JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPROPRIATE USE POLICY

Dr. Karen A. Forcht - CIS Department

Access to computer systems and networks owned or operated by the University imposes certain responsibilities and obligations and is granted subject to University policies, and local, state, and federal laws. This access carries with it certain ethical responsibilities and obligations and should reflect the academic honesty and discipline appropriate for our shared community of network and computer resources. Ethical use demonstrates respect for intellectual property, ownership of data, system security mechanisms, and individuals’ rights to privacy and to freedom from intimidation, harassment, and unwarranted annoyance.

General Guidelines

In making appropriate use of resources you must:

• use resources only for authorized purposes.
• protect your userid from unauthorized use. You are responsible for all activities on your userid.
• access only files and data that are your own, that are publicly available, or to which you have been given authorized access.
• use only legal versions of copyrighted software in compliance with vendor license requirements.
• be considerate in your use of shared resources. Refrain from monopolizing systems, overloading networks with excessive data, or wasting computer time, connect time, disk space, printer paper, manuals, or other resources.

In making appropriate use of resources you must NOT:

• use another person’s userid, password, files, or data.
• use computer programs to decode passwords or access control information.
• engage in any activity that might be harmful to systems or to any information stored thereon, such as creating or propagating viruses, disrupting services, or damaging files.
• make or use illegal copies of copyrighted software, store such copies on University systems, or transmit them over University networks.
• use University computers or network to create, store, implement or distribute malicious code or any program that could circumvent system security.
• use mail or messaging services to harass, intimidate, or otherwise annoy another person, for example, by broadcasting unsolicited messages or sending unwanted mail.
• waste computing resources.
• use the University’s systems for personal gain, for example, by selling access to your userid or network access or by performing work for profit in a manner not authorized by the University.

Enforcement

The University considers any violation of appropriate use principles or guidelines to be a serious offense and reserves the right to copy and examine any files or information resident on University systems allegedly related to inappropriate use. Violators are subject to disciplinary action as prescribed in the honor code, Student Handbook, and the University Data Security Policy, I:01:07. State and Federal laws may also apply.

Acknowledgment:

I understand the above policy and understand that any violation of this use policy will be subject to disciplinary action as described above.

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