[cap-talk] "ambient authority" on wiki.erights.org

[John Carlson]

On Jun 11, 2009, at 11:09 AM, Mark Miller wrote:

> # If a subject can operate on all objects of a given type, we say that
> # it has ambient authority.
>
> Huh? I am completely confused. What do types have to do with anything?

How about:

If a subject can operate on all objects in a set, where the set is  
limited to a system, we say that the subject has ambient authority  
within that system.

Possibly systems: the operating system of a computer, the Internet,  
the file system of a computer, an ecosystem, a political state, the  
world, the universe.

A capability allows a subject to operate on one object in a set, where  
the set is limited to a system.

What is the thing which allows a subject to operate on many objects in  
a set, where the set is limited to a system?  An identity?  A master  
key/password?  A visa?  A spacecraft?