Department of Engineering

Rules governing the sending of e-mail

The use of e-mail is governed by the general rules relating to computing and the use of computer networks. Note especially that a registered user id must be used.

Most simple use of the mail system will cause no problems, but those being more adventurous in their use should bear the following in mind.

• You must not attempt to hide your identity when sending mail, or attempt to impersonate someone else. You may only change the originator from the system default to that of an account on another Cambridge University system which you may legitimately use (e.g. hermes or CUS users may set the From: field to refer to their hermes or CUS account - this is most useful if they normally handle mail on that system). The mail user agents page includes guidance on setting up mailers on PCs and Macs.
• You should not send abusive, intimidating, harassing or misleading e-mail.
• You should not send bulk unsolicited e-mail, see the University IT Syndicate's Guidelines on Use of Bulk Email in Cambridge for more details. Don't retaliate if you get junk e-mail: instead see the guidelines.
• You should not send large mail messages unless you have checked that the recipient is both able to receive them and wants them. If you want to send very big mail messages (e.g. over 4 Mbytes, or over 20 Mbytes within Cambridge) to anywhere you should consult postmaster@eng.cam.ac.uk to check that the systems concerned can cope with that size.
• The networking facilities used for e-mail are provided for academic use. A small amount of social or recreational use is permitted provided it does not interfere with academic work. Commercial use is strictly forbidden.