Private Use of School Computing Facilities & the Internet

This policy was adopted at the Management Committee at its meeting of 27 May 1998, revising an earlier policy dating from February 1994.

The School of Mathematics and Statistics' computing facilities are for use in connection with the School's purposes of research, teaching and administration.

Restrained use for personal purposes is permitted, provided it does not impose a substantial resource load (e.g., computational or on file space or network traffic), and provided any real costs are met by the individual user.

In particular, laser printing for non-profit private purposes should be paid for at the set rate (currently 5 cents per page) to the appropriate member of the Administrative staff (currently Julie Small).

Members of the School may use the computing facilities without charge for production of research papers, software and other materials within their professional scope, including materials which will be sold through the School such as lecture notes, provided no personal profit accrues.

Where an element of profit to an individual member is involved, an appropriate charge will be levied, based on negotiation between the Head and the School member on each project. Using the School's systems for personal profit outside of a member's area of professional mathematical or statistical competence is not permitted.

Use of the Internet

The School no longer pays for Internet traffic; surely the University does pay.

Network use should be both legitimate and efficient. Large data transfers should be for School purposes only, and should be made through the University cache not direct ftp. Personal electronic mail should be brief and not over frequent.

Internet use by individuals may be monitored. A system of voluntary or even obligatory payment for personal incoming traffic will be employed if costs seem likely to exceed a set budget.

Advertising on the Internet for personal purposes is not permitted except in specifically recognized arenas such as the Usenet "for sale" groups. In particular, unsolicited mail should not be sent to more than one recipient (except through recognized mailing lists where appropriate). Announcements for School purposes (e.g., about books or software for sale through the School) are permitted on School Web and other information servers, but advertising for personal profit or gain is not.


JSR, Sydney Mathematics and Statistics, 9 Mar 2000 . . . SiteSearch