These codes are mainly provided to show how different rules can be in different communities. Especially note that political communication is forbidden, even though the constitution in most countries especially protect the right to communicate on political issues. /Jacob Palme

The Code of Conduct for EARN Users

EARN/86/07

Geneva, 26st March 1986.

Code of Conduct

This Code of Conduct has been established by the EARN directors to remind users of the intended purpose of EARN, and what their conduct should be to avoid its abuse. While EARN is proving to be an extremely useful network for scholarly research and communication, it is not and should not be considered a secure network, and should not be relied on for transmission of confidential or sensitive data.

  1. All use of EARN must be consistent with its goal to facilitate the exchange of non-commercial information in support of a member institution's mission of education and research. Its use for commercial and political purposes is strictly forbidden.
  2. All transmissions must originate or end at the node of a Full Member of EARN, or a Class A, B, C member of BITNET. EARN may not be used for communication between EARN Associate Members and BITNET Class D members.
  3. Proprietary, ie licensed software for which a fee is payed, may not be sent over EARN if this is contrary to the term of the license.
  4. Users of EARN should limit their use of the network to communication related to their professional activities and should not indulge in random mailings (junk mail) and casual contacts ("Who are you?" messages).
  5. Users should be careful not abuse the possibilities given by various mail distributors (eg. LISTSERV). They should not establish distribution lists that are excessively large will distribute unsolicited messages to other users.
  6. This Code of Conduct may change as the need arises. All members of the EARN community are responsible for seeing that these constraints and courtesies are upheld.