All computer users are reminded of the following:

On August 1, 1979, Chapter 815 of the Florida statutes, "The Florida Computer Crimes Act" went into effect. This act describes the circumstances under which the unauthorized use of computer equipment, services, or accounts may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor of the first degree, felony of the third degree, or felony of the second degree with penalties ranging from 1 to 15 years of imprisonment and fines of $1,000 to $10,000.

All computer users should refrain from using other persons computer access permissions, from making their computer passwords available to other persons, from unauthorized access of other users files, and from using their access privileges for other than the purpose intended. Persons apprehended for unauthorized use may well be turned over to the State Attorney's Office for prosecution.

It must be emphasized that misuse of the computer has, by this law, become a very serious crime. Stealing a password, for example, may be judged a felony offense. The full text of the law is available through the Northeast Regional Data Center at the University of Florida.

The UNF Department of Computing Services is responsible for promulgating University policy for implementing the intent of this law. A summary may be found at http://www.unf.edu/compserv/info/computercrimes.html .