
> binary data were simply described in XML and then the affiliate sites
> decide on a case by case basis of what data types they will receive?
>

Yes, this is what I was saying. It brings up another point, though - should
the syndicate XML file
contain the file being syndicated, or should it point to it?

For example, it is pretty simple for an XML file to contain a plain text
story (or one with tags for formatting). However, for other rich media types
(MPEG files for instance), the affiliate sites would probably want the file
and the description separate, so they can download the description, and then
decide if they want to get the actual content.

Perhaps we should have both: the file can contain <CONTENT> or it can
contain a <CONTENT-URL> pointer to the resource.

This brings up the problem of older material - if the original site
publishes using <CONTENT-URL>, and then moves (or deletes) the file what
happens then?

Also, if you are publishing a GIF file, for instance, how do we stop people
displaying the picture on their site without copying it (ie, using the
picture hosted on your site, with all the bandwidth problems that causes).
Should we worry about this? Sites can use the HTTP-REFERER thing to block
direct access - but that is a little messy. Some sites might actully want
you to use the one on their site, so they can track interest in that item or
something.

Nick