Computer Misuse Act 1990

The Computer Misuse Act establishes 3 categories of criminal offence:

1.  Unauthorised access to computer material including illicit copying of software held in any computer.  Penalty:  Up to 6 months’ imprisonment or up to £5,000 fine.

2.  Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences. 
Penalty:  up to 5 years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

3.  Unauthorised modification of computer material, including:
Intentional and unauthorised destruction of software or data.
The circulation of “infected” materials on-line.
An unauthorised addition of a password to a data file.
Penalty: up to 5 years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

 

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

The Copyright, Design and Patents Act covers all types of creations by an author or artist, including text, graphics and sound.  Any uploading or downloading that is not authorised by the copyright owner is an infringement of their rights.

Please note that the application of the Copyright Act to electronic copying is even stricter than its application to photocopying, since the fair dealing arrangements (ie one article per journal for the purposes of research or private study) do not exist for computerised materials.

Some types of infringement give rise to criminal offences (Penalty up to 2 years’ imprisonment or an unlimited fine) and sometimes the copyright owner may claim compensation.


Data Protection Act 1998

The Data Protection Act requires organisations that use electronic information about living individuals to register with the Data Protection Registrar and to collect, handle and store information correctly.  It must be:
collected and processed fairly and lawfully
held only for lawful purposes
 used only for the purposes described in the Register entry and only disclosed to the people listed in the entry
adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation to the purposes for which it is held
accurate and up-to-date
protected by proper security.

The Act provides you with certain rights:
to check if any organisation keeps information about you on computer
to see a copy of the information (subject to certain exceptions)
 to complain to the Data Protection Registrar or to the courts if you do not like the way organisations are collecting or using personal information about you
to have inaccurate computer records deleted or correct
to seek compensation for damage by the misuse of computer records.

As from October 2001, the Act covers paper-based as well as electronic records.
The College is registered with the Data Protection Registrar.
 

Sex Discrimination Act 1975

Race Relations Act 1975

Both these acts are guided by the same principle, which is the prevention of unfair discrimination.  Both Acts establish fines of up to £5,000 for criminal offences concerning discriminatory statements. 


Obscenity

The College is committed to the prevention of publication of any material which it may consider pornographic, excessively violent or which comes within the provisions of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 or the Protection of Children Act 1978 on any of the College’s IT facilities.  The College will regard any such publication as a very serious matter and will not hesitate to contact the police.


Criminal law

The incitement to commit a crime is a criminal offence in itself, regardless of whether a crime has actually been committed.  This includes the provision of information about criminal activities via computerised services.


International law

There is no international convention on regulating the Internet.  

Although certain materials may be considered legal in the country where they were written, that does not make them legal in this country and does not prevent the application of UK law.  Be cautious.


Tamworth & Lichfield College's Internet Usage Policy

Copies of the Policy are displayed in the College’s IT Centres, computer classrooms, staffrooms and the Library.  It is also available on the College intranet on www.tlcintra.net

Use of the College’s IT facilities, by students and staff, is only permitted within the terms of this Policy.

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