As someone who was around when the notion of an I-D was created, let
me disagree somewhat. There was a very definite intent to cause I-Ds
to "officially" disappear after a limited time frame.
I don't doubt that at all. But did folks really think that I-Ds
would completely vanish from the face of the earth? And did they
consider that I-D expiration might be useful even if I-Ds did not
completely vanish?
we've got people arguing that since we can't make I-Ds vanish
completely, that the expiration is pointless. my argument is
that the combination of the expiration and the fact that old
I-Ds can be found if you look hard enough, turns out to be
useful.
Keith