Cool URIs Don't Change (1998)
This classic 1998 essay argues for the importance of maintaining stable URIs on the web to prevent broken links. It emphasizes that URI changes are usually a result of poor planning rather than technical necessity.
Why it matters
It remains a foundational document for web architecture and the philosophy of the World Wide Web.
There are no reasons at all in theory for people to change URIs (or stop maintaining documents), but millions of reasons in practice.
In theory, the domain name space owner owns the domain name space and therefore all URIs in it. Except insolvency, nothing prevents the domain name owner from keeping the name. And in theory the URI space under your domain name is totally under your control, so you can make it as stable as you like. Pretty much the only good reason for a document to disappear from the Web is that the company which owned the domain name went out of business or can no longer afford to keep the server running. Then why are there so many dangling links in the world? Part of it is just lack of forethought. Here are some reasons you hear out there:
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