| ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY |
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| In Brief (skip
to contents) |
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JISCMail is a service which runs mailing
lists for the benefit of the UK Higher and Further Education
and Research Community |
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Each JISCMail list must have at least
one list owner |
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JISCMail does not allow spam, junk mail,
chain letters or other unsolicited bulk email, commercial
or otherwise, on any list |
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The posting of unsolicited commercial
or advertising material is not allowed |
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Messages sent to JISCMail lists should
be courteous and appropriate, and should not disrupt the flow of
discussion on a list |
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Copyright of messages sent to a JISCMail
list are retained by the original sender |
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Messages sent to a JISCMail list will
normally be archived on the list's homepage |
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Due to the nature of the internet, the
security of messages sent to JISCMail cannot be guaranteed |
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The Science and Technology Facilities Council provides the JISCMail service under
contract to the JISC and is registered for compliance under
the Data Protection Act 1998 |
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You will not attempt to mislead others
as to your identity, either by providing false information
when subscribing to, or posting to a JISCMail list,
or by forging the headers and addresses in an email message |
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Membership of a JISCMail list must be
voluntary, and neither the list owner nor any other person
may subscribe a person to a list without that
person's consent |
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We reserve the right to remove offensive
messages from our archives immediately |
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| Contents |
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About the Acceptable
Use Policy
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Role of List Owners
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No Spam or Bulk
Email
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Posting Promotional
Messages
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Content of Messages
Posted
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Copyright of
Messages Posted
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Message Archives
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Security of
Email Messages
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JISCMail Users and Data Protection
- JISCMail and the Freedom of Information Act 2000
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False or Fraudulent Information
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Voluntary Membership
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Harvesting of Addresses
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Violation of
our Policy
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Liability
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Amendments
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How to contact JISCMail
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| 1. About the
Acceptable Use Policy (back
to contents) |
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| JISCMail is a service which runs mailing
lists for the benefit of the UK higher and further education
and research community. We are committed to supporting our
users and promoting communication, collaboration and the
free-flowing exchange of ideas.
This is the Acceptable Use Policy for the JISCMail service.
By sending a message to any JISCMail list you are accepting
these conditions, so please read them carefully.
JISCMail is subject to the JANET Acceptable Use Policy
(http://www.ja.net/services/publications/policy/aup.html), and to UK laws. |
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| 2. Role of List Owners (back
to contents) |
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| Each JISCMail list is managed by one or more
individuals who are known as 'list owners'.
List owners may decide on the focus or subject of their
lists and they may direct discussion. They may also make
decisions on membership, list configuration and on appropriate
postings for their list. List owners are expected to manage
their lists fairly and for the benefit of the majority
of list members - consulting with the list members or with
the JISCMail Helpline if necessary. List Owners will receive
announcements from the service provider on behalf of the
list membership, via the OWNERS-ANNOUNCE list, which is
maintained dynamically from the list of all owners.
We appreciate the time and effort which list owners devote
to managing their lists, and will provide all possible
support, help and backup.
You may contact individual list owners by sending a message
to:
listname-request@JISCMail.ac.uk
where listname is the name of the list.
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| 3. No Spam or Bulk Email (back
to contents) |
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| JISCMail does not allow spam, junk mail,
chain letters or other unsolicited bulk email, commercial
or otherwise, on any list. We take the following measures
to prevent this abuse of our service.
JISCMail Anti-spam Measures :-
- Anyone who joins a JISCMail list must confirm their
subscription. This means that the senders of junk
mail cannot join
a list using a forged address.
- list owners can configure their lists so that messages from
non-members are rejected.
- JISCMail's LISTSERV® software employs various means
of blocking much of the junk email (spam) which is posted
to lists.
Despite our best efforts, some abuse of the JISCMail service
will occur. If junk email is sent to a list please contact
your listowner, who may then notify the JISCMail Helpline.
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| 4. Posting Promotional Messages (back
to contents) |
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| The posting of unsolicited commercial or
advertising material is against the JANET Acceptable Use
Policy (http://www.ja.net/services/publications/policy/aup.html), which applies
to the use of JISCMail.
However, publicising items of potential interest to list
members, such as new releases of software packages, publications,
training courses, websites, job vacancies, conferences
etc can be to the benefit of the list members, and this
is permitted provided the following conditions are met:
- The sender of a promotional message must seek permission
from the list owner before posting, unless the
listowner or list guidelines have already stated
that this type
of posting is acceptable.
- Promotional messages should only be sent if they are
related to the subject or purpose of that list.
- Promotional messages must be sent from a clearly identified
and contactable source.
- Such messages must not be part of a commercial exchange -
list owners may NOT charge for the posting of such messages,
nor will JISCMail forward messages for a fee.
List owners may grant comprehensive permission for certain
types of posting (such as job announcements), or to certain
organisations. List owners can always consult the JISCMail
Helpline if they would like advice or support in this matter. |
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| 5. Content of Messages Posted (back
to contents) |
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| Sending messages to JISCMail lists is generally
a matter of common sense and courtesy. As a JISCMail user
you should be able to use your own sense of what is appropriate
to guide your conduct, without engaging in unreasonable behaviour,
or disrupting the general flow of discussion on a list.
Practical guidelines are available which should help you
use lists in a way which will most benefit yourself and
the other people on the list. (See Guidelines
on Etiquette)
List owners may also provide their own guidelines on
acceptable use and list etiquette and we would expect list
members to abide by these.
Users are reminded that the use of JISCMail is subject
to the JANET Acceptable Use Policy (http://www.ja.net/services/publications/policy/aup.html),
and to UK laws. So messages sent to lists may not contain
information that breaks any law, such as (but not restricted
to) those regarding copyright or defamation.
JISCMail cannot assume any responsibility for the content
of messages sent to our discussion lists, as the messages
are sent by individual users, and we do not review, screen
or edit the content.
You accept that you are solely responsible for the content
of any email message you send to any JISCMail list. |
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| 6. Copyright of Messages Posted (back
to contents) |
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| When you send a message to a JISCMail list,
you retain your copyright in that message. You also retain
your moral right to be identified as the author of the work,
and your moral right against derogatory treatment.
The extent to which your message is made available across
the internet will depend on the level of access that has
been decided by the listowner.
You give JISCMail permission to reproduce, deliver, distribute
and archive your message as appropriate, and you agree
that other JISCMail users may read, save, download or print
your message.
More information about copyright is available at http://www.JISCMail.ac.uk/help/policy/copyright.htm |
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| 7. Message Archives (back
to contents) |
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| Messages sent to a JISCMail list will normally
be archived, and these archives can then be retrieved by
any member of that same list. These archives may also (at
the discretion of the listowner) be made publicly available
on the web, and thus be available to anyone.
When using JISCMail, you accept that any message you post
to a JISCMail list may be archived in this manner, and
that other users of the service may download and print
these messages for their own use.
Archives or collections of the messages sent to a JISCMail
list may not be made publicly available at another site
unless the listowner has granted explicit permission, and
the list members have been informed. |
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| 8. Security of Email Messages (back
to contents) |
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| Due to the nature of the internet, the security
of messages to JISCMail cannot be guaranteed, and you should
bear this in mind when posting confidential information to
a list - this is true even when access to the list is restricted. |
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| 9. JISCMail
Users and Data Protection (back
to contents) |
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| The Science and Technology Facilities Council provides the JISCMail service under
contract to JISC and is registered for compliance under the
Data Protection Act 1998.
When you subscribe to a JISCMail list you supply us with
your name and email address, and this information can normally be
retrieved by any member of that same list.
If you are using Shibboleth to authenticate, your
Shibboleth Targeted_ID will be mapped to your e-mail address as well.
This will uniquely identify you to JISCMail, but does not contain details
of your identity, and is unique to our service.
When you leave JISCMail, your name, email address and, if relevant, Shibboleth Targeted_ID will
be removed from our database. However, any message you
have posted to a list will remain in the archives.
Personal information, which may be stored manually and/or
electronically, will only be used in connection with the
JISCMail service. JISCMail will never sell email addresses,
or any other personal information, to another organisation.
You agree that JISCMail may disclose any information held
if we believe that this is necessary to operate our systems,
to run the service, to comply with the law, or to protect
the service or others. |
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| 10. JISCMail and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (back to contents) |
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The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 establishes a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities. The Act applies to all public authorities, including Government Departments. Full access rights under the Freedom of Information Act came into force on 1 January 2005.
The JISCMail service is currently operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the JISCMail and Mailtalk services are included in the Science and Technology Facilities Council Publication Scheme at http://www.stfc.ac.uk/About/Pol/FOI/PubScheme.aspx
For more information please see: http://www.JISCMail.ac.uk/help/policy/foi.htm
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| 11. False or Fraudulent Information (back
to contents) |
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| You will not attempt to mislead others as
to your identity, either by providing false information when
subscribing to, or posting to, a JISCMail list, or by forging
the headers and addresses in an email message. |
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| 12. Voluntary Membership (back
to contents) |
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| Membership of a JISCMail list must be voluntary -
neither the listowner or any other person may subscribe
a person to a list without that person's consent. |
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| 13. Harvesting Addresses (back
to contents) |
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| No one shall use the JISCMail service to
collect information about others (including their email addresses) without their consent. |
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| 14. Violation of our Policy (back
to contents) |
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JISCMail users may contact us about any breach
of our acceptable use policy, and we will take any of the
following actions if it is thought appropriate:
- Contact the person responsible to discuss the problem
- Contact their listowner
- Remove them from list membership
- Contact their hosting site, institution, or service
provider
- Restrict email from certain sites or addresses
- Remove inappropriate messages from the JISCMail archives
- Make a public announcement to those affected
list owners are also entitled to take action against any
list member who engages in unreasonable behaviour.
The decision on what action is appropriate will be made
by the JISCMail team on a case by case basis. The action
taken will often depend on whether the infraction was innocent,
inadvertent or intentional.
If we receive any complaint about a message sent to a
JISCMail list, we reserve the right to remove the allegedly
offensive message from our archives immediately and without
consulting the originator of this message. |
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| 15. Liability (back
to contents) |
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| JISCMail is not liable for the conduct of
any JISCMail user, or for the conduct of any party other
than JISCMail itself. |
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| 16. Amendments (back
to contents) |
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| JISCMail reserves the right to amend the
Acceptable Use Policy at any time without notice. If the
policy is amended then all list owners will be informed and
they may distribute the information to list members. |
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| 17. How to contact JISCMail (back
to contents) |
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If you have any questions or comments please
contact us and we will do our best to resolve any problems
or issues raised.
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