The following are guidelines for email use at Boston College:

• Pyramid schemes are illegal. Do not participate in them. A pyramid scheme is any process whereby you are asked to send money to names on a list and then you put your name on that list and mail it to several people, hoping those people will send you money.
• Do not participate in email chain letters. A chain letter is any letter which asks to be forwarded to other people, even if it is a for a good cause. This is prohibited at Boston College and frowned upon by the Internet Society. It causes unnecessary network traffic, wasted disk space, and slows email delivery for everyone.
• Do not send large attachments. They slow the network down, waste disk space, and sometimes can prevent someone's Inbox from opening correctly because the email software runs out of memory.
• Do not spam other users by sending unsolicited junk mail. Do not spam newsgroups by posting messages which are not on the topic of the newsgroup or intended only to incite a flame war.
• Do not send messages to large distribution lists without careful planning and only when absolutely necessary. Divide your lists into smaller groups (less than 100) so as not to overload the outgoing email server. If you overwhelm the email server, everyone's mail will be delayed, including your own. Email should only be used to communicate with the entire campus during extreme/emergency situations.
• Do not send email under names other than your own. Known as spoofing, this is against the policies at Boston College and you will be subject to serious disciplinary actions as a result.
• Please remember at all times that you are communicating with another person at the other end of the email, not a machine. Use civil language and re-read your messages before you send to check for possible misunderstandings.

Reporting email abuse

If you receive improper messages like the ones described above, learn how to report email abuse.

Important reminder: Any person who engages in any kind of computer or systems misuse as described in the University Policies and Procedures Manual and the Student Guide may be subject to disciplinary action, including the loss of computer privileges and/or dismissal from the University, and to criminal prosecution under the applicable state and/or federal laws.