Software piracy is a criminal act under Federal Law. Title 18, United States Code now provides penalties ranging from one year in prison and fines up to $25,000.00, to five years and fines up to 250,000.00 (depending on the severity of offense), for illegally copying or distributing software.

1. Users may only use those computer accounts in facilities they have been authorized to use by ITS. A user may NOT use a computer account assigned to another person. Access granted to computer resources through the negligence or naivete of another user is not considered authorized use.

2. Computing facilities are to be used for instruction, academics, research and administrative functions. The computing facilities may not be used for commercial purposes or monetary gain. This includes any personal equipment connected to the Millsaps network.

3. Individuals are responsible for all use of their computer accounts and equipment. This includes the content of E-mail messages, web pages, and computer files.

4. Fraudulent, illegal, harassing, embarrassing, obscene, indecent, profane, inappropriate or intimidating materials cannot be sent, printed, requested, displayed or stored.

5. Users are prohibited from reading, modifying, deleting, or copying another user's e-mail. Users are also prohibited from sending unsolicited junk mail, chain letters and for-profit messages.

6. Users may not search for, access, or copy directories, programs, files or data not belonging to them, without express authorization to do so.

7. No one should attempt to modify system facilities, "crash" any computing system, degrade system performance, or subvert the restrictions associated with computer accounts. The willful introduction of computer "viruses" or other disruptive/destructive programs into the Millsaps Computing environment or external networks is prohibited.

8. As users have access to other computers and networks, the following is also applicable: the use of computing systems to attempt to gain unauthorized access to remote systems, decryption of system/user passwords or modifying authorized privilege levels is not permitted.

9. One should not encroach on use of the computer by others. This includes activities that tie up computer resources for excessive game playing or other trivial applications.

10. The World Wide Web (WWW) provides the College with a world wide audience, including prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni, and more. It is a medium for the College to promote itself and its educational mission. The College's presence on the WWW as with all other external communication must portray a positive image. Specific standards and guidelines have been developed for "official" pages. See the "Getting to know Millsaps" on the Millsaps web for more information.

11. Individual home pages (also referred to as personal home pages) are solely the responsibility of the person creating it (or whose account the page is on). They may not contain the College logo or any official wordmarks. These pages may not contain any illegal, obscene, indecent, profane, intimidating, inappropriate or other material that may embarrass or damage the goodwill or reputation of the College. Individuals are prohibited from creating web pages or other public access documents that draw undue traffic to the college through its network connections.

12. Millsaps College is bound by Title 17 of the United States Code on Copyright and supports the provisions contained therein. Individuals are likewise bound by copyright laws. Various software packages have been licensed to Millsaps College for use. However, neither the College nor its employees own this software or documentation. Unless specifically authorized by the software company, this material cannot be copied.

13. Millsaps College does not condone the illegal or unauthorized duplication or use of software. Every person who uses College computing equipment or any computer while on College property or conducting College business, is individually responsible for complying with all copyright laws and software licensing agreements.

14. Millsaps College recognizes and endorses the privacy of individuals in using the computing facilities and will use good faith in preventing privacy abuses. Users are advised, however, that Millsaps College is a private institution that must protect the integrity and safety of the College and its computing facilities, employees and students. On occasion, authorized individuals of the College may be required to examine files maintained on the College's computer facilities. For example, ITS personnel must have access to all files to provide maintenance, data storage, security of information systems and software auditing. Additionally, the College reserves the right to authorize special examination of computer files if the College determines the action appropriate. Abuse of computing privileges and any violations of the guidelines and policies established by the College will be considered as serious matters. Infractions may result in (i) loss of use privileges, (ii) referral to the Honors Council, (iii) referral to the Judicial Council, (iv) disciplinary sanctions, (v) dismissal from the College, (vi) termination of employment, (vii) legal action, and (viii) criminal proceedings. During any investigation, the College reserves the right to suspend computing privileges pending a final determination by the College. Revised: 8/8/03

With the proliferation of microcomputer use, software theft has emerged as a major problem that has threatened to impede the development of new software products. Software theft, sometimes romantically called piracy, involves the unauthorized duplication of software. Microcomputer software creates unique problems because it is so easy to duplicate, and the copy is usually as good as the original. Still, this does not legitimize piracy. Most microcomputer users don't equate creating unauthorized copies of software with theft, that is just what it is.

1) The Copyright Act of 1976, as amended by the Computer Software Act of 1980, is clear. The copyright holder has exclusive rights, including the right to make and distri-bute copies. Title 17 of the U.S. Code states that "it is illegal to make or distribute copies of copyrighted material without authorization."

2) Patents, unlike copyrights, protect the idea behind an item, not merely the particular form in which the idea appears. Few software publishers obtain patents on their software because of the standard of novelty that must be met for protection. Yet, the patent law does provide protection for some software packages.

3) State statutes and common law protect trade secrets embodied in computer software. The owner of a trade secret takes measures to prevent it from becoming known to individuals other than those selected by the owner to access it. To maintain this element of secrecy, software vendors use license agreements. The typical license agreement will include restrictions by which users state that they will not copy the program or show it to any third party without the vendor's consent.

4) Besides the traditional methods of intellectual property protection, some software developers have turned to creative ways of restricting a buyer's use of purchased software. One such innovation is the shrink-wrap license. The shrink-wrap license purports to bind the buyer of the software when the seal is broken. Typically, the diskettes containing the software programs are inside a sealed package and the license is printed on the package. The license claims that a buyer's opening of the package is effective as acceptance to the license terms. The terms generally provide that (1) title to the product remains with the manufacturer and the product is licensed, not sold; (2) the product may be used only by the licensee on a single central processing unit; and (3) copying, modifying, or transferring the program is restricted or prohibited.

1) The software is shareware. With shareware, copying software and sharing it with others is not only permitted, it's encouraged. Users may evaluate shareware software and then pay a registration fee to the author if they wish to continue using the software and receive manuals, technical support, and program updates.

2) Users can also copy and distribute public domain software. Unlike shareware, public domain software lacks a registration fee.

3) The Copyright Act allows users to make a copy of copyrighted software for backup purposes if a backup copy is not provided.

4) The software publisher (the copyright holder) is the only entity authorized for making exceptions to any laws or agreements concerning the copying of their software package.

1) In previous years, most software vendors protected their software with technical schemes, such as making laser-burn holes on floppy disks (Lotus 1-2-3), writing data between sectors, and imbedding counters to keep track of the number of copies made (dBase). However, the increasing use of a hard disk and the growing number of local area networks, have made technical protection schemes impractical. Today, a few major software publishers still use technical protection schemes.

2) Software publishers have united in organizations including SPA (Software Publishers Association) and the BSA (Business Software Association) and launched public awareness programs in hope to educate business and educational institutions about the perils of software piracy. Both associations publish and distribute pamphlets and brochures outlining software theft and the laws against it.

3) Finally, many software publishers are aggressively prosecuting violators of copyright laws and license agreements. Individuals, corporations, educational institutions, and even branches of the government have been successfully sued by irate software publishers crying copyright infringement.

Advantages of Purchasing Authorized Copies - A legitimate copy of a software package has several benefits over an illegitimate one:

1) Manuals, guides, reference cards and templates accompany legally purchased software.

2) Often publishers include tutorials with properly obtained software.

3) Toll-free numbers and fax lines are often available for technical support to paying users of a software package.

4) Users who purchase and register their software packages are informed of software updates as they become available by the software manufacturers.

5) Purchasing authorized copies of software programs is both legal and ethical.