Web Page Creation and FTP Site Violations

The following list summarizes serious violations of Skidmore's web page creation policy.

Copyright
Current international law states that all original work is protected by copyright regardless of whether or not a copyright notice is attached. This includes unpublished manuscripts, news reports, public speeches, personal correspondence, photographs, graphic images, music, videos, computer software and of course published journals and monographs and any other physical expression of an idea.

To be free of copyright, an author (or subsequent copyright owner) must state explicitly that the work has been placed in the public domain. Any person violating copyright policies is in violation of this policy statement.

Forgery and Misrepresentation

Just as it is possible for someone to forge a signature on a paper document, one can make it appear as though a different person created a web page. The college views such practices as a violation of this policy statement.

Menacing

Creating web pages that are abusive or threaten an individual's safety is a serious violation of this policy statement. The creation of web pages for sexual, ethnic, religious or minority harassment of an individual is a violation of this policy statement.

FTP Sites
Creating FTP sites that distribute copyrighted information such as music, images, etc. is a serious violation of this policy statement.

Response to Claimed Violations
When the agent to receive statutory notices about infringements under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act receives a report of suspected copyright violation, he/she will "respond expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing."

Information Technology (IT) will temporarily disable a user's account if it is reasonably believed that the user represents a serious on-going threat to copyright violation or a violation of this policy statement.

The suspected violation will be addressed by the agent receiving the infringement notification and, if necessary, the violation will be reported to the appropriate authority for investigation and adjudication as follows:

For Faculty:

The dean of the faculty.

For Administration and Staff:

The immediate office director and supervisor.

For Students:

The dean of student affairs for action or delegation under the Student Handbook to the Academic Integrity Board if the violation is related to a Skidmore course or to the Social Integrity Board if the violation is related to action not connected to a Skidmore course.

For Union Personnel:

The Human Resources director.

All members of the college:

Any member of the college who believes that improper use of web pages has violated their academic freedom may present their case to the Committee on Academic Freedoms and Rights.

Complaints of menacing that involve sexual, ethnic, religious or minority harassment will also be reported to the Assistant Director of Equal Opportunity and Workforce Diversity.

Violations that include a serious threat to personal safety will be reported to the Campus Safety.