INTERNET USAGE POLICY

INTERNET USAGE POLICY

Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, State Court, Juvenile Court and Magistrate Court

Liberty County, Georgia

PURPOSE

The Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, State Court, Juvenile Court and Magistrate Court of Liberty County, Georgia (hereinafter referred to as "Clerk's Office") is dedicated to using the Internet as technology enabling efficient delivery and exchange of information within the office, with other governmental agencies and for the public. However, due to the scathing nature of the Internet, it is necessary to define and bar inappropriate usage.

GEORGIA COMPUTER SYSTEMS PROTECTION ACT

The Clerk's Office is under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act, enacted by the 1991 Georgia General Assembly and signed into law by the governor effective July 1, 1991, which establishes certain acts involving computer fraud or abuse or crimes punishable by defined fines, imprisonment or both.

O.G.G.A § 16-9-93 states:

Computer Theft. Any person who uses a computer or computer network with knowledge that such use is without authority and with the intention of:

(1) Taking or appropriating any property of another, whether or not with the intention of depriving the owner of possession;

(2) Obtaining property by any deceitful means or artful practice; or

(3) Converting property to such person's use in violation of an agreement or other known legal obligation to make a specified application or disposition of such property

shall be guilty of the crime of computer theft.

Computer Trespass. Any person who uses a computer or computer network with knowledge that such use is without authority and with the intention of:

(1) Deleting or in any way removing, either temporarily or permanently, any computer program or data from a computer or computer network;

(2) Obstructing, interrupting, or in any way interfering with the use of a computer program or data; or

(3) Altering, damaging, or in any way causing the malfunction of a computer, computer network, or computer program, regardless of how long the alteration, damage, or malfunction persists

shall be guilty of the crime of computer trespass.

Computer Invasion of Privacy. Any person who uses a computer or computer network with the intention of examining any employment, medical, salary, credit, or any other financial or personal data relating to any other person with knowledge that such examination is without authority shall be guilty of the crime of computer invasion of privacy.

Computer Forgery. Any person who creates, alters, or deletes any data contained in any computer or computer network, who, if such person had created, altered, or deleted a tangible document or instrument would have committed forgery under Article 1 of this chapter, shall be guilty of the crime of computer forgery. The absence of a tangible writing directly created or altered by the offender shall not be a defense to the crime of computer forgery if a creation, alteration, or deletion of data was involved in lieu of a tangible document or instrument.

Computer Password Disclosure. Any person who discloses a number, code, password, or other means of access to a computer or computer network knowing that such disclosure is without authority and which results in damages (including the fair market value of any services used and victim expenditure) to the owner of the computer or computer network in excess of $500.00 shall be guilty of the crime of computer password disclosure.

Article not Exclusive. The provisions of this article shall not be construed to preclude the applicability of any other law which presently applies or may in the future apply to any transaction or course of conduct which violates this article.

Civil Relief; Damages.

Any person whose property or person is injured by reason of a violation of any provision of this article may sue therefor and recover for any damages sustained and the costs of suit. Without limiting the generality of the term, "damages" shall include loss of profits and victim expenditure.
At the request of any party to an action brought pursuant to this Code section, the court shall by reasonable means conduct all legal proceedings in such a way as to protect the secrecy and security of any computer, computer network, data, or computer program involved in order to prevent possible recurrence of the same or a similar act by another person and to protect any trade secrets of any party.
The provisions of this article shall not be construed to limit any person's right to pursue any additional civil remedy otherwise allowed by law.
A civil action under this Code section must be brought within four years after the violation is discovered or by exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered. For purposes of this article, a continuing violation of any one subsection of this Code section by any person constitutes a single violation by such person.

Criminal Penalties.

Any person convicted of the crime of computer theft, computer trespass, computer invasion of privacy, or computer forgery shall be fined not more than $50,000.00 or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.
Any person convicted of computer password disclosure shall be fined not more than $5,000.00 or incarcerated for a period not to exceed one year, or both.

O.G.G.A § 16-9-93.1 provides:

It shall be unlawful for any person, any organization, or any representative of any organization knowingly to transmit any data through a computer network or over the transmission facilities or through the network facilities of a local telephone network for the purpose of setting up, maintaining, operating, or exchanging data with an electronic mailbox, home page, or any other electronic information storage bank or point of access to electronic information if such data uses any individual name, trade name, registered trademark, logo, legal or official seal, or copyrighted symbol to falsely identify the person, organization, or representative transmitting such data or which would falsely state or imply that such person, organization, or representative has permission or is legally authorized to use such trade name, registered trademark, logo, legal or official seal, or copyrighted symbol for such purpose when such permission or authorization has not been obtained; provided, however, that no telecommunications company or Internet access provider shall violate this Code section solely as a result of carrying or transmitting such data for its customers.

Any person violating subsection (a) of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit an aggrieved party's right to pursue a civil action for equitable or monetary relief, or both, for actions which violate this Code section.

DEFINITIONS AND TERMS

Definitions and common terms used in discussing the Internet are:

Client: One end of a network protocol that provides a user interface to the server end.
Computer Ethics: Accepted manners to be observed while using the Internet.
Electronic Mail (E-mail): A means of sending messages between computers using a computer network or over a modem connected to a telephone line.
Internet: A medium through which information or electronic mail may travel. Computer users can currently use the Internet like a telephone or fax to exchange information quickly and efficiently.
Server: Computer(s) that provide information to client programs via the Internet through programs that send information to Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Web Page: A single page displayed by a Web browser.
World Wide Web (WWW or the Web): This is the part of the Internet that provides a way for organizations or individuals to publish information that is then available to a worldwide audience. Currently, the World Wide Web uses an Internet protocol called HTTP or HyperText Transfer Protocol and sends files written in a language called HTML or HyperText Markup Language - an HTTP server provides Web pages to client programs called browsers which retrieve and display the information stored on the Web server.

MINIMUM INTERNET USAGE POLICY REQUIREMENTS

INFORMATION CONTENT AND USE OF THE SYSTEM

The Clerk's Office reserves the right to monitor and/or log all network activity with or without notice, including e-mail and all web site communications, and therefore, users should have no reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of these resources.

Uses that are acceptable and encouraged:

Communications and information exchanges directly relating to the mission, charter, tasks and work of the Clerk's Office;
Announcements of state laws, procedures, hearings, policies, services, or activities; and
Use for advisory, standards, research, analysis, and professional society or development activities related to the user's governmental duties.
Use for personal reasons (i.e., email from/to friends or relatives) is allowed, but it should be occasional rather than regular use.

Uses that are unacceptable:

It is unacceptable for a user to use, submit, publish, display, or transmit on the network or on any computer system any information that:

Violates or infringes on the rights of any other person, including the right to privacy;
Contains defamatory, false, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, pornographic, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, or otherwise biased, discriminatory, or illegal material;
Violates agency or departmental regulations prohibiting sexual harassment;
Restricts or inhibits other users from using the system or the efficiency of the computer systems;
Encourages the use of controlled substances or uses the system for the purpose of criminal intent; or
Uses the system for any other illegal purpose.

It is also unacceptable for a user to use the facilities and capabilities of the system to:

Conduct any non-approved business;
Solicit the performance of any activity that is prohibited by law;
Transmit material, information, or software in violation of any local, state or federal law;
Conduct any political activity;
Conduct any non-governmental-related fund raising or public relations activities;
Engage in any activity for personal gain or personal business transactions; or
Make any unauthorized purchases.

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Users may download copyrighted material, but its use must be strictly within the agreement as posted by the author or current copyright law. The federal Copyright Act at 17 U.S.C. 101 et. seq. (1988), protects and prohibits misuse of all original works of authorship in any tangible medium of expression. This includes a prohibition on plagiarism (using someone else's ideas or writing and passing it on as one's own).

PUBLIC DOMAIN MATERIAL

Any user may download public domain programs for his/her own business-related use, or may redistribute a public domain program non-commercially but does so with the knowledge that by doing so, he/she also assumes all of the risks regarding the determination of whether or not a program is in the public domain.

ELECTRONIC MAIL [E-MAIL]

E-mail is considered network activity, thus, it is subject to all policies regarding acceptable/unacceptable uses of the Internet and the user should not consider e-mail to be either private or secure.

REGULATION AND ENFORCEMENT

The Clerk of Courts (or his or her delegated representative) is responsible for compliance with provisions of this policy and for investigating suspected non-compliance. These duties include, but are not limited to:

Investigation of alleged or suspected non-compliance with the provisions of the policy; and
Suspensions of service to users or of user access with or without notice when deemed necessary for the operation and/or integrity of the state communications infrastructure or connected networks.
When an instance of non-compliance is suspected or discovered in a computing system or network connected to the state network, the agency shall proceed in accordance with Clerk's Office rules. Internal discipline, up to and including discharge, may be appropriate in some cases of non-compliance with this policy. Criminal or civil action may be initiated in appropriate instances.

CONSENT FORM

All Clerk's Office employees having access to the Internet must consent that all network activity is the property of the Clerk's Office, and therefore, they should not consider any activity to be private. This is accomplished through execution of a signed Consent Form (shown below as Figure 1-1).

Figures 1-1 (attached) is a consent form. As a minimum, anyone having access to the Internet must acknowledge that they are consenting to the Clerk's Office having possession of and access to all network activity.

LIABILITY

This Clerk's Office makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied for the service that is the subject of this policy. In addition, the Clerk's Office will not be responsible for any damages whatsoever which employees may suffer arising from or related to their use of any Clerk's Office electronic information resources, whether such damages be incidental, consequential or otherwise, or whether such damages include loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mistaken deliveries, or service interruptions whether caused by either a Clerk's Office negligence, errors, or omissions. Users must recognize that the use of Clerk's Office electronic information resources is a privilege and that the policies implementing usage are requirements that mandate adherence.

FIGURE 1-1

INTERNET USAGE AGREEMENT

EMPLOYEE CONSENT FORM

Employee Name:

I, the above-named employee of the Office of the Clerk of Superior Court, State Court, Juvenile Court and Magistrate Court of Liberty County, Georgia (hereinafter referred to as "Clerk's Office"), have read this policy and agree to comply with all its terms and conditions. I agree that all network activity conducted while doing business on behalf of the Clerk's Office and being conducted with office resources is the property of the Clerk's Office.

The Clerk of Courts reserves the right to monitor and log all network activity including e-mail, with or without notice, and therefore users should have no expectations of privacy in the use of these resources.

Signed:
Date:
Supervisor:
Date: