Background

The process of routing communications within the electronic environment requires that an addressing scheme be present at the network level. To accomplish routing from the Internet, an address, called an IP address, is assigned to an institution such as the University of Michigan. U-M, an organization that sends and receives millions of transactions over the Internet, has blocks of IP addresses assigned to it (IP 141.211, 141.212, and so on). These blocks of IP addresses are assigned at no cost to U-M by an administrator on the Internet at the national InterNic.

IP address information does not show up automatically to anyone receiving a transaction or communication from another individual. However, it can be viewed by the InterNic administrator. There are also programs available that will allow a person to view this information, which is available in a database. Persons using addresses within the U-M block of IP addresses would be assumed to be affiliated with the University of Michigan.

As an increasing number of individuals and/or organizations, both profit and nonprofit, seek to register their domains on the Internet, they may wish to use a U-M IP address and even some of the actual servers of the University to receive their communications and manage their transactions. If permission to use an address within U M’s IP address block is granted, communications to that individual, service, organization, or institution will be routed to Ann Arbor, to the University of Michigan, and from there on through the appropriate router to the appropriate recipient. Therefore, a formal policy is needed to address the issue of who can use IP addresses assigned to the University of Michigan.

Purpose

The University of Michigan has implemented this policy to

1. Maintain consistency in practice regarding who is allowed to use the IP addresses that are assigned to the University of Michigan;
2. Provide clarity for users of the system regarding rights and privileges to use servers and other resources of the University.

Policy

1. IP addresses shall not be assigned from within the University of Michigan IP address space for individuals or organizations who are not directly affiliated with the University of Michigan.
2. As IP addresses are allocated, each requesting person, organization, or service will be instructed as to their obligations under University policy and their agreement to abide by University policy. This agreement includes not giving to others who are not affiliated with the University (through sponsorship, contract, or current association) access to University of Michigan networks through their connected machine.

Policy Implementation

Responsibility for implementing this policy will rest with the five units within the University that administer IP address space—the Computer Aided Engineering Network (CAEN), the Information Technology Division (ITD), the Medical Center Information Technology (MCIT) department, the University of Michigan-Flint, and the University of Michigan-Dearborn—and any additional service provider units on campus that may be given the authority to administer IP address space in the future. These units will work according to the requirements of the University’s network service provider and will confirm and be accountable to uphold this agreement in handing out IP addresses. In the event of a disagreement between units as to the interpretation of this policy, final authority rests with U-M’s Chief Information Officer.