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# Glossary

cloud computing
  Storage of and access to data residing on a site which is part of the internet.

copyright
  The legal protection of the expression of ideas in written works, drawings, music and similar, but not protection of the ideas themsleves.

cyberspace
  The online world of networked computer systems – especially the internet.

entire agreement
  A legal phrase denoting the restriction of a contractual agreement solely to what is in the contractual document concerned.

escrow agreement
  An arrangement for a copy of source code to be held by some third party – perhaps a bank – to be released should certain conditions arise, such as the supplier going bankrupt.

excludability
  Usage of a good by one person such that it immediately denies use of the same good to another person.

force majeure
  Used to describe the circumstances under which a contract fails but for reasons for which the parties to the contract cannot be held responsible.

jurisdiction
  The legal system and set of laws that apply to a particular contract.

letter of intent
  A letter stating that a contract is to be drawn up, thus enabling work to start in anticipation of the contract.

letting of a contract
  The act of awarding a contract.

milestone
  A key event within a project plan, typically entailing the completion of a specific deliverable by a specific date.

patent
  A legal mechanism to protect an invention and its subsequent economic exploitation in manufacture, protecting the idea itself and not just its expression.

restraint on trade
  A clause in a contract that is intended to restrict what one of the signatories can do either during or after the period of the contract in order to protect the interests of the other parties.

subject to contract
  The specification, set out by a clause in a letter of intent, that commitments in that letter will be legally enforceable only if the contract is duly prepared and agreed, and signed.

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OpenLearn - Software and the law
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