YES

Yes, the academic internet needs control.

By Larry Conrad

FSU Information Resources Manager

Universities have a cherished tradition of academic freedom. It's fundamental to the success of the academy that students and faculty be allowed freedom of exploration and expression that fosters the extension of knowledge.

But how the principle of academic freedom applies to computers and networking has been controversial since the first university computer lab appeared in the 1950s. Content on the Internet is just the latest battleground.

The Faculty Senate at Florida State University has established a policy on the use of computer and network resources which can be found on FSU's web site: www.acns.fsu.edu/Policies/Appropriate.html.

Among other things, this "appropriate use" policy provides for education and research to be the priorities for expending university resources (such as university computers). It also calls for responsible, considerate, legal and ethical behavior in using information resources.

Although it's impossible to censor the volumes of material that people offer on the Internet, we must make exceptions when they use university resources. What private individuals do with their information is none of our business.

From a legal perspective, there are few clear guideposts on how to deal with this issue. Over the years, however, a consensus of sorts has developed.

If Internet information becomes controversial, for whatever reason, the following points are relevant:

·Illegal activities: We have an obligation to take action when university resources are used to support illegal activity such as child pornography, drug dealing or flagrant copyright infringement. The action includes notifying the proper authorities.

·Violation of university policy: The university has an obligation to set standards of behavior as found in the Faculty Senate Policy. Violations could include running a private business, gaming operations or compromising security mechanisms.

·Inordinate consumption of university resources: There are limited resources to go around and an inordinate consumption of resources penalizes the rest of the community. (Most system managers have automated restrictions on how much resource can be consumed by any one person.)

One example of excessive use might be utilizing 10 GB of disk to store home videos of someone's last vacation.

·Response to complaints: What may be considered offensive is highly subjective. However, an important responsibility in any community is to respect the viewpoints and sensitivities of others. This has best been handled by asking those who may be offensive to stop or use password-protected access to limit availability.

·Harassment: This is a violation of university policy important enough to list separately. Allegations of harassment need to be pursued and referred to the appropriate authorities.

Rebuttal

By Jim Rossi

First, the fact that equipment may be owned by FSU does not justify special control of content. I agree that limitations on storage space will be necessary in the operation of a network system as large as FSU's.

However, if administrators attempt to distinguish the content of different users, they will tread on dangerous ground.

Second, shutting off accounts or reprimanding users simply because content "may be offensive" stands to do little more than create an environment of fear and inhibition among computer users.

I agree that allegations of harassment need to be investigated, but I do not believe that it is the role of network administrators to decide guilt or to coerce computer-users into a tacit admission of guilt.

I believe that the same rules that apply to other conduct at FSU should apply on the Internet.

The content of electronic speech should be restricted only in ways that oral or written expression may be regulated.

Send a letter to the Editor: fstimes@unicomm.fsu.edu

Copyright © 1997 Florida State Times