Fife and Tayside Metropolitan Area Network

FaTMAN - Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use Policy
Version: 1.0
Date: May 1996

Disclaimer:

Neither the FaTMAN Consortium nor its members can accept any liability for any loss or damage resulting from the use of the material contained herein. The information is believed to be correct but no liability can be accepted for any inaccuracies.

Availability:

Further copies of this document may be obtained from Dr M Bain, University of St Andrews.

Acknowledgements:

Background and Definitions

1. "FaTMAN" is the name given to the collection of networking services and facilities provided by the FaTMAN consortium . A principal function of FaTMAN is to provide access to and from the JANET network which is provided by the Higher Education Funding Councils for Scotland, England, Wales through their Joint Information Systems Committee ("the JISC"). The JANET network is operated by the United Kingdom Education and Research Networking Association ("UKERNA") on behalf of the JISC.

2. Any dispute over the interpretation of this Policy will be resolved by the FaTMAN Management Group.

3. FaTMAN is the Fife and Tayside Metropolitan Area Network. The members of the FaTMAN Consortium set up the FaTMAN Management Group which is responsible for the operation of the FaTMAN network. This includes the day-to-day management of this Policy.

4. This Policy applies in the first instance to any organisation authorised to use FaTMAN. This includes the member organisations and affiliates.. These organisations and affiliates have the responsibility of ensuring that members of their own user communities use FaTMAN services in an acceptable manner and in accordance with current legislation.

5. It is therefore recommended that each member organisation and affiliate establishes its own statement of acceptable use within the context of the services provided to its users, and in a form that is compatible with the conditions expressed in this Policy. The FaTMAN Management Group can advise on this aspect as and where necessary.

6. FaTMAN is primarily maintained to support academic and related activities such as teaching, learning and research.

Connection and Affiliation

7. The policies defining those institutions and organisations eligible for affiliation and connection to FaTMAN are given in:

The FaTMAN Affiliation Policy
The FaTMAN Connection Policy

Acceptable Use

8. A member organisation or affiliate may use FaTMAN for the purpose of interworking with other members or affiliates, and/or with organisations attached to networks which are reachable via interworking agreements operated by UKERNA. All use of FaTMAN and JANET is subject to payment of the appropriate charges in force during the period of service. Any provision of service must be authorised in advance.

9. Subject to the following paragraphs, FaTMAN may be used for any legal activity that is in furtherance of the aims and policies of its members and affiliates.

Unacceptable Use

10. FaTMAN may not be used for any of the following:

10.1. the creation or transmission (other than for properly supervised and lawful research purposes) of any offensive, obscene or indecent images, data or other material, or any data capable of being resolved into obscene or indecent images or material;

10.2. the creation or transmission of material which is designed or likely to cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety;

10.3. the creation or transmission of defamatory material;

10.4. the transmission of material such that this infringes the copyright of another person;

10.5. the transmission of unsolicited commercial or advertising material either to other member organisations or affiliates, or to organisations connected to other networks;

10.6. deliberate unauthorised access to facilities or services accessible via FaTMAN;

10.7. deliberate activities with any of the following characteristics:

wasting staff effort or networked resources, including time on end systems accessible via FaTMAN or JANET and the effort of staff involved in the support of those systems;
corrupting or destroying other users' data;
violating the privacy of other users;
disrupting the work of other users;
using FaTMAN or JANET in a way that denies service to other users (for example, deliberate or reckless overloading of access links or of switching equipment);
continuing to use an item of networking software or hardware after the FaTMAN Management Group has requested that use cease because it is causing disruption to the correct functioning of FaTMAN or other networks or systems or services accessible through FaTMAN;
other misuse of FaTMAN or networked resources, such as the introduction of "viruses".

11. Where FaTMAN is being used to access another network, any abuse of the acceptable use policy of that network will be regarded as unacceptable use of FaTMAN.

12. Monitoring of traffic while in transition over the FaTMAN network is not allowed except by authority of the FaTMAN Management Group.

Passing on and Resale of FaTMAN Service

13. It is not permitted to provide access to FaTMAN for third parties without the prior agreement of the FaTMAN Management Group.

It is acceptable for a member organisation or affiliates connected to FaTMAN to extend access to others on a limited basis, provided no charge is made for such access. For example, it is acceptable that a visitor to the Organisation be permitted to gain access to FaTMAN for the purpose of maintaining contact with his or her home organisation. It is intended that such use be regulated by the member organisation or affiliate in the same manner as it would regulate occasional use by third parties of its other facilities.

14. A third party, where an individual, means someone who is not acting as a member of the member organisation or affiliate . Where it applies to a separate organisation, this is defined to be any organisation that is in law a separate entity to the member organisation or affiliate .

Compliance and Monitoring

15. It is the responsibility of the member organisation or affiliate to take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the conditions set out in this Policy document, and to ensure that unacceptable use of JANET does not occur. The discharge of this responsibility must include informing those at the member organisation or affiliate with access to FaTMAN and JANET of their obligations in this respect.

16. Where necessary, service may be withdrawn from the member organisation or affiliate. This may take one of two forms.

16.1. A suspension of service, should a violation of these conditions cause serious degradation of the service to other users of FaTMAN.

16.2. An indefinite withdrawal of service, should a violation of these conditions persist after appropriate warnings have been given by the FaTMAN Management Group..

17. Where violation of these conditions is illegal or unlawful, or results in loss or damage to FaTMAN, or FaTMAN resources or the resources of third parties accessible via FaTMAN , the matter may be referred for legal action.

18. It is preferable for misuse to be prevented by a combination of responsible attitudes to the use of FaTMAN resources on the part of users and appropriate disciplinary measures taken by their Organisations.

19. The FaTMAN Management Group reserves the right to monitor traffic passing over FaTMAN. Such authorisation will be given only where there is good reason; this might include operational problems or where there is reason to believe that the FaTMAN Acceptable Use Policy, the Acceptable Use Policies of other networks or relevant statutes or other requirements have been broken.

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