Example of Effective Computer Acceptable Use Notice

I am blogging from Texas Health Presbyterian Plano hospital while visiting a (sleeping) family member. When I logged onto my laptop I received an option to connect to the hospital’s free wifi Internet access. When I clicked to join the wifi, I was directed to the THR Acceptable Use Statement for Public Internet that I had to agree to before I was given access.

Take a look at the Statement which I found to be a nice, clear statement in less than 2 pages that did a good job of setting forth the expectations, limitations, and disclaimers. This is why I decided to share it with you — if you or your company provide wifi as a service to people visiting your offices, you should have one similar to this. If you don’t, give me a call and I can help you get one.

Now, let’s see if you have been paying attention to what I’ve written about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and, more specifically, the standard followed by the Fifth Circuit as set forth in U.S. v. John. The Statement says “THR grants individuals the privilege of utilizing this access as long as there is no inappropriate use of the Internet access.” If I were to use this access to post copyrighted materials to my Facebook page on which I also decided to change my personal description and (hypothetically) hold myself out as being the fittest, best looking, most experienced Computer Fraud and Abuse Act lawyer in the whole wide world and guaranteed that I have won every case I have ever handled, would I be violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?

***AND SERIOUSLY, PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM NOT REALLY CLAIMING ANY OF THOSE THINGS!***

-Shawn