As the Internet and Information Technology in general expand their importance in our society, and in specific our University, one must come to terms with the fact that current statutes and legislation may not in fact be evolving along with the trend. Certain aspects of Information Technology can often fall into a "grey area" of jurisdiction and lawful compliance.

It is therefore important for any and all users of this new technology to educate themselves on current governmental and University standards concerning IT. Intellectual property, copyright law, content control and mass-advertisement are just a few legal issues facing us today that must and will be met with proper legislation. For insight on the current state of legislation in the Information Technology field, one might wish to associate oneself with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and HIPAA.

When associating law with the Internet, the best way to go about your business on any network is to associate your actions on it with actions in real life; if it isn't legal to do something off of the UCF systems, it is probably also against statutes and/or policies on the network; note that even if a specific action is not considered to be entirely unlawful, though legal loopholes or such extenuating circumstances may arise, the University of Central Florida reserves the right to govern its own network policy and can discipline any individual performing acts considered by Computer Services and Administration to be inappropriate.

Below are a list of links by which one can familiarize with the current statutes and governmental involvement with the evolving nature of Information Technology.

Florida Computer Crimes Act
Computer users shall comply with all applicable user conduct codes and rules, laws, and regulations governing the use of computer and telecommunications resources under Chapter 815, Florida Statutes, Computer Crimes Act.

The United States Code
This is a current copy of the US Code if there is a specific federal law you want to visit.

FERPA
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

Digital Millenium Copyright Act
A must read for all cut and paste aficionados, download experts, xerox machine enthusiasts, and plagiarists.

HIPAA
The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act