Acceptable Use Policy

1.5 General Restrictions 
Primary audience: All
Last modified or reviewed: August 2000 

General Restrictions 

These restrictions apply to all ETSU Web pages and their use.

The content of Web pages must comply with both East Tennessee State University policies and State of Tennessee policies and laws on acceptable computing use.

Both ETSU and the State of Tennessee have policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines that govern the use of the state's computing resources. ETSU's Web policies augment this existing policy body as well as address issues peculiar to the Web medium. ETSU page authors should be aware of the larger policy sources and realize that these policies are in effect. Some sources of these policies are:

State of Tennessee Internet Acceptable Use Policy

Information Technology Responsible Use Policy

TECnet's Acceptable Use Policy

ETSU's Policies and Procedures

ETSU's Policy for Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources

ETSU's Student Handbook

ETSU's How to Put Your Course on the Internet (http://de.etsu.edu/fac_template.htm)

Copyrighted material must not appear on any Web page without the permission of and an acknowledgment to the copyright holder. (See U. S. Copyright Law and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.)

Images/Recordings - It is especially tempting to copy images or record favorite music selections and incorporate them into a Web page. However, such images and recordings are usually copyrighted and cannot be used without the permission of the copyright holder. Even backgrounds are often copyrighted. When downloading, recording, or scanning images and sounds, page authors must determine whether they are free or available for a fee, or whether expressed permission is required before they can be used.

Plagiarism - The Web gives its users access to a wealth of information and makes it very easy to copy and save such information. However, authors who copy what others have written or created and present such material as their own rather than giving proper citation are in violation of ETSU policy regarding plagiarism.

Only ETSU students, faculty, staff and approved guests may create and store Web pages through and on university resources, and they may do so only for ETSU business or educational purposes.

Commercial Use - The Web resources made available to the ETSU community are intended for educational or administrative use, not for personal gain. Web pages should not be used to advertise personal services for hire or belongings for sale. Further, Web pages cannot be used to provide "billboard" space for advertisements. However, students are encouraged to post their personal resumes.

Web browsing via equipment located on ETSU property should be limited to university-related purposes.

Access to ETSU-supported computing is granted contingent on that access not being misused. Users must practice good and responsible cyber-citizenship.

Use of East Tennessee State University's seal and logo must be in accordance with East Tennessee State University's policy Guidelines for a Consistent Visual Image and is restricted to the university's home page and the Web pages that are immediately linked to the home page (i.e., those pages that have hyperlink on the home page). ETSU's logo is also a trademark and can be used only with the university's permission.

East Tennessee State University's policy, Guidelines for a Consistent Visual Image, is a uniform statement of policy describing the proper use of East Tennessee State University's seal, logo, colors, flag and mascots.