Appropriate Use Policy

Appropriate Use Guidelines

The Central Valley Internet Project (CVIP) was created to offer low-cost, high-speed Internet access to a select group of individuals in the Central San Joaquin Valley. In order to continue to offer reliable and consistent service, we ask that all CVIP members follow a few simple guidelines. These guidelines are not intended to restrict access or to make it difficult to enjoy the many resources and benefits of the Internet. They are solely intended to protect our community of members and to abide by relevant national and state laws.

We ask that you read the remainder of this document and comply with the guidelines set forth. If you have any questions about anything contained in this document, please contact the CVIP Technical Support Group at 278-1111.

Services

Services provided by CVIP include electronic mail, web browsing, internet news, FTP and telnet. In addition, there are numerous other applications available to make your use of the Internet more productive. For a small sampling of some of these applications, point your Netscape browser to http://www.fresno.com/cvonline/welcome/apps2kno.htm. Although we provide the applications included in your installation package and can point you in the direction of others, we have no control over the way they have been developed and offer no guarantee as to their use. Our Technical Support Group will do everything they can to make sure you get the most out of your Internet experience.

General Guidelines

CVIP reserves the right to refuse service to anyone and may exercise its right to cancel a CVIP membership if it feels a subscriber is violating CVIP guidelines or engaging in any activity that is in violation of local, state, or federal laws.

Inappropriate Activities

1. Commercial Activity

Your CVIP Account is intended for your individual use only. Commercial use of a University-sponsored resource is a violation of State law. If you would like to engage in commercial Internet-related activities, you should contact one of the local Internet Service Providers. Contact our Technical Support Group at 278-1111 for more information on alternative Internet Service Providers.

2. Multiple Logins

Logging in twice using the same account at one time is not allowed. This slows down the system, ties up modems and prevents others from using CVIP resources.

3. Allowing Other People to Use Your Account

Each CVIP account is sold to a single individual. Use of that account by multiple persons is a violation of CVIP guidelines. If you wish to purchase an account for someone else, please contact CVIP at 278-1111.

4. Transfer of Illegal Material

The transfer of illegal material, such as pirated software or copyrighted music or video files, is a violation of law and therefore a violation of CVIP policy. Such activity may be reported to the appropriate State and Federal authorities and may result in a loss of all account privileges.

5. Spamming

Spamming is a term used on the Internet to describe unsolicited mass distributions of email messages or postings to multiple Internet newsgroups.

These are some general definitions of spamming:

Sending unsolicited mass e-mail messages to more than 25 e-mail users if the distribution generates complaints.

Posting a single article or advertisement on multiple Internet newsgroups.

Posting to any Internet newsgroup articles that are off the topic according the the charter of the groups.

Posting advertisements that have nothing to do with the newsgroup to which you are posting inconveniences thousands of people. People are paying to receive Usenet news articles, are paying to store the articles, and are paying to read the articles. So, while Usenet news groups appear to be a free form of advertising, they are not. Those who pay and those who subscribe to the newsgroup will not hesitate to complain *loudly* to you and your administrator.

In addition to violating the rules Usenet News etiquette, posting advertisements can be illegal. Electronic chain letters are illegal, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, if they "request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants." (See http://www.usps.gov for more information.) With many thousands of individuals reading Usenet newsgroups, it's almost certain that authorities will receive a copy of any chain letter that is posted.

Beyond angering thousands of people and possibly resulting in legal action, spamming can degrade the performance of the email machine that you are using. If you spam others on the campus email servers, your unwanted messages may consume mailbox space belonging to the recipients. If you spam newsgroups, system time will be spent in processing the hundreds of angry complaints that will be delivered to you and to your administrators from others throughout the world.

Spamming is an inappropriate use of campus resources. If you have any question about what constitutes spamming, call the ITS Help Desk at 278-5000 before you mail or post articles.

6. Harassment

The intentional harassment of CVIP subscribers, employees, or other Internet users may be grounds for cancellation of your account. Please exhibit courtesy at all times.

Please contact us at 278-1111, or by email at help@csufresno.edu, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions about our policies.