Hi, I'm going through the IoT discovery XEP (XEP-0347). In chapter 3.17 (disowning Thing) the following is stated:

If such a Thing is found, and it is owned by the caller, but not online as a friend, the Thing cannot be disowned, since it would put the Thing in a state from which it cannot be re-claimed. Therefore, the Thing Registry must respond in the following manner:

I am wondering about the piece "but not online as a friend". A "friend" of whom? How should this be checked? Wouldn't it be more practical to determine this situation by just sending the disowned IQ message to the Thing? When the server responds with a service-unavailable message it can be assumed that the thing is currently offline (or at least unavailable). Otherwise there always should be a friendship relation between the thing and the registry. Cheers, Eelco This message may contain information that is not intended for you. If you are not the addressee or if this message was sent to you by mistake, you are requested to inform the sender and delete the message. TNO accepts no liability for the content of this e-mail, for the manner in which you use it and for damage of any kind resulting from the risks inherent to the electronic transmission of messages.