Northwestern University student webpage pulled

Case Type:		Fictionalized
Exigence:		As part of a summer research project supervised by Prof. Rosalinda Velasquez, Northwestern student Eric Dahl sends an unsolicited email to over 1,000 randomly selected addresses, inviting the recipients to fill out a survey questionaire on his website. After receiving complaints from some recipients and finding that the email was impairing the functioning of the University's email servers, system administrator Sam Jerrold removes unsent emails and blocks access to Eric's website. Eric and Prof. Velasquez voice loud complaints.
Audience:		The University's Vice President for Information Technology has appointed you to a special committee to determine who, if anyone, is at fault.
Possible Constraints:		Statement of student Eric Dahl. Statement of Prof. Rosalinda Velasquez. Statement of system administrator Sam Jerrold. Statement of anti-spam activist Ann Golding. Northwestern University policies: Policy Statement on Student Rights and Responsibilities Information Technology Policies Anti-"spam"websites CAUCE: Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email "Fight Spam on the Internet!"
Decision:		Up to you.
Related issues:		Northwestern Harm to society Universities Internet
Notes:		This is a fictionalized version of an actual case which arose at Northwestern in the summer of 1997. My thanks to the (anonymized) participants for discussing the case with me.

http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/