Internet Policy

Purpose

To promote positive use of the Internet, email, list servers and the world wide web while providing for the protection of our youth and the Scouting program.

Definitions

Term	Definition
Council	The Occoneechee Council, BSA.
Council Webmaster	Occoneechee Council shall provided it's own Website, the Council Webmaster is a member of the Council Internet Committee and is responsible for the day to day review of Council approved sites.
I.T Committee	The Committee formed by the VP-Administration of the Council to promote the positive use of this electronic medium.
Internet Site	Any public electronic medium accessible by computer to computer communication. This includes, but is not limited to, web, ftp, list server, email and gopher sites.
Member	Any adult or youth member of the Boy Scouts of America.
Private Sites	Sites providing information about the Scouting program in an unofficial capacity.
Unit Sites	Sites run by units, districts or specific programs of the Occoneechee Council to promote their own programs.

Publishing

Providing information through an Internet site is considered publishing and is subject to the same standards and restrictions of any publishing medium.
Copyrighted materials, other than those developed by the Council and the BSA, are strictly prohibited on Council approved sites.

Council Approved Sites

Given the limited volunteer staff and the ever-growing and constantly changing nature of web sites and laws concerning Internet usage, the has discontinued the "Council Approved" web site program. All district and unit sites that were previously authorized to display the "Occoneechee Web Patrol" emblem should remove it. This decision was reached by the Council I.T. Committee and it became effective on Tuesday, December 17, 2002.

Member Protection

Names and information about youth members shall not be published on the web.
Pictures of youth may appear on the web as long as no name or other personal information is associated with the picture.
Under no circumstances shall the address of any member, youth or adult, be published on the Internet.
Under no circumstances shall the phone number of any youth member be published on the Internet.
E-mail addresses may be published, if worthwhile benefit to the program would be achieved.
Do not provide or promote interactive forums (any technology that allows someone to post material that others may view), including chat rooms and bulletin boards (even if they are moderated), in a web site designed for minors.

E-mail Policy

The main principle to remember is that the rules of youth protection apply for e-mail. Just as you should never have a private Scoutmaster's conference with a Scout, you should not engage in a private communication via e-mail.

Here are some basic rules:

A Scout can communicate with another Scout or Scouts, all he wants.
A Scout can send e-mail to adults, as long as he sends it to more than one registered adult (2-deep leadership)
If an adult Scouter receives a private communication from a Scout, reply to the e-mail by copying other adult Scouters and including (quote function) the original message.
An adult Scouter can send e-mail to a Scout or Scouts, provided the Scouter copies other registered adults (2-deep leadership).

What needs to be avoided is "private" communications between an adult and a Scout.

Other tips concerning the protection of any e-mail distribution list:

Be sensitive to the spam "bots" that search for e-mail addresses and create spam mailing lists. Encourage the use of redirecting e-mails or freebee e-mail addresses (e.g. Yahoo or Hotmail) that can be discarded once targeted by spammers.

Do not post e-mail lists on a web site, if they have the names of youth.

NOTE:

Some units e-mail a list as an attachment to members only (e.g., a Microsoft Word file with a password lock -- you tell the members what the password is during a troop meeting and if they forget, they should call their patrol leader). Some units make the list an HTML file, but place it in a password protected directory so only unit members who know the password can access it.

Do not post bios or photos of anyone. Never allow a pedophile to connect a picture with a name.
Do not post newsletters that provide e-mail addresses of Scouts in articles or ads.
If sending e-mail to a group of Scouts, use a list that does not indicate real names (just e-mail addresses).
To avoid group replies, have the sender insert the distribution list as a "BCC" and make himself the only "TO" addressee. This will block the list from all recipients, as well as the hackers.

Accountability

One adult with site access shall be named as the responsible contact for the each site. In the case of youth run sites, one adult with site access, shall be named the responsible contacts for each site.
The name and e-mail address of the responsible contact shall be listed on the home page of all Scouting related sites.
Passwords:
1. Accept as provided below, site access passwords should be restricted to the responsible contact (i.e., webmaster).
2. If it is necessary to share a password in order to work on a site as a team effort, the password should be changed often.
3. Passwords should be changed periodically.

Liability

The I.T. Committee, like other Council Committees, provides general oversight of guidelines concerning this program. Members operating Internet sites are responsible for their content. Neither the Council nor the I.T. Committee shall be held liable for the contents of any web site.

The Council web site will be designed and operated in compliance with the Boy Scouts of America National Standards and Guidelines for Internet Publishing and Maintaining Local Council Web Sites. The Council I.T. Committee recommends that all district and unit webmasters visit this site and review/adhere to the applicable guidelines, therein.