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Workstations at Maryland (WAM) is an Information Technology project that provides open workstation laboratories and remote access services for the use of students, faculty, and staff of the University of Maryland. WAM accounts provide access to a rich set of software and Internet services, including electronic mail, file transfer and file storage, newsgroup subscription services, and provide a means to create personal homepages on the World Wide Web. WAM accounts are also necessary for accessing the WAM lab Sun Sparc Workstations and Remote Access Centers (RACs), as well as the university's authenticated dialup modem pools and Dialup IP services.
All WAM accounts are governed by the University of Maryland Policy on the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources (also referenced as the Acceptable Use Policy) available at the OIT Help Desk(CSS, room 1400) or at http://www.nethics.umd.edu/aup . The WAM Guidelines are intended to supplement (not replace) the Acceptable Use Policy. The following types of activities are examples of behavior that are unethical and unacceptable, and in some cases may violate state or federal law:
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Giving Others Access. WAM accounts are provided to students, faculty, staff, and authorized guests for their sole use. Your account is not intended for use by others, including roommates, significant others, or family members. Choose a password that someone cannot readily guess and change it frequently. You are responsible for everything that goes on within your account.
- Misrepresentation of Identity. The Acceptable Use Policy prohibit "misrepresenting oneself as another individual in electronic communications." You are expected to be honest in your electronic communications. Forgery of mail headers or other attempts to make a communication look like it came from someone other than yourself is considered a misuse of your WAM account.
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Mass Mail. The WAM system is unable to accommodate mass mailings from one WAM user to addresses selected at random. Mass mail generated by WAM users without proper authorization is also annoying to the recipients of the mail. Announcements or mail of this kind are more appropriately posted to a campus newsgroup (for example, um.general) or an appropriate LISTSERV. Furthermore, replying to mass mail in a manner that resends a new message to the entire list of original recipients is a similar violation and only perpetuates the problem presented by a mass mailing.
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Chain Mail. Mail that demands, via its content or nature, to be resent to others is considered chain mail. A user who receives chain mail should delete it. Chain mail is insidious as it grows exponentially, uses system resources for delivery, and utilizes additional system resources as it occupies space in mailboxes. Pyramid schemes that utilize the U.S. postal system for delivery are also illegal.
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Spamming Newsgroups. Spamming includes the act of posting the same or very similar articles to many different news groups. The user should be aware of USENET newsgroup etiquette and pick the most appropriate groups for the particular news item.
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Commercial Use. The Acceptable Use Policy states that "computing resources are provided to support the academic research, instructional, and administrative objectives of the university." Furthermore, they prohibit the use of "computing resources for commercial or profit-making purposes." Therefore, WAM accounts must not be used to run a business. You can sell your used widget, but if you get a gross of widgets to unload, unload it elsewhere.
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Threats and Harassment. You are expected to refrain from use of your WAM account to convey threats or engage in harassment that falls outside of the scope of First Amendment protection. Messages that intimidate or convey hatred towards individuals or groups protected under the university's Human Relations Code are intolerable in our academic community. The Acceptable Use Policy exhorts users to use computer resources "responsibly, ethically, and in a manner which accords both with the law and the rights of others."
You can locate the Acceptable Use Policy at the following URL: http://www.nethics.umd.edu/aup
The Code of Student Conduct can be located at the following URL or in the Undergraduate Catalog: http://www.inform.umd.edu/ugradcat/chapter10/c.html
Questions regarding the WAM Guidelines or the Policy on the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources should be directed to nethics@umd.edu or (301) 405-8787.
Questions regarding your WAM account should be directed to the OIT Help Desk at (301) 405-1400.
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