Creating a Policy-Aware Web: Discretionary, Rule-Based Access for the World Wide Web

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the motivations for, and development of, a rule-based policy management system that can be deployed in the open and distributed milieu of the World Wide Web. We discuss the necessary features of such a system in creating a “Policy Aware” infrastructure for the Web and argue for the necessity of such infrastructure. We then show how the integration of a Semantic Web rules language (N3) with a theorem prover designed for the Web (Cwm) makes it possible to use the Hypertext Transport Protocol (http) to provide a scalable mechanismfor the exchange of rules and, eventually, proofs for access control on the Web. We also discuss which aspects of the Policy Aware Web are enabled by the current mechanism and describe future research needed to make the widespread deployment of rules and proofs on the Web a reality.