Guidelines & Policies

Acceptable Use of the MSU Network

Michigan State University Acceptable Use of Computing Systems, Software, and the University Digital Network: MSU's administrative ruling on the acceptable use of computing systems, software, and MSU's digital network...
Abuse: For reporting abuse of MSU's Acceptable Use Policy...
Guidelines Regarding Bulk E-mailing by Internal Users on MSUnet: The purposes of these guidelines are to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of electronic communication, and to minimize the amount of undesired e-mail that members of the MSU community receive from other members of the MSU community...

Copyright Advice from the Digital & Multimedia Center, MSU Libraries: Find resources about copyright law and on obtaining permissions from rights holders.
Copyright and Patent Policy at MSU: Download handbooks from the MSU Office of Intellectual Property.
DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Procedures: When MSU receives a complaint that someone is in violation of the DMCA, generally by sharing files on a computer that is connected to the MSU network, MSU is required by federal law to contact the individual and ensure that all activity has been stopped.
See also Copyright Complaint (DMCA) Processing at MSU.
MSU Statement On Using Copyrighted Materials: Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of original works of authorship.…
“Settlement letters” and litigation from RIAA relating to illegal downloading of music [PDF]: April 30, 2007—"The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced a new strategy in its efforts to stop illegal music downloading. The RIAA will notify alleged violators that they will be sued and give them the option to pay a settlement sum before a lawsuit is filed. Alleged violators who do not settle will face a lawsuit and the risk of a substantial court judgment or a costlier settlement. It is in your interest to understand what the RIAA is doing."

Managing Sensitive Data Awareness Campaign: Information, links and other resources regarding managing sensitive data at Michigan State University. Included are sample documents for departmental use, information on training, and links to PCI-DSS pages.
Guidelines for Internal and External Reporting of Data System Security Breaches [PDF]: Information regarding what constitutes an internally reportable data system security breach incident, definitions of confidential and proprietary data, breach reporting procedures and responsibilities, and procedures the University will follow to determine if external notice of a breach is necessary, and how external notification will be done.

Cloud Computing Services: Appropriate use of online software tools such as Google Apps, Gmail, and Microsoft Office Live: "Cloud Computing" promises to provide a large number and variety of services that will be very useful to faculty, staff, and students at MSU. The business models and terms of use of these services often involve a variety of real risks to users and the content they deploy in these services. This document provides guidance to help individuals make informed, well-considered choices about appropriate use of "Cloud computing" services. It includes explanations of current concepts of cloud computing, current examples, and factors all faculty, staff, and students should review. (This guidance document updates and replaces the November 3, 2007, DDC Memo)

MSU Student E-mail Communications Notice: An official MSU e-mail address is issued to each student at the time he or she is admitted to MSU. This is the only e-mail address that the university will use for sending official communications to students.
Student Computer Requirement: Undergraduate students entering MSU are required to bring a personal computer.

MSU Web Accessibility Statement of Encouragement: Those in MSU community producing content for the World Wide Web are strongly encouraged to apply principles of Web accessibility as set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium.
msu.edu Web Style Guide: As part of the 2006 redesign of the main msu.edu Web site, this guide was created to provide MSU Web content providers with some of the resources they need to design official MSU websites.