Internet Law Terms and Definitions

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Virtual reality The use of specialized computers, software, and other gear to construct computer-generated environments. A user wears a headset that blocks out vision of the physical world and projects these computer-generated environments onto a screen near the eyes. Wiretap Act Rule on the degree to which the federal Wiretap Act protects the privacy of e-mail, by deciding whether the act applies to e-mail held in temporary storage. Ports Web pages are accessed on servers through ports. A port can be specified by following the URL with a colon and the port number. If no port is specified, the browser uses port 80 Search engine Software that allows a user to search networked computers for data files according to subject matter or names, depending on how the files are labelled, and present themselves to the network. DNS Domain Name Server – Used to map names to IP addresses and vice versa. Domain Name Servers maintain central lists of domain name/IP addresses and map the domain names in your Internet requests to other servers on the Internet until the specified web site is found. See Also: IP Address Go to top Browser software The multimedia software employed by users to access the World Wide Web, the aspect of the Internet that transmits pictures, sound, etc. At present, the most popular "browsers" include Mosaic, Netscape, and Microsoft Explorer. Users can download these "browsers" from computer "servers" that are connected to the Internet. SOFTWARE COPYRIGHT Computer programs are considered "literary works" for the purpose of copyright law. The 1980 amendments to the Copyright Act define a computer program as a "set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result." Cyber-cash On the Internet, customers often purchase products or services by giving their credit card information to a supplier, who then submits a debit to the customer's account with a credit card agency. Cyber-cash provides a new alternative, for which no one standard approach is dominant. SSL Certificates A URL that begins with “https://” (instead of “http://”) indicates that information is being transmitted over a secure connection and the company has been issued an Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. Redirecting the URL A URL can be further obscured by using a redirection service. Some fraudsters have even gone to the effort to redirect their URL twice.

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	Did You Know?
	Computer invasion of privacy laws exist Any person who uses a computer or computer network with the intention of examining any employment, medical,salary, credit, or any other financial or personal data relating to any other person with knowledge that such examination is without authority shall be guilty of the crime of computer invasion of privacy.