University Network Policies and Punishment?

A not-so Anonymous Coward asks: "I'm a student in the dorms at the University of Colorado, where every room is wired with Ethernet. I bought an 802.11b access point and card, and have been using them on the network. 2 days ago, I came home to find out that my network access had been shut off. When I called ITS, they said it was because I was running the access point, and this was against policy. I proceeded to look through CU's site, and read the entire AUP and terms of use. Nowhere in these agreements is any ban on using wireless equipment in-room. When I called back to see when I could get my access turned back on, I was told that the one person that could help me was out sick. So far my access has been off for 2 days and counting, and chances are slim that I'll get it back by Monday, leaving me with a total of 5+ days without access, all for a violation I was unaware of, and had no warning about. Do I have any rights to force them to turn my access on earlier, or do I just sit without access until they get around to helping me?" Now assuming the AP was not completely open to public access, what possible reason is there for such a limitation? Most kids now go to college with laptops, and an AP is probably the best way for them to work (ie, not tied to the wall). My recommendation would be to politely talk to the University IT department? If anyone else has been in similar situations, how did you go about dealing with the University to get your account/email address/network access restored?

Comments

Somebody call the waaaambulance!!!!!!

[hotarugari]

Ignorance is no excuse. If it was, we'd all be ignorant and stupid. Shame on you for even posting your sob story on here.

What's the problem with cables in dorm rooms?

[knabar]

Most dorm rooms I have seen so far are so small they can be wired with 3' patch cables...

sounds like something Katz would get into...

[kootch]

"How dare they punish this child by removing his god-given RIGHT to a 24/7, dual T3 access point? What did (s)he actually do? (S)He used the technologies at his/her disposal to UNTETHER him/herself from the school mandated position of sitting idle at his/her desk while (s)he could be FREELY EXPRESSING him/herself as (s)he roamed around his/her dorm room, HIS/HER HOME. This school should be CHASTISED for the detrimental effect their actions have taken on this student's ability to FREELY EXPRESS him or herself. SHAME ON YOU."

Re: total of 5+ days without access

[sharkey]

respond in a manner befitting an ISP

You mean, walk you through setting up your Windows98 network and dial-up settings, no matter how many times you have done it on a particular call, no matter what the problems you are having are and no matter what OS you are using, be it Win9x, WinNT, Mac, *NIX, OS/2, etc?