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Bill of Rights <fwd>




Something that was forwarded to me...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
 From: [email protected]
 Subject: POD E-Mail Bill of Rights
 Date: Tue, 20 Sep 1994 14:55:05 -0400
 Subject: POD E-Mail Bill of Rights

 I'm enclosing a document put together by Frank Connolly at American
 University that is the most carefully articulated document establishing
 networking protocol I have come across.

 David Way

 ================   TEXT OF THE BILL FOLLOWS ===============================

 PREAMBLE

 In order to protect the rights and recognize the responsibilities of
 individuals and institutions, we, the members of the
 educational community, propose this Bill of Rights and
 Responsibilities for the Electronic Community of Learners.
 These principles are based on a recognition that the electronic
 community is a complex subsystem of the educational
 community founded on the values espoused by that community.
 As new technology modifies the system and further empowers
 individuals, new values and responsibilities will change this
 culture.  As technology assumes an integral role in education
 and lifelong learning, technological empowerment of
 individuals and organizations becomes a requirement and right
 for students, faculty, staff, and institutions, bringing with it new
 levels of responsibility that individuals and institutions have to
 themselves and to other members of the educational
 community.


 ARTICLE I: INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

 The original Bill of Rights explicitly recognized that all
 individuals have certain fundamental rights as members of the
 national community. In the same way, the citizens of the
 electronic community of learners have fundamental rights that
 empower them.

 Section 1.
 A citizen's access to computing and information resources shall
 not be denied or removed without just cause.

 Section 2.
 The right to access includes the right to appropriate training and
 tools required to effect access.

 Section 3.
 All citizens shall have the right to be informed about personal
 information that is being and has been collected about them, and
 have the right to review and correct that information,.  Personal
 information about a citizen shall not be used for other than the
 expressed purpose of its collection without the explicit
 permission of that citizen.

 Section 4.
 The constitutional concept of freedom of speech applies to
 citizens of electronic communities.

 Section 5.
 All citizens of the electronic community of learners have
 ownership rights over their own intellectual works.


 ARTICLE II: INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES

 Just as certain rights are given to each citizen of the electronic
 community of learners, each citizen is held accountable for his
 or her actions.  The interplay of rights and responsibilities
 within each individual and within the community engenders
 the trust and intellectual freedom that form the heart of our
 society. This trust and freedom are grounded on each person's
 developing the skills necessary to be an active and contributing
 citizen of the electronic community. These skills include an
 awareness and knowledge about information technology and
 the uses of information and an understanding of the roles in the
 electronic community of learners.

 Section 1.
 It shall be each citizen's personal responsibility to actively
 pursue needed resources: to recognize when information is
 needed, and to be able to find, evaluate, and effectively use
 information.

 Section 2.
 It shall be each citizen's personal responsibility to recognize
 (attribute) and honor the intellectual property of others.

 Section 3.
 Since the electronic community of learners is based upon the
 integrity and authenticity of information, it shall be each
 citizen's personal responsibility to be aware of the potential for
 and possible effects of manipulating electronic information: to
 understand the fungible nature of electronic information; and to
 verify the integrity and authenticity, and assure the security of
 information that he or she compiles or uses.

 Section 4.
 Each citizen, as a member of the electronic community of
 learners, is responsible to all other citizens in that community:
 to respect and value the rights of privacy for all; to recognize and
 respect the diversity of the population and opinion in the
 community; to behave ethically; and to comply with legal
 restrictions regarding the use of information resources.

 Section 5.
 Each citizen, as a member of the electronic community of
 learners, is responsible to the community as a whole to
 understand what information technology resources are
 available, to recognize that the members of the community
 share them, and to refrain from acts that waste resources or
 prevent others from using them.


 ARTICLE III: RIGHTS OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

 Educational institutions have legal standing similar to that of
 individuals.  Our society depends upon educational institutions
 to educate our citizens and advance the development of
 knowledge.  However, in order to survive, educational
 institutions must attract financial and human resources.
 Therefore, society must grant these institutions the rights to the
 electronic resources and information necessary to accomplish
 their goals.

 Section 1.
 The access of an educational institutions to computing and
 information resources shall not be denied or removed without
 just cause.

 Section 2.
 Educational institutions in the electronic community of learners
 have ownership rights over the intellectual works they create.

 Section 3.
 Each educational institution has the authority to allocate
 resources in accordance with its unique institutional mission.


 ARTICLE IV: INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

 Just as certain rights are assured to educational institutions in
 the electronic community of learners, so too each is held
 accountable for the appropriate exercise of those rights to foster
 the values of society and to carry out each institution's mission.
 This interplay of rights and responsibilities within the
 community fosters the creation and maintenance of an
 environment wherein trust and intellectual freedom are the
 foundation for individual and institutional growth and success.

 Section 1.
 The institutional members of the electronic community of
 learners have a responsibility to provide all members of their
 community with legally acquired computer resources (hardware,
 software, networks, data bases, etc.) in all instances where access
 to or use of the resources is an integral part of active
 participation in the electronic community of learners.

 Section 2.
 Institutions have a responsibility to develop, implement, and
 maintain security procedures to insure the integrity of
 individual and institutional files.

 Section 3.
 The institution shall treat electronically stored information as
 confidential.  The institution shall treat all personal files as
 confidential, examining or disclosing the contents only when
 authorized by the owner of the information, approved by the
 appropriate institutional official, or required by local, state or
 federal law.

 Section 4.
 Institutions in the electronic community of learners shall train
 and support faculty, staff, and students to effectively use
 information technology.  Training includes skills to use the
 resources, to be aware of the existence of data repositories and
 techniques for using them, and to understand the ethical and
 legal uses of the resources.

                                                     August 1993

 ************************************************************************ *
                                                                * *  Frank
 Connolly                         The American University      * *
 FRANK@America
 .EDU                     119 Clark Hall               * *  (202) 885-3164
                  Washington, D.C  20016       * *
                                       *
 ****************************************
 *******************************

 David G. Way
 [email protected]
 14 East Ave.
 Ithaca, NY 14853
 (607) 255-2663



=========================     ED                       =======================

 Ed Gillen
 NYS Education Department
 Office of Human Resources Management
 Room 528 EB
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 Albany, NY  12234

 (518) 474-1032
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