Legal Definitions - URL

A URL, which stands for Uniform Resource Locator, is the unique address used to identify and locate a specific resource on the internet. Think of it as a digital street address that tells your web browser exactly where to find a particular webpage, image, video, document, or any other file available online. It specifies the protocol (like HTTP or HTTPS), the domain name, and often the path to the specific resource within that domain.

Here are some examples to illustrate how URLs function:

• Accessing a Company's Homepage:

  Imagine you want to visit the official website for a well-known technology company. You would typically type something like https://www.exampletech.com into your web browser.

  This URL directs your browser to the main entry point (the homepage) of the "exampletech.com" domain, using the secure HTTPS protocol. It's the most basic form of a URL, pointing to the primary online presence of an organization.

• Locating a Specific News Article:

  Suppose you read about a new scientific discovery and want to find the full article on a news site. The URL might look something like https://www.globalnews.com/science/new-galaxy-discovered-2023-10-26.

  This URL is more specific. It not only identifies the news domain ("globalnews.com") but also guides the browser through specific directories ("science") to a particular article file or page ("new-galaxy-discovered-2023-10-26"). This precision ensures you land directly on the exact content you're seeking, rather than just the news site's homepage.

• Embedding an Image in a Document:

  A graphic designer might want to include a specific stock photo in an online presentation. The URL for that image could be https://cdn.stockphotos.net/images/nature/forest-path-hd.jpg.

  In this case, the URL points directly to an image file ("forest-path-hd.jpg") located on a content delivery network (CDN) server ("cdn.stockphotos.net") within a specific folder structure ("images/nature/"). When this URL is used, the browser or application knows to fetch and display that exact image file, rather than a webpage.