That was perhaps a little harsh in the phrasing; I wasn't really implying any of those things. I think I am saying that this appears to have been a blind spot on the part of the web standardization crowd and the browser makers. Maybe I'm entirely wrong though, and there were efforts that simply hit hard problems, as you say.

I'd never heard of any discussions around determining a proper IL, though; if you can, a link so relevant MLs and such would be most appreciated.