Update ( December 2008, Hyderabad ) : Proposal of an IGF Dynamic Coalition on the Internet of Things

Update ( November - December 2007 ) : A French ONS root is to be created, more info in the French version of this page which is not a translation but relates to developments in France.

As mentionned in the article EPCglobal and Auto-ID Center Building Blocks (May 24, 2004) The MIT Object Naming Service (ONS) 'tells computer systems where to locate information on the Internet about any object that carries an ePC (electronic Product Code).
ONS was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Dr David Brock, Professor Sanjay Sarma and Joseph Foley. ONS is similar to - and (in part) based on - the Internet?s existing DNS (Domain Name System), which allows Internet routing computers to identify where the pages associated with a particular Web site are stored.
The DNS is used every time a Web site is accessed.
The ONS will be used every time information is needed about a physical object. It is likely that the ONS will be many times larger than today's DNS.
Although conceptually simple, designing ONS was a challenge. The system must be capable of quickly locating data for every single one of the trillions of objects that could potentially carry an ePC code in the future. The ONS must serve as a lightning-fast post office that, on a daily basis, receives and delivers millions (if not billions) of letters

To link a "Bar Code" with a ressource on the Web, the scheme is quite simple and may be summarized in a few words for non-techies : A Bar Code ( EPC code ) is transformed into a URL on the domain onsepc.com ( eg 000024.0614141.sgtin.id.onsepc.com ).
More precisely, the existing DNS system is used and queried for this URL, getting a NAPTR record ( supported by BIND but not by all DNS servers ) for this URL that gives extra information, instead of just the IP address ( A Record ).

It remains to assess, if this simple approach is going to prove both sufficient and secure enough.