Appropriate Use of Computer Science Systems at Virginia Tech

General Principles

Access to computer systems and networks owned or operated by the Computer Science Department of Virginia Tech imposes certain responsibilities and obligations and is granted subject to university and departmental policies and local, state and federal laws. Appropriate use always is ethical, reflects academic honesty and shows restraint in the consumption of shared resources. It 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.

Guidelines

In making appropriate use of resources you MUST:

• Use resources only for authorized purposes.
• Protect your userid and system from unauthorized use. You are responsible for all activities on your userid or that originate from your system.
• Access only information that is your own, that is 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 system, userid, password, files or data without permission.
• Use computers or computer programs to decode passwords, access control information or sniff network packets.
• Attempt to circumvent or subvert system security measures.
• Engage in any activity that might be harmful to systems or to any information stored thereon (i.e., creating or propagating a virus, disrupting services, damaging files or making unauthorized modifications to Computer Science data).
• Use departmental systems for commercial or partisan political purposes (i.e., using electronic mail to circulate advertising for products or for political candidates).
• Store pornographic or illicit drug-related material on or link to pornographic or illicit drug-related material from departmental resources.
• Make or use illegal copies of copyrighted software, store such copies on departmental systems or transmit them over the departmental network.
• Use mail or other messaging services to harass or intimidate another person (i.e., broadcasting unsolicited messages, sending unwanted mail or using someone else's name or userid).
• Waste computing resources (i.e., intentionally placing a program in an endless loop, printing excessive amounts of paper or sending chain letters).
• Use the departmental systems or network for personal gain (i.e., selling access to your userid or to departmental systems or network or by performing work for profit with departmental resources in a manner not authorized by the department or university).
• Engage in any other activity that does not comply with the General Principles presented above or with the Virginia Tech Acceptable Use Policy.

Enforcement

The Computer Science Department 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 departmental systems allegedly related to inappropriate use and to protect its network from systems and events that threaten or degrade operations. Violators are subject to disciplinary actions as prescribed in the honor codes and the student and employee handbooks. Offenders also may be prosecuted under laws including (but not limited to) the Communications Act of 1934(amended), the Privacy Protection Act of 1974, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, the Computer Virus Eradication Act of 1989, Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property, the Virginia Computer Crimes Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Access to the text of these laws is available through the Newman Library Reference Department.

revised September 24, 1997

Virginia Tech Computer Science Department
The information on this page is the responsibility of the Support Staff. Questions or complaints about possible violations should be sent to abuse@cs.vt.edu with as much detail as possible. Questions about this page should be sent to webmaster@cs.vt.edu
Last updated: 09/24/97

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