The following acceptable use policy for university and departmental
computing resources was approved by the Department of Sociology faculty
on April 9, 2004.
Network Activity
All computer network activity that takes place in the Sociology Department,
whether from wired or wireless connections, occurs over network resources
that are owned and operated by Duke University. Use of these resources
is subject to a policy
published by the Office of Information Technology and endorsed by the
Information Technology Advisory Committee. This policy prohibits:
- The use of Duke network resources in violation of federal or state
law, University policy or regulation, or Duke's contractual obligations
to network service providers that connect Duke to the Internet.
- The use of Duke network resources to acquire data or resources to
which the user has no right.
- The use of Duke network resources to intentionally harm individuals
or interfere with the use of network or computing resources at Duke
or elsewhere.
Duke University reserves the right to collect evidence of alleged violations
of acceptable use and to revoke computing privileges of alleged violators,
followed by timely notification of such action.
In keeping with the values of freedom of expression and diversity of
opinion, it is not our desire or intent to exercise a censorship role
over what is published or transferred over Duke networks. Users of Duke
networks have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Network activities
will be investigated by system administrators only as required by reports
of illegal activity or to resolve technical problems.
Departmental Activity
The Department of Sociology is the owner and maintainer of additional
computing resources that include servers for mail, web and file services
and desktop PCs for use by specific individuals or groups of individuals.
It is the intent of the Department that these resources be used in a
manner that maintains a harmonious and secure computing environment
for use by all Sociology faculty, staff and graduate students.
Computers are widely used in shared office settings, where some
uses of computers can be objectionable to others. Use of discretion
and restraint to minimize the discomfort or inconvenience your activities
may cause others is expected.
Departmental computing resources are intended for professional use
in carrying out the instructional, research and administrative missions
of the department. In keeping with this principle, the following are
not acceptable uses of departmental computing resources:
- Downloading of intellectual property, such as music or videos, in
violation of copyright laws.
- Installation and use of proprietary software for which licensing
fees have not been paid.
Departmental system administrators will exercise mechanisms of access
control, software audits, quota restrictions and log analysis to ensure
that usage is in compliance with departmental acceptable use and best
practice security standards. Shared resources will be monitored to ensure
that individual uses do not overwhelm network bandwidth, storage and
printing capacities in ways that impair the ability of others to do
their work.
In performance of these duties, departmental system administrators
will respect the privacy of user home directories and mail holdings,
in both on line storage and off line backup storage.
Acceptable Use Policy