Policies

Acceptable Use Policy

This acceptable use policy (the "AUP") applies to use of the COSMOS Platform for Advanced Wireless Research, hereinafter referred to as "COSMOS" or "Platform." COSMOS is a testbed designed to support experimental research on wireless/mobile networking and edge computing by academic, government and industrial users. Individuals accessing the Platform (a "User") may do so only for a Permitted Use, as defined below, and only as otherwise permitted under this AUP. COSMOS administrators reserve the right to terminate access to Users who do not follow these terms of use.

User Agreement

As a condition of using the Platform, I agree to the following terms and conditions on behalf of myself and any organization on whose behalf I am using the Platform. Permitted Uses. I understand that the Platform is intended for research purposes only and agree not to use COSMOS for any form of commercial activity (defined as revenue generating). Permitted research use includes academic, government and industrial research for the purposes of basic and pre-commercial research pertaining to wireless, mobile and edge computing technologies. Any other use of the Platform must be approved on a case-by-case basis by the COSMOS operator in advance and in writing. Prohibited Uses. I understand that it is my responsibility to comply with all laws applicable to the use of the Platform, including all applicable institutional, local and federal rules pertaining to information and communication technology. I also recognize that the use of radio frequency devices in COSMOS is governed by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations, which specifically constrain transmit location and power, and may also be subject to other agreements with service providers and third-party holders of spectrum licenses. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to be aware of and comply with all applicable restrictions on the use of radio devices accessed through the Platform. I will not use the Platform for any purpose that is unlawful or otherwise inconsistent with applicable laws, regulations or contractual limitations. In addition, I will not use the Platform for any purpose other than Permitted Use, including (but not limited to) the Prohibited Use items listed below:

• Use in violation of applicable FCC or additional spectrum use regulations
• Use that results in violation of privacy rights of individuals or groups
• Use that would constitute a crime or violation of law, such as using the Platform to commit fraud, online scams or phishing
• Use that is intended to create, or that results in, denial of service attacks either on Users of the COSMOS testbed or any external computing or networking system
• Use resulting in online abuse, harassment, hate speech or threats against individuals or groups
• Use that attempts to violate, or that results in a violation of, the intellectual property rights of others, including other Users of the Platform, operators of the platform or technology providers who have contributed equipment or software to COSMOS
• Any use that is not consistent with additional usage policies and restrictions which may be imposed by COSMOS testbed administrators for operational and security reasons
• Any commercial use of the Platform

Privacy

I understand that COSMOS administrators may collect information about me and my usage of the Platform in order to administer the platform, provide platform support, verify my eligibility to use the Platform, and as otherwise required by applicable law. To the extent permitted by applicable law, including laws related to public access to open records, COSMOS administrators will make reasonable efforts to protect the identities of Users and the confidentiality of their data. COSMOS administrators may provide temporary compute and storage resources for the convenience of experimenters, but it is the User's responsibility to arrange for the provision of such resources and to remove private data as soon as practicable. Wireless communication involves over-the-air transmission which cannot be protected from interception, and Users must take appropriate precautions with any data that they transmit over COSMOS radio equipment. COSMOS does not represent its ability to handle any User data in accordance with any particular specialized legal, accreditation or industry requirements for data privacy or security (such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA")), and Users shall not use the Platform to store or transmit data if any such requirement would apply.

Limitation of Liability

The Platform is an experimental platform offered for research purposes only. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE UNIVERSITIES (herein UNIVERSITIES refers to the host institutions operating the COSMOS Platform, i.e. Rutgers University in partnership with Columbia University and NYU) DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY HARMS ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE PLATFORM AND YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY CLAIMS YOU MAY HAVE RELATED TO SUCH HARMS AGAINST THE UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER PLATFORM COLLABORATORS (EACH AND ALL OF WHOM ARE INTENDED THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARIES OF THIS POLICY). You will indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Universities and the other Platform Collaborators against any and all claims, damages, costs and expenses (including attorney's fees) (collectively "Damages") to the extent such Damages arise from your use of the Platform.

Escalation

During an experiment, please be available for contact with the email / phone you registered with. In case of abuse or misconfiguration, you will be contacted, if possible, to remedy the situation.

If the situation is not resolved, your experiment will be forcibly shut down, and the PI for your group contacted.

All cases of deliberate abuse will be reported and could result in access rights suspension.

Compute Resources

The compute resources are meant to be used in support of testbed level experiments. In cases of contention, standalone compute jobs will be given a lower priority than real-time usage for RF processing. Cryptocurrency mining is expressly forbidden.

RF Resources

Since the testbed can radiate in a wide range of RF frequencies, and uses a considerable amount of power and other resources, we require that it be used for legitimate research purposes.

Efforts have been made to prevent accidental misuse or interference with other users or the public, however deliberate abusive or malicious actions will result in a ban from access.

Accidents, mistakes, misconfigurations and the like happen. Some actions, such as transmitting on a forbidden frequency, or accidental network denial of service, will result in a warning to you, and your group administrator.

Site specific rules

Specific resources / sites may have additional restrictions. For example, resources in the Columbia, NYU or Rutgers datacenters are subject to their Acceptable Use Policies as well.