Neighborhood Directory | Privacy FAQs
Acceptable Use Policy | Subscribe to mailing list

Acceptable Use of the BEV/TOB

General Principles

Access to the BEV eNeighborhoods system imposes certain responsibilities and obligations and is granted subject to eNeighborhood policies, and local, state, and federal laws. Acceptable use always is ethical, reflects personal honesty, and shows restraint in the consumption of shared resources. It demonstrates respect for intellectual property, ownership of data, system security mechanisms, and individuals' rights to privacy and to freedom from intimidation, harassment, and unwarranted annoyance.

Guidelines

In making acceptable use of resources, you:

MUST:

• Use resources only for authorized purposes.
• Protect user id and accounts from unauthorized use. You are responsible for all activities on your user id or that originate from your eNeighborhood account or service that you use.
• Access only files and data that are your own, that are publicly available, or to which you have been given authorized access.

• Be considerate in your use of shared resources.
• Refrain from monopolizing systems, overloading networks with excessive data, or wasting computer time, connect time, or other resources.

MUST NOT:

• Use another person's system, user id, password, files, or data without permission.
• Use computer programs to decode passwords or access control information.
• Attempt to circumvent or subvert system or network security measures.
• Engage in any activity that might be harmful to systems or to any information stored thereon, such as creating or propagating viruses, disrupting services, or damaging files.
• Use eNeighborhood systems for commercial or partisan political purposes, such as using electronic mail to circulate advertising for products (commonly known as "spam") or for political candidates.
• Use mail or messaging services to harass, intimidate, or otherwise annoy another person, for example, by broadcasting unsolicited messages or sending unwanted mail.
• Use eNeighborhood's systems or networks for personal gain; for example, by selling access to your user id or to eNeighborhood systems or networks, or by performing work for profit with eNeighborhood resources in a manner not authorized by the Blacksburg Electronic Village and/or the Town of Blacksburg.
• Engage in any other activity that does not comply with the General Principles presented above.

Enforcement

The BEV and the Town of Blacksburg considers any violation of acceptable use principles or guidelines to be a serious offense and reserves the right to copy and examine any files or information resident on the eNeighborhood systems allegedly related to unacceptable use. Violators are subject to disciplinary action, including but not limited to the loss of account privileges temporarily or permanently.

If the BEV believes illegal or improper behavior is taking place, or if your actions are affecting the reliability of eNeighborhood services, the BEV and/or the Town of Blacksburg reserves the right to suspend services and/or access privileges until you have been contacted and a full review of the situation takes place.

Offenders also may be prosecuted under laws including (but not limited to) the Privacy Protection Act of 1974, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986, the Computer Virus Eradication Act of 1989, Interstate Transportation of Stolen Property, the Virginia Computer Crimes Act, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Access to the text of these laws is available online.

Home | Contact | News/Events | Kids |Neighbors | Links | Tour | Search