Acceptable use agreement

Definition of Terms

Account
Any ID and password combination issued by the university for access to electronic communication systems or computer resources.

User
Any person who uses a University of Maine electronic communication system or computer resource.

Electronic resources
Computer files and software, including but not limited to those which reside on disks and other storage media, individual computers, networked servers, or other electronic communications systems.

Electronic communications systems
Computers and networks [systems] used in communicating or posting information or material by way of electronic mail, bulletin boards or web pages or other such electronic resources. Also includes, but is not limited to, remote internet access services and direct connections to the campus network.

System administrator
A person responsible for managing and operating an electronic communication system for the use of others.

 

Agreement

The account issued to you by Information Technologies shall be used only in the manner described below. Violations of these rules may be cause for referral of the matter to the appropriate university judicial body or to Police Department.

  1. The account shall be used only by the person to whom it is issued. You are responsible for the actions of anyone using your account.
  2. All passwords issued are to be held privately and securely. Be responsible for all use of your accounts and for protecting each account’s password. In other words, do not share computer accounts. If someone else learns your password, you must change it.
  3. The account shall be used for academic purposes pertaining to the University of Maine only. You may send and receive electronic mail and maintain personal information (letters, resumes, etc.) as long as you observe the rules of etiquette, including refraining from obscenities and profanity. You may NOT conduct business transactions on the University of Maine system or through networks. This prohibition extends to consulting for private gain.
  4. The account shall not be used for unauthorized access and/or attempts to access computers, computer software, computer data or information, or networks without proper authorization, regardless of whether the computer, software, data, information, or network in question is owned by the university. (That is, if you abuse the networks to which the university belongs or the computers at other sites connected to those networks, the university will treat this matter as an abuse of your University of Maine computing privileges.)
  5. The user shall not take advantage of another person’s inexperience or negligence to gain access to any computer account or electronic resource for which he or she has not received explicit permission to access.
  6. The user shall not send fraudulent computer mail, break into another user’s electronic mailbox, or read someone else’s electronic mail without his or her permission.
  7. The user shall not use the university’s electronic communications systems to harass or threaten other users.
  8. Software, other than freeware/shareware, may NOT be copied without written permission of the system administrator.
  9. The user is responsible for maintaining the security of his or her own data and for making back-ups of such data.
  10. The user shall not encroach on others’ use of the electronic communications systems (e.g., disrupting others’ computer use by excessive game playing; by sending excessive messages, either locally or off-campus [including but not limited to electronic chain letters]; printing excessive copies of documents, files, data or programs; modifying system facilities, operating systems, or disk partitions; attempting to crash or tie up a university computer; damaging or vandalizing university computing facilities, equipment, software, or computer files.)
  11. The user should report any abuse of the above to the appropriate project director, instructor, supervisor, system administrator, or other University authority.
Copyright ©2009 University of Maine, Information Technologies. Some rights reserved.