Are these rules in force on any host connected to the network? Do they have different networks with differing rules? How are the rules enforced? (That is, I can imagine switches and firewalls enforcing network rules, but "don't install python"?)
They do have different networks with different rules. When I was on the Michigan DOD network, we had the Microsoft Document Image Viewer. When I was deployed, the DOD network there did not have the Microsoft Document Image Viewer on the "approved" list and therefore could not be installed. It was such a pain working with TIFFs without it.