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Glossary

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Click one of the letters above to advance the page to terms beginning with that letter.

Ancillary Jurisdictionsearch for term

When a Plaintiff files a lawsuit in Federal Court, the court where the suit is filed needs "Jurisdiction" over the Defendant (the person who is being sued). Jurisdiction is the power to make a legal decision that binds a person. Once a court has that required jurisdiction over the defendant based on ONE dispute between the plaintiff and defendant, the court then has power to resolve EVERY dispute the plaintiff might have with that defendant. Ancillary Jurisdiction allows a court to do it all during the same trial. This is done to promote efficiency and convenience, so plaintiffs don't have to sue defendants multiple times for different claims that might arise from the same or similar disputes. Source: Black's Law Dictionary

Android search for term

Android is an operating system that Google has adopted for use in mobile devices (like smart phones and "PDAs"). Other examples of competing mobile operating systems include "Windows Mobile" and Apple's iOS which is used by the iPhone. Android developers use the Java programming language utilizing Google-developed Java libraries to create applications that work with Android phones.

Source: Google Code and Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text; Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Anti-Piracysearch for term

Anti-piracy measures are a means of protecting against copyright infringement. For example, in the music industry, anti-piracy software attempts to restrict the illegal copying of music. Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation has protested the use of the phrase, arguing that it equivocates copying that corporations don't approve of with kidnapping and murdering on the high seas like actual pirates. Anti-piracy measures can come in many forms, but they are generally meant to protect revenue and ensure that copyright protected works are appropriately paid for.

Applicationsearch for term

An application is a program that runs on top of an operating system and allows the user to perform a very specific task. An application is the equivalent of a light bulb in a vaster building: the light bulb is part of the greater electrical network, but it illuminates a specific room with its own individual purpose, allowing the performance of a task separate from the other goings-on of the building. An application can have many different purposes. It can be a game, an accounting program, a media player, a word processor, a kind of graphics software, or many other kinds of functions. Applications can exist on smartphones like the Blackberry and the iPhone, on a computer, or other types of portable computer devices. Applications fill gaps in computer applicability. If a basic computer cannot meet the user's needs, whatever they may be, an application can be downloaded in order to solve that absence. This allows the device to stay flexible in a sort of manual updating process, and become personalized to the consumer's individual computing needs.

Attributionsearch for term

Attribution is the act of crediting an individual, group of persons, or company for the work that they have done. Beyond that, however, it is also a legal action. Attribution of some other entity is the legal acknowledgement of their ownership of the copyright to that work. When copying, building upon, or reproducing someone else's work, attribution is usually required. Close reading of the copyright makes this clear, delineating in what manner the copyrighted works may be picked up on and used. Attribution is the assigning of a work to a particular source, allowing the creator to reap the benefits of his or her hard work. More than that, however, attribution is also the means through which the person using the copyrighted work protects themselves from being sued for copyright infringement. It is a nod to the creator and also a way to ensure that liability for copyright infringement is avoided.

Bandwidthsearch for term

In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it (kilobits/s, megabits/s etc). In textbooks on data transmission, digital communications, wireless communications, electronics, etc, bandwidth refers to analog signal bandwidth measured in hertz. Some computer networking authors prefer less ambiguous terms such as bitrate, channel capacity and throughput rather than bandwidth in bit/s, to avoid this confusion. Bandwidth is a measure of how fast information flows to and from computers.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text; Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Barclays Capital Inc. v. TheFlyOnTheWall Decisionsearch for term

Barclays Capital Inc. v TheFlyonthewall.com was a court decision of the Southern District of New York's District Court in which Judge Denise Cote issued a permanent injunction against the Internet-based financial newsite TheFlyOnTheWall.com. Judge Cote ordered the site to delay its reporting of the stock recommendations of research analysts from three prominent Wall Street firms. The firms Barclays Capital Inc., Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley all offered a service in which they made recommendations to clients on what stocks to buy, sell, or trade before the market opens. Such information was meant to be confidential and limited to customers with passwords and special access codes. However, TheFlyOnTheWall.com received regular emails from employees within the firms who leaked such information. TheFlyOnTheWall would then post excerpts and summaries from the firms' research reports on its website, thus supplying exclusive trading tips for free. The Barclays Capital Inc. v. TheFlyOnTheWall.com ordered the latter to wait until 10 a.m. EST, when the firms' recommendations became public, to publish such tips. The case is interesting for several reasons. It had to be determined whether FlyOnTheWall was protected by journalism standards and how it fit into intellectual property regulations. Judge Cote determined that FlyOnTheWall was a trade publication that threatened the protected business practices of Barclays Inc., Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley, and so was not protected by journalists' freedom of the press. It also determined that what FlyOntheWall was posting was not facts, which cannot be prosecuted for intellectual property infringement, but was rather violating a copyright. FlyOnTheWall.com prompted the creation of "hotnews misappropriation regulations," which control the posting of time-sensitive insider information on newsites.

Source: Citizen Media Law Project (Information protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License)

To view complete case, visit Google Scholar

Bitsearch for term

A bit is a Binary Digit. It is the means through which computer information is coded. In math, values are expressed using the numbers 0-9. In computer language, information is coded using only the numbers 0 and 1. A computer byte is a sequence of eight bits, like 01100100 or 11100010. A single byte then translates to a piece of information, like a letter or part of an image on a computer screen. For instance, the byte 00100000 is code for the letter "n."

Bitrate search for term

Bit rate is the rate at which bits are transferred from one digital location to another. The number of bits indicates how much data travels. The higher the bitrate, the larger and more complex the file. The quality of the file also increases with a higher bitrate. Bitrate is expressed in bits per second, kilabits per second, or megabits per second. Bitrate applies to the downloading of audio, visual, and text files, as well as other types of information.

Bittorrentsearch for term

BitTorrent is an increasingly popular means to download audio, video or software files online. Traditionally, when you download a file, you download that file in whole, from a central location. As a result, the speed you can download at capped by the speed of the central computer you're downloading from which can be very slow if a file is popular and many people attempt to download the file at the same time. BitTorrent technology works differently than this. First, BitTorrent cuts large files into extremely small parts. Once the file is cut into parts, a user with BitTorrent software (called a BitTorrent Client) can download portions of the file from dozens, hundreds or thousands of people at the same time. In this way, users can get extremely fast download speeds and are less likely to have download errors. BitTorrent technology is often synonymous with illegal downloading.

Blogsearch for term

"Blog" is a merging of the words "web" and "log." It is a kind of website, or part of a website. A blog features regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material like graphics and video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blogs come in all shapes and forms: some deliver news on a particular subject, while others function as personal diaries. Subjects range from art, photography, video, music, and a myriad range of eclectic hobbies and intellectual focuses. They are also interactive, as readers can leave comments on particular entries. Most blogs feature links to other sites and permalinks, situating themselves within a larger network or online community of similarly-minded bloggers. The verb "blog" refers to the maintenance or adding of content to a blog.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text; Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Broadband search for term

Broadband is a type of high-speed network connection. Broad refers to a higher bandwidth than comparable Internet connections, able to support a larger range of frequencies. Broadband is a relative term. Optic cable is considered a broadband connection in comparison to a telephone dial-up connection, for example. Industry standards of broadband rates have not been set in stone.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) search for term

CSS is a style sheet language used to describe the look and formatting of a computer document. Its most common application is to web pages written in HTML and XHTML. CSS is used to enable the separation of document content (written in HTML) from the document presentation characteristics like layout, colors, and fonts. CSS can allow the same markup page to be presented in different styles for different rendering methods, such as on-screen, in print, by voice, and on Braille-based, tactile devices. Readers can use their own style sheet to override one the author has specified.

Source: Wikipedia

Synonyms: CSS

Cease and Desistsearch for term

A cease and desist letter is an order or request to halt an activity at the risk of facing legal action. A cease and desist order can be issued by a judge or government authority. A cease and desist order is an unambiguous direction to cease a particular activity. This prohibition is sometimes used as the outcome of a trial in which the cease and desist order is a permanent injunction. A governmental cease and desist letter can also be used as an emergency measure to prevent possible irreparable harm, otherwise known as a temporary injunction. A cease and desist letter, on the other hand, can be sent by anyone. Letters can be sent by companies or individuals are a type of warning to persons they feel are infringing upon their copyright or trademark rights, and often threaten an infringement lawsuit should the recipient not stop their activities. Cease and desist letters are often drafted by lawyers on behalf of their clients. They are common fixtures of copyright and trademark infringement conflicts. Black's Law Dictionary and Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Citizen Journalism search for term

Citizen Journalism is community news and information shared online or in print. The content is democratically designed and generated by both users and readers. It can appear in the form of text blogs, digital storytelling, images, audio file, podcasting or video. Feedback and discussion on issues raised is received in the same way. Citizen journalism is a form of citizen media.

Source: Citizen Journalism

Citizen Mediasearch for term

The term citizen media refers to forms of content produced by private citizens who are otherwise not professional journalists. Citizen media gives a voice to individuals who feel certain important issues and perspectives are not addressed in the mainstream media. The term was coined by Clemencia Rodriguez, who defined citizen media as "the transformative processes they bring about within participants and their communities." Citizen media refers to the ways in which audiences can also become participants in the media using the new technologies of the modern age inexpensively and without fear of being cut short by an editor. There are many forms of citizen-produced media including blogs, vlogs, podcasts, digital storytelling, community radio, participatory video and more, and may be distributed via television, radio, internet, email, movie theatre, DVD and many other forms. Many organizations and institutions exist to facilitate the production of media by private citizens including, but not limited to, public access television, independent media centers and community technology centers.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text; Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0) and Social Brite

Civil Libertiessearch for term

Civil liberties are a set of rights that all human beings feel that they and others should be granted. That being said, it is often vague and almost always under discussion what those rights specifically are. Civil liberties can be described as the individual's rights with regard to their government. In the United States, the most common of these civil liberties include freedom of speech, the freedom to bear arms, and freedom of religion. Other frequently cited civil liberties feature the right to due process, to a trial, to own property and to privacy. Most of these can be found in the first ten Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Civil liberties can extend past national lines, however, and can apply internationally. In the Geneva Conventions of 1949 almost two hundred countries determined the rules of fair treatment of prisoners of war and civilians in conflict zones. Civil liberties can be implicit or explicit, culturally determined or a personal consideration. They are often invoked in activist settings, and are in a constant state of flux.Synonyms: Civil Rights

Communications Decency Act (Section 230)search for term

The Communications Decency Act section 230 (also known as CDA 230) is a law that automatically protects the people who create websites where user-generated content is posted. Traditionally, publishers of information like newspapers and magazines are legally liable if they reprint illegal content that is provided to them even if they didn’t write it. They are accountable for what they print under the theory that publishers have the ability, knowledge, and opportunity to exercise editorial control over the production of their product. CDA 230 changes that rule for website owners who publish information provided by third parties on their websites. For example, if User A posted defamatory comment about User B on Website X, CDA 230 will make it so User B can't sue Website X for publishing the information. User B would have to directly sue User A in order to get a legal remedy. CDA 230 doesn't provide immunity for violations of intellectual property law, criminal law, or communications privacy law.

Source: Citizen Media Law Project (Information protected by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License)

Visit the New Media Rights How-To-Guide about the Communications Decency Act Section 230

Synonyms: CDA, Section 230

Compulsory Counterclaimsearch for term

In a lawsuit, a compulsory counterclaim is the defendant's opportunity to counter the plaintiff's legal claim. It is either a cause of action that explains why the defendant acted as he did (and so is guiltless), or is a claim for relief, a countersuit that alleges that the plaintiff is the in fact the wrongful party. The compulsory counterclaim arises from the same occurrence, transaction or subject mater as the plaintiff's cause of action. That is, the counterclaim is the defendant's own explanation of the events that led to the lawsuit, and is meant to vindicate the defendant. The compulsory counterclaim is usually necessary if the defendant wishes to pursue a claim against the plaintiff in a later legal action. Source: Black's Law Dictionary

Computer Networksearch for term

A computer network is a collection of devices and computers that have communicative abilities that allow the exchange of information among users. The computers and devices can be attached to one another through a variety of materials, including twisted-pair copper wire cable, coaxial cable, optical fiber, power lines, and wireless technologies. The Internet is a type of computer network that allows the easy traveling of information over wide distances. There are several types of computer network, each of which is meant to service different user needs. A local area network (LAN) is a small network constrained to a limited geographic area, like a single building. A metropolitan area network (MAN) is much bigger, intended for a city or state. A wide area network (WAN) is even larger. WLANs and WWAN is the wireless equivalent of the LAN and WAN.

Computer Softwaresearch for term

Computer software is the collection of data and programs that run a computer. There are several kinds of software: application software, programming languages, middleware, testware, firmware, device drivers and programming tools. Software programs are intangible, meaning that unlike hardware (physical devices) they cannot be touched or handled. Software is instead composed of large amounts of code that tells a computer how to run. Software usually contains an operating system, which is responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing the totality of the computer's operability and functionality. It is the organizing force and basic platform of a computer.

Content Management System (CMS)search for term

A content management system (CMS) is the framework on which many modern websites are built. Traditionally, before Content Management Systems were in widespread use, static pages on websites were created by a programmer or designer by hand. Today, content management systems allow even people who have little or no technical knowledge to create dynamic webpages that pull their content from databases rather than making them by hand. Content Management Systems streamline the way websites are administrated. They allow for a large number of people to contribute to and share stored data and open up the possibility for websites that are much more complicated than those without management systems. Common Content Management Systems include Wordpress and Drupal (the CMS that this site you're reading right now uses).

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text; Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Synonyms: CMA

Copyrightsearch for term

Copyright is a form of intellectual property law that protects original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. In more formal terms, copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works. Source:

U.S. Copyright Office

Copyright Infringementsearch for term

A copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work. A copyright violation is the unlawful reproduction, performance, or distribution of the work. Licenses to do so may be purchased, however, from the owner. Those who violate the terms of a copyright are often dubbed "pirates," a term derived from 17th century England. Music piracy is a common form of copyright infringement, and a hot topic in the music industry today. After a certain time, a copyright expires, upon which the work becomes public domain.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text; Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Creative Commonssearch for term

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that offers free licenses and legal tools for artists, webpage creators, and bloggers to protect their work. The site offers opportunities to license one's work such that others can adopt and adapt the work, and it can also require that remixers provide attribution for the original author. Creative Commons is a method for authors to tailor their copyright to their liking while still allowing public viewing of the works.

Creative Commons (Protected by a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License)

Visit the New Media Rights How-To-Guide on using Creative Commons

Synonyms: CC

Cut, Copy and Pastesearch for term

Cut, Copy and Paste are interface computer functions that offer the opportunity to transfer information from one location to another. The keystrokes of Cut, Copy and Paste can be used to move text, data, files, or objects from a source to a destination. Most commonly, users utilize the functions to move blocks of plain text. The term "cut and paste" comes from the traditional practice in manuscript-editing where editors would literally cut paragraphs from a page with scissors and paste them onto another page. The terms, however, have evolved to refer almost exclusively to their modern computer applications.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Cybersquattersearch for term

Cybersquatting is the registration of domain names associated to celebrities or popular companies with the goal of reselling them later at an inflated price. A cybersquatter takes advantage of the policy of domain companies' hold that those who register first have full rights to the domain/ Cybersquatters register huge lists of popular phrases and names at once. Such a practice is not technically illegal. Celebrities and companies do not automatically have a right to the website names most logically connected to them, and so are often forced to buy domain names from cybersquatters when they eventually decide to create their own website. However, cybersquatters are often prosecuted for using the domain names in "bad faith," or in a manner counter to the reputation or mission of the trademark or corporation.

Defamatory Statementsearch for term

A defamatory statement is a factual statement that brings physical or mental harm, loss of reputation, ostracization, or loss of business revenue to an entity. That entity can be either a person or a company. The latter is called trade libel, and is most often made of companies by their direct competitors in order to affect sales. A defamatory statement is not an opinion, which cannot be proven right or wrong. It must instead be a firm statement that does egregrious and unjust harm to its subject. When dealing with defamatory statements, courts usually pay attention to their publication. That is, the effect and the spreading of the statement is what does the damage, and the case is leveled at its source. In a fun exception, sometimes the plaintiff can be said to be libel-proof, meaning that their reputation is already so low that it cannot be brought any lower by whatever defamatory statement has been made by the defendant. Usually, statements have to be proven to be defamatory. That is, the plaintiff must show that their utterance or publication has done considerable damage to their livelihood or standing in their community. However, defamatory statements per se are such obviously derogatory statements that they are automatically assumed to be harmful. These statements can include accusing the plaintiff of having a terrible disease, of having committed a criminal offense or serious sexual misconduct, or of corruption. Defamatory statements are one of the more colorful branches of the law.

Defendantsearch for term

A defendant is the recipient of a complaint in a lawsuit. The defendant is the accused party in either a civil lawsuit or a criminal action. In a civil lawsuit, the defendant is usually not required to appear in court, but can instead be represented by legal counsel. The defendant in a civil case does not necessarily have to be a person but can instead be a corporation or business. The plaintiff, the person doing the suing, can also be something like a governmental body or business as well. In a criminal case the defendant is required to appear at all stages of the proceedings. He or she is furthermore typically brought into protective custody unless bail has been posted or if the charge is minor, like a speeding ticket. Essentially, a defendant in any case is a party charged with answering some complaint made against them. Whoever decides the outcome of the case, be it a judge or a jury, has the power to rule in favor of the plaintiff or the defendant. The defendant's interest is to ensure it is the latter verdict.

Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA)search for term

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act addresses online copyright issues. The Act builds upon treaties signed at the World Intellectual Property Organization Geneva conference, and was supported by the software and entertainment industries. The DMCA's highlights include the outlawing of the circumvention of anti-piracy measures built into most commercial software, as well as forbidding the manufacture, sale, or distribution of code-cracking devises to illegally copy software. It does, however, allow the cracking of copyright protection devices in order to conduct encryption research, assess products, and test computer security systems. The DMCA limits the liability of both nonprofit organizations of higher education and Internet service providers from copyright infringement liability, but the latter are expected to remove materials from users' websites that appears to constitute copyright infringement. Finally, the DMCA requires that webcasters pay licensing fees to record companies. The DMCA requests that the Register of Copyrights report back to Congress with recommendations on how to balance the rights of copyright owners with the needs of users.

UCLA Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy

Visit the New Media Rights How-To-Guide about the Digital Millenium Copyright Act

Synonyms: DMCA

Digital Rights Management (DRM)search for term

Digital Rights Management is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices. The term is applicable to any technology that inhibits use of digital content no desired or intended to be public by the content provider. DRM can also refer to restrictions associated with specific instances of digital works or devices. Companies who use DRM technologies include Sony, Amazon, Apple Inc., Microsoft, AOL and the BBC. The use of Digital Rights Management is controversial. Proponents argue that it is needed by copyright holders to prevent unauthorized duplication of their work, either to maintain artistic integrity or to protect their revenue streams. Opponents like the Free Software Foundation argue that the use of the word "rights" is misleading and suggest that people instead use the term "digital restrictions management" instead. They further maintain that copyright holders restrict the use of their material in a manner that exceeds copyright laws, and should not be covered by future laws.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Synonyms: DRM

Domain Namesearch for term

A domain name is the word or phrase that you type into your browser to reach a website. People commonly think of domain names as a "web address" or "the name of a website." The technical term for a domain is a "URL." A technical scheme known as the Domain Name System (DNS) governs how domains function.

Downloadsearch for term

In computer networks, to download means to receive data to a local system from a remote system, or to initiate such a data transfer. Examples of a remote system from which a download might be performed include a webserver, FTP server, email server, or other similar systems. A download can mean either any file that is offered for downloading or that has been downloaded, or the process of receiving such a file. It is the opposite of uploading, predictably.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Electronic Frontier Foundationsearch for term

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated helping society understand and navigate the Internet's unique resources. It was founded in 1990 and is based in San Francisco with another office in Washington, D.C. It engages in several different types of activities, with a diverse staff of lawyers, activists, technology experts and volunteers. The EFF raises public awareness of the civil liberties issues that arise from the widespread development of the Web, and lobbies policy makers to craft appropriate legislation to guard users' First Amendment rights. The organization also seeks to educate the public and lawmakers of the vast opportunities and resources available online. The EFF supports the development of new tools to facilitate easy first-time usage of the Internet, and takes on legal cases that address the violation of personal freedoms online, fair use, and defends patent violation charges it considers baseless.

Adapted in part from The Electronic Frontier Foundation, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

Synonyms: EFF

Facebooksearch for term

Facebook is a social networking site developed by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard roomates and fellow computer science majors Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Chris Hughes in February 2004. Facebook was originally created as a social networking site for Harvard undergrads, but the site quickly opened up its membership to students of the Ivy League and Stanford University. Membership then quickly became available to every other university in the United States, and by 2009, anyone 13 years or older could join. The site describes itself as a means of connecting individuals to their friends and family, fellow students, and coworkers. Facebook offers various means of interacting with one's "Friends." Each member has a profile page with a wall on which others can post messages. It also offers the opportunity to publish notes, share links, post photos, send private messages, and become fans of celebrities, places, and products. Facebook can be extremely fun and extremely addicting. It has come under fire in recent years for sharing users' profile information with advertisers, as well as for changing the format of the site, and for making it available to more people. "The Social Network a movie dramatizing the early days of Facebook will be released in 2010, starring Jesse Eisenberg in the lead role of Mark Zuckerberg.

Fair Use Doctrinesearch for term

The doctrine of fair use is found in Section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law. Section 107 grants the owner of a copyright the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work. This right is subject to certain limitations, however. The law contains a list of the various circumstances in which reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair. Examples are criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The fair use doctrine sets out four factors to be taken into account in determining whether or not the use of a work can be considered fair. First, if the purpose and character of the use if for commercial or nonprofit educational purposes. Second, the nature of the copyrighted material must be taken into account. Third, the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as as a whole. Lastly, the effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work. Overall, however, the distinction between fair use and infringement is not easily defined. Acknowledging the source of the copyright material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

Source: U.S. Copyright Office

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)search for term

The Federal Communications Commission is a branch of the government that regulates radio, television, wire, satellite, cable, and all internet communications originating or terminating in the U.S. The FCC was created by Congress in 1934, but its leaders are appointed by the President. The FCC has five commissioners, each of which must be confirmed by the Senate for five-year terms. The President determines which of the five Commissioners will act as Chairperson. None of the five commissioners can have any financial interest in any of the industries being regulated. The FCC is divided into various offices and bureaus, each of which is organized by function. The bureaus process applications for licenses and other filings, analyzing complaints, conducting investigations, developing and implementing regulatory programs, and taking part in hearings. Offices provide support services. The FCC also provides varied degrees of cooperation and oversight for similar communications bodies to its North American neighbors. The FCC works toward six goals: broadband, competition, the spectrum, the media, public safety and homeland security, as well as modernizing its inner functioning.

Federal Communications Commission

Synonyms: FCC

Flash Drivesearch for term

A flash drive refers to a USB flash drive, a portable mass storage device for computers. Flash drives are very small typically and are often equipped to fit onto keychains or into pockets. They store data through flash memory, and can hold considerable data, up to several gigabytes-worth. They fit into the USB ports of computers, and are excellently equipped to transfer data like power point presentations, word documents, images, and other types of files from computer to computer.

Followersearch for term

A follower refers to how on Twitter, a user can subscribe to someone else's Tweets. If you are a follower of another Twitter member, you get instant access to that person's Tweets, which load automatically onto your homepage. That person can see that you are their follower, and they have the ability to send you private tweets, otherwise known as direct messages. A Twitter user can be both a follower and have followers.

Freedom of Speechsearch for term

Freedom of the press is a derivative principle of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech to the American people. As a general term, it grants the freedom of communication in both published materials and electronic media. While this right is granted by the U.S. government, it can be waived in the case of classified government documents, the release of which may threaten the public good. Freedom of speech also prohibits censorship, and is a haven principle for points of view that criticize the actions of the U.S. government. Although it is a seemingly straightforward principle, freedom of speech is often the subject of lawsuits or cases that dispute what the actual, definitive paramaters of the principle are.

Friend (on a social network)search for term

Friends are other members of a social networking site with whom one claims an online relationship. A friend on Facebook is not the same thing as a friend in the outside world. The connection is often more informal, and can even feature absolutely no interaction between the two people. Many members of social networking sites accumulate hundreds of "friends" with whom they might never interact with after initial contact. Tom, the founder of Myspace, had over 12 million friends on his personal profile as of July 14, 2010. On a social networking sites, friends are allowed to view the pages of their friends. The relationship is predicated on accessibility of personal information. However, to a growing degree, employers, companies, and artists are using social networking sites as tools to gauge prospective employees, advertise, and gain publicity. The "friend" can be both a professional and social linkage.

GNUsearch for term

Pronounced guh-nu, GNU is a computer operating system composed entirely of free software. Its founder is Richard Stallman of MIT, and was the original focus of the Free Software Foundation. It was developed as an alternative to the computer operating system Unix, and its name is the recursive acronym "GNU's Not Unix!" UNIX is a trademarked operating system with which companies and individuals must register (and pay for) in order to use. GNU was designed as a more democratic option for web developers. The founding goal of the GNU project was announced as "a sufficient body of free software...to get along without any software that is not free." It is meant to be without cost and features unrestricted access. Its basic components are the GNU Compiler Collection, the GNU Binary Utilities, the bash shell, the GNU C library, and GNU Core Utilities. Currently, the GNU Project is working on software development, awareness building, political campaigning, and sharing of its new material.

GNU.org

Googlesearch for term

Google is a wildly popular online search engine. It has become the most influential search engine online, and certainly the most utilized. Google is a multifaceted corporation with various branches and applications online, and is constantly growing. As of now, the Google trademark extends to such sub-companies as Google Adwords, Gmail (Google's emailing system), Google Code, and Google Maps and books. The word "google" has transformed into a neologism meaning "to look up online." The American Dialect Society selected it as the "most useful word of 2002." It was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary on June 15, 2006, and to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in July 2006. The first recorded usage of the word was on July 8, 1998, when Google founder Larry Page wrote on an emailing list "Have fun and keep googling!" Google has resisted the widespread usage of the word, fearing the loss of their trademark. The corporation has sent cease-and-desist letters to sites like Word Spy, which tracks neologisms, asking that "you should please only use 'Google' when you're actually referring to Google Inc. and our services." The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has lower-cased the term "google" in deference to the company's wish, rendering the term more generic.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of and addition to the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Google AdWordssearch for term

AdWords is Google's flagship advertising product and main source of revenue. AdWords offer pay-per click advertising, and site-targeted advertising or both text and banner ads. It features local, national, and international distribution. The format of the text advertisements are one title line and two content lines. Image ads are Interactive Avertising Bureau-standard. Sales and support of Google's AdWords division is in Mountain View, California, with secondary offices located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Google AdWords allows clients to create their own ads, and then label their ads with certain keywords. Then, when Internet users conduct a search using those keywords, related ads pop up next to the search results. Google AdWords is tailored so that the ads adjoining a search results page correspond to the actual search, guaranteeing an immediately interested audience. Each ad is a link to the advertiser's webpage, rendering browsing of the clients' goods and services immediately available. Google AdWords is one of the most interactive and market-tuned companies in its field, and is highly effective at creating a carefully tailored, personalized ad experience.

Google AdWords

Hackingsearch for term

Hacking is the unauthorized entry to a computer system or a website. A hacker gains access to the system through an unguarded port. Not all hackers have malicious intent, however. Some do it just for the challenge of gaining entry to a highly complex system. Website owners typically use software like firewalls in order to pevent the intrusion of hackers. Some corporations even hire hackers in order to identify, and then fix, holes in their systems through which valuable information can be found. Hacking is known as a computer crime. Some hacking programs have even been developed, which automatically perform hacking functions without the immediate direction of a human hand.

Hashtagsearch for term

A hashtag is a method of adding extra information to one's tweets. A hashtag is always prefixed with a hash sign (#), like #hellothere. It is also known as metadata, and by clicking on one, the writer can direct his reader to related tweets, images, or sites. A hashtag is essentially a method of aggregating relevant information and combining resources on Twitter, bringing communities together.

Hitsearch for term

A hit is a request sent to a web server for a web page, image, JavaScript, or Cascading Style Sheet. Loading a web page is usually equivalent to several hits, because the site most likely is composed of several images, links, and text modules. Hits are useful in determining the requirements of a server, because they indicate the number and size of files needed to be transferred for one request. Unique hits refers to the number of individuals who have generated at least one hit. The term "hit" is used as a measuring tool in the industry by advertisers, site creators, and web users.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Infringementsearch for term

Infringement is an act that interferes with one of the exclusive rights of a patent, copyright, or trademark owner. This includes intellectual property infringements, such as copyright infringements, patent infringements, and trademark infringements. As an umbrella term, it is usually applied to instances in which a party reproduces or creates a derivative product from protected information, ideas, or products. It is the unlawful "piracy" of exclusively owned intellectual property. Black's Law Dictionary

Injunctionsearch for term

An injunction is a firm order to do or discontinue a particular act. Injunctions are issued as a court order, and the party it is issued to must follow it at the risk of civil or criminal penalties, such as imprisonment. A mandatory injunction compels the recipient to start doing something, but such cases are rare. An injunction typically orders the party to stop doing a specific act. An injunction can be preemptive. For example, an injunction can be issued against someone trying to destroy a property so that a court can determine to whom the property belongs, a court case to follow. Other common injunctions are orders to stop copyright infringement and restraining orders. The timing of injunctions are variable. They can take effect immediately, they can remain permanent, or be temporary, and they can stay in place until certain conditions are met.

Installsearch for term

Installing a program is to place the program on a computer system so that it can be accessed and executed by the user. Installation includes drivers and plugins, and may take a few minutes or even hours. The installation process may include the unpacking of files supplied in a compressed form, copying them to suitable system suitability and available mass storage space. Because the requisite process varies for each program and each computer, many programs (including operating systems) come with a general purpose or dedicated installer, a specialized program which automates most of the work required for their installation. <

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Intellectual Propertysearch for term

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, like inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. Intellectual Property is divided into two categories. The first, industrial property, includes patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source. Copyright, on the other hand, includes literary and artistic works like novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, visual artworks, and architectural designs. Its boundaries are often vague and constantly evolving in tune with the development of new technologies and capabilities like the Internet.

Source: World Intellectual Property Organization

Synonyms: IP

Interfacesearch for term

Interface is a computer term for the manner in which various programs, systems and people cross boundaries and communicate on a computer. A very common interface is the copy and past function. Something like a body of text is copied from something like a Word Document, and then pasted into something like a Web forum. The interface is the manner in which the Word Document and the Web forum, previously discrete and separate entities, have become linked through the passage og common material between them. There are three categories of interfaces. A user interface is the manner in which a computer user can direct actions on a computer, through usage of the keyboard, mouse, or menus of a computer. Software interface is the language and codes that computers use to communicate with each other, which no one but developers and coders understand in any capacity, usually. Lastly, hardware interface are the wires, plugs, and sockets, the physical hardware, that devices use to communicate with each other. The interface is the point at which two discrete entities come together to send information to and forth, manifestation of the vast communicative possibilities of computers.

Internet Archive search for term

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to include more well-rounded collections. Now the Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages, and provides specialized services for adaptive reading and information access for the blind and other persons with disabilities. The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge." It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and books. It was founded by Brewster Kahle in 1996. The Internet Archive has offices in San Francisco, California, and data centers throughout Northern California. Its largest collection is its web archive. In order to ensure its stability and endurance, its collection is mirrored in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, making it the only library in the world with a mirror. The Archive allows the public to both upload and download digital material to its data cluster, and provides unrestricted online access to that material at no cost. The Archive also oversees one of the world's largest book digitization projects. It is a member of the American Library Association and is officially recognized by the State of California as a library. The Archive is also an activist organization, advocating for a free and open Internet. It is a nonprofit organization with a budget of $10 million, derived from a variety of sources: revenue from its Web crawling services, various partnerships, grants, donations, and the Kahle-Austin Foundation.

Source: The Internet Archive and Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Internet Privacysearch for term

Internet privacy refers to the degree to which one's personal information remains protected over the Internet. This includes the ability to determine what information is revealed online, and who can see that information. Internet privacy is a hot topic today. A great deal of personal information gets entered into the Internet, from Social Security numbers to bank statements to messages between intimates. Many advocacy groups protest that information should remain private, and should be encrypted and controlled to the highest degree possible. This is not always the case, however, and it could be argued, impossible. As much as the Internet is a phenomenon that brings people together, it also seems to aggregate their personal information as well.Synonyms: Online Privacy

Internet Protocol Televisionsearch for term

Internet Protocol Television is television offered through a broadband connection to the Internet instead of cable for delivery of content television. It still allows the viewing of television through a standard television set, but changes the means through which the content arrives. IPTV is a very attractive idea to phone companies because it offers them the opportunity to offer a total of four services to customers: television, phone, cell phone, and Internet. This would be an extremely lucrative market to corner. IPTV can operate several different ways. For example, a computer can be programmed to reassemble protocol packets and convert them into a television signal. Or, consumers can purchase a set-top box. IPTV offers distinct advantages. For one, it places the user's television, Internet, and cell phone into tune with each other so that a subscriber may be able to set a tv show to record using a PDA. It also reduces the number of bills the consumer has to handle. However, IPTV is not a fully developed technology, and is not widely used or offered yet by companies. It has also been reported to be slow, subject to packet loss and delays if the connection is not fast enough. It also does not offer HDTV yet. Internet Protocol Television seems to be an exciting new technology emerging, and its development should be interesting to watch.Synonyms: IPT

Interpleadersearch for term

An interpleader is a legal action in which two or more parties seek ownership of a property held in the custody of a third party, or a stakeholder. Interpleader is initiated when the stakeholder files a claim stating that he or she has no interest in the property (the stake) and does not know who to give it to among the parties seeking it. Such an action is typically undertaken because the stakeholder is afraid that giving it to one of the parties could lead to multiple lawsuits against both himself or herself as well as the recipient party. An interpleader leaves the ultimate decision of the bequeathing of the property up to the court, and dismisses the stakeholder from legal action. It is a form of equitable relief, and is a way for courts to determine rights other than by issuing a judgment for money damages. Black's Law Dictionary

Intervention of Rightsearch for term

Intervention of right is listed in part (a) of Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It defines when it is lawful for a third party to intervene in an existing case. Intervention of right can occur under either of two conditions. First, if a federal court rules that the applicant has a conditional right to intervene. Or, the third party can intervene when their claim or defense shares a common question of law or fact with the main action. That is, if it knows that its interest may be adversely affected by the outcome of the pending litigation. The third party must in any case make a timely application to be heard, and must make clear its reasons for interfering in the motion papers. Black's Law Dictionary

iPhonesearch for term

The iPhone is a smartphone developed and owned by Apple Inc. It is a multimedia-enabled device with many capabilities, including that of a camera, Internet browser, cellphone, calendar and organizer, alarm clock, etc. It features a touch screen as well as a virtual keyboard that pops up when necessary. The iPhone can play video and audio, and can record voice messages. The iPhone's most remarkable feature, however, is perhaps its application platform. Users can download third-party applications from the App Store. These include applications like Zipcar, Target, various games, drawing applications, health programs, as well as thousands of others. There are four generations of iPhones, each one more sophisticated than the next. The iPhone's selling point is that it combines various previously distinct devices into one handheld mechanism, making it extremely convenient. It is one of the most popular models of smartphones on the market, and the subject of much techie buzz.

iPodsearch for term

An iPod is a portable MP3 player developed and sold by Apple Inc. IPods vary in size, storage ability, and model. The iPod Shuffle can store up to 100 songs, the iPod Nano up to 4,000, both depending on the version of the model. The iPod Classic features a capacity of up to 40,000 songs and 200 hours of video, and the iPod Touch up to 14,000 songs and 80 hours of video, again depending on the version chosen. The iPod Touch is the latest model of the device, and responds to the pressure of fingers on its screen to perform commands rather than through the pushing of buttons. The iPod is the leading MP3 player on the market, and is associated with status and hip media culture. ITunes is the iPod's computer program and features an online Music Store with an extensive library from which customers may purchase music and movies.

JPEGsearch for term

JPEG is a common format in which pictures are sent. JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, which is the committee that invented the standard. JPEG images are compressed in a process known as "lossy compression." Lossy compression reduces a digital image to a more simplified form, allowing it to be sent more easily and more quickly, and at a lower bitrate. "Lossy" refers to the loss of certain bits of information from the original image in the transfer. However, the loss does not significantly damage or distort the image, and often gets rid of redundant information in the image file. JPEG is the most prevalent method of data compression for images on digital cameras and on the World Wide Web. There are a few versions of JPEG technology, like JPEG/Exif and JPEG/JFIF, but they are all usually referred to as JPEGs.

Legal Actionsearch for term

A legal action is any judicial proceeding brought by one party against another. One party is the plaintiff, who accuses the defendant of some wrongdoing. The court's decision is meant to remedy, stop, or compensate for the alleged wrongdoing. Legal actions can take many forms. They can occur in courts of various sizes and they can be federal or state-based cases. They can occur in group form (like class actions suits) or be brought by an individual plaintiff. They can incur various sentencings, be dismissed, etc. There are many factors to and variants of a legal action. It is a very broad term.

Licensingsearch for term

Licensing refers to the process in which permission is granted to perform a specific act, use a given good, or provide a service that is already copyrighted by someone else. In terms of copyright law, licensing refers to the rights granted to an individual to use another person's copyrighted material. For example, an upcoming band can purchase a license to record and distribute a cover of Johnny Cash's song "Ring of Fire." So, a license may require paying a fee or proving a capability. Some licenses only stay in effect for a certain amount of time. A license allows the owner of a copyright to control the use and reach of their patent or trademark by guaranteeing that other people can only legally use the material or product after paying a fee and gaining the explicit permission of the creator. The licensee is in turn protected from getting sued for copyright infringement. Licensing is a two-way protection. Software licensing is a legal instrument governing the usage and redistribution of software. Many activists protest the validity of software licensing at all, and have launched free software movements like the Free Software Foundation in response. The Free Software Foundation offers software at no charge and without the requirement to purchase a license before use.

Link Economysearch for term

The link economy refers to the manner in which revenue is generally earned online. Blogs, online news outlets, and other sites profit by including links to other companies and corporations in the form of advertisements. Or, a site can enter a partnership with another company and earn revenue by linking to their website, and vice versa. The link economy is responsible for the curious phenomenon in which content is seen to be the draw or attraction to lure the Internet user onto a page, and so expose them to the profitable ad links posted on the page. Some web activists are promoting what they term a "content economy" instead, arguing that to maintain the integrity of the Web and the information it presents, revenue should be generated by donation instead, a reward for excellent and helpful content.

Lossless Data Compressionsearch for term

Lossless data compression is a method of data compression, a process utilized in the transfer of information over the World Wide Web. It is the exact opposite of lossy data compression, which discards part of the file being transferred in order to achieve a quicker bitrate. Lossless data compression does not discard any data, by contrast, and is instead a data compression algorithm that allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. Lossless data compression is used for text documents, source code, and for archiving or production processes, where space is not limited and users want exact reproductions of the original data.

Lossy Data Compressionsearch for term

Lossy data compression refers to the process that data undergoes when being sent from one location to another via the Web. The data is compressed, or made smaller in order to be sent more quickly and more easily. This reduces the bitrate, the rate at which information is sent over the Internet. This means that the image sent is slightly different from the original, although not enough to be significant. Lossy compression is mainly used to compress multimedia data like audio, video, and still images, especially in applications like streaming media. It is most often used in formats with limited space and where exact reproduction of the original code is unnecessary.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Markup languagesearch for term

A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a red pencil on authors' manuscripts. Markup is typically omitted from the version of the text which is displayed for end-user consumption.

Source: Wikipedia, with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0

Net Neutralitysearch for term

Net neutrality is the concept that Internet users should not have to pay extra fees to access certain sites. Internet providers like AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon have lobbied Congress to allow a tiered service model, in which there would be two types of sites. There would be those paying the regular fee, and there would be sites who would choose to pay the Internet carriers an extra fee to allow high-speed access to their sites. Essentially, carriers like AT&T would create revenue by requiring all those who wanted easy, fast access to their sites to pay more, lest they be abandoned by customers frustrated by the slow load. Net neutrality is a movement that advocates that there should be no such tiering of the Internet, but that all sites should be allowed the same level of access and at the same speed of upload. Such an approach would mean that wealthy corporations and individuals would not be provided with preferred access at the detriment to smaller, companies, and bloggers with unequal funds. Proponents of net neutrality argue that if a tiered service model was adopted for the Internet, sites like Google that started on a shoestring budget, would not have been allowed to flourish. Essentially, net neutrality is an egalitarian approach to the supply side of the Internet. It maintains that every site has the right to exist and have an opportunity to attract users on its own merits.

Newsfeedsearch for term

A newsfeed, otherwise known as a webfeed, is a list of articles, updates, images and video that a user subscribes to. The list self-updates, using pulling technology to aggregate relevant new information into the feed. It appears in the form of an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed in which the most recent information appears at at the top of the page. A newsfeed has a specific theme. Users can create customized newsfeeds on sites like Google News, indicating the type of news articles they are interested in perusing every day. For example, a visitor can design their newsfeed so that only information about the Iraq War, cats, and cake-making appears in their newsfeed. On Facebook, each member has a constantly updating newsfeed composed of the activities of their friends, meaning that each person using Facebook has an entirely unique newsfeed determined by which friends they have, and what they are posting, liking, and discussing. A newsfeed is an aggregator of digital media that is self-powered and self-refreshing, a reliable and personalized source of content online. Synonyms: Webfeed

Nodesearch for term

A node is the building block of a website. Each node contains a piece of information or data and is in turn linked to other nodes in a vast webbed tree. A node can be linked to one or many other nodes. It is an abstract concept, used to organize and structure data online and in computer programs. It is a placeholder and a memory block. Nodes are localized, concise units and allow sophisticated, complex groups of information to be presented in an organized fashion.

Nonprofit organizationsearch for term

A nonprofit organization is an organization that tries to provide some essential service or good that they find to be lacking in society. They are, as their name suggests, non-commercial entities. Their intent is to work for the common good rather than attempting to generate a large profit margin. Nonprofits typically run on money from grants, fellowships, and donations, as well as other sources of funding. They are an important sector. An example of a nonprofit organization is an art museum, which attempts to educate the public and provide opportunities for the exposure to art and creative inspiration. Other nonprofits include charitable organizations, health and religious groups, and trade unions, as well as other types of community centers. The designation of nonprofit organization is also important for tax purposes. They receive a tax break, designated under the 501(c)(3) section of the United States tax code. Nonprofits are private, philanthropic, independently run, and aim to benefit the public.Synonyms: Non profit organization, Non-profit organization

Open Source search for term

Open Source is the term for the software development method where a software program's underlying code is released to the public for free to encourage programmers to contribute to make improvements to that software. Instead of one company creating a software program from scratch and reserving all the rights to that program, with open source software dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people from around the world may have worked on creating and improving the program. The thinking behind open source technologies is that over time they will be better quality and more flexible than software that is developed centrally.

Sources: Open Source Intitiative (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License) and Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Open Websearch for term

The "Open Web" does not have a single, elegant definition yet. However, it does generally refer to the development of egalitarian spaces online in which participation and innovation are prized. Different organizations and individuals provide different definitions of the Open Web. Mark Surman, author of the blog Commonspace, states that the Open Web is comprised of four essential components. First, the Internet must be free, emerging from technology and information that anyone can use, learn from, or build upon. Second, it must facilitate participation, allowing anyone to become involved and innovate. Third, it should be decentralized, a democratic space in which responsibility and control is spread among all users. Lastly, it is generative, facilitating the growth of new ideas from new ones, even if hacking is involved. The Open Web Foundation provides a separate concept of what the Open Web is. It is an organization that attempts to provide a framework for online communities to build software and content freely. It encourages group development that is then in turn open to the public. The Foundation also helps online communities understand the legal ramifications of doing so. In all, Open Web is a term that has yet to be definitively set in stone. It can be considered, for now, a set of philosophical standards for web participation that value egalitarianism, widespread participation, technological innovation, as well as the breaking down of the barriers of private copyright. In practical form, however, the Open Web effort is more difficult to define In the hands of each of its supporters, the Open Web movement takes on different form. Open Web is overall the idea of change on the Internet, the shift away from web designers working alone or sites with single authors and towards the development of group space online, each community building the rules of its small universe, lawfully.

Synonyms: Open Internet

Page Viewsearch for term

A page view is a request to visit a single page of an Internet website. It is not equivalent to a hit, which is the request for a single file on the Internet. A page can contain several files, such as video and text and audio, and so can be the equivalent of several hits. A page view is essentially the decision to travel to a page on the web via a link from another website. A page view statistic is useful for the site's web developer because it reports how popular a single page is, and can track whether additions or changes to the page's design results in higher or lower traffic. A page view is also a useful statistic for a prospective advertiser for a site, because it is a measure of the potential audience. Page hits can add up to the millions for very popular sites. However, a page hit does not count how many people visit a site, because the same person can visit a site several times in the course of a day. It is rather a more general count of overall visits.

Patent Infringementsearch for term

Patent infringement is a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission is typically granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement varies, but it usually involves the unlawful usage or selling of the invention. Often, the use is required to be commercial in order to be considered infringement. The patent defines the manner in which it can be violated, informing the public of what is not allowed without the permission of the patent holder. Patents are territorial, meaning that they are usually only enforceable within the country in which they are filed. Black's Law Dictionary

Peer to Peer Network search for term

Peer to Peer is a means of file sharing online in which all participants both contribute and receive files. There is no main server from which information emerges, and there are no set roles of consumer and suppliers of information. An example of peer to peer technology is Napster. Peer to peer is often abbreviated "p2p." As a social force, it emphasizes an open Internet and the free sharing of resources. Synonyms: p2p

Permalinksearch for term

A permalink is a method to save a specific page forever. It is short for permanent link. For example, if a reader liked a certain blog entry very much, and wanted to save it, they would make a permalink of it by copying its web address or creating a bookmark of it. This is done because blogs update constantly, and specific blog posts can disappear into cyberspace in a matter of days. So, if the user wants to access the page again, the permalink grants the individual post its own URL so that it be visited again. The blog post can then be accessed directly with one click, rather than requiring the user to search through the blog's archive or contacting its owners. A permalink appears just as any other link, and can be pasted on any other sites or documents for preservation.

Piracysearch for term

Piracy is a term that originally referred to thievery and criminal violence on the high seas (like the activities of actual swash-buckling pirates). However, the term has evolved to refer to the illegal obtainment and usage of copyrighted software. The charge of software piracy can be levelled in various situations. An example is if an individual creates a copy of a computer program, rather than purchasing a copy. Illegal distribution of copyrighted softtware online is also an infringement of intellectual property rights, and so is an act of piracy. Mislicensing software also qualifies as well. Piracy can be avoided by purchasing software, which makes the consumer a licensed user. The purchaser of the goods is allowed to make backup copies, but is prohibited from distributing them to others. Software piracy is a major industry problem for computer software developers, record labels, and other types of companies selling digital information. Hundreds of suits prosecuting copyright infringers are filed each year, and many cease and desist letters are distributed, but as a whole piracy is very difficult to regulate. It has been a hot topic of discussion. Many activists question the validity of the term piracy, because it connotes a rather dire level of violence and crime, as well as the ethics of the pursuit of copyright infringement at all. Some groups like the Free Software Foundation have launched their own campaigns to make information and goods more available, more free, and more open to public adaptation and distribution.

Plaintiffsearch for term

A plaintiff is a person in a lawsuit who first brings a case to a court. For example, if Driver A was speeding and collided with Driver B's car, when Driver B sues Driver A to recover for her injuries, she becomes a Plaintiff. A person becomes a plaintiff as soon as she files a “complaint” to the court.

Plug-Insearch for term

A plug-in is a downloadable feature that makes an existent program more functional. It is something extra, a sort of extra add on that allows the user to do that much more. For example, a plug-in could be downloaded to scan for viruses on an Internet browser. Plug-ins can also be added to programs like Adobe Photoshop, Word, etc. Plug-ins are sometimes free and sometimes developed by third parties and sold separately. They are meant to optimize the performance of a computer program, or to fill some gap in its abilities.

Podcastsearch for term

A podcast is a video or audio program that can be listened to on a PDA, iPod, or computer. A podcast can resemble a radio show, a lecture, or a story hour. Podcasts can be downloaded, and arrive completely. They do not employ streaming technology. Podcasts arrive in series, somewhat like a tv show that has a new episode every week. Users can subscribe to a podcast so that the latest installment is automatically downloaded onto their device or computer. Podcasts often have a theme or specific subject matter that is explored in every episode. They are also readily available, stored like a song file on an iPod and opened at a simple click. They are designed for portability and for instant playback, audio information on the run.

Pro Bono Legal Assistance search for term

Pro bono legal assistance is legal assistance for free. Pro bono is Latin for "for the public good." Pro bono usually refers to legal activities undertaken as public interest advocacy, and are most typically handled by non-profit organizations and some government agencies. Some large law firms also perform a certain number of pro-bono hours every year. Black's Law Dictionary

Public Domainsearch for term

Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright, and can be reproduced or adapted freely, without fear of infringement legal action. Information in the public domain includes the text published on government websites, and creations specially designated by its producers as unprotected and up for grabs, as well as other data. Information can enter the public domain if its intellectual property rights (its copyright or trademark) have expired or if the intellectual property rights have been forfeited by the owner. The English language is legally in the public domain, for example. Public domain is essentially the opposite of private ownership.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)search for term

Really Simple Syndication, otherwise known as a newsfeed, is a format for the delivery of information online. In RSS, the most recent information appears at the top of the page, and each time the page is refreshed, all the new content that has emerged since the last visit appears at the top of the page. It is an automatically updating resource. RSS is a Web standard for the delivery of information, as it privileges what is most current, allowing the user to stay on top of the news. Many types of information can emerge in a newsfeed, from news stories, to videos, blog entries, and images. Each piece of information typically contains a title, a small blurb describing it to attract the viewer, and a link to which the reader may travel to learn more if interested. RSS appears on several kinds of sites. Each Facebook user has a newsfeed which informs them of their friends' updates, as well as blogs and headline news sites like Google News. The greatest advantage to the RSS format is that it saves time. The user is not forced to travel from site to site in order to learn about a general topic of interest. Instead, the newsfeed aggregates these common sites into a single location. Synonyms: RSS

Search Enginesearch for term

A search engine scours the World Wide Web for a specific term or word, entered in by the user. The most famous search engines is Google. Other notable search engines are Yahoo and Ask.com. There have been many search engines launched in the last decade or so, but Google has kept its reign relatively solid since 2004. When the user searches for a word or a series of words, the search engine produces a page of results. Each result is a website that contains the search term. The results are usually ranked by popularity, although much more sophisticated algorithms are typically set in place. Several pages of results usually appear. The purpose of search engines are to make finding resources online much easier. Rather than forcing the user to browse hundreds of pages one by one to find what they need, the search engine performs the perusal in a matter of seconds. Websites often feature Google-powered searches that are limited to their own pages.

Section 107 search for term

Otherwise known as the Fair Use Doctrine, Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law deals with online copyright infringement. See

Fair Use Doctrine

Smartphonesearch for term

A smartphone is a cell phone with multiple capabilities, or functionality that exceeds expectations. An example of a smartphone is the iPod, the PalmPilot, or the Blackberry. These devices can typically do things like access the Internet, send text messages, play games, and have any range of applications. Applications are developed either by the company that produced the phone, or by a private developer who then sold it to the corporation. Applications are diverse, featuring a range of interesting capabilities. The iPhone, for example, has applications that provide workout regimens, sophisticated games, drawing pads, and bartending guides, and many many more. Applications can be downloaded, either for free or at the cost of a few dollars. Smartphones run on platforms like Android, Java ME or BREW, which support the device's complex makeup. Smartphones have been progressively getting slimmer, growing in memory storage capability, and have faster Internet connections. The smartphone market is currently the fastest growing segment of the mobile phone industry. Most smartphones are designed to be a sort of personal assistant, organizing the user's day, allowing him or her to communicate with others in various ways, and providing essential information about its surroundings through maps, neighborhood guides, and consumer reports.

Spam Blogssearch for term

Otherwise known as "splogs," spam blogs are blogs used by spammers to generate some easy cash. Splogs are filled with nonsense words that are meant to pop up in Google searches. The aim of a spam blog is to entice an Internet wanderer onto its pages and then encourage the visitor to click on an ad running adjacent to its nonsense text. Every time someone clicks on one of its ads, the splogger earns revenue from advertisers. Spam blogs use software that hops from web page to web page, automatically copying text that includes potential search terms. The text of spam blogs then shows up as garbled nonsense, but contains enough popular keywords that they pop up easily in popular Web searches. Spam blogs are one of the Internet's fastest growing problems. According to Tim Finin, a researcher at the University of Maryland, some 56% of English-speaking blogs are spam blogs. They are a major industry hazard for firms like Google.

Spywaresearch for term

Spyware illegally obtains information from a user's computer without the user's knowledge or consent.

Source: Princeton University

Technological Convergence search for term

Technological convergence is the tendency for different kinds of devices and technological systems to evolve towards performing the same functions. Convergence can indicate various kinds of merging. For instance, separate capabilities like audio, visual, and data can be joined in a single application. Or, convergence can mean the joining together of previously separate devices like radio, television and computer into one object like the iPad. Digital media is growing in sophistication and complexity because of the growing possibilities of convergence, a layering of functionality.

The Free Software Foundationsearch for term

The Free Software Foundation is an organization founded by Richard Stallman of MIT with the mission of promoting the freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software. It is a nonprofit mostly dedicated to the development of free software for the GNU Project, with the goal of eventually creating an entirely free operating system. The FSF collects thousands of copyright assignments from individual software developers and corporations working on free software. and registers the copyrights under the license that allows them to distribute free software, the GNU Free Document License. The FSF also sponsors Savannah, the source code repository and center for free software development. It is dedicated to the political campaign for free software adoption and to addressing the legal issues involved with the development of free software. The FSF's offices are located in Massachusetts. Synonyms: FSF

The No Electronic Theft Act of 1994search for term

The No Electronic Theft Act, or NET Act, is a federal law passed in 1997 that provides for the criminal prosecution of individuals who engage in copyright infringement, even when there is no monetary profit or commercial benefit from that infringement. The NET Act also raised statutory damages by 50%. The Act arose after the unsuccessful 1994 prosecution of David LaMacchia, then a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who allegedly facilitated massive copyright infringement as a hobby and without any commercial motive. The court's dismissal of the United States v. LaMacchia suggested that then-existing criminal law simply did not apply to non-commercial infringements, a kind of loophole in the law. The court suggested that Congress fill in the loophole, which it did by unanimously passing the NET Act in both Houses.

Source: Department of Justice

Synonyms: NET Act

The Open Handset Alliancesearch for term

The Open Handset Alliance is a group of 76 technology and mobile companies who have come togethe to develop Android, an open and free mobile platform.Android was developed to compete with cellphone platforms like Windows Mobile and Apple's iPhone by offering a platform that encourages third-party development of applications. The OHA was founded in 2007 by Google, T-Mobile, Qualcomm, Motorola and a few other companies.

Trademarksearch for term

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

Source: United States Patent and Trademark Office

Trademark Infringementsearch for term

A trademark protects the singularity of a company's particular services or products. Infringement occurs when another party creates products or services confusingly similar to an existent trademark without the permission of the owner or relevant licensees. The owner of the trademark can then commence legal proceedings against the violating party. Black's Law Dictionary

Tweetingsearch for term

Tweeting is the use of the social networking site Twitter. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page. Although Tweets are public by default, senders can restrict delivery to their friends list. Users may also subscribe to other author tweets, known as "following." Popular tweeting channel pages currently include those of celebrities like Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, and, infamously, Sarah Palin. Users can also follow lists of authors instead of following individual authors. Tweets can be received online, through SMS (Short Message Service), and through smartphones. Since its creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter has rapidly gained popularity. It currently has more then 100 million users worldwide. Twitter's potential for political mobilization was recently demonstrated in the 2009 Iranian election protests, where opponents of the Iranian poll results used Twitter to post their views (evading mainstream media censorship) and announcing sites to gather for demonstrations in their tweets.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Twittersearch for term

Twitter is a social networking site that has emerged in recent years and has since grown increasingly popular. Tweets are short messages, exactly 140 characters or shorter, that are displayed on the user's profile page. Tweeters can subscribe to the Tweets of their friends, celebrities, or their favorite stores, becoming followers of those entities. Participants can also follow lists of authors, united by common interests or purposes, rather than being forced to visit each individual page. Tweeting is free, and can be accessed on the Internet, SMS, and smartphone. Twitter now has over 100 million users worldwide. Interestingly, however, a 2009 Harvard study revealed that ten percent of Twitter users account for ninety percent of total Tweets. Furthermore sixty percent of registered Tweeters do not return to their account a month after their registration. The study concluded that it seems that Twitter is better at signing up users than keeping them.

Unique Visitor search for term

Unique visitor refers to a method of calculating the popularity of a site. Rather than counting the hits or visits of a website, or how many times it was visited, counting unique visitors accounts for how many users visit the site. For example, a website can have 100 hits. However, this might translate to 10 unique visitors, each of which visited the website 10 times during the course of the report. In this case, the unique visitor report is the more accurate gauge of the site's popularity. A unique visitor counts is a handy statistic for advertisers, publishers, and web designers.

Uploadingsearch for term

Uploading is the opposite of downloading. It is the sending of information online to another individual who will save the data in their server upon receipt. One can upload any number of different types of files, such as music, video, Word documents, etc. Uploading is used both in the commercial and personal computer fields.

Viral Marketingsearch for term

Viral marketing is a publicity or advertising method that take advantage of preexisting social networking channels. Viral marketing is effective because it spreads quickly and is relatively inexpensive. "Viral" refers to the way in which the advertising for the good or service spreads rapidly, like a virus. The marketer targets individuals with high social networking profiles, like someone with many Facebook friends, and sends them many messages, texts, or emails. It takes advantage of new technologies like mass texting and social networking sites. Viral marketing is often aggressive and seemingly invasive because it can take so many forms, and is often so prevalent.

Vloggingsearch for term

Vlogging is a merging of the words "video" and "blogging." It is a form of blogging in which the medium is video, a kind of Internet television. Vlogs come in series. Entries often contain external links to supporting texts and images. YouTube is a popular site for vlogging. Vlogs often take advantage of web syndication to allow for the distribution of video over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats for automatic playback on mobile devices and personal computers.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Source: Wikipedia

Web 2.0 search for term

Web 2.0 is commonly associated with web development and web design that facilitates interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. It is understood to be a democratic forum, a flat arena in which all users may contribute and speak.

Source: Citizen Journalism Africa

Web Broswersearch for term

A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. Browsers can retrieve information resources like web pages, images, video, and other types of content. Hyperlinks allow Internet users to easily navigate their browsers, traveling from resource to resource. Web browsers are mostly used to access the wider web, but they can also be used to access information provided by web servers in private networks or files in file systems. The two most popular web browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Source: Wikipedia (with significant reworking of the text. Wikipedia information is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License 3.0)

Web Designersearch for term

A web designer is someone who translates the various intricacies of online content - hypertext, media and images, plug-ins, etc. - into a polished end product, a website that can be easily accessed by the common user. Web designers typically work for businesses and individuals who want to publish their content online. A web designer is different from a web master, who does the actual coding. A web master is most proficient with graphics and images, and must be skilled at producing an attractive whole. The web designer must make such choices as what colors and font to use, and is responsible for creating animation, navigation tools, JavaScript programming, and other types of content. Web designers can create static pages, which always stay the same regardless of the passage of time, or dynamic pages, which update constantly with new information and updates. The latter type of website is, predictably, the more complex one. In the growing Internet age, the services of web designers are absolutely essential.

WHOISsearch for term

WHOIS is an information gathering service that identifies the domain of a website, as well as its administrative, technical, and billing information. It essentially provides the contact information and sources of the host of a website. WHOIS is useful for a number of reasons. It supports the stability of the Internet by providing contact information for network operators and administrators, facilitating communication between websites hosts and Internet users. WHOIS also determines who owns what website, making clear which are available for purchase. Interestingly, the service also assists law enforcement officials in pursuing cases of abusive uses of the Internet, like on websites promoting child abuse, hate crimes, or terrorist activity. WHOIS is also essential for the business side of the World Wide Web, helping counter trademark infringement and allowing consumers to find appropriate domains to hawk their wares.

Wifisearch for term

Wifi is a means by which portable devices can connect to the Internet wirelessly. Wifi is trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance that manufacturers use to label certified products belonging to a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices. Essentially, Wi-Fi is the ability of a device like a laptop, personal computer, video game console, smartphone, printers, etc. to be able to tune into a common network. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global association of companies that promotes WLAN technology and certifies products that conform to certain standards of interoperability. Not every device compliant with Wi-Fi Alliance standards is submitted to the Alliance for certification because of the costs of the certification process. Thus, if a device does not have a Wi-Fi logo, it does not mean they are incompatible with a Wi-Fi network.

Wikisearch for term

A wiki is a collaborative website that can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. Small teams often find that they can accomplish a task easier by creating a collaborative online workspace using wiki software such as pbworks, social text, or mediawiki. The most well-known wiki is Wikipedia, an online collaborative encyclopedia.

Wordpresssearch for term

Wordpress is web software, an open source CMS, that can be used to build a blog or website. It is a blog publishing application. Wordpress offers free software developed by teams of volunteers on an open source platform. Wordpress is very popular and used by over 25 million people, including news agencies and corporations for their websites. It is user friendly, allowing for the publishing of both text and media.

Zip Filesearch for term

A ZIP file is a means of storing a large amount of information. A zip file compresses the data, reducing it to a smaller size so that mass amounts of data can be placed on the same disk. It is useful for backing up files, or when a computer needs to be emptied out because it has too much information on it and it's slowing down. The data placed on a Zip file must be decompressed to be viewed again. A zip file usually either leaves data unchanged or compresses it slightly, downsizing its content in an almost unnoticeable manner.

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