API:
Application Programming Interface
ASIC:
Application Specific Integrated Circuit
AT&T:
American Telephone and Telegraph Company
BASIC:
Beginners All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
Berne
Convention: Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works,
1971
BIOS:
Basic In/Out System
COBOL:
Common Business-Oriented Language
CDPA
1988: Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988
CD-ROM
or CD: Compact Disk Read Only Memory
CPS1:
Capcom System 1
CPS2:
Capcom System 2
CPU:
Central Processing Unit
DVD:
Digital Versatile Disk
EC:
European Community
EEPROM:
Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
E.I.P.R.:
European Intellectual Property Review
EU:
European Union
FAQ:
Frequently Asked Questions
FTP:
File Transfer Protocol
GATT:
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, 1994
GPU:
Graphics Processing Unit
GTE:
Geometry Transfer Engine
GUI:
Graphical User Interface
IBM:
International Business Machines, Inc.
MAME:
Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator
MAME32:
Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator 32-bit
MS-DOS
or DOS: Microsoft Disk Operating System
NES:
Nintendo Entertainment System
Next-Gen:
Next Generation Emulators
OJ:
Official Journal
OS:
Operating System
PC:
Personal Computer
PROM:
Programmable Read Only Memory
PS1:
Playstation 1
PS2:
Playstation 2
RAM:
Random Access Memory
ROM:
Read Only Memory
ROM
Image or Rom: Read Only Memory Image
Semiconductors
Directive: Council Directive 87/54/EEC on the Legal Protection of Topographies
of Semiconductors Products, OJ 1987 L24/36
SNES:
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Software
Directive: Council Directive 91/250/EEC on the Legal Protection of Computer
Programs (OJ 1991 L122/42)
TRIPs:
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
UK:
United Kingdom
UltraHLE:
Ultra64 High Level Emulator
URL:
Uniform Resource Locator
US:
United States of America
VGS:
Virtual Game Station
VNC:
Virtual Network Computing
WIPO
Treaty: World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty, 1996
Application
Programming Interface (API): A Technical Interface.
Arcade
Cabinet or Coin-Up: A compact,
self-adequate Videogame Cabinet found at Amusement Halls.
Assemble:
To translate a program written in Low-Level Language to Machine Language.
Basic
In/Out System (BIOS): A set of programs, usually in firmware, that enables each
computer's central processing unit to communicate with printers, disks,
keyboards, consoles and other attached input and output devices.#
Binary
Digits: the “I”s and “O”s electricity switches which represent
instructions in Machine Language.
Central
Processing Unit (CPU): Refers either to the principle microchip that the
computer is built around (such as the Pentium or PowerPC chip) or the box that
houses the main components of the computer.*
Compile:
To translate a program written in High-Level Language to Machine Language
and vice versa.
Cross-platform
Compatibility: Compatibility between different Operating Systems.
Decompile:
To translate a program written in Machine
Language to High-Level Language.
Disassemble:
To translate a program written in Machine Language to Low-Level Language.
Electrically
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM):
A variation of Read Only Memory.
File
Transfer Protocol (FTP): File Transfer Protocol. Allows users to copy files
between the local system and any system reachable over a network.
A common way to make software (text files, sounds, pictures, utilities,
etc.) available is to put it on an anonymous ftp server. Anonymous ftp servers
allow users to login without a password, specifying "guest" as the
user, and then copy whatever has been made available.*
Firmware:
Programs written permanently into ROM chips. *
Game
Console: A Videogame Console intended for home use, usually coming without a
monitor since it is to be attached to a television, which comes with a choice of
peripherals.
Graphical
User Interface (GUI): A way of interacting with a computer, based on graphics
instead of text. GUIs use icons, pictures, and menus, and use a mouse as well as
a keyboard to accept input. Windows9x
for example use a GUI while MS-DOS does not.*
Hardware:
The physical pieces of equipment in a computer system. e.g. monitor.+
High-Level
Language: A programming language which is relatively remote from the
computer’s Machine Language, whose statement is equivalent to several Machine
Language instructions. E.g., BASIC, Pascal, COBOL, C. +
Low-Level
Language: A programming language which is very close to the computer’s Machine
Language, whose statement has only one direct equivalent in Machine Language.
+
Machine
Language: The set of instructions and statements which control the computer
directly. +
Object
or Binary Code: Where the code of a
program is in Machine Language.
Operating
System (OS): A program or set of programs which control and organize the
operation of applications programs in addition to managing memory and providing
certain facilities such as loading, saving and deleting. E.g., Windows9x, UNIX,
MS-DOS.+
Programmable
Read Only Memory (PROM): A variation of Read Only Memory.
Random
Access Memory (RAM): The memory that can be used by applications to perform
necessary tasks while the computer is on. Memory chips that can hold easily
changed information as long as there is an electric current running through
them, but go blank when the electricity is cut off. The term "Random
Access" refers to the ability of a processor to immediately access any part
of the memory.*
Read
Only Memory (ROM): A chip or chips with information- usually a program- written
into them at the time of their manufacture. These chips cannot be re-written,
hence "read-only." The contents of ROM remains even when the computer
is turned off.*
Read
Only Memory Image (ROM Image or Rom): The
exact copy (mirror image) of a Read Only Memory.
Source
Code: Where the code of a program
is in High-Level Language.
Technical
Interface: The way which programs communicate with other programs or with
hardware.
User
Interface: The way that a user communicates with a program.
+:
Either paraphrased or copied from the Glossary of Computer Terms of Bainbridge,
D., “Introduction to Computer Law”, 4th Edition, Longman, 2000
#:
Either paraphrased or copied from Sunderland University, “Standard Computer -
Term Glossary”, available @ http://blake.sunderland.ac.uk/~ta5wpr/computer.htm
*:
Either paraphrased or copied from the University
of Chicago Campus Computer Stores, “A Glossary of Computer
Related Terms”,
available
@ http://www-ccs.uchicago.edu/technotes/misc/Glossary/