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Cyberspatial Bill of Rights
Of interest to some...
===cut=here===
Date: 04 Dec 93 14:20:40 EST
From: Marty Winter <[email protected]>
To: "SEA.LIST" <[email protected]>
Subject: Electronic Bill of Rights
Courtesy Friends & Lovers BBS, Selkirk, NY
Posted with the permission of Frank Connolly of
The American University. Information on how to contact him is at the
end of this document.
++++++++++++++++++
The following document might be of interest...
Called the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities
for Electronic Learners, it is a model policy statement regarding the
rights and responsibilities of individuals and institutions regarding
computers and electronic networks in education. Although the project
was begun as part of EDUCOM, it is now an initiative of the American
Association of Higher Education (AAHE).
Your comments and suggestions for gaining consideration and discussion
of the Bill on campuses, in school districts and professional forums
would be appreciated.
=============== TEXT OF 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 *
* [email protected] 119 Clark Hall *
* (202) 885-3164 Washington, D.C 20016 *