Computing Ethics & Responsibilities

Williams College provides computing and networking resources to students, faculty, and staff for a wide variety of purposes. These resources, networked for the general benefit of the community, are continually updated and maintained to provide an environment that is consistent with the educational goals of the College. These resources are limited, and how each individual uses them may impact the work of other members of the community and beyond, as our campus network is connected (through the Internet) to other networks worldwide. It is important that everyone be aware of his or her individual obligations and of what constitutes proper use and behavior.

The Williams College Computing Ethics and Responsibilities are published as a part of the Student Handbook, the Administrative handbook, and other publications of the College. Because of the rapid evolution of computing and information networks, the College reserves the right to modify the text of these policies, by approval of the Computing Policy Committee. While users will be kept apprised of any changes, it is the user's responsibility to remain aware of current regulations.

Common sense is a good guide to what constitutes appropriate behavior and use of computers and networks. You should respect the privacy of others and use computing resources in a manner that is consistent with the instructional and research objectives of the College.

The sorts of behavior which can create problems in a networked computing environment fall into the categories below. This list of responsibilities, while not exhaustive, should provide users with a good idea of what constitutes illegal or unethical on-line behavior. Users should note that computer users are governed by federal and state laws and College policies and standards of conduct.

Violations of these rules or, indeed, any disruptive situation (in which a person's behavior or behavior generated on machines, accounts, or file space under that individual's control, creates a disruption of service to our clients) may be met by suspending access and services to the responsible parties. Access and services might be restored following a discussion with the Office for Information Technology (OIT) and, if appropriate, with disciplinary officers of the College.

When there is reason to believe that illegal activities or significant infractions of our rules have occurred or are continuing, staff may monitor a suspected individual's computer files and activities, but only if permission is obtained from the appropriate senior officer. When necessary, the College may invoke the assistance of a law enforcement agency. It is not for the Office for Information Technology to judge whether any request from a law enforcement agency to investigate suspected illegal activities affords due process and is of appropriate jurisdiction. The OIT practice is to defer such requests to the appropriate senior officer.

Break-ins

You may not attempt to gain access to computer systems (on or off campus) for which you have not been granted access.

Tampering

You may not deliberately attempt to disrupt the performance of a computer system or a network, on or off campus. You may not attempt to 'break' system security. You may not reconfigure computer systems to make them unusable for others. You may not attempt to destroy or alter data or programs belonging to other users. You may not modify residential computing network services or wiring or extend those beyond the area of their intended use. This applies to all network wiring, hardware, and cluster and in-room jacks.

Theft

By the copyright laws of the United States and most other nations, virtually all information in computer files is copyrighted. (See further description under Copyright Reminders, below.)

If you have not been given direct permission to copy a file, you are not permitted to do so. You may not copy or redistribute software or other information which is copyrighted. By recent changes of the US law, software piracy is a felony. You may not attempt to override copy protection on commercial software. The ability to find and read information on computer systems does not mean that the information is in the public domain. Having the ability to read does not necessarily grant the right to copy or redistribute. Nor, even, in the case of certain information on the Internet, does ability to read mean that permission to read has been lawfully granted. Certain information, such as Britannica On-Line, is licensed to be read by the Williams community, though this does not grant the right to redistribute this information. See remarks under Eavesdropping and Violations of Privacy, below.

Eavesdropping and Violations of Privacy

All information on a computer system belongs to somebody; some of it may be private or personal information; some may consist of confidential information, trade secrets, or classified material. If you have not been given direct permission to read or access another person's file, you may not try to do so.

Williams-specific or commercially obtained network resources may not be retransmitted outside of the College community. Examples include: the Williams.* newsgroups, the clari.* news hierarchies, Britannica On-Line, other commercial information services as from the Williams College Library, and private student-related information such as home phone numbers, addresses, and photographs of students.

Forging, Password Sharing, Password Stealing

You may not attempt to impersonate another individual by sending forged information such as e-mail. Never give your password to anyone. You may not seek to determine another person's password, through cracking, decryption, interception or other means.

Annoyance and Harassment

Williams College has written standards of conduct which seek to preclude annoyance and harassment by members of the Williams College community (students, faculty, and staff).

You may not use computing to violate the College's standards of conduct. You may not distribute electronic chain letters. These not only serve as annoyance, but can severely disrupt computing and network performance.

Negligence and Misuse (including private business)

Having access to computing privileges (e-mail account, Williams network connection, login, or shared file space owned by you), means that you have general responsibility for all computing activity which takes place from those accounts, connections, or file spaces. The College's connection to the Internet, for example, does not allow you to abuse that connection.

Access to the Williams College computing network and the Internet is limited to members of the Williams College community. Individuals within the Williams community are not permitted to provide access to the campus network to those outside this community.

Use of Williams Computing facilities is intended to be consistent with the educational mission of the College; this does not preclude personal nor even commercial uses. However, we note that the College has:

All place some limitations on the community's use of computing facilities for commercial purposes.

You should report any suspected illegal or unethical activity to the Office for Information Technology or the Dean's Office.

Copyright and Attribution Reminders

We would like also to remind the community that by the terms of the Berne copyright conference (now a part of US law), virtually all material fixed in a tangible medium including photos, text (printed and electronic), music, software and broadcast performance is, indeed, copyrighted. This is true whether or not copyright was registered, and whether or not the material was published prior to the Berne accords.

Of special note, is that despite the rapid evolution of case and statutory law concerning intellectual property, educational "fair use" exemptions for copyright protection may not protect redistribution of copyrighted material beyond, or even within, College property. Accordingly, the College urges all authors and artists using Williams College computing networks either a) to use only original graphics, sound and text, or b) to provide written notification of licensure or copyright agreement with the copyright holder in such case as the work is by other than oneself, whenever such work is to be shared with others outside of the classroom context.

College rules governing attribution require that all users of Williams computing networks acknowledge any use of ideas or other materials produced by others (in textual, pictorial, auditory or other forms) through a note clearly identifying both the source and the nature and extent of indebtedness.