ISSUE: 403vs404

Referring to

	http://www.w3.org/Protocols/HTTP/Issues/#403VS404

This edit requires changes to section 10.4.4 and 10.4.5.

Change section 10.4.4 from

   The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill
   it. Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be
   repeated. If the request method was not HEAD and the server
   wishes to make public why the request has not been fulfilled,
   it SHOULD describe the reason for the refusal in the entity.
   This status code is commonly used when the server does not wish
   to reveal exactly why the request has been refused, or when no
   other response is applicable.

to

   The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill
   it. Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be
   repeated. If the request method was not HEAD and the server
   wishes to make public why the request has not been fulfilled,
   it SHOULD describe the reason for the refusal in the entity.
   If the server does not wish to make this information available
   to the client, the status code 404 (Not Found) can be used
   instead. 

Change section 10.4.5 from

   The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI.
   No indication is given of whether the condition is temporary
   or permanent. If the server does not wish to make this
   information available to the client, the status code 403
   (Forbidden) can be used instead. The 410 (Gone) status code
   SHOULD be used if the server knows, through some internally
   configurable mechanism, that an old resource is permanently
   unavailable and has no forwarding address.

to

   The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI. No
   indication is given of whether the condition is temporary or
   permanent. The 410 (Gone) status code SHOULD be used if the
   server knows, through some internally configurable mechanism,
   that an old resource is permanently unavailable and has no
   forwarding address. This status code is commonly used when the
   server does not wish to reveal exactly why the request has been
   refused, or when no other response is applicable.

Thanks

Henrik

PS: The bandwidth is so bad from here that it effectively is a one-way
channel - this means that I may not get to read any responses the next
couple of days :-(
--
Henrik Frystyk Nielsen, <frystyk@w3.org>
World Wide Web Consortium, MIT/LCS NE43-346
545 Technology Square, Cambridge MA 02139, USA

Received on Wednesday, 30 July 1997 12:37:54 UTC