Ulster County Community College Technology Policy
(18) Those who publish World Wide Web pages or similar information resources on College computers shall take full responsibility for what they publish; shall respect the acceptable-use conditions for the computer on which the material resides; shall obey all applicable laws; and shall not publish commercial advertisements without prior authorization. References and links to commercial sites are permitted, but advertisements, and especially paid advertisements, are not. Users shall not accept payments, discounts, free merchandise or services, or any other remuneration in return for placing anything on their web pages or similar facilities.
Web pages on the College's network are subject to the same rules as other uses of the same facilities. Web pages are to be coordinated by the College's Coordinator of Web Services.
When you publish something on the World Wide Web, you are putting it before a potential audience of millions. You have the same responsibilities as if you were publishing a newspaper. If the content is libelous or deceptive, people can sue you and you can be held personally liable.
Since there are laws against distributing obscene material (not just creating it), a link to an obscene web site can be a violation of the law. This is true regardless of the status of the Communications Decency Act or other new laws that specifically mention computers.
There is no College rule that prohibits you from viewing any web page anywhere. However, the College's sexual harassment policy prohibits you from displaying sexually explicit material which interferes with anyone's work or academic performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or academic environment. That is why we do not permit the display of erotic images on screens visible to others.
If you want to reproduce copyrighted pictures, cartoons, or comic strips on your web page, you must have the copyright owner's permission. It is not sufficient to reproduce the owner's copyright notice; you must actually obtain permission for yourself, just as if you were publishing the same material in a newspaper. Brief textual quotations do not always require permission as long as the source is acknowledged and you are not reproducing a complete work (poem, essay, etc.).
You are welcome to include links to businesses and commercial sites for their information value, as long as your links do not constitute advertisements. If you are personally connected with an outside business, you may mention the connection briefly on your College web page so that people who are looking for you can find you. (For example, authors of books can include links to their publishers; consultants can include links to their consulting firms; and College units can advertise publications, software, and similar materials produced in connection with their work.) However, you must not solicit outside business or publish commercial advertisements or advertising graphics on a College computer.
You must not accept payments, discounts, or anything of value in return for placing anything on your web page. The College's disk space and communication capacity are not yours to sell. This applies to all computers directly connected to the College's network cables, even if they are privately owned.
(19) Users shall comply with the regulations and policies of discussion groups, mailing lists, and other public forums through which they disseminate messages. When participating in public forums, you must respect their policies and practices, for two reasons:
(a) To join these networks, the College has to agree to abide by their policies. Misuse would endanger the College's eligibility to participate.
(b) Always assume that everyone in the entire world can read what you are posting, that permanent copies will be kept at several sites, and that you will be expected to take full responsibility for everything you say. Do not post anything that you would not want to see quoted in a major newspaper.
Remember that electronic discussion groups are not confined to the United States and are certainly not confined to students.
