KU Student Responsibilities for Internet Use and Computing

KU Employee Responsibilities (Faculty, Staff, & Student Employees) - click here

Registering an Email Account to Receive Official Communications

You must register an email account with KU to receive official communications that the University sends. Registered email accounts should be checked regularly for information about enrollment, grade reports, notices of copyright infringement or other disciplinary proceedings, and other timely information.

Appropriate Use of Electronic Resources

All members of the University community have the right to be free from abuse, harassment, and threat to themselves or their property. Engaging in activities that infringe on these rights is inappropriate.

Other inappropriate uses of KU's electronic resources (including email and Web sites):

• commercial or for-profit activities
• violating any state or federal law
• harassing or violating the privacy of others
• distributing resources that you are not authorized to distribute, including copyrighted material, such as movies, music, games, and software
• sending SPAM or other unsolicited email of a commercial nature
• engaging in any actions that have the potential to pose a serious risk to campus information system resources or the Internet. Examples include, but are not limited to, creating and propagating viruses and/or worms; obtaining or allowing unauthorized access to University resources; deliberate attempts to degrade the performance of a computer system or network; deliberate attempts to deprive authorized personnel of access to any University computer system or network; or otherwise intentionally disrupting services or damaging equipment, software, files, or data.

In addition, you are responsible for all inappropriate activity that occurs using your password or other electronic resources registered in your name (i.e., computer, email account, KU online ID, password, or Web site). Refer to the KU Policy on the Acceptable Use of Electronic Information Resources for more information.

If you have any questions regarding the acceptable use of resources, please contact the Office of the Vice Provost for Information Services (785-864-4999), or send e-mail to vpinfo@ku.edu.

Residents of Student Housing

If you live in a University of Kansas housing unit, you must sign and agree to the terms of the ResNet Responsible Use Agreement (RUA) before receiving service through the KU network. You may read the full text of the agreement at www.resnet.ku.edu/datauseragreement.jsp.

You should use the information resources provided to you regarding University and Board of Regents policies and laws of the United States and the State of Kansas. This agreement applies to all forms of electronic information accessed and utilized on University equipment, including the campus network, and library and lab facilities.

University officials reserve the right to access, examine, intercept, monitor, and copy the files and/or sessions of any user, or to suspend a user's access to a system or network in connection with the investigation of any policy violation. Your in-room ResNet connection may be disconnected as part of an investigation of potential misuse of network resources if your machine is causing network disruption, if your bandwidth consumption is disruptive to others, or if the University of Kansas receives a notice of copyright infringement tied to the IP address registered in your name. Disconnection may occur even during the period of final exams. If you have violated policy or law, you may also be subject to disconnection and disciplinary action as required by other applicable University rules, regulations, handbooks, procedures, or policies. In addition, you may be subject to civil suit or other penalties under state and federal laws, statutes, or regulations.

The Low-Down on Downloads and the DMCA

• Do you use Gnutella, G2, eDonkey, BitTorrent, or other file-sharing software to collect or share music, movies, games or software?
• Did you know that music, movies, games, and software are protected by federal copyright law?
• Did you know that downloading or distributing these materials without the stated permission of the copyright owner is illegal?

A law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (or DMCA, for short) outlines specific steps that Internet Service Providers like KU must take when their users violate copyright laws.

Before you register for ResNet, you should view the 13-minute informational video "What do you think?" at www.technology.ku.edu/dmca. This video presents an informative conversation about intellectual property and file-sharing to encourage you to think about these issues for yourself. (Brought to you by The University of Richmond Intellectual Property Institute and its National CyberEducation Project.)

It could happen to you ... and what to expect if it does

KU acts quickly to respond to complaints of copyright violation received from copyright owners and their representatives, such as the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America, the Interactive Digital Software Association, and the Business Software Alliance. Here's what to expect:

If the University of Kansas receives notice of a copyright violation (illegal downloading or uploading of copyrighted material including music, movies, games, software, etc.) tied to the IP address registered in your name, you will receive an email and written notice that your access to the ResNet Network has been temporarily suspended for 5 business days, during which time you may appeal if you believe the copyright infringement notice was received in error. You have 5 business days from the date of notice to provide written documentation supporting your appeal to the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success, describing the nature of the error. If your appeal is denied, your ResNet service will be permanently deactivated. The ResNet fee is primarily a connection fee and not a usage fee. If your service is permanently terminated, there will be no subsequent refund of the ResNet activation fee, regardless of when the violation occurred.

You will still be able to use computer labs on campus and will retain the use of your KU email account.

Copyright infringing activity violates U.S. copyright law, the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities, the University of Kansas Policy on the Acceptable Use of Electronic Information Resources, and your ResNet Responsible Use Agreement.

You could be sued for damages. Under federal law, $750-$150,000 may be sought for each illegally shared item. If sued, you are personally responsible to pay any fines.

You could be prosecuted. Under the No Electronic Theft Act, you also could be prosecuted as a criminal if you download or distribute one or more copyrighted works within a 180-day period that would have had a retail value totaling $1000. If other machines access the material on your machine, it is easy to reach the $1000 figure.

Are you still breaking the law if you own the CD, copy it to your computer, and don't intend to sell, share, or trade the new copy?

If you choose to engage in this activity, you are at risk of breaking the law. What we do know for certain is that making copies of copyrighted songs available for others to download, or downloading them from others yourself, is clearly a violation of federal copyright law. And this is still true even if you haven't sold a copy or made a dime.

Violations and Consequences for Inappropriate Use of Information Resources

The University of Kansas considers any violations of policy or law to be a serious offense and reserves the right to take action as appropriate. University officials reserve the right to access, examine, intercept, monitor, and copy the files and/or sessions of any user, or to suspend a user's access to a system or the network in connection with the investigation of any policy violation. The consequences for violation of IT-related policies may include, but are not limited to:

Notification: alerting a user to what appears to be an inadvertent violation of policy in order to educate the user to avoid subsequent violations.

Warning: alerting a user to the violation, with the understanding that any additional violation will result in a greater penalty.

Loss of account, system, or network privileges: limitation or removal of access privileges, either permanently or for a specified period of time, even during final exam periods.

Restitution for damages: requiring reimbursement for the costs of repairs to or replacement of computer or network related material, equipment, hardware, software, data, and/or facilities. Reimbursement will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the cost of additional time spent by University employees due to the violation.

Investigations

Investigations of violations will follow the due process guidelines of the Office of the Vice Provost for Information Services, the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success, and the Department of Human Resources & Equal Opportunity. The Office of General Counsel will review investigations for legal sufficiency. Inquiries concerning procedures should be referred to the appropriate office. Assistance is also available from the University Ombudsman.

Appeals

Individuals who believe notifications of copyright infringement violations are in error may appeal by providing written documentation to the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success, 133 Strong Hall, vpss@ku.edu, 864-4060, as to the nature of the error. Letters of appeal must be received within five business days from the date of the email or letter informing you of the copyright infringement notification.