byz.org TOS

The Policy

This is a rough draft of user policy. In the end, byz is an autocracy. However, I welcome comments, suggestions, criticisms, and complaints.

Many of the items in this user policy are things I must take on trust. This does not make them any less important.

• For the most part, byz is for non-commercial purposes only. If you wish to use byz for commercial purposes, talk to me; I may be willing to make an exception (though I haven't done so yet).

• No attempts to crack passwords or gain root access -- or any other kind of access that you wouldn't normally have. People who do this will have their accounts terminated, no warning.

• No using byz for cracking anybody else's system, or for denial of service attacks. We don't have enough bandwidth for the latter anyway. Again, the penalty is termination of account, no warning.

• No futzing with other people's files -- I don't care if they failed to set their permissions properly, if you don't have explicit permission to read and/or write a file that another user owns, don't touch it. Account terminated, no warning.

• Be responsible about disk use. I don't do quotas, but I will contact people if their disk usage gets too high -- especially their system mail spool -- and expect to see space free up within a week. You get at least one warning; after a week, I may go compress or move files myself, and after two weeks, I may just delete files (this has yet to ever happen. I have, however, moved files to an alternative filesystem and then forgot to set the permissions so the user could actually access them. To avoid being the victim of your sysadminatrix's forgetfulness, keep your disk usage reasonable :). I will *not* terminate an account for disk usage problems.

• Be responsible about processor usage. Please do not run bots of any kind (for instance, irc bots) without permission. I reserve the right to examine your cron jobs to ensure that they comply with this policy.

• No interfering with someone else's freedom of speech. Freedom of speech on byz has the following exceptions:

  • No reposting other people's words or images without their explicit permission. Plagarism is just an incredibly slimy thing to do.

  • No net-stalking -- if someone requests that you stop emailing them, then stop. You get one warning.

  • No sending of unsolicited bulk email, or unsolocited commercial email. No advertisements through email or usenet, either for commercial purposes or to get people to visit your webpage, except in comp.infosystems.www.announce. We don't have the bandwidth, and spam is evil. Furthermore, if it comes to my attention that you're doing any of these things to promote your website on byz, even if you're using a different account, your account will be terminated, no warnings.

  • No drug deals, or any other illegal behaviour that could result in an authority confiscating my equipment. Talk about taking drugs all you want, but don't talk about drugs changing hands. Yes, this is probably sheer paranoia, but that makes it no less important. Don't imperil my hardware, or your account will be terminated without notice. The fact that I think most if not all illegal drugs should be legalized does not change this policy.

  • No loaning out your account to other people. If a group project is happening, request a group account. If a friend needs access, you can request an account from me or they can use the free services available elsewhere.

Last updated: June 25, 2001