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

[Karp, Alan H]

David-Sarah Hopwood wrote:
> 
> Karp, Alan H wrote:
> > I don't think any of the definitions I've seen so far capture what to me is
> > the essential nature of ambient authority, the separation of designation from
> > authorization.
> 
> I don't think that is essential. Consider a split-capability system, where
> permissions are separable from designators, but both need to be included
> in a request.

By "separation" I meant that the authorization is independent of any particular request.  Split capabilities include the desired authorization with the request.  I believe the definition I gave for ambient authorities avoids this confusion.

________________________
Alan Karp
Principal Scientist
Virus Safe Computing Initiative
Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
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