ECE Computing Acceptable Use Policy

ECE Computing resources are provided by the School of Engineering for the use of faculty, staff, and students. All users are expected to make use of these computers in a manner which is ethical, legal and not to the detriment of others. Further guidelines for appropriate usage are described below.

1. You may only use those facilities which have been authorized for your use. You are not to make your password available to others. You may not use any account set up for another user or make your own account available to other users.
2. You may only use authorized facilities for authorized purposes.
3. You must honor the law of personal property and copyright as it affects computer software. Software must not be copied except with the express permission of the copyright owner.
4. You must respect the privacy of other users. You may not attempt to access or copy information belonging to other users without their express permission.
5. You may not attempt to interfere with the operation of computing or networking resources.
6. You may not attempt to subvert the security of any of the University's computing or networking facilities.
7. You may not use the University's computing facilities to send obscene, offensive or harassing messages.

Failure to abide by the above rules and following conduct guidelines will be treated as misconduct and may result in disciplinary action including denial of access to departmental and/or university computing resources.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering department (ECE) accepts no responsibility for any damage to or loss of data arising directly or indirectly from the use of these facilities or for any consequential loss or damage.

Unauthorized computer usage is subject to academic regulations, and civil and criminal statutes under the California Computer Crime Act, Section 502 of the California Penal Code.

Usage Guidelines for Engineering Computing Resources

The successful operation of ECE's computing environment requires that members of the ECE computing community accept responsibility for their own behavior and ensure that their actions are ethical, and in accordance with UCSD's regulations.

Computer Accounts

Engineering's computing resources, class accounts, or computer access privileges exist to support academic computing. That is, usage is specifically authorized for those computing activities which the faculty member responsible deems appropriate. Any use of an Engineering computing resource, class account, or computer access privilege for other than those authorized functions is not authorized.

Unauthorized usage

Unauthorized computer usage is subject to academic regulations, and civil and criminal statutes. Any person who participates in unauthorized computer usage is punishable by UCSD administrative/academic procedures including account suspension, account cancellation, academic discipline up to and including dismissal, as well as by civil/criminal fine, or by imprisonment, or by both.

General Discussion

The rapid growth of technology has considerably widened the scope of our actions and our ability to communicate around campus and around the world. That something is technologically feasible does not, of course, make it ethically appropriate. In an environment of widespread minicomputer access and powerful mainframes, high-speed local and national networks, wireless access points, ethical computing includes making appropriate use of the computing resources, preserving system and network integrity, respecting the computing environment, respecting privacy, using civil standards of communication, obeying copyright laws, and being sensitive to the needs of others.

Making Appropriate Use

The purpose of computing facilities within the School of Engineering is to further the educational and research mission of the School and its academic departments. Any other usage is prohibited.

Preserving System and Network Integrity

Actions taken by users intentionally to interfere with or to alter the integrity or performance of the system, or the established computing environment cannot be permitted. These include unauthorized use of accounts, impersonation of other individuals in systems communications, attempts to crack passwords or encryption schemes, and destruction or alteration of data or programs belonging to other users. The execution of programs which willfully alter, disrupt or circumvent the computing environment or networking restrictions are prohibited. Equally unacceptable are intentional efforts to restrict or deny access by others to any of the shared resources of the system. All departmenta General Servers (Mail and Data Servers) that the Computing Support Group maintain will be backed up for at least on month and backed-up data will span at least one month, for a total of 60 days.

Respecting The Environment

Computing tools, like library resources, are shared goods, essential to scholarship. The continued availability of these expensive and fragile resources requires that they be treated with care. The intentional and unauthorized alteration, damage, destruction or theft of computer hardware, software, data, or related equipment clearly violates any code of ethical computer use and violates statutes as well. Similarly, the willful introduction of computer viruses into the University's computing environment or into other computing environments via UCSD's network is violation of University standards and regulations. In addition, the ECE Department Computing environment adhere to the campus UCSD campus security network to be governing computer equipment.

Respecting privacy

Most of our computer systems have reasonably robust security mechanisms to protect information from unintended access. However, these mechanisms, by themselves, may be inadequate for a university community, for whom sharing is as important as protection of individual privacy. Users must supplement a system's security mechanisms by using the system in a manner that preserves the privacy of others.

Files owned by individual users are to be considered as private, whether or not they are accessible by other users. That you can read a file does not mean that you may read a file. Files belonging to individuals are to be considered private property. For example, users should not attempt to gain access to the files or directories of another user without explicit authorization. Programs should not store information about other users without the users' prior knowledge. Personal information about another individual, which a user would not otherwise disseminate to the UCSD community, should not be stored or communicated on the system without the individual's explicit written permission.

Be aware that electronic mail and computer files are not private in any absolute sense. Instructors have access to the files of students in courses they teach or whose research they sponsor.

Unauthorized access to information stored on a computer is a direct violation of the University's standards of ethical conduct. Improperly accessing files related to coursework is also a violation of these standards, computer-assisted plagiarism is still plagiarism. Computer personnel may have access to files and accounts in the normal course of their duty. Access to mail accounts is by permission only.

Using civil standards of communication

Within the broad context of free academic discussion and debate, communications between members of the University community are expected to reflect high ethical standards and mutual respect and civility. It makes no difference whether the communications medium is a face-to-face oral exchange or a local or national computer network. The use of obscene, racist or sexist language, for example, clearly violates the ethical standards of the UCSD community, and is as inappropriate for computer-mediated communications as for other forms of University discourse.

Intellectual Property Rights - Obeying Copyright Laws

Software piracy is indistinguishable from shoplifting or theft. It is against the law to copy software that is protected by copyright, licenses and other contractual agreements, and which has not been placed in the public domain or distributed as freeware. Software piracy, copying a protected software product, injures all of us. It reduces the incentives for the software industry to invest in new software projects, it substantially reduces the willingness of vendors to support computing at UCSD through donations, attractive discount programs, and the like. Software piracy is morally wrong. That the theft takes place behind a computer screen makes the thief no less morally culpable. Exception is if software is copied for back-up purposes.

Respecting the needs of others

While UCSD attempts to provide a well functioning computing environment, during peak periods (mid-terms and exams, for example) the demand for computing resources may, at times, exceed the supply of terminals, micros, workstations or mainframe connections, machine cycles or network bandwidth.

Responsible computing demands that one is sensitive to the needs of all who seek to use UCSD's resources, and that one limit one's use of computing resources to performing only the most essential academic tasks during periods of peak demand.

As a member of EDUCOM, UCSD supports and encourages the following EDUCOM Software Initiative Code of Software and Intellectual Rights.

"Respect for intellectual labor and creativity is vital to academic discourse and enterprise. This principle applies to works of all authors and publishers in all media. It encompasses respect for the right to acknowledgment, right to privacy, and right to determine the form, manner and terms of publication and distribution.

Because electronic information is volatile and easily reproduced, respect for the work and personal expression of others is especially critical in computer environments. Violations of authorial integrity, including plagiarism, invasion of privacy, unauthorized access, and trade secret and copyright violations, may be grounds for sanctions against members of the academic community."

Updated 11/29/2007 - EHODGE