Housing and Dining Services

Residential Networking Policies

User Agreement and Statement of Policies

Online registration of student computers is required to gain full access to the computing resources of K-State and the web. Registration of student computers requires acceptance of this User Agreement and the Residential Networking and K-State Technology Usage Policies. Violation of any policy, virus infection of a client machine, spyware infection of a client machine, outdated antivirus software, and unapplied critical updates may result in the interruption of services and/or loss of network privileges without prior notification.

NOTICE: Kansas State University and Residential Networking reserve the right to update and change the posted User Agreement and policies as necessary.

Technology Usage Policy

When using the computing resources of Housing and Dining Services, you agree to the following:

  • It is the responsibility of the user to be aware of all usage policies. View K-State's complete set of policies .
  • Usage must always be legal, ethical, reflect academic honesty and community standards, and show restraint in the consumption of shared resources.
  • To refrain from viewing, copying, altering or destroying anyone's files without explicit permission from the owner of the files.
  • To refrain from harassing others.
  • To refrain from posting, mailing, displaying, or otherwise distributing obscene materials.
  • To refrain from making, distributing or using unauthorized copies of licensed software, music or literature, videos or copyrighted materials.
  • To refrain from damaging files or intentionally damaging or destroying equipment, software or data belonging to K-State or individual users.
  • To refrain from using residential network connections for monetary gain.
  • To refrain from providing a server of any kind (i.e. FTP, SMTP, DHCP, P2P, HTTP or distributed transaction server) via the residential network.
  • To refrain from connecting a router (or similar device) on the residential network.
  • Violation of any policy could result in sanctions, including, but not limited to, administrative cancellation of computing resources and services, cancellation of housing contracts, dismissal from the university or legal action.

Prohibited Network Devices

Certain devices are prohibited on the K-State network due to their potential to cause issues or outages with the network. These issues can range from decreased network performance to complete outages for a building or multiple buildings.

Prohibited Devices

  • IT policy prohibits installation or use of any and all networking equipment on the K-State network such as a router, switch, repeater, bridge, VPN server/concentrator, hardware firewall, wireless access point (WAP), or any similar equipment.
  • Any type of Network Address Translation (NAT) device (software or hardware based) is prohibited.
  • Running a server of any kind on the K-State network is prohibited, (i.e. FTP, SMTP, DHCP, P2P, HTTP, or distributed transaction server).
  • Network printers and print servers are not supported.

Illegal File Sharing and Pirated Software

Illegal File Sharing

Illegal file sharing is considered piracy, which is a violation of Federal copyright laws and K-State IT policy. In addition to the legal and policy ramifications, use of P2P file sharing applications can expose you to malicious software that can take control of your computer, expose your personal information, and cause network congestion that can interfere with the academic use of the campus network. K-State's IT Usage Policy prohibits the use of IT resources for illegal purposes such as piracy. More specifically, K-State's P2P File Sharing Policy prohibits the use of P2P file sharing applications for illegal acquisition or sharing of music, movies, software, games, and the like. Consequently, many commonly used P2P file sharing applications are blocked on the K-State network.

Violation of K-State IT Policy can lead to a range of sanctions that include the suspension of network access or other appropriate university disciplinary actions — up to and including expulsion from the university and/or termination of university employment. K-State has specific procedures it must follow when notified of an alleged copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). After confirming the infringement activity, network access for the computer involved in the illegal activity is blocked and the user is notified with an infringement notice detailing further instructions to follow. Infringers are subject to serious civil and/or criminal liabilities. There are several outside organizations that actively search the Internet, including K-State's network, for illegal file sharing under the auspices of the DMCA. If convicted, criminal penalties for violation of federal copyright law include fines up to $1 million and a maximum jail sentence of 10 years.

Pirated Software

Pirated software is any software, software license, or product key obtained through illegal means such as file sharing, un-authorized vendors, borrowing from a friend, etc. Pirated software will typically be “cracked” to circumvent activation or utilize a key generator or stolen license key. Pirated software is considered a form of theft, which is a violation of federal, state, and local laws, as well as K-State IT policy. In addition to the legal ramifications, use of software cracks and key generators can expose you to malicious software that can infect your computer and expose your personal information. Using pirated software will prevent you from getting product support and updates, which can leave you with outdated software and no technical support.

The ResNet Help Desk at K-State will not provide support for any pirated software. ResNet cannot provide disks or installation media for software that you do not own, and in most cases you will be required to provide installation media for software you wish to have installed by ResNet. ResNet cannot provide product keys or licenses for any software. Only limited support will be given for un-activated trial software during the software's designated trial period. After the software trial period expires, ResNet can no longer provide support until the product is activated with a legally obtained license key.

Other Applicable Policies

Student residents

  • Windows, OS X-based systems must have the latest critical updates and security patches. They also must be running K-State's managed antivirus software.
  • Linux systems must be updated with the appropriate patches for the distribution installed and running up-to-date ClamAv antivirus software with current definitions.

Guests and conference residents

  • The wireless “KSU Guest” network is unencrypted and may be used by all university visitors.
  • Windows-based systems must have an updated antivirus program with current definitions installed, the latest critical updates, and have their machine clean of spyware, viruses, trojans and worms.
  • Apple Mac systems must have all critical updates installed and running up-to-date software.
  • Linux systems must be updated with appropriate patches for the distribution installed and running ClamAV, which is available on the K-State antivirus page.