Acceptable Use Policy

The following guidelines pertain to a student's use of network and computer equipment within the Computer Science department, including, but not limited to lab PCs and workstations, servers, dial-in modems, network bandwidth, and printers.


General Guidelines

Any use of computers with the intent to harm individuals or property is a crime. The Computer Science department will cooperate as prescribed by law with legal authorities and/or injured parties in the investigation of any such activity, including, but not limited to:
  • Threatening harm to persons or property or otherwise harassing behavior
  • Conducting e-mail scams or spams
  • Breaching or attempting to breach the security of another user or computer or data without that user's knowledge and consent
  • Unauthorized posting, transmitting, or reproduction of copyrighted, trademarked or patented material; including but not limited to software, images, text, MP3 files and other video or audio types of files
  • Posting or transmitting any file that contains viruses, worms, trojan horses or any other contaminating or destructive features
  • Attempting to interfere with networking services
  • Violating U.S. export control laws for software or technical information
  • Facilitating, aiding, or encouraging any of the above activities

Specific Guidelines
  • You may not share your password nor attempt to obtain passwords on Department machines through the use of crackers, key stroke capturing software, sniffers or any other fashion.
  • You may not use your account to obtain or distribute data in violation of the Department's policy on academic honesty.
  • You may not use your email account to send unwanted or unsolicited email or chat messages ("spamming") with the intent to harrass, harm or fill up the recipient's email storage space ("bombing"). You may not forge, alter, or obscure the information within the header/tracking data of email/chat messages.
  • Chat or discussion groups may be used for course related work only--IRC and other messaging software "bots" are prohibited.
  • You may not use Department computers to violate the acceptable use policy of other computers
  • While you are not discouraged from posting controversial views, you may not post/transmit any message, image, or other information that the department deems to be defamatory, obscene, or capable of inciting violence.
  • You may not use Department computers to engage in profit making or other similar personal activities.
  • You may not use your account to host another person's webpage.

Failure to follow the above guidelines may result in suspension or immediate termination without notice of your account.

These guidelines are subject to change and the user is bound by any and all such changes.

The Computer Science department reserves the right to view the personal files of any user suspected of violating the acceptable use policy or as deemed necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the computer systems. Actions include, but are not limited to, examining accounting logs and other records, accessing a user's mailbox, or viewing a user's files. The Computer Science department reserves the right to monitor network traffic, including email, at any time for security and network maintenance purposes. The department assumes no liability for the loss of private or confidential material.