5.01 Acceptable Network Use

I. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define appropriate use of Bradley University’s network resources.

II. Description

The Bradley University network provides access to the campus computing facilities, including electronic mail and the Internet. All uses of this network must conform to the Bradley University IT Policies. By connecting your computer to Bradley University's network, you agree to adhere to some additional standards. Violation of any of the following standards may result in your immediate disconnection from network service.

Legal issues and commercial use:

• Do not use the system to place unlawful information on the Internet, or to commit a crime.
• Do not make copyrighted materials such as musical performances, movies, games, television programs, or images available to others with your connection.
• Using any node on the network to break into another system is illegal and prohibited, regardless of whether the targeted system is on or off campus.
• Commercial use is not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, offering advertising on a web page and providing accounts on your machine to others.
• You may not provide accounts, disk storage, or web pages to others, even if they are university students, regardless of whether you charge a fee or not.
• It is unlawful to copy University owned or licensed software.
• We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who does not have a valid software license. This includes upgrades to new operating systems.
• You may not use the network for purposes other than those intended by the University. Specifically, using it for personal financial gain or allowing access to unauthorized persons is expressly prohibited.

Shared Drives and directories:

• Use of shared drives or network resources (printers, faxes, modems, scanners) is prohibited without the express permission of the owner of the resource.
• No copyrighted software may be provided on a shared drive.
• Be aware that if you share your drives or resources that others may be able to use them without your knowledge or permission. We strongly recommend that you not enable file or print sharing.

Traffic:

• Activities that interfere with the ability of others to use the network are prohibited.
• Excessive traffic levels that interfere with others’ ability to work will result in warnings and/or disabling of the offending network connection.
• Both incoming and outgoing traffic are considered when traffic levels are analyzed. Traffic levels will be restricted when those levels interfere with others’ use of the network.
• Streaming audio or video servers that are not owned and operated by Bradley University are not allowed.
• We reserve the right to disconnect users without warning to protect the integrity and/or usability of the network.

Workstation Configuration and Network Administration:

• The IP number assigned through our DHCP server must be used. Use of hard-coded or non-approved IP number is prohibited. IP numbers are subject to change without notice. Machines (servers) requiring consistent ip addresses and name services must coordinate these requirements with IT staff.
• Non-university protocol servers, routers, or other related services or devices are not permitted. This includes, but is not limited to, DNS servers, DHCP servers, WINS servers, Macintosh seed router services, and hardware-based routers.
• No proxy servers of any type are allowed on non-university owned and operated machines.
• No SMTP (mail) relaying is allowed. Relaying of mail must be disabled on all machines.
• Non-university owned and operated FTP servers are not permitted.
• Use of network administration tools are limited to University network technicians. This includes, but is not limited to, network monitors, sniffers, protocol analyzers, protocol decoders, printer administration tools, port scanners of any type, and SNMP tools.
• The University reserves the right to monitor traffic levels and patterns and to investigate all anomalies to insure continued and reliable network performance. Use of the network provides implied consent to this activity.

Network Hardware:

• No tampering with University computing equipment, including the in-room jacks is allowed.
• Wiring may not be split, re-wired, or otherwise re-configured or changed in any way.

General:

Information Technology makes every effort to maintain network service to all areas of campus. However, we are not able to guarantee that no problems will occur. Please report all problems to the Help Desk and be patient when un-planned service interruptions occur.

Harassment:

Harassment through electronic means is still harassment. Anyone using the network to harass others (as defined in University policy) will be subject to termination of connection as well as any other sanction deemed necessary by the University.

Use of or connection to the Bradley network constitutes acceptance of these policies. Any violations can result in disciplinary actions as described in the relevant Handbook, as well as the immediate loss of network access, including Internet and file server privileges.

III. Scope

This policy pertains to all users of the University network.