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408 lines
19 KiB
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
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"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" />
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<title>W3C Web Ontology Working Group Charter</title>
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<link href="/StyleSheets/base.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
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</head>
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<body xml:lang="en" lang="en">
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<p><a href="../../../"><img src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home.gif"
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alt="W3C" /></a> <a href="/TandS/"><img src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/tands"
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alt="Technology and Society domain" /></a> * <a href="../">Semantic Web
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Activity</a></p>
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<p><em>As of July 2003, this is obsolete in favor of <a href="http://www.w3.org/2002/11/swv2/charters/WebOntologyCharter">new charter</a></em>.</p>
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<h1>Web Ontology (WebONT) Working Group Charter</h1>
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<ol>
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<li><a href="#L778">Scope</a>
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<ol>
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<li>Web Ontology Language</li>
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<li>General Requirement</li>
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<li>Out of Scope</li>
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</ol>
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</li>
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<li><a href="#L880">Deliverables and Schedule</a></li>
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<li><a href="#L896">Relationship with Other Activities</a></li>
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<li><a href="#L906">Membership, Meetings, and Logistics</a>
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<ol type="1">
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<li>Email Communication</li>
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<li>Group Home Page</li>
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<li>Telephone Meetings</li>
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<li>Face-to-Face Meetings</li>
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</ol>
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</li>
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<li><a href="#L5131">Resources</a>
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<ol>
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<li>W3C Team Involvement</li>
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</ol>
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</li>
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<li><a href="#L409">Intellectual Property</a></li>
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</ol>
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<h2 id="L473"><a name="L778">1. Scope of Web Ontology Working Group</a></h2>
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<p>This Working Group, part of the <a
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href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw">Semantic Web Activity</a>, will focus on the
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development of a language to extend the semantic reach of current XML and RDF
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meta-data efforts. In particular, in a recent talk on the Semantic Web, Tim
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Berners-Lee, Director of the W3C, outlined the <a
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href="http://www.w3.org/2000/Talks/1206-xml2k-tbl/slide10-0.html">necessary
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layers</a> for developing applications that depend on an understanding of
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logical content, not just human-readable presentation. This working group
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will focus on building the ontological layer and the formal underpinnings
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thereof.</p>
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<p>Such language layers are crucial to the emerging Semantic Web, as they
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allow the explicit representation of term vocabularies and the relationships
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between entities in these vocabularies. In this way, they go beyond XML, RDF
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and RDF-S in allowing greater machine readable content on the web. A further
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necessity is for such languages to be based on a clear semantics
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(denotational and/or axiomatic) to allow tool developers and language
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designers to unambiguously specify the expected meaning of the semantic
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content when rendered in the Web Ontology syntax.</p>
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<p>Specifically, the Web Ontology Working Group is chartered to design the
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following component:</p>
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<ul type="disc">
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<li>A Web ontology language, that builds on current Web languages that
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allow the specification of classes and subclasses, properties and
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subproperties (such as RDFS), but which extends these constructs to allow
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more complex relationships between entities including: means to limit the
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properties of classes with respect to number and type, means to infer
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that items with various properties are members of a particular class, a
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well-defined model of property inheritance, and similar semantic
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extensions to the base languages.
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<p>The <a href="http://www.daml.org/2001/03/daml+oil-index.html">March
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2001 DAML+OIL specification</a>, discussed in some detail in section <a
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href="#L398">1.1 below</a> serves as an example of an ontology language -
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a <a href="http://www.daml.org/language/features.html">comparison of
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DAML+OIL to XML, XML-schema, and RDF-Schema</a> is available.</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Furthermore, the following general requirements must be met by the work
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produced by this Working Group:</p>
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<ul type="disc">
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<li>The products of the WebONT group should not presuppose any particular
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approach to either ontology design or ontology use. In addition, the
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language must support the development and linking of ontologies together,
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in a web-like manner.</li>
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<li>The products of this working group must be supported by a formal
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semantics allowing language designers, tool builders, and other "experts"
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to be able to precisely understand the meaning and "legal" inferences for
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expressions in the language.</li>
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<li>The language will use the XML syntax and datatypes wherever possible,
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and will be designed for maximum compatibility with XML and RDF language
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conventions.</li>
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</ul>
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<p>The Working Group shall start by evaluating the technical solutions
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proposed in the DAML+OIL draft. If in this process the Working Group finds
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solutions that are agreed to be improvements over solutions suggested by
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DAML+OIL, those improved solutions should be used.</p>
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<p>The Working Group will be chaired by <a
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href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/~hendler/">Jim Hendler</a> (Univ of Maryland)
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.</p>
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<p>The remainder of this section describes the requirements and deliverables
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in more detail.</p>
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<h3 id="L513"><a name="L398">1.1 Web Ontology Language</a></h3>
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<p>The term <i>ontology</i> has many meanings and shades of meaning. In the
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contest of this work, we refer to what is sometimes called a "structural"
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ontology -- a machine readable set of definitions that create a taxonomy of
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classes and subclasses and relationships between them. The purpose of this WG
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is <b>not</b> to define ontological knowledge in any or all domains (except
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for example purposes). Rather, the goal is to define a machine-readable
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markup language, based on current semantic web standards that will allow
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adopters to define their own ontological content. This will allow the
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interoperation of tools and techniques that manipulate the ontology language
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for any set of content that users provide.</p>
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<p>Recently, a number of research groups have been developing <a
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href="http://www.daml.org/links">languages in which to express ontological
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expressions on the web</a>. In an effort to bring these together, a number of
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researchers, supported by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
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(<a href="http://www.darpa.mil/">DARPA</a>) released a draft language known
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as the DARPA Agent Markup Language Ontology notations (<a
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href="http://www.daml.org/2000/10/daml-ont.html">DAML-ONT</a>). Since then,
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an ad hoc group of researchers has formed the <a
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href="http://www.daml.org/committee/">Joint US/EU committee on Agent Markup
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Languages</a> and released a new version of this language which merges DAML
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with the Ontology Interface Layer (<a
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href="http://www.ontoknowledge.org/oil/">OIL</a>) developed by European
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researchers. The new language was released under the name <a
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href="http://www.daml.org/2000/12/daml+oil-index.html">DAML+OIL</a>. This
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language is based on the Resource Description Framework (<a
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href="/RDF/">RDF</a>) and discussion of its features is conducted on <a
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href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-rdf-logic/">www-ret-logic</a>,
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an open mailing list. The <a href="http://www.daml.org/">DAML project</a>
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includes details of the language and a repository of numerous ontologies and
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annotated web pages.</p>
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<p>The language they have defined, <a
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href="http://www.daml.org/2001/03/daml+oil-index.html">DAML+OIL</a>, fits the
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requirement specified above, and should be considered as a starting draft for
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this particular WG product.</p>
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<p>As well as the actual specification, the working group will produce
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products necessary to support its use including: the specification, examples
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of use, reference materials, and supporting documents with respect to the
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formal semantics of the language.</p>
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<h3 id="L535">1.2 General Requirements</h3>
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<h4>1.2.1 Generality</h4>
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<p>Within the communities of researchers working on the creation of the
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semantic web, there are many different visions of what ontologies are and how
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they can be used. This working group will strive to be as general as possible
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in supporting multiple approaches and techniques. It should be noted,
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however, that generality is not used here in the same sense as
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"expressiveness" -- that is the ability to say more things does not
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necessarily map to the ability to support many kinds of users. Trade-offs
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between expressivity and compactness, computational complexity, and
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simplicity of use will need to be made by the working group.</p>
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<h4>1.2.2 Formal Semantics</h4>
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<p>Moreso than for a traditional programming language, a knowledge
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representation language needs a formal semantics to clearly delineate what
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is, and is not, entailed from any particular language construct or
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combination thereof. Such a formal semantics may be in a denotational or
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axiomatic form. Examples of both of these have been produced for DAML+OIL,
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providing examples of what is necessary for the WebONT language products.</p>
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<h3 id="L550">1.3 Out of Scope</h3>
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<p>The general area of semantic web technologies is very broad as it can
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potentially include any controlled vocabulary for markup, or XML and/or RDF
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metadata. Therefore, only those work items that we find absolutely essential
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for a usable web ontology are listed in the proposed scope of the Working
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Group.</p>
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<p>This section describes out-of-scope work items. In general, the Working
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Group will also consider items out of scope that are being addressed as part
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of other W3C Activities, and it will reuse existing specifications wherever
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possible. The co-chairs and editors of this working group will coordinate
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with those of the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/#RDF-Core-WG">RDF Core
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Working Group</a> to avoid duplicating work with respect to concrete data
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types, schema definitions, and other products which may fall into those areas
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where the RDF and Ontology Language layers come into contact. In addition,
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the working group chairs will work with the W3C's Semantic Web Coordination
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Group to help assure that work in this effort is compatible with other
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ongoing semantic web development efforts wherever possible.</p>
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<p>Also out of scope will be:</p>
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<ul type="disc">
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<li><i>Query Rules and query langauges</i>
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A serious rule language that can be used for complex inferencing,
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exchange of proofs, and/or the querying of RDF or Web Ontology documents
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or repositories is desirable to the eventual development of the semantic
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web, but out of the scope of the current working group. However, this
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effort will coordinate with any rule or query working groups that may be
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constituted as part of the semantic web effort.</li>
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<li><i>Universal Web Logics</i>
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Much discussion on www-rdf-logic@w3.org has focused on a universal web
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logic (UWL) -- the possibility of creating a usable logic that can
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express any possible web content. There is discussion as to whether this
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is feasible (or even possible) and as to what features this language
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might have. The goal of this working group is explicitly not to define
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such a universal system, but rather a more limited system of immediate
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use to the web community. The current product may indeed provide a lower
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layer on which an eventual UWL can be built, but given the expressibility
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vs. use trade-offs mentioned above, is not expected to be able to
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directly result in such a logic.</li>
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<li><i>Agent Communication Languages</i>
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One use of web ontologies and logics is in support of agent-based
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computing. While the working group will provide products of use to such
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systems, the explicit design of agent infrastructure is not a working
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group goal. In particular, a number of Agent Communication Languages have
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been proposed, and sets of appropriate performatives discussed at great
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length. Such work is important to the world at large, but out of the
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scope of this working group.</li>
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</ul>
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<h2 id="L580"><a name="L880">2. Deliverables and Schedule</a></h2>
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<p>These are subject to revision due to editorial needs and external
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scheduling issues; updates will be negotiated with the related groups
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and recorded on the <a href="./">WebONT Working Group home
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page</a>. Meeting dates are mentioned here for planning purposes.</p>
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<ul type="disc">
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<li>Nov 2001<br />
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Activity start and Working Group formation</li>
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<li>Jan 2002<br />
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Working Group face-to-face meeting</li>
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<li>March 2002<br />
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Publish initial working draft ontology Working Draft</li>
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<li>Apr 2002<br />
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Working Group face-to-face meeting</li>
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<li>Jul 2002<br />
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Working Group face-to-face meeting</li>
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<li>Oct 2002<br />
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Working Group face-to-face meeting</li>
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<li>Jan 2002<br />
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Working Group face-to-face meeting</li>
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<li>Feb 2003<br />
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Proposed Recommendation for ontology product</li>
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<li>March 2003<br />
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WG concludes</li>
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</ul>
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<p>The expected duration of the working group is about 1.5 years,
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through March 2003.</p>
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<p>Note that public working drafts will be made available at least once every
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three months, per W3C Process.</p>
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<h2 id="L637"><a name="L896">3. Relationship with Other Work</a></h2>
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<h3 id="L639">3.1 W3C Activities</h3>
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<p>XML and XML-derived activities, and now RDF activities, have become a
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strategic technology in W3C and elsewhere. Each deliverable of any Working
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Group must satisfy the dependencies from other W3C Working Groups before it
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can advance to Candidate Recommendation.</p>
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<p>At the current time, the primary dependency with other W3C work is with
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the ongoing RDFSchema activity in the <a href="../RDFCore/">RDF Core working
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group</a>. Coordination with this group is specified above, and will be
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carried out as an ongoing activity as part of the W3C Semantic Web
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Coordination Group.</p>
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<p>The Working Group will also attempt to liaise via cross-participation with
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a number of groups interested in service descriptions on the web. It is clear
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that ontologies can play a role in such descriptions, and the potential
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overlap between these activities is described on <a
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href="http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/hendler/AgentWeb.html">a vision paper about
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agents on the web.</a>. Some proposed ideas for the use of ontologies for
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service langauges can be found at <a href="http://www.daml.org/services/">the
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DAML Services description page</a>.</p>
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<h3 id="L654">3.2 External Groups</h3>
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<p>The Web Ontology Working Group will do its best to track work in as many
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other groups that are doing related work as we can. Two groups that have
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already been identified as doing work that relates to web ontology are:</p>
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<ul type="disc">
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<li>FIPA <br />
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The Foundations for Intelligent Physical Agents (<a
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href="http://www.fipa.org/">FIPA</a>) is working on agent-communication
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languages. They have a subgroup beginning to look at representation
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languages for content in ACLs. We expect to liaise with this group and
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work towards interoperation of our approaches.</li>
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<li>The DARPA Agent Markup Language (<a
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href="http://www.daml.org/">DAML</a>) Initiative <br />
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The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is directly
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supporting the participation of researchers and others participating in
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the Semantic Web Activity. Liaison between these activities will be
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between the Director of the W3C and the Program Manager for DAML, or a
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specific designee of either of these parties.</li>
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</ul>
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<h2 id="L671"><a name="L906">4. Membership, Meetings, and Logistics</a></h2>
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<p>To become a member of the Web Ontology Working Group, a representative of
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a W3C Member organization must be nominated by their Advisory Committee
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Representative (details on <a href="Overview.html#Membership">how to join</a>
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are on the <a href="Overview.html">group home page</a>). The nomination must
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include explicit agreement to this charter, including its goals, and the
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level of effort required and an IPR disclosure.</p>
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<p>Membership is also open to invited experts from the community, selected by
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the chair or co-chair in order to balance the technical experience of the
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group.</p>
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<p>Participation is expected to consume at least one day per week of each
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Working Group member's time.</p>
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<h3 id="L679">4.1 Email Communication</h3>
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<p>The mailing list for group communication is <a
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href="mailto:www-webont-wg@w3.org">www-webont-wg@w3.org</a>. An <a
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href="/Archives/Public/www-webont-wg/">archive of www-webont-wg</a> is
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available to the public.</p>
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<h3 id="L689">4.2 Group Home Page</h3>
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<p>The Working Group will have a <a href="./">home page</a> that records the
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history of the group, provides access to the archives, meeting minutes,
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updated schedule of deliverables, membership list, and relevant documents and
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resources. The page will be available to the public and will be maintained by
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one of the co-chairs in collaboration with the W3C team contact.</p>
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<h3 id="L693">4.3 Telephone Meetings</h3>
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<p>The Working Group will hold teleconferences approximately weekly.
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Participation in phone conferences is limited to members of the working
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group. The Chair may, at his discretion, invite guest experts to attend
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particular phone conferences. An IRC channel may be used to supplement
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teleconferences.</p>
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<p>Meeting records should be made available within two days of each telephone
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meeting.</p>
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<h3 id="L699">4.4 Face-to-Face Meetings</h3>
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<p>Participation in face-to-face meetings is limited to working group members
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and observers invited by the Chair. Observers may take part in
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decision-making at the discretion of the Chair.</p>
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<p>In addition to the required three annual face-to-face meetings, the
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Working Group may schedule other face-to-face meetings in a manner that
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maximizes co-location with events that Working Group members might be
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attending anyway.</p>
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<p>The Chair makes Working Group meeting dates and locations available to the
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group at least eight weeks before the meeting, per W3C Process.</p>
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<h2 id="L707"><a name="L5131">5 Resources</a></h2>
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<p>To be successful, we expect the Working Group to have approximately 10 to
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20 active principal members for its 18-month duration. We also expect a large
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public review group that will participate in the mailing list discussions.</p>
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<h3 id="L711">5.1 W3C Team Involvement</h3>
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<p>The W3C Team expects to dedicate the services of one engineer,
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1/3rd time, for the 1.5-year duration of the Working Group. Dan
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Connolly is the W3C Team contact.</p>
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<h2><a id="IPR1" name="L409">6. Intellectual Property</a></h2>
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<p>W3C promotes an open working environment. Whenever possible,
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technical decisions should be made unencumbered by intellectual
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property right (IPR) claims.</p>
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<p>This is a Royalty Free Working Group, as described in W3C's <a
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href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/NOTE-patent-practice-20020124">Current
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Patent Practice</a>, dated 24 January 2002.</p>
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<p>Working Group participants disclose patent claims by sending email
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to <tt>patent-issues@w3.org</tt>; please see <a
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href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/NOTE-patent-practice-20020124">Current
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Patent Practice</a> for more information about disclosures.
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</p>
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<hr />
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<address>
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<p>status: complete. Dan Connolly, W3C Team Contact<br />
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<small>$Revision: 1.12 $ of $Date: 2003/08/20 11:56:57 $ by $Author:
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connolly $</small></p>
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</address>
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<p></p>
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</body>
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</html>
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