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Some more definitions from Haley. [  Note: Haley has a new set of definitions, not not those on this page.  I like the old set of definitions much more than the new ones ].

I left in Haley's product blurbs because I think they are largely true - their list of features can be used like a checklist for evaluating other rule engines.   Haley is a a very solid, low cost solution for a wide range of business rule systems.  The Haley definitions are so good that I've taken the liberty of including most of them in my own page [ luckily as it turned out, since the page is now gone ] .  

Business process automation : occurs when technology components substituting and/or supplementing manual processes to manage information flow within an organization to lower costs, reduce risk, and increase consistency.

Business rules management systems enable business process automation.

Business rule :is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business.  A business rule asserts business structure to control or influence the behavior of the business, i.e. a process or procedure.

Business rules authoring tool : a technology application that captures, organizes, manages, allows for testing of business rules.  HaleyAuthority is a technology-leading business rules authoring tool that not only enables users to capture, organize manage, and test business rules, but does so using real English.

Business rules inference engine :is the component of a BRMS system that performs the reasoning function or the runtime execution of rules authored with a business rules authoring tool.  HaleyRules is the highest performance, most scalable business rules inference engine and has the smallest footprint.

Business rules management : is the use of rules platforms to automate business polices (such as pricing) as opposed to system policies (such as data validation and data integrity).  Through the use of business rules management, ABC Company has gained the agility and flexibility to manage and change dynamic business logic - such as policies and procedures - without incurring IT development time and costs.

Business rules management systems (BRMS) : are software tools that work alongside or inside enterprise IT applications that enable enterprises to automate decision-making processes typically consisting of separate business rules authoring and rules execution applications.  Haley's business rules management system enables businesses to extract business logic from core applications such as claims processing and CRM systems for 24/7 rules capture and implementation.

Knowledge base : is a database for knowledge management that provides the means for computerized collection, organization and retrieval of knowledge.  Haley's natural language understanding makes it easier to make changes to the rules once the knowledge base has been built.

Natural Language (Natural Language Understanding or Natural Language Processing) : is a subfield of artificial intelligence and linguistics. It studies natural language understanding devoted to making computers "understand" statements written in human languages.  Natural language business rules systems like Haley's business rules management system empower business users to program in English, the language of business.

Ontology:is a systematic arrangement of all of the important categories of objects or concepts which exist in some field of discourse, showing the relations between them. When complete, an ontology is a categorization of all of the concepts in some field of knowledge, including the objects and all of the properties, relations, and functions needed to define the objects and specify their actions.

The Business Ontology Exchange (BOX) is a web-based exchange for business ontologies, where Haley partners and customers can share business and industry-specific knowledge bases.

Rules engine : see also: business rules inference engine. A software system that helps businesses manages business rules by allowing users to register, classify and manage all these rules, and verify consistencies between them.

The HaleyRules business rules inference engine is the industry's fastest and most scalable business rules engine.

Rule Mark-up Language (RuleML) : The goal of the Rule Markup Initiative is to develop RuleML as the canonical Web language for rules using XML markup, formal semantics, and efficient implementations. RuleML covers the entire rule spectrum, from derivation rules to transformation rules to reaction rules. RuleML can thus specify queries and inferences in Web ontologies, mappings between Web ontologies, and dynamic Web behaviors of workflows, services, and agents.

Rules platform : is a framework either in hardware or software that allows software to run. So a rules platform is a software or hardware component that will allow you to run rules on your computer.

Rules Repository : contains the domain knowledge coded in the form of rules. Both the rules authoring tool and the rules engine employ the rules repository.

HaleyAuthority and HaleyRules share a rules repository where from multiple users across the business enterprise can capture and share domain rules knowledge.

SOA, service oriented architecture : is the integration of the business as a set of linked, repeatable business tasks, or "services" (reusable software modules) which are independent of the applications or computing programs on which they run. SOA provides a framework for agile integration across applications. SOA allows different types of OS, for example, to communicate with a program.

Haley's SOA-based Business Rules Web Service helps to advance rule server independence.

Tabular rules or decision tables : allows users to lay out in tabular form all possible situations which a business decision may encounter and specify which action to take in each situation. Both are also precise way to model complicated logic, similar to if-then-else and switch-case statements.
One of the programs supported by the SOA-based business rules Web Service will be tabular rules or decision tables.

Web Services : are web-based applications that dynamically interact with other Web applications using open standards that include XML, UDDI and SOAP. Such applications typically run behind the scenes, one program "talking to" another (server to server). Microsoft's .NET and Sun's Sun ONE (J2EE) are the major development platforms that natively support these standards.

HaleyRules Web Services supports both XML over HTTP as well as Java Messaging Service that allows for asynchronous communication for sending and receiving messages.

They include no definition of "Semantic Web", alas, even in the newer version of the web page.  They are probably waiting for some one to tell them.  :-)