=============== ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/CAF/faq/policy =============== q: What guidance is there for creating or evaluating a computer policy? a: The first thing to do is to get a copy of your university's Student Code. It often protects student and staff freedom of expression, privacy, and due process rights. At least in the U.S., it is not just a piece of paper; it is part of the legal contract between student and university. Any new policy must be consistent with this policy. The American Library Association is another good source of policy recommendations [see refs]. Here is a paraphrase of the ALA "Guidelines for the Development of Policies and Procedures Regarding User Behavior and Library Use": 1. As much as possible use "existing legistation and law enforcement mechanism" rather than creating your own. 2. "[C]ite should cite statutes or ordinances upon which the authority to make those policies is based." 3. Polices should not violate the Library Bill of Rights. 4. Make policies reasonable and narrow. 5. Have legal counsel check policy. 6. "Common sense, reason and sensitivity should be used to resolve issues in a constructive and positive manner without escalation." 7. Train staff. Include empathy training. 8. Consider any policy that limits access very carefully. "[P]rovide a clear description of the behavior that is prohibited so that a reasonably intelligent person will have fair warning..." Also, the ALA's "Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Policies, Regulations and Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and Facilities" includes a check list of 15 things to check for when creating a policy that restricts access. For example: "11. must provide a means of appeal; 12. must be reviewed regularly by the library's governing authority and by its legal counsel. 13. must be communicated clearly and made available in an effective manner to all library users;" The CAF Archive contains the policies of many schools, some with critiques. A list of some of the best is included below in the references. It also has pointers to other policy archives. You may also find the unofficial, draft Statement on Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) useful. Finally, you may wish to look at the CAF Law archive. Speech restrictions at public universities have been struck down consistently by recent U.S. federal courts. Also, the courts require due process before serious punishments can be applied to students. - Carl Kadie ANNOTATED REFERENCES (All these documents are available on-line. Access information follows.) ================= faq/policy.best ================= * Policy -- Examples of the Best Policies q: Which computer policies are the best models for a good academic policy? a: I don't think there is a single policy that is best is all ways, ... ================= library/computer.ala ================= * Access to Electronic ... Services and Networks ... (ALA) An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library Bill of Rights" Says in part: "Libraries and librarians exist to facilitate the exercise of these rights by selecting, producing, providing access to, identifying, retrieving, organizing, providing instruction in the use of, and preserving recorded expression regardless of the format or technology." Also see "computer.faq.draft.ala" for *draft* questions and answers about this policy recommendation. ================= library/computer.faq.draft.ala ================= * DRAFT Q&A about 'Access to Electronic ... Networks ...' (ALA) (Draft) Questions and Answers about the ALA computer policy recommendation (computer.ala). ================= statements/bill-of-rights.aahe ================= * Bill of Rights ... for Electronic ... Learners This is the "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for the Electronic Community of Learners". It could become the first widely endorsed statement directly related to computers and academic freedom. ================= statements/caf-statement ================= * Computer and Academic Freedom Statement -- Draft This is an attempt to codify the application of academic freedom to academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line discussion about computers and academic freedom. It covers free expression, due process, privacy, and user participation. Comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when posted to CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available on-line. (Critiqued). ================= statements/caf-statement.critique ================= * Computer and Academic Freedom Statement -- Draft -- Critique This is a critique of an attempt to codify the application of academic freedom to academic computers. It reflects our seven months of on-line discussion about computers and academic freedom. It covers free expression, due process, privacy, and user participation. Additional comments and suggestions are very welcome (especially when posted to CAF-talk). All the documents referenced are available on-line. ================= policies/README ================= * Computer policies from many schools (with critiques) Computer Policy and Critiques Archive [part of the Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) Archive [part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Archive]] This is a collection of the computer policies of many schools and networks. The collection also includes critiques of some of the policies. If you have gopher, the archive is browsable with the command: gopher -p academic/policies gopher.eff.org The archive is also accessible via anonymous ftp and email. Ftp to ftp.eff.org (192.77.172.4). It is in directory "pub/academic/policies". To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. In the body of your note include the lines: connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/policies get get where is the name of a file that you want. File README is a detailed description of the items in the directory. For more information, to make contributions, or to report typos contact J.S. Greenfield (greeny@eff.org). Directory "widener" contains additional policies (but not critiques). ================= library/access.policies.ala ================= * Access Policies (ALA) "Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Policies, Regulations and Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and Facilities" An interpretation by the American Library Association of the "Library Bill of Rights" ================= library/user-behavior.ala ================= * Guidelines for Policies Regarding User Behavior (ALA) "Guidelines for the Development of Policies and Procedures Regarding User Behavior and Library Use" ================= widener ================= * Mirror of ftp.cs.widener.edu:pub/cud/schools/* It is a collection of the computer polices of many schools. For a description of the file see file "widener/Index". Also see directory "policies". ================= policies/unm.edu.pointer ================= * Misc -- Pointer to and Index of U. of New Mexico Policy Archive The files available via anonymous ftp from ariel.unm.edu in directory /ethics. ================= policies/eff.org ================= * Org -- Electronic Frontier Foundation Here are the rules for *.eff.org, the computers of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a private, not-for-profit organization. The policy might make a good model. ================= policies/cso.uiuc.edu ================= * Edu -- U. of Illinois at U-C -- CCSO The directory information policy for Computer Services Organzation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It says in part: "The system currently has utilities [e.g. finger - cmk] or operating procedures which disclose student information which we plan to let you [, the user,] control in a manner consistent with other sources of directory information." Also, that an effort will be made to accommodate students who exercise their FERPA rights and suppress directory information. ================= policies/netnews.uwm.edu ================= * Edu -- U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee -- Netnews These are the network policy resolutions developed by the Computer Policy Committee at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The resolutions were approved by the Committee and forwarded to the Chancellor. They were given final approval by the Chancellor as campus administrative policy (memo dated 02/23/93). They say (to paraphrase) 1) Netnews is important 2) No restrictions should be imposed without wide consultation 3) The principles of intellectual freedom developed for university libraries apply to Netnews material 4) The principles of intellectual freedom developed for publication in traditional media apply to computer media. ================= policies/netnews.uwo.ca ================= * U. of Western Ontario -- Netnews policy It says in part: "In its publications regarding Usenet, CCS should make it clear that the individual user bears the primary responsibility for the material that he or she chooses to send or display on the network or on the University's computer systems." It also specifies a procedure for dealing with challenges to material. ================= policies/stanford.edu ================= * Edu -- Stanford U. -- Netnews Selection Statements "In 1989 rec.humor.funny was suppressed in some of the Stanford University computers. After a campaign it was re-installed in those computers." This file contains 1) the "Statement of Protest about the AIR Censorship of rec.humor.funny" 2) a statement by the Stanford faculty committee on libraries 3) Notes from Professor John McCarthy on how censorship was fought at Stanford (also see "pub/academic/cases/jmcabstract") ================= policies/uiuc.edu ================= * Edu -- U. of Illinois at U-C -- Privacy This is the University of Illinois's Interim E-Mail and Computer File Privacy Policy. It says that "network and system administrators are expected to treat the contents of electronic files as private and confidential." and "Any inspection of electronic files, and any action based upon such inspection, will be governed by all applicable U. S. and Illinois laws and by University policies." ================= policies/nsf ================= * Net -- National Science Foundation The NSFNET backbone services acceptable use policy ================= law/README ================= * Law related to Computers and Academic Freedom CAF Law Archive [part of the Computers and Academic Freedom (CAF) Archive [part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Archive]] This is an on-line collection of law related to computers and academic freedom. It includes both case law and legislation. If you have gopher, the archive is browsable with the command: gopher -p academic/law gopher.eff.org The archive is also accessible via anonymous ftp and email. Ftp to ftp.eff.org (192.77.172.4). It is in directory "pub/academic/law". To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com. In the body of your note include the lines: connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/law get get where is the name of a file that you want. File README is a detailed description of the items in the directory. For more information, to make contributions, or to report typos contact J.S. Greenfield (greeny@eff.org). ================= law/uwm-post-v-u-of-wisconsin ================= * Expression -- Hate Speech -- UWM Post v. U Of Wisconsin The full text of UWM POST v. U. of Wisconsin. This recent district court ruling goes into detail about the difference between protected offensive expression and illegal harassment. It even mentions email. It concludes: "The founding fathers of this nation produced a remarkable document in the Constitution but it was ratified only with the promise of the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment is central to our concept of freedom. The God-given "unalienable rights" that the infant nation rallied to in the Declaration of Independence can be preserved only if their application is rigorously analyzed. The problems of bigotry and discrimination sought to be addressed here are real and truly corrosive of the educational environment. But freedom of speech is almost absolute in our land and the only restriction the fighting words doctrine can abide is that based on the fear of violent reaction. Content-based prohibitions such as that in the UW Rule, however well intended, simply cannot survive the screening which our Constitution demands." ================= law/goss-v-lopez.fischer ================= * Due Process -- When Required -- Goss v. Lopez -- Fischer Comments from _Teacher's and the Law_, 3rd edition, by Louis Fischer, et al. Published in 1991 by Longman. It reports that the Supreme Court says that some modicum of due process is necessary unless the matter is trivial or there is an emergency. ================= ================= If you have gopher, you can browse the CAF archive with the command gopher gopher.eff.org These document(s) are also available by anonymous ftp (the preferred method) and by email. To get the file(s) via ftp, do an anonymous ftp to ftp.eff.org, and then: cd /pub/CAF/faq get policy.best cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.faq.draft.ala cd /pub/CAF/statements get bill-of-rights.aahe cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement.critique cd /pub/CAF/policies get README cd /pub/CAF/library get access.policies.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get user-behavior.ala cd /pub/CAF get widener cd /pub/CAF/policies get unm.edu.pointer cd /pub/CAF/policies get eff.org cd /pub/CAF/policies get cso.uiuc.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwm.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwo.ca cd /pub/CAF/policies get stanford.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get uiuc.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get nsf cd /pub/CAF/law get README cd /pub/CAF/law get uwm-post-v-u-of-wisconsin cd /pub/CAF/law get goss-v-lopez.fischer To get the file(s) by email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com Include the line(s): connect ftp.eff.org cd /pub/CAF/faq get policy.best cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get computer.faq.draft.ala cd /pub/CAF/statements get bill-of-rights.aahe cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement cd /pub/CAF/statements get caf-statement.critique cd /pub/CAF/policies get README cd /pub/CAF/library get access.policies.ala cd /pub/CAF/library get user-behavior.ala cd /pub/CAF get widener cd /pub/CAF/policies get unm.edu.pointer cd /pub/CAF/policies get eff.org cd /pub/CAF/policies get cso.uiuc.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwm.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get netnews.uwo.ca cd /pub/CAF/policies get stanford.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get uiuc.edu cd /pub/CAF/policies get nsf cd /pub/CAF/law get README cd /pub/CAF/law get uwm-post-v-u-of-wisconsin cd /pub/CAF/law get goss-v-lopez.fischer