Wikis Overview

About the Wikis

The Wikis provide a medium for which information is shared among departments, teams, the MIT community, or the greater public. It allows for a secure place to share sensitive data, while simultaneously allowing members to contribute content.

Acceptable Use Policy

General Obligations: Use of this site must be in accordance with all applicable Federal, state and local laws and any applicable MIT Policy. Of special importance in this latter regard are policies on:

• 9.5 Policy on Harassment
• 9.8 Access and Accommodations for Employees and Students with Disabilities (ADA Compliance)
• 11.0 Privacy and Disclosure of Information
• 12.0 Relations With The Public, Use Of MIT Name, And Facilities Use
• 13.0 Information Policy, particularly
• 13.2.2 Information Security and Preservation
• 13.2.3 Responsible Use of MIT Computers, Networks, and Telephones
• 13.5 Reproduction of Copyrighted Material

Copyright Law: Of special concern is the issue of authorized copyrightable materials. Everyone involved in user-provided content web sites share several important objectives: (1) the encouragement of uploads of wholly original and authorized content, (2) the accommodation of fair use of copyrighted content, (3) the elimination of infringing content, and (4) the protection of legitimate interests of user privacy.

• Service Providers have a distinct obligation to educate all of the users of the system in connection with the objectives above, and where required, to enforce those obligations.
• Service Providers should include information for Content Originators in a conspicuous place that they may not upload infringing content and that, by uploading content without appropriate authorization, they risk loss of privileges.
• Service Providers should include information for Content Users in a conspicuous place regarding the allowable/unallowable uses of content once downloaded.

Copyright Infringement Takedown Notice Policy: Service Providers should include in a conspicuous place a contact point for claims of copyright infringement. When given notice of alleged infringement, Providers must (a) remove or block content expeditiously, and (b) take reasonable steps to notify the person who uploaded the content. Providers need to promptly address conflicting claims with respect to alleged infringing materials.

Providers should retain for at least 30 days information related to User uploads of audio and video content to their services, including Internet Protocol addresses and time and date information for uploaded content.

• 17 USC § 512 (c)(1)(E): " ...respond expeditiously to remove, or disable access to, the material that is claimed to be infringing upon notification of claimed infringement"

Copyright Infringement Repeat Infringers Policy: Providers should use reasonable efforts to track infringing uploads of copyrighted content by the same user and should use such information in the reasonable implementation of a repeat infringer termination policy.

• 17 USC § 512 (1)(A): " ...adopted and reasonably implemented, and informs subscribers and account holders of the service providerÕs system or network of, a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service providerÕs system or network who are repeat infringers..."

Guidelines for Using The MIT Wiki Service

• Intent: This service is intended for use by MIT academic, administrative, research, and student groups. If you wish to create a wiki site for personal use, please use the SIPB wiki service, Scripts.mit.edu.

Acceptable Use: This service is to be used for legal purposes only, and in conformance with the Policies and Procedures of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For example, you may not use it to post, distribute or disseminate any defamatory, obscene, or other unlawful material, including another's proprietary information, including trademarks or copyrighted information without express authorization from the rights holder. See the..

• Acceptable Use Policy for User Provided Content Web Sites

Space Administrator's Responsibilities: The person or group designated as space administrator has first-line responsibility for ensuring that content and access control for the site adhere to the above-mentioned policies and procedures.

Quotas and fees: The Wiki Service currently imposes no quota limits or fees. This is subject to change.

Attachments: Your wiki space is intended to be primarily a space for collaboration with your colleagues. Uploading files as attachments is useful and legitimate, particularly in-process documents you and your colleagues may be working on. For static and large-size files, however, other file storage options, such as AFS lockers, are often more appropriate. And, even though they aren't uploaded directly to your wiki space, you can still link to them from your wiki space.

Authentication: Members of the MIT community can authenticate to the service by means of MIT Certificates or by logging in through the MIT Touchstone service.

Non-MIT people can sign up for MIT Touchstone Collaboration accounts.

Anonymous access: Be careful in setting 'anonymous' permissions for your space. Wiki spaces to which 'anonymous' has been granted permission are viewable by anyone in the world, regardless of whether they have an account in the system. Only grant permission to 'anonymous' in cases where this is the appropriate level of access. Also, do not grant permissions greater than 'view' to 'anonymous' except in cases where absolutely necessary. If you do grant permissions beyond 'view', please be sure to set a 'watch' on the space so that you can deal immediately with any unacceptable content.

Wikis Archival and Removal: Every July, Wiki spaces that have not been viewed for more than one year will be removed from the production server and copied to an archive server, where they will be maintained for one year prior to permanent removal.  Please click here for more information regarding archiving.

Also see the IS&T service description

Additional Information

• Atlassian User Guide