RFC 1746 (rfc1746) - Page 2 of 18
Ways to Define User Expectations
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1746 Ways to Define User Expectations December 1994
and conditions of use. This forms the basis for the type of service
offerings that you as an entity can provide. If you get service from
several providers, all of them need to be considered in the
formation of policy.
2.2 Who your peers are
Are your policies consistent with those offered by your peers? In
many cases, the formation of policy will define who your peers are.
It is important to clearly identify which areas you intend to reach
and the community you wish to be a contributing, productive part of.
Once this is clear, formulate polices along those lines.
2.3 Who you provide service to
It is required that you inform those who use your services just what
your policies are. Without this information, it will be almost
impossible for them to distinguish what to expect from your service
offering. Without a clear policy it is possible that litigation may
ensue. It is important to reflect community standards in the creation
of policy.
3. Some Issues to consider
IP provided services can be complex. They comprise both information
and communication. In the formulation of policy it is critical that
the policy provide for security and access to information and
communication while ensuring that the resource use does not
overburden the system's capabilities. These conflicting demands must
be analyzed and a synthesis arrived at. This hints a fourth
component of an AUP, that it has a method to extract compliance.
This is so site specific that further analysis will not be attempted
here.
Some items that should be considered in the formation of policy are:
- privacy - morals & ethics
- freedom of expression - legal constraints
- safety - harassment
- plagiarism - resource utilization
- indemnification - targeted areas of interest
- expected behaviours - remedies and recourse
This should not be considered as an exhaustive list but as pointers
for those types of things to be considered when policy is formed.
Manning & Perkins