Introducing XACML. This Computerworld article provides a very brief introduction to XACML, an access control list language implemented with XML.
To attain an understanding of the lingo check out this XACML glossary or if you prefer dive straight into the specification( [CapeBlog]
This is an introductory article. Sounds interesting. This technology provides a standard way to query for and distribute access policies. The Sun site for this technology is here