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COMPUTER
USE POLICY Information
resources are intended to provide information technology for educational,
research and administrative applications by its students, faculty and
staff. Information resources
including the hardware, software and network facilities may not be used
for other purposes including commercial, illegal or political activities.
Everyone within the university community will be held responsible
for using computer resources and facilities in an ethical, professional
and legal manner. Any misuse
of these resources will be dealt with by the appropriate university, legal
or law enforcement authorities. Failure
to abide by the rules and procedures outlined in this policy may result in
disciplinary action, loss of computer use privileges and/or referral to
law enforcement agencies. Unacceptable
uses include but are not limited to the following activities: Ø
Using the
school’s network for any illegal activity, including violation of
copyright laws, peer to peer file-sharing and child pornography laws; Ø
Using the
network for financial or commercial gain; Ø
Disabling
or vandalizing data of another computer user; Ø
Gaining
unauthorized access to computer resources; Ø
Invading
the privacy of another computer user; Ø
Intentionally
transmitting computer viruses; Ø
Use of
chain letters or any use that unnecessarily causes congestion of networks; Ø
Unauthorized
downloading of software; Ø
Wastefully
using computer resources, including network space; Ø
Using
computer resources for the unauthorized altering, posting or distributing
of grades or other school records; Ø
Transmitting,
posting, publishing or displaying material that is defamatory, obscene,
sexually explicit or provocative, pornographic, profane, lewd, threatening
or harassing; Ø
Negligent
or intentional disclosure of account passwords or other computer
safeguards; Ø
Failure to
abide by specific user policies which are subsections of this policy. They
include the Internet Usage Policy 1.080.0, Acceptable Use Policy1.010.0,
Copyright Guidelines, Computer Laboratory General Usage Rules and
Residential Network Use Guidelines. Internet
Usage Policy The
guidelines include, but are not limited to, World Wide Web, Netscape,
Explorer and Telnet. These guidelines have been created to define what
Texas A&M University-Kingsville considers responsible and ethical
behavior. These guidelines apply to all Texas A&M
University-Kingsville students, faculty and staff using the campus
information resources. Internet
activities and procedures must be consistent with the university’s
academic; computer and Internet use ethics policies as well as federal and
state computer crime statutes. Texas
A&M University-Kingsville reserves the right to monitor, filter and/or
review, at any time, all Internet utilization via the university’s
Internet access. The university further reserves the right to reveal any
Internet access related information to any party that it deems
appropriate. The use of encryption, the labeling of a communication as
private, the deletion of a communication or any other such process or
action, shall not diminish the university’s rights in any manner. The
university will disclose Internet access information to any party that it
may be required to by law or regulation. This may include law enforcement
search warrants and discovery requests in civil litigation. For more
information refer to the Internet Usage Policy 1.080.0 available at http://www.cis.tamuk.edu/help/policies/policies.asp?nb=HELP Copyright
Guidelines Over
the past couple of years, the Recording Industry Association of America
has started to notify Information Technology (IT) departments about
multiple students on our residential network (ResNet) that are offering
copyrighted sound recordings for download through a peer to peer (P2P)
application (i.e., KaZaA, Morpheus, WinMX, AudioGalaxy, iMesh, Gnutella,
Limewire and others). Texas
A&M University-Kingsville is required to take these complaints very
seriously, and to take steps to address any copyright infringing activity.
Failure to do so can potentially result in liability for the university
itself. Texas
A&M University-Kingsville will not tolerate copyright violations per
state and federal copyright law. Violators of university policies with
respect to computing and network usage are subject to the normal
disciplinary procedures of the university as outlined in the student
handbook. In addition to adjudication by university judicial processes,
violations will result in the temporary or permanent loss of computer and
network access. Illegal actions are also subject to prosecution by
appropriate local, state or federal authorities. Additionally,
any student using their university network access privileges to engage in
the downloading or uploading of child pornography and copyrighted
materials or other unauthorized distribution of the aforementioned
materials is potentially at risk of becoming the target of a legal action
for copyright infringement, prosecution for child pornography, in addition
to any university-imposed sanctions. Network
privileges may be revoked at any time for abusive conduct. Such conduct
includes, but is not limited to: Ø
Using the
network for any purposes that violate Ø
P2P
activity resulting in illegal downloads that violate the Digital
Millennium Copy Right Act; Ø
And any
other types of use that would cause congestion of the networks or
otherwise interfere with the work of others. The
most effective way to comply with university policies and state and
federal copyright law is to not have peer to peer applications (KaZaA,
Morpheus, WinMX, AudioGalaxy, iMesh, Gnutella, Limewire and others) that
illegally offer copyrighted sound recordings or other copyrighted
materials for download over the Internet installed on your computer. If
CIS is notified by the Recording Industry Association of America that you
are offering copyrighted sound recordings for download, your network
connection at Texas A&M University-Kingsville will be disabled to
ensure immediate compliance with the RIAA’s request. You will be
required to attend a meeting with the Dean of Students, the Network and
System Administrator, and the Director of Computing & Information
Systems. After the meeting and following a list of required actions on
your part, CIS will notify the RIAA that you have complied with their
request to “remove or disable access to the infringing sound files via
your system.” At that time network and Internet connectivity will be
restored to your personal computer, with the understanding that there will
be no further illegal copyright abuse. Failure
to refrain from unauthorized file sharing of copyrighted materials at
Texas A&M University-Kingsville, both on our local network and the
Internet, will result in your actions being addressed by the normal
disciplinary procedures of the university as well as potential legal
action from the RIAA in addition to permanent loss of computer and network
access. The
Recording Industry Association of America believes it is in everyone’s
interest for music consumers to be better educated about the subject of
copyright law and music. The association encourages you to visit the MUSIC
Coalition’s new website at www.musicunited.org.
The site contains valuable information about what’s legal and what’s
not when it comes to copying music. Computer
Laboratory General Usage Rules The
computer labs are state-owned facilities. The equipment and software in
these labs are the property of the state of 1.
A valid Texas A&M University-Kingsville identification card
must be presented to use any of the lab resources. Only the faculty, staff
and students of Texas A&M University-Kingsville are allowed to use
these facilities unless other arrangements have been made through CIS
and/or the respective department. 2.
The usage of chat (IRC) programs or playing of games is NOT
permitted. The resources in this laboratory may be used only for work that
is part of an assigned academic program, official university business or
university approved research. All
other use is prohibited. 3.
The installation of personal or other software is not permitted.
This is a public (to university users) facility used by many disciplines
on campus. As such, these
systems have been prepared (with the appropriate hardware and software) to
meet the teaching and research needs of the campus users and cannot be
used for software or hardware experimentation. 4.
Routine, scheduled maintenance is performed on these systems.
Routine maintenance of these systems throughout the academic year may
cause some of the resources to be unavailable.
While every attempt will be made to minimize these outages,
scheduling and facility requirements should be done on a timely basis with
CIS or the facility’s representative to minimize the chance of a system
being down at critical times. 5.
Backup copies of system configurations are maintained by CIS.
Backup copies of working system configurations are maintained at other
locations by CIS. If a system
fails, the backup copy of software is loaded to a “cleaned” system
without attempting to recover data or programs not included in the backup
configuration. If you need
additional software or hardware installed on any of these systems AND wish
it included on backups, please contact CIS. The use of personally-owned
peripherals such as external storage devices, CD-ROMs, and printers is not
permitted. Residential
Network Use Guidelines 1.
Students must understand and comply with Texas A&M
University-Kingsville Computer Use Policy which includes as subsections
the Acceptable Use Policy, Internet User Guidelines, Copyright Guidelines,
Network Access Policy, and Virus Policy.
As a student of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, you must
understand that although the Residence Hall Internet connection (Texas
A&M University-Kingsville ResNet) is a State of 2.
Students must understand and comply with copyright policy.
As a student of Texas A&M University-Kingsville, you must
comply with 3.
All computers must have anti-virus software installed and kept
current. As user of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville network, we
require every computer connected to the network to have some form of
anti-virus software. As a
student of Texas A&M University-Kingsville you are authorized to
install McAfee anti-virus software free of charge.
You can download the software from the CIS website at http://www.cis.tamuk.edu/download/mcafee.asp?nb=DOWNLOAD&stat=stat02.
4.
Operating system software patches need to be current.
As a user on the Texas A&M University-Kingsville network you
are required to maintain all applicable security and vulnerability patches
on your system. Systems that
are found vulnerable or un-patched may be denied access to the network
until appropriate corrective action has taken place. 5.
Students will not install wireless access points, routers, or
switches on the network. As a user of the Texas A&M
University-Kingsville network, you are not authorized in any way to
install additional network equipment without the express written consent
of the Computing and Information Services (CIS) Department.
The detection of more than one MAC address per port may result in
network deactivation. 6.
Users of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville ResNet are issued
network addresses through the use of DHCP.
Students will not manually assign IP addresses.
Students needing static IP addresses for network gaming or other
special requirements may request a static IP address from the CMA
helpdesk. Static IP addresses
will be good through the semester. 7.
Students will not operate servers of any type without advance
written approval from CIS. As a user of the Texas A&M
University-Kingsville ResNet, you are authorized access to the network
only as a client. Operation of
any server or services such as but not limited to P2P (peer to peer), ftp,
web, email, DNS, DHCP, time, etc is prohibited and discovery of servers or
services may result in deactivation of network access. 8.
The Texas A&M University-Kingsville ResNet will require network
logon in order to provide highest network security.
Students will be required to use their university provided user ID
and password to access the network. A
maximum of two simultaneous logons per user ID will be allowed.
Exceptions may be granted on a case by case basis.
Students requiring additional logons must request an exception in
writing through the ResNet Director.
Failure
to comply with the above can result in university disciplinary procedures
as described in the Student Handbook and may include loss of Internet
privileges and charges for copyright violations.
Please remember, that as a user on the Texas A&M
University-Kingsville ResNet, these policies exist to ensure that service
on the network as well as on your computers stay as reliable as possible.
These policies are in place to protect your data and the data of
your fellow residents. By
properly maintaining your computer, you make life on the internet a much
more productive and enjoyable experience.
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