Forum of Incident Response & Security Teams/Forum_of_Incident_Response_and_Security_Teams_FIRST_October_1994.iso/ethics/ohiostci.txt

Text File | 1994-07-08 | 11KB | 215 lines

ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS

Policy on Appropriate Use

To: All Users of CIS Labs
From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Committee
Date: February 1988
Subject: Policy on Appropriate Use of Computers and Computer Files

Your CIS computer lab account is meant to be used by you for
your class work and should be used for other activity only with a generous
dose of common sense and consideration for others. As a general guideline for
deciding what use of computers and computer files is appropriate, the Computer
and Information Science Department (at a faculty meeting on May 14, 1984)
adopted the following policy for uses of computers by faculty, staff, and
students:

It is recognized that computer files are a new form of property separable from
the media with which they are recorded, and that close analogies can be found
between the uses of computer files and of various other forms of physical
property. The Department shall use these analogies in making decisions about
the appropriate use of computer files and the protection of their privacy,
extending as nearly as possible exactly the same protection to computer files
as is traditionally extended to the analogous physical property.

The spirit of this policy is that the file space provided by the
University to individuals has exactly the same status as analogous, more
tangible facilities also provided by the University. Such facilities as
private library carrels, dormitory rooms, and gym lockers are technically owned
by OSU, and may be entered only for ''administrative'' purposes such as
building maintenance. Similarly, the computers and computer files of students,
staff, and faculty members, being electronic extensions of their personal work
areas, may not be inspected, copied, changed, or otherwise tampered with
without the permission of the owner, except for purposes relevant to the
administration of the computer system. Notice that copying (i.e., stealing or
''pirating'') computer software is also prohibited under this policy.

The statement above is concerned primarily with privacy protection,
but also applies to ''appropriate use'' in a broader context. For example, if
you want to experiment with software not directly related to your CIS class
work, or occasionally play a computer game provided on the system, feel free
to do so --- but please be considerate of others and do not occupy a
workstation with activity unrelated to your CIS class work during peak periods
of lab usage. Also, please think about the monetary costs of your use.}
Even though it literally costs nothing when you consume ''cycles'' on an
otherwise idle workstation during off-peak hours, you should not print
things unrelated to your class work, because this costs real money.

If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect
you, please contact me.

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ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS

Policy on UNIX Mail Usage

To: All Users of CIS Labs
From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Committee
Date: February 1988
Subject: Policy on UNIX Mail Usage

All users of the Computer and Information Science Department labs
are encouraged to use electronic mail and electronic bulletin boards as a
source of information and for better communication. This use is subject to the
following policy effective immediately:

All UNIX users are expected to learn to use electronic mail and bulletin
boards/newsgroups to facilitate internal communication (see short subject
document #42 and #16 on ''Mail'' and ''News'' available in HI 308). All
messages sent anywhere by anyone must be ''appropriate'' (see short subject
document #43 on ''Standards and Customs''). However, unless explicit written
permission has been granted by the CIS Computer Committee, only faculty, staff,
and CIS graduate students are permitted to send electronic mail or post
electronic bulletin board messages to non-OSU computers.

The objectives of this policy are obvious. First, on-campus
electronic communication is a very effective way of contacting people who may
not be immediately available, without playing ''telephone tag'' or wasting a
lot of time. It is also used by instructors to disseminate information to and
receive feedback from their students in a timely fashion, and it is therefore
crucial that everyone be able to use it. However, off-campus electronic
communication costs real money and is made available for a more specific
purpose: to facilitate faculty, staff, and graduate student collaboration on
research work with others outside OSU. Only in special circumstances should
undergraduate students need to use this off-campus service. If you feel you
are special in this regard please see me.

Second, while we have no desire to try to censor electronic
messages, we do have a specific obligation to the organizations that operate
our computer networks to make sure the house rules of etiquette are observed
by the people connected to them through our computer systems. Without
exception, these rules prohibit obscene language, personal attacks, attempts
to send anonymous messages, and a variety of other unsociable acts.


If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect
you, please contact me.

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ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS

Policy on UNIX Disk Usage

To: All Users of CIS Labs
From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Committee
Date: February 1988
Subject: Policy on UNIX Disk Usage

The Computer and Information Science Department labs, like most
computer systems, face a chronic shortage of disk space. In order to help
avert potential problems in this area, we have adopted the following policy
effective immediately:

Each UNIX user is assigned to one of the following general categories and has
a corresponding personal directory disk quota: guest or undergraduate student
(1.0MB), graduate student (1.5MB), staff (2.5MB), or faculty (2.5MB). A user
who needs additional space may request an increase in the quota by filling
out a ''UNIX Disk Space Request'' form available in the document rack in the
2nd floor hallway in CA. A requested increase of 50% from the default
personal quota (with reasonable cause and a faculty member's signature) will
be granted by the operator without further review. Any larger increase must be
approved by the CIS Computer Committee. Special project or group directories
may be created under the control of a faculty or staff member and may receive
significantly larger disk allocations with approval of the CIS Computer
Committee.

At present, disk quotas are not ''enforced'' by the system (e.g., in
the sense that you cannot continue to work once you exceed your quota). We
plan to rely on the reasonableness of the user community until and unless that
proves unwise. However, periodically an automatic audit of disk space usage
will be made and users who are over quota will be notified by electronic mail.
If you receive such a notice you are expected to remove files, archive them to
tape, or move them to an appropriate project directory so your usage falls
below your quota (see short subject document #41 on ''How to Save Disk Space''
available from the operator in HI 308). If these steps are not effective, you
may request a larger quota as noted above.

If the next audit (which will be conducted about 3 weeks later, or
sooner if disk space shortages are noted) shows you are still over quota, you
will again receive electronic mail. This time, a copy will also go to the
chair of the CIS Computer Committee and the Manager of CIS Computer Activities,
and you will be contacted to determine why you have not complied with the
request to keep disk usage in line. Failure to adhere to this policy may result
in loss of your privileges to use the facilities until your failure to comply
is adequately explained.

If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect
you, please contact me.

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ATTENTION: USERS OF CIS LABS

Policy on UNIX Printer Usage


To: All Users of CIS Labs
From: Bruce W. Weide, Chair, CIS Computer Commitee
Date: February 1988

Subject: Policy on UNIX Printer Usage

Computer and Information Science at this time does not charge lab
fees, but absorbs the cost of consumable (such as printer output) from its
operating budget.

We have therefore adopted the following policy effective immediately:

Each user is permitted to make appropriate use of the printers for
his/her own work. It is recognized that legitimate printing needs will vary
widely among users. However, all users are expected to observe the following
guidelines (see also short subject document #20 on ''Reducing Your Laser
Printer Use'' available in HI 308):


Always display potential printer output on the screen before
      printing it (e.g., by using ''xmore'').

Always check the length of a file before printing it so you are not
      surprised by the amount of paper used (e.g., by using ''ls -l'').

If the above fails, and you must print a test run of a long file just
      to see what the output will really look like on paper, first print a
      small part of the beginning of the file (e.g., by using ''head'' to strip
      off just the first several lines, perhaps a page or two, and printing
      that part only).

Never print directly form your program; always write the output to
      a file first so you can apply the above options.

Obey the standards of printer etiquette at all times (e.g., do not print
      large jobs during peak hours; make sure you take only your own
      printouts; keep the printer area neat and clean; and so on ).

At present, there are no printer quotas. We plan to rely on the reasonableness
of the user community until and unless that proves unwise. However,
periodically an automatic audit of printer usage will be made and users who
are among the top 10% of all printer users for the audit period will be
notified by electronic mail. If you receive such a notice you are expected to
examine your methods of printing and make a serious effort to reduce your
printing activity.

If the next audit (which will be conducted about 3 weeks later) shows you are
still in the top 10% of all printer users, you will again receive electronic
mail. This time, a copy will also go the chair of the CIS Computer Committee
and the Manager of CIS Computer Activities, and you will be contacted to
determine why you are printing so much more than a typical user. If your
usage is deemed unreasonable by the Computer Committee, your printer access
may be limited.


If you have any questions about this policy or how it might affect you, please
contact me.