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Terms & Conditions for the use of the College Network

Introduction

This document outlines the terms and conditions for the use of the College network which are based on those issued by the University . The charge for network services provided by the College is £15 per term or part thereof. This includes the use of the PWF computers and wireless service and a cumulative annual charge for £45 is normally applied to the bill received in January. No service is guaranteed outside of term and the College reserves the right to charge students additionally for provision if offered.  Students should also procure their own network lead to make use of their room connection. These are normally available for purchase from the Buttery.

 Students should also be aware that the College is charged for its share of the University's Internet traffic, both incoming and outgoing. At present the charges are met from the general academic computing fund. Prudent use of the connection is therefore strongly encouraged .

Conditions

  1.  The main purpose of the College network is to support the academic and ancillary administrative environment. Whilst recreational use is not forbidden, it will be subject to a higher degree of regulation than academic use. Having access to the College network does not give you carte blanche to do as you will.
  2. The good name of the College shall not be brought into disrepute.
  3. The College reserves the right to disconnect any network connection pending investigation of a suspected breach of the rules or if network performance is degraded.
  4. The acceptable use policy of the Cambridge University Data Network (CUDN) and Joint Academic Network (JANET) also apply.
  5. The user shall not engage in any activity on the network that would be deemed unlawful. This includes, but is not limited to: storage, production or reproduction of offensive, indecent, obscene or defamatory material; activities which breach the Data Protection Act; activities which breach the Computer Misuse Act.
  6. You may not use your network connection to breach copyright law. It is forbidden to run un-licensed software on any computer connected to the CUDN.
  7. You may not interfere with any part of the College network infrastructure (e.g. network connection of Computer Room workstations or network switches) unless specifically authorised to do so.
  8. The daily internet limit of 1GB must not be exceeded without first obtaining permission from your Tutor, Director of Study or the Senior Tutor. An automated system is employed to assist your compliance but due to technical limitations should not be relied on completely.
  9. Generating excessive traffic is forbidden. Excessive traffic is regarded as more than 2GB of internet traffic a day or 4GB of CUDN traffic a day. You should be aware that many commonly used applications result in excessive traffic e.g. Streaming media using Windows Media Player, Quicktime or video conferencing.
  10. The use of file sharing software such as Direct Connect, eDonkey, BitTorrent, LimeWire is acceptable provided it is not used to infringe the copyright of others. Action such as downloading unlicensed music or movies or sharing such files (even if you have downloaded them legally) is regarded as a breach of copyright. You should be aware that such programs will both download and share by default, can adversely affect the normal operation of the College network by generating large amounts of traffic and can pose a security risk. Additionally they contribute significantly to the College's network charges.
  11. All users must ensure they have adequate anti-virus software installed on their computers and that it is active. Visit http://www-tus.csx.cam.ac.uk/virus/ to download free anti-virus software.
  12. You agree to allow the monitoring of your network traffic for the purpose of statistical monitoring and investigation of possible breaches of these conditions. The information will include the IP address of remote systems and traffic volume to and from them. It should also be noted that the University Computing Service regularly port-scans all network-connected devices to search for security vulnerabilities.
  13. The connection of wireless networking devices to the College network is forbidden without prior permission of the College IT Department.
  14. The College network shall not be used for commercial purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, issuing of unsolicited commercial email (SPAM), operation of commercial websites or use of email for commercial activities.
  15. It is unacceptable to deliberately waste staff effort, network resources, disrupt the work of other users or cause them needless anxiety, annoyance or inconvenience.
  16. Users are responsible for taking reasonable security precautions to ensure that others do not misuse systems registered in their name. This will include the use of strong secret passwords and keeping software patches up-to-date.
  17.  The following interpretations of use extracted from the Cambridge CUDN Terms & Conditions should also be noted particularly by advanced users.
  18. By connecting to the College network the user is deemed to have agreed to these conditions.
  19. In the event of a conflict between these conditions and your academic use or you have any doubt about the use of the network, you should contact the IT Department.You can contact the office via email to pc-support@christs.cam.ac.uk or by telephoning (3)34992 or visiting the Office in Z staircase.
Last Updated 24/09/2010 DHS
 

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