Link Rot

When a web document's URI stops returning that document. Some common causes:

• a site goes out of business, changes names, or gets bought (merges into another site) (Domain name change)

• the domain/hostname stay active, but the URLs are re-organized, typically because of a new Content Management System.

  • good URI-s don't change - the PermaLink philosophy

A related issue: when a URI stays valid, but become unwanted by most people, because some sites (e.g. Ny Times, Time Magazine) charge for their archives.