The frontier-themed Code of the Web, an innovative initiative designed to raise awareness and ease the problems of bandwidth abuse, copyright infringement and other computer network-related issues, was introduced to the University of Delaware in the summer of 2002 and since has seen a positive response among students and faculty alike.

The campaign takes a humorous approach to the issues, which have both legal and technical implications for UD and its leading edge network. It features the mascot YoUDee as an Old West sheriff and includes catch phrases from the era that make serious points. For instance, the campus community is asked to "honor the brand" and avoid copyright infringement and to shun "bandwidth bandits" who hogtie more than their fair share of network space by illegally downloading music, movies and software.

The campaign has been promoted widely on shuttle buses, T-shirts, posters and coffee mugs, as well as in commercials that run during previews in the campus movie theatre and between technology assistance videos played on the cable television network.

It has received the attention of The Chronicle of Higher Education, which wrote about the enlistment of YoUDee in the campaign in an August 2003 issue.

"The University of Delaware takes great pride in its network capabilities, which are among the finest of any institution in the nation," UD President David P. Roselle said. "The Code of the Web campaign is designed to keep all of us at the University keenly aware of fair-use issues as they relate to responsible computing."

Susan Foster, UD vice president for Information Technologies, said the campaign was developed because "it is increasingly easy to trespass on a variety of limits" in using the Internet.

She cited two of the main problems at UD: bandwidth overuse, which is most troublesome when network users download large files, and copyright infringement, which involves web-based information and graphics being used for purposes other than those intended by the copyright holders.

UD purchases access to the Internet, and the amount of its access, which is measured in bandwidth, is finite, according to Daniel Grim, executive director of Network and Systems Services with Information Technologies. With the development of programs that enable network users to download music and movie files, the limit has at times been reached.

"In September 2001, we had a completely saturated access link," Grim said. "The network cannot handle that amount of traffic. It becomes like gridlock on a highway, when cars can't move because other cars are in the way. Everyone is backed up and nobody can get anywhere. The Code of the Web campaign is all about trying to get users to understand the impact they have upon other users as well as on the network itself."

"I hope that everyone at the University will learn to care for the special privileges afforded them through access to UD's network," Foster said, "and that they will be especially cognizant of the privileges and rights of others by observing network use standards and copyright laws."

Foster said it is most appropriate that a Western theme was selected for the campaign because, "the Internet is still a frontier and, sometimes, a lawless place."

The campaign outlines the "Rules of Commu-net-ty" and discusses the punishments that Internet outlaws face, and the penalties for misuse of the web are stiff. Students who violate UD policies are subject to full disciplinary action within the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Judicial System, up to and including loss of computing privileges, suspension and expulsion. University employees who violate the policies will be dealt with according to the judicial processes outlined in the pertinent personnel manuals and handbooks. Furthermore, violators could be prosecuted under state or federal law.

Foster said The Code of the Web theme is a fun and creative way to get a serious message across to the campus community, and she praised the Office of Public Relations team for its "very inventive work" to address the issue of bandwidth abuse.

She added that YoUDee, the University's national champion mascot and the centerpiece of the campaign, makes "a wonderful champion of clean living" on the Internet.