A Watershed Moment

Site of Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/technology/07blog.html
also
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/sv/20050307/tc_siliconvalley/_www11060925_1

Not long ago I wondered aloud if bloggers would be targeted and it seems it has come to pass. The AP is reporting, “Though many companies have Internet guidelines that prohibit visiting porn sites or forwarding racist jokes, few of the policies directly cover blogs, or Web journals, particularly those written outside of work hours.” Now a suit by Apple computers may end this supposed freedom. Who knew that big brother worked for Apple?
The AP also reports, “On blogs, which are by their very nature public forums, people often muse about their likes and dislikes -- of family, of friends, of co-workers.
Currently, some 27 percent of online U.S. adults read blogs, and seven percent pen them, according to The Pew Internet and American Life Project.
With search engines making it easy to find virtually anything anyone says in a blog these days, companies are taking notice -- and taking action.”
This is a watershed moment for the First Amendment. Do you have the freedom to say what you will at home or somewhere else under your own screen name or web address?
The AP states, "Because it's less formal, you're more likely to say something that would offend your boss," said Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute, a workers' rights group.
I urge you to read the entire article.

- Chris Mansel