Re: How many have this problem at work?

["Lindsay Burrell" <lburrell -at- telus -dot- net>]

>Many companies are sensititve about getting outside messages into their
>system because this information ends up on their servers and on their
>backups. They can be sued if pornographic, sexual harassment, or other
>unacceptable data is found on their servers.  They don't want to incur
>any legal expenses or take the chance of losing in court because they
>didn't control the information coming into their system.

At one company where I recently worked, the use of computers/Internet was
<closely> monitored (as, I believe, were e-mails and even phone calls).
Having inappropriate material on your computer was a firing offense.  Their
firewall was also a thing of beauty, and among other things it meant you
couldn't listen to music or radio programs on RealAudio as you worked.

I have really no complaint with this.  Everyone knows the security
arrangements when they sign on, and the company has (I think good) reasons
for insisting on security.

(<This> may be unpopular...) I also think that perhaps using company time to
peruse the list is not always called for or even fair.  Granted the list is
a valuable resource, but so is reading technical journals or textbooks,
which I don't think should be done sitting at my desk on my employer's time
either.  I think that I am being paid to sit at my desk and write.  I can
enhance my skills on my own time.