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(Administrative Policies) (Overview) The Center for Computing Activities is maintained by the University as an educational and research facility for its faculty, research staff, and students. It also supports the data processing requirements of its administrative offices. Usage of the facility is allowed to other organizations by special permission and upon the payment of appropriate fees. (Illegal Usage) Each user is responsible for insuring that his/her use of the computing facility does not interfere with other users or with proper functioning of the system. The Director of Computing Activities or his representative(s) may take any of the actions listed below against violators of this precept. This list is not inclusive. Termination of a program or online session: an irresponsible user at a terminal may be logged off. Similarly, a harmful job running on any system may be cancelled. Improper use of a project number may be reported to the project sponsor. Invalidation of a project number or ID. A project number or terminal system ID may be invalidated. Alternatively, a request may be made that the project number or terminal ID be changed. Serious incidents may be referred directly to the appropriate academic or outside authorities. <Unauthorized use of Center facilities is a criminal offense. The penalties may be as severe as dismissal from the University, or prosecution>. Listed below are some examples of activities which are harmful to other users and are not allowed. This list is illustrative and not inclusive. Unauthorized use of project numbers or ID's; unauthorized access to another person's files; using or changing another person's password without authorization. Use of a University project number to perform computing services for commercial or other organizations outside the University, except for outside users. Such prohibited services include development of programs for commercial users, data processing, computations, preparation of advertising material, etc. Possession in a file, or use of programs capable of fraudulently simulating system responses; modification of or possession of systems control information, especially that which reflects program state, status or accounting; attempts to modify or crash the system. Frivolous, disturbing, or otherwise inconsiderate conduct in the terminal areas, as well as the use of terminals for sending nuisance or obscene messages, wasteful use of the facilities for making signs, posters, calendars, etc., on the printers. No game playing is allowed on any CUCCA system. (System Security) CUCCA makes every effort to ensure the integrity of its various systems. All computer systems available to users offer some form of dataset protection which can be modified by an authorized user as needed. However, none of the systems offer absolute dataset security. Thus, users should never place sensitive information on publicly accessible online volumes (disks). The Center cannot, under any circumstance, be held liable for the consequences of such actions. (System Performance) CUCCA reserves the right to hold, cancel, or restart a job or program to improve system performance. The Computer Center also reserves the right to sign off any user--if possible, with proper notification--if CUCCA policy is violated, or it is believed that the programs being run are adversely affecting the performance of a system. (Statement of Liability) CUCCA cannot be held liable for any losses, including lost revenues, or for any claims or demands against the user by any other party. In no event can CUCCA be held liable for consequential damages even if CUCCA has been advised of the possibility of such damages. CUCCA cannot be held responsible for any damages due to the loss of output, loss of data, time delay, system performance, software performance, incorrect advice from a consultant, or any other damages arising from the use of CUCCA's computer facilities. CUCCA will attempt to correct conditions and make appropriate refunds in accordance with the conditions outlined in Chapter 3, ``Accounting,'' in the section on CUCCA Refund Policy. P.S. Some of this goes too far, like no games and such, but I think it's a pretty good document. You might want to put something about whether or not you will read a person's mail. There is a federal law about that, but I'm not sure what it is. I know the best thing to claim is that under normal cercumstances, you will not read a person's mail or files, but that you are not going to guarentee that the mail and/or files will *not* be read. (Otherwise a person can sue your pants off!)