University Policies for Internet-related Technologies

Guiding Principles and Issues

1. The inherent nature of the Internet is one of open and free content creation and access. Given this, and accepted principles of collegiate freedom, the University does not wish to implement any policies that infringe with such principles.
2. The reality of Internet access in the Pacific Islands in general and Fiji in particular is that the speed and volume of data transmission to the wider Internet is very limited. This situation will not change in the near future and it is beyond the ability of the University to bring about such change.
3. These two issues leave the University in the unenviable position of having to balance the principle of open and free access against the technical reality of very limited access capability.
4. While the rights of the individual within the collegial and Internet environments are important, the individual user has the most power and responsibility to improve the overall quality of the shared Internet environment within the University.
5. Failure to address the technical issue of restricted data flow by all users will, ultimately, lead to unacceptable levels of Internet access and thus act as a restriction on the freedoms of individual members of the University Community.
6. These policies and guidelines are drafted in an attempt to place the freedom of access issue first, yet recognise the problems of restricted data flow.
7. The University recognises that the Internet is an open system and as such, all transmissions, receptions, and any other data flows across the Internet are not in the private domain, cannot be construed as personal communication and thus are not subject to any privacy or protection laws related to such communication.
8. The University recognises that the Internet is an essential tool in a modern university and as such the use of the Internet shall be treated as any other academic privilege given to staff or students (such as library use).

Internet Access and Use

1. The use of Internet resources should directly support the academic, teaching, learning, research, and community service activities of the University. Internet resources are taken to include, but are not limited to, the creation, retrieval and sending of data of any kind including e-mail, web pages, software, graphics, databases, and other data sets as well as the publishing of web documents
2. All users of University Internet resources should ensure that these resources are best used to these ends. The use of Internet resources for commercial, personal, recreational, and entertainment purposes blocks the use of the Internet for those users engaged in University activities as outlined in Section 2.1 above.
3. Internet access for individual staff members and students is based on the approval of the relevant head of School, Department, Section, or Institute. This approval may be withdrawn under the advise of Information Technology Services (ITS), the Communications and Information Technology Committee (CITC) or other University managers.
4. It is expected that all users will show good judgement in making sure the Internet is used efficiently in order to support the work of the University. The University will not tolerate users showing clear disregard for the needs of others through the use of the Internet for purposes outlined in section 2.2 above.
5. The use of the Internet for purposes other than those directly or indirectly associated with work, study and research activities in pursuance of the objectives of the University is prohibited. A breach of this provision may lead to the suspension of privileges and/or disciplinary action.
6. The University does not wish to create an atmosphere of control and regulation around Internet access. Education, discussion, reasoning, and even peer pressure will be the primary tools of ITS, CITC, and University Management to ensure effective use of the Internet by all users. The University does however, retain the right to implement Internet monitoring software to ensure effective Internet use.
7. Notwithstanding section 2.6, any breach of local or international laws by any user of Internet services through University facilities will not be tolerated. Such users may be subject to immediate suspension of Internet privileges and/or disciplinary action. Local law is taken to be the laws of the country in which the user is operating.

Website Creation and Maintenance

1. It will be the responsibility of department or section heads to nominate a staff member who will be responsible for the design, content, creation, and maintenance of their web pages.
2. The relevant head of School, Department, Section, or Institute is responsible for the content of their web pages.
3. All information on any University hosted web page will be accurate and up to date.
4. All web pages will meet the minimum technical and design standards posted by ITS.
5. The Director of ITS, acting on behalf of the CITC, will have the authority to seek the removal of any web content that does not directly support the academic, teaching, learning, research, and community service mandate of the University.

Technical Notes and Guidelines for all User

Some practical ideas to limit the amount of data travelling across the Internet. If you do not understand any of these procedures contact ITS for help. These notes will be updated periodically by ITS to reflect ongoing changes in Internet technology and use.

• Take whatever steps you can to limit "junk e-mail". Limit the number of times you give out your e-mail information to commercial databases. Do not respond to mass-produced, commercial e-mails (SPAM) unless it is specifically to remove your name from any mailing list.
• If appropriate, forward unsolicited commercial e-mail and any other nuisance e-mail to the Director of ITS.
• Do not contribute to the proliferation of any "pyramid" or chain e-mails, no matter how well intentioned they may appear. Again, studies have shown that most are not effective or even about valid issues. Many are malicious attempts to clog up the Internet or gain notoriety for the pranksters that start such lists. Public pressure through the use of e-mails is rarely effective. Those who are supposed to be pressured are well aware that computer programs can now automatically create masses of e-mails that appear to come from different individual members of the public. If you are really concerned about something you are sure is real, write a traditional print letter and send it through the post. This is much more effective.
• The most common of these pyramids is the "Virus hoax" problem. Do not pass on "latest virus—do not open message with subject ****" type warnings. Nearly all such warnings are hoaxes and only serve to clog up the Internet with an incredibly large amount of unnecessary e-mail data. As with the recent "I love you" virus problem, ITS will send out warnings for real virus problems.
• The best strategy for avoiding virus problems is to install and keep up to date virus protection software. This is available free to those using USP equipment. Check with ITS (add e-mail address) if you do not know how to get, update, or install a virus checker.
• When sending out mail to a list of people (such as the staff list at USP) use the "hide user names" or "blind carbon copy" (bcc) option. This prevents the names of EVERY recipient on your list appearing in EVERY copy of the e-mail you send out. This information gets in the way of the person reading your e-mail and clogs up the Internet with large amounts of unnecessary data.
• When using a web browser, switch off the feature that automatically loads graphics on all the web pages you open. Graphics make up the largest part of the data in most web pages, yet are not always necessary to read the page content. You can dramatically increase the speed of page loading with this feature turned off. Most graphics will show a text version of the graphic’s function and you can load individual graphics if you absolutely have to. For example, on Netscape Communicator (the standard USP browser for Windows platforms) make sure the "Automatically Load Images" box is unchecked under the EDIT/PREFERENCES/ADVANCED menu.
• ITS will monitor various existing and new web technologies to see which packages and optional features may help or hinder with Internet access transmission speeds. Keep yourself up to date with these improvements by visiting the ITS web pages, starting at [insert URL here]