This is a critique of Iowa State University's Computer Ethics policy.
Its due process protection is excellent. Its freedom of expression
protection is not as good as it should be. Its privacy protection is
unclear. It does not say how much users participated in policy
creation.  It has contains several items that seem redundant or that
don't make sense. (This suggests a lack of review).

Due process:

It says: "Violations of the University Code of Computer Ethics are
treated like any other ethical violation as outlined in the Student
Handbook and applicable faculty and staff handbooks."

I think this is a great way to tie the computer into general University
procedures.

Freedom of Expression:

On the plus side it says: "ISU policies regarding the appropriate use
of university facilities and the ethics of personal behavior apply to
the use of all forms of electronic communication."  It's great that
computer communication is equated with other communication media. It's
too bad that prohibitions are mentioned without mentioning rights. For
example, most universities guarantee their community the right to be
free of censorship.

Also, the policy forbids the use of newsgroups, email, etc for
"political purposes" without defining the term. The term is so vague
that it could be used to ban much (most?) computer communications. The
policy could be much improved by finding the specific Iowa State law
that motivates this restriction and quoting it exactly. (The law
likely forbids some specific partisan political uses.)

Privacy: It says "Viewing or using another person's computer files,
programs or data without authorized permission is unethical behavior
and an invasion of that person's privacy." But it doesn't say
explicitly if this applies to the University as well as to users. The
policy could be improved by providing explicit privacy protection from
all eyes, official and unofficial.

Other items:

It says: "Copyrighted software must only be used in accordance with
its license or purchase agreement." This confuses copyrights with
licenses. It should say: "Copyrighted software must be used in
accordance with its copyright. Licensed software must be used in
accordance with its license."

Also, this item on copyright seems redundant given that the another
long section of the policy also covers copyright.

Finally, a nitpick. I think the policy could be improved by removing
the word "ethics". To me, "ethics" is about things you don't have to
do, but that you should do. This policy is about things you have to
do; it is about about "rules", not "ethics". Unless Iowa State
University has a tradition of calling its rules "ethics codes", I
don't think it should apply the term here.

- Carl
-- 
Carl Kadie -- I do not represent EFF; this is just me.
 =kadie@eff.org, kadie@cs.uiuc.edu =