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

[John Carlson]

On Jun 11, 2009, at 12:57 PM, John Carlson wrote:

>
> 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.
>
Another possible system would be a running program.

> 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?
>