Issues with information dissemination on global networks

There is a need today for active documents on a global network which can react to their environment. The documents should be able to deal with all issues of presentation, interpretation and security. They should be capable of presenting information in a way suitable for a particular user or situation and be capable of presenting alternate information depending upon the environment it is used in. The document should be capable of providing, in a stand‐alone situation, as much security as is required of that situation. This paper proposes a paradigm for such documents and suggests ways the documents could be structured.