> At 5/29/01 06:02 AM , James Sutherland wrote:
>
> >The *US* courts, you mean? I'm talking about *EU* law. That's the whole
> >point: this is legal in the US, but NOT in the EU. One of the few areas
> >the EU has got it right, IMHO - for the most part, I think I prefer the US
> >system (2nd amendment, better recognition of the concept of self-defence,
> >etc).
Oh so now suddenly James decides to Be Specific.
On Tue, 29 May 2001, Kai MacTane wrote:
> Wow -- that's kind of nice to hear. As a US political activist who
> generally hangs out with people who are trying to change the system, and
> who is often exposed to lots of details about how the system is wrong,
> screwed up, poorly optimized or even pessimized... I sometimes need the
> reminders that it's still a pretty good system, on the whole. (I
> occasionally debate the merits of becoming an expatriate, but then get hung
> up on the question of where I'd go that has as strong a Bill of Rights.)
What a load of bollocks. Yes, you have the right to do whatever the
heck you darn please on your own time, in your own home and using your
own equipment. You can even make childish complaints about "the system."
But not while you're on my payroll, and not using my equipment and not
using my telephone, and not using my internet connection. I, as a
private employer, have every right to monitor what goes on with my stuff,
including what my employees do with my stuff. And if you want to store
porn on my disk drive, you can bloody well get your walking papers.
It's misuse of company equipment. Worse, it's misuse of *MY* stuff.
Sure, if employees need to make the occasional local personal phone call,
to look up their favorite band or movie during breaks, and particularly
to read work relevant web publications and even local or international
newspapers -- yeah, sure. There's a lot of benefit in that. But it is
quietly logged somewhere.
If the EU has its head so far up its hindquarters that it doesn't
allow private employers to monitor and regulate the use of company
infrastructure, then no wonder the EU is so far uh..."behind."
I'd tell that gal in Belgium if she wants to do the right thing by
her employer, but is hamstrung by stupid EU "privacy" laws -- log
everything anyway, perform the analysis, and simply be extremely
careful whom she shows it to and who she tells about it.
It's a lot simpler in the US. NZ has stricter privacy laws, but
they certainly do not extend to allowing employees to do whatever
the heck they want on company time.
> And of course, I sometimes wonder if I just think our system is basically
> okay because it's what I've been taught since I was just a wee tot. So,
> thanks for the outside input, James. It really does help.
> --Kai MacTane
Um, help what? Help build a culture of lazy surfing children who think
the world owes them a living because they know how to operate a browser
and a word processor--oh, and really think they know computers because
they've installed Linux somewhere? We've already GOT that. Sheesh.
If you want to protect your "privacy" to surf for porn during business
hours, go out and build your own business, and then get back to us...
if you still think it's such a great idea.
Penguina
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