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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.
Bundling
The combining of either network functionalities or end-user services into one integrated package for provision by a supplier to a customer. In the former case, major operators of public networks have often required that competing service providers seeking inter-network connection purchase all the necessary functionalities (e.g., switching and signalling) in one package, rather than providing some of these elements on their own.
Fiber optic cable
A type of wire-line transmission media that converts information into light pulses that travel down hollow glass tubes the diameter of a human hair. Fiber optic cables are used in broadband networks, and are capable of carrying an enormous amount of information in all its forms --sound, graphics, data, and video, or a multimedia combination thereof -- with much greater speed, accuracy, and security than conventional copper wires and coaxial cables.
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
Analog
The transmission of sound and visual information in the form of waves in the frequency spectrum. For example, in an analog telephone transmission the human voice is transmitted as sound waves that can be detected by the ear.
Telecommunications Act of 1996
A law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton that extensively revises and updates the 1934 Communications Act, heretofore the principal law governing U.S. communications industries.
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.
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."
On-line
A "live" connection to a computer network over telecommunications lines, in which a user interacts with other computers on a network to send electronic mail, read information stored on another system, or download information to his or her own terminal.
Antitrust
U.S. laws designed to prevent any one company from acquiring such a degree of control over a given market that it substantially prevents competition among alternative suppliers and limits consumer choice.
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