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Computer Regulations
REGULATION 37.1
USE OF UNIVERSITY COMPUTER FACILITIES
LA TROBE UNIVERSITY
1. INTERPRETATION
In this Regulation unless the contrary intention appears
"Approved Purposes" means purposes associated with the legitimate teaching, research or administration of the University or authorised under this Regulation, the Internet Code of Practice or University Policies and Procedures but excludes any illegal or improper purpose;
"Computer Facilities" includes
- computer hardware, computer software, all other computer equipment and data in digital form owned, leased provided or used under licence by the University ("University computers") and all cables and other equipment necessary for the networking of University computers;
- computer facilities owned or maintained by other persons, including members of the University, but available for use through an agreement with the University;
- online services hosted or carriage services provided by the University including internet, intranet and e-mail services; and
- all other computing services wherever situated where access is by means of computer facilities referred to in paragraphs (a) (b) or (c) of this definition.
"Computer User" means
- a member of the Council;
- a member of the staff of the University;
- a currently enrolled student; or
- any other person duly authorised by the Director as a user of the University computer facilities from time to time, who has undertaken to use Computer Facilities in compliance with all relevant laws, University Statutes and Regulations, the Internet Code of Practice and University Procedures and Policies and has provided any indemnities or acknowledgements required by the University in respect of the use of Computer Facilities.
"Director" means the Director of Information Technology or a nominee of the Director and includes any person authorised by Council to exercise the powers of the Director under this Regulation.
"Head of Department" means the head of a school or department as so determined by Council and includes the Dean of a Faculty.
"Intellectual Property" includes
- copyright;
- trademarks;
- patents and registered designs;
- confidential information and trade secrets; and
- business reputation and goodwill.
"Intellectual Property Laws" means any law of the Victorian or Commonwealth Parliament creating or regulating intellectual property rights;
"Internet Code of Practice" means the Internet Code of Practice issued by the University's Information and Communications Technology Standing Committee as amended from time to time;
"Minor" means a person under the age of 18 years;
"Privacy Laws" means all laws for the protection of privacy and personal information to which the University is subject;
"Prohibited Content" means material the creation, publication, transmission, display making available, sale or possession of which, is prohibited or restricted under any law of the Commonwealth or Victorian Parliament;
"Restricted Access System" means any adult verification system developed by the University to restrict access to adult material on the Internet to persons who are 18 years or older;
"Secret Identifier" means the password or other identifier used by a Computer User in conjunction with the Computer User's Username to log-in and to access Computer Facilities in accordance with the Computer User's level of access privileges;
"University Network" means the network of University computers and all hardware and software and other infrastructure necessary for the operation of the network;
"University Procedures and Policies" includes, without limitation, the University's Policies and Procedures on Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination and procedures and policies on the use of Computer Facilities issued by the University from time to time.
"Username" means the username allocated to a Computer User by the University at the time of the establishment of the Computer User's computer account, which in conjunction with the Computer User's Secret Identifier, enables the Computer User to log-in and to access Computer Facilities in accordance with the Computer User's level of access privileges.
2. AVAILABILITY OF COMPUTER FACILITIES
(1) Computer Facilities shall only be available to Computer Users for Approved Purposes.(2) Computer Users shall
- comply with the Internet Code of Practice, University Statutes and Regulations and University Procedures and Policies when using Computer Facilities;
- use Computer Facilities in an effective, efficient, and lawful manner.
3. CHARGES FOR USE OF COMPUTER FACILITIES
(1) The University may from time to time determine any charges payable for use of any Computer Facilities and shall publish any such charges in a form readily available to Computer Users.
4. COMPUTER ACCESS
(1)Unless otherwise determined by the Director, a Computer User shall obtain a computer account prior to the Computer User's initial use of any Computer Facilities.
(2) The University may take such action as it considers necessary to ensure that internet access by means of Computer Facilities is not provided to Minors without the consent of a parent or other responsible adult.
(3) A Computer User shall use Computer Facilities within the limits of the access privileges granted to the Computer User and in compliance with any Restricted Access System developed by the University.
(4) A Computer User shall not divulge
(a) his or her Username or Secret Identifier; or
(b) any identifier allocated to the Computer User as part of a Restricted Access System
to any other person.
5. USE OF COMPUTER FACILITIES
General
(1) A Computer User shall not
(a) use any other person's computer account despite any permission from the account holder unless it is a special group account authorised by the Director;
(b) attempt to discover or use any other Computer User's Secret Identifier or to circumvent any Restricted Access System;
(c) use any Computer Facilities which the Computer User is not authorised to use;
(d) reproduce, decompile, reverse engineer, disclose or transfer any computer software provided by the University without the written permission of the Director;
(e) use Computer Facilities in violation of the terms of any software licence agreement;
(f) use Computer Facilities to infringe any Intellectual Property rights or to contravene any Intellectual Property Laws;
(g) without the permission of the owner copy, rename, change, examine or delete files or content belonging to another Computer User or a third party;
(h) without the permission of the Director copy, rename, change, examine or delete files or content belonging to or controlled by the University;
(i) attempt to modify Computer Facilities, obtain extra resources without authorisation, or degrade the performance of any system or attempt to subvert the restrictions associated with any computer system, computer account, network service or computer software protection;
(j) tamper or attempt to tamper with any filtering software installed by the University on any Computer Facilities for the screening of Prohibited Content;
(k) use terminals, computer equipment, network devices or any other associated equipment in an unauthorised or unlawful manner;
(l) use any networks or computing facilities at other sites connected to the University Network in an unauthorised or unlawful manner;
(m) collect, remove or discard any computer output without the owner's permission;
(n) smoke, eat or drink near terminals, computer equipment or other associated equipment;
(o) without the written permission of the Director, use Computer Facilities for the purpose of private profit making or other private commercial activities.
(2) The Director shall determine what is an authorised manner for the purposes of sub section (1) (k) and (l)
Conduct Online
(3) A Computer User shall not use Computer Facilities to
(a) transmit, distribute or make available online any internal e-mail communication or other materials prepared for use within the University to persons external to the University unless expressly authorised;
(b) make an unauthorised disclosure of any confidential information of the University;
(c) harass or interfere with the work of other Computer Users;
(d) misrepresent himself or herself as another person online;
(e) create, download, store, transmit, distribute, publish, display or make available on-line content which
(i) is defamatory;
(ii) constitutes sexual harassment;
(iii) constitutes sexual discrimination;
(iv) constitutes racial discrimination;
(v) is Prohibited Content, unless in compliance with any restrictions imposed by the law regulating such content;
(f) commit any act prohibited by law or in breach of the Internet Code of Practice, any of the University Statutes and Regulations or University Procedures and Policies;
(g) reproduce, download, transmit, distribute, publish or make available online any computer software or other copyright material unless
(i) authorised by law; or
(ii) with the express permission of the copyright owner and in compliance with the terms of any applicable copyright licence or notice,
and shall ensure that the terms of any applicable copyright licence or notice are communicated to any person to whom the copyright material is transmitted, distributed, published or made available.
Use of e-mail
(4) A Computer User shall
(a) use e-mail services provided by the University only in accordance with this Regulation, the Internet Code of Practice and University Policies and Procedures;
(b) not use e-mail services provided by the University to
(i) send unsolicited commercial e-mail; or
(ii) send defamatory, obscene, abusive, fraudulent, intimidatory harassing or repetitive messages or attachments; or
(iii) engage in sexual harassment or any other conduct prohibited by law.
(c) not access or attempt to access the electronic mailbox of another Computer User.
6. NO LIABILITY
(1) The University provides Computer Facilities without any express or implied guarantees as to
(a) the accuracy of computational results and output;
(b) computer availability or computer performance; or
(c) network availability, network bandwidth or network performance.
(2) The University shall not be responsible for
(a) any consequences arising from the inaccuracy of any information generated or transmitted through the use of Computer Facilities; or
(b) the loss of any information or software stored in any Computer Facilities.
(3) Notwithstanding the operation of standard back up procedures on central Computer Facilities, each Computer User is responsible for the maintenance of duplicates of any information or software belonging to the Computer User.
(4) The University disclaims all liability to the extent permitted by law arising from any use of Computer Facilities by a Computer User.
7. CONNECTION OF HARDWARE TO NETWORKING FACILITIES
No computer hardware may be connected to the University's Network except with the prior approval of the Director.
8. WITHDRAWAL OF FACILITIES
The University may withdraw the availability of any Computer Facilities without notice and without liability despite the terms of any agreement concerning use of the Computer Facilities.
9. UPGRADING OF FACILITIES
The University may upgrade any Computer Facilities from time to time as required in the manner determined by its officers and shall determine the time and manner of notification of any such upgrades to Computer Users.
10. RIGHT TO MONITOR
The University reserves the right, subject to compliance with Privacy Laws, to examine all computer files and electronic mailboxes of individual Computer Users and to monitor all computer usage for the purpose of ensuring compliance with applicable laws, University Statutes and Regulations, the Internet Code of Practice and University Procedures and Policies and to maintain a secure and effective computing environment.
11. BREACH OF REGULATION
(1) The Director may immediately and without notice upon discovery of a suspected breach of this Regulation
(a) suspend a Computer User's access to Computer Facilities;
(b) isolate and, if necessary for the purposes of investigating the suspected breach, impound any item of computer equipment, whether belonging to the University or not, which the Director suspects has been or is being used in breach of this Regulation.
(2) Where the Director, after initial investigation, is satisfied that
(a) no breach of this Regulation can be substantiated; or
(b) a breach of this Regulation has occurred, but that any such breach is a minor one,
the Director shall terminate the suspension.
(3) Where the Computer User is a student and the Director after initial investigation determines that a breach of this Regulation may have occurred the Director shall deal with the matter as an alleged act of general misconduct under the University Statute and regulations governing student discipline and misconduct.
(4) Where the Director conducts an inquiry into a suspected breach of this Regulation as an alleged act of general misconduct under the University Statute and regulations governing student discipline and misconduct, the Director may, if he or she considers it necessary, continue any suspension imposed upon the student for the duration of that inquiry.
(5) Where the Director after initial investigation determines that a breach of this Regulation may have occurred and the Computer User is a member of staff, the Director shall refer the matter to the Director (Personnel) to be dealt with in accordance with the applicable industrial Award or Agreement, or where no Award or Agreement applies, as determined by the Director (Personnel).
12. POWERS NOT TO BE IN DEROGATION
The powers conferred by this Regulation shall be in addition to and not in substitution for any powers which may be conferred by any other Statute or Regulation of the University
Approved by Council - 4 December 2000
Promulgated this 11 day of December 2000 by direction of the University Secretary
