Well, research without an open internet access would be almost but impossible. Accessing online Journals, and online search-engines (e.g. Web of Knowledge, OVID,.....), communicating with other scientists on news-groups, exchanging information via dedicated Websites, sourcing and ordering research equipment online....

At least in the research sector, the net has actually increased productivity. Only 10 years ago it would take sometimes hours of spending in the library, searching through "Biological Abstracts" or other similar archives, just to find that single relevant journal-article. If that Journal didn't happen to be in the same library, an official request-form had to be filled out which was then faxed to the library who did keep the Journal. Then an overworked librarian had to find the relevant article for you and make a copy of it and send it to you via snail-mail...... you get the idea....

I am not sure, but at least in Switzerland keyloggers, secret cameras and other "spying tools" are not allowed unless the employee is informed of their existence beforehand.

Our network is so "locked down" we are unable to access updates we NEED to download for software or hardware WE support. With all the proxy server problems, multiple routers, and issues with the way they have the system borked, its so slow we were getting downloads of around 20k on a T-1 line. Its so bad we gave up. We installed a separate DSL line that has NO connection to our business lan. And about 80% of us use this DSL line. I have to tell you that we are a regional office with 30 employees, and our main office is about 4 states away.

We get these LAME emails telling us that the web is for WORK purposes only, and then it goes on to bitch that the #1 web site visited is GOOGLE.com? Well DUHHHHHH, people USE google to search for things, and believe it or not they might even use it to search for WORK RELATED things. They went on to say that they were looking at way to block google, and other search engines, what the hell? Ok, give us DIAL-UP Speed, then block the things we need to use, yeah.. that's a GREAT plan. And its no wonder why people find alternative ways to do things.

Locking things down is one thing, making it USELESS is another. If you make it so there is no way to even do basic things like download sw/hw updates, search the Internet, or get emails then you are just making it a useless network.

If you don't trust your employees that much, FIRE THEM. It's simple, trust people to do the job you hired them to do and if management see someone abusing this, then deal with that 1 person, don't hamstring the entire company for the actions of 1 or 2. Its this kind of mentality that makes people look for ways around the rules.

We are given laptops that have so much CRAP on them we cant even change the network IP address. Oh yeah, as I'm a Field Engineer, and one of my main jobs is to go on-site and work on the networks of our customers (who, damn them, don't all have the same ip addressing, can you believe that?) and when we complained to out IT people we were told "there is no need to be able to change your IP address to access our network". HELLO? did you even hear what we said? its not accessing the lame outlook or office printer its accessing our customers lans, and doing the job we are hired to do. So when a laptop comes in, we take the drive out, sit it on a shelf, and put in a new drive and load it so we have the s/w we need and are able to do the work we need to do. WHY? why should this be the case? If IT cant listen to the employees of the company (and doesn't IT work FOR the company, not the other way around?) then what is the point.

I know all about IT, i working as the IT administrator for a 300 person company for 7 years, and numerous other companies before that, so i know what I'm talking about. When IT becomes I WONT then its time for IT to go BYE BYE.

Just my 2 cents.

"Lock it down with exceptions for managers"

Funny a company i worked for,during a network search pornography was found on many a managers notebook or desktop pc.

I am not sure, but at least in Switzerland keyloggers, secret cameras and other "spying tools" are not allowed unless the employee is informed of their existence beforehand.

Our company uses keylogging and usage tracing, and all users are informed via a "splash" dialog outlining the conditions of use of the companies computer system previous to being able to logon to the system. By clicking "OK", you agree to the terms or your session is ended immediately - before you can logon to the system.

This is a common practice by network administrators here in Seattle. It removes the ambiguity of the requirements and expectations of use, thus avoiding the "I had no idea I was not supposed to do that", or at least provides for a legal avenue of firing the individual for improper conduct on the job.

There is a simple solution that works in most company environments where access to the net can sometimes be useful.

Set up one or two computer stations that are always on-line and can be used by personel who now and then need to find information and/or download whatever they might need to perform their job task. Place these stations where they can be seen and accessed by most people. Make a temp folder that is shared by everyone in the company and from where downloaded stuff can be read from the users work computers (read, not deleted, deletion of temp files can be automatically set to occur, for example, every night or every week, depending on the ammount of space available) .

Limit their work computer's net access to only let e-mails in and out, no serious companies allow im-programs on their computers. There may of course be local communication solutions.

This effectively make people able to focus on their task, not distracting them, and at the same time giving them the possibility to quickly go online and find whatever they may be missing should they need to.

To #15 I do not in any way judge my sisters for using the internet freely at work.You misunderstand my comment. I do not care to police any one who uses the internet at work. I really don't care one way or another. I was just giving a different perspective to the conversation. Because it seemed that the only people who were mentioned were younger people. My "lock it down" comment at the end is my personal opinion in general which I have a right to as an individual.

Oh yeah, the internet is sooooo dangerous! Lock it down!!! God forbid I check the news or submit an assignment at college!!! I'm stealing company time!!! Oh my GOD!!!!!

Ms skybright,

While it was not my intention to target your position in particular (I simply quoted it as a specific example of an opposing viewpoint), it's still pretty obvious that you harbor some sort of resentment about what others get to do at their jobs. Otherwise, why would you even bother to develop a negative opinion about it? And while it's true that everyone has a right to their opinion, said opinion doesn't really count for much unless you can back it up with some kind of evidence. And to quote your post again, if your sisters' employers don't have a problem with the way they use the net, then you don't really have any kind of leg to stand on when complaining about it, even if you *feel* it's somehow 'wrong'.

And all opinions or personal desires aside, it comes down to a simple statement of fact: the employer gets to choose what kind of internet access is allowed or acceptable, and the employee gets to choose whether or not they're willing to work for an employer. No force is involved on either side of the equation.

Just as an example, I work for a large, geographically diverse company with revenues in the billions. We're allowed IM clients (we actually have a corporate version installed as part of our base image), we're allowed relatively unfettered internet access (subject to the obvious restrictions, porn and the like), and our employees are measured based upon the work that they're required to do, not based upon the whims of a micromanaging control freak who loses sleep at the thought of an employee 'wasting' time to go to the bathroom.

My company has not self destructed as a result of this behaviour. We have not suffered some postulated lack of productivity. Our IT and PC services departments are not swamped by spyware/malware/unauthorized software installations, etc. We treat our employees as adults, and hold them comcomitantly responsible for their actions, and we don't have the problems that apparently plague the day care centers that are masquerading as other companies seem to have.

There are jobs that don't require any internet access at all (things like call centers, etc.), and there are jobs where internet access is a clear cut productivity enhancer and knowledge tool. And there are legitmate steps that can be taken to handle the vast majority of issues. A 'one size fits all, LOCK IT DOWN' policy not only doesn't fit all cases, it is fundamentally stupid. An IT department that cannot make that distinction is doomed to fail, sooner or later, because they are constitutionally unable to adapt.

This is a "touchy subject" for anyone really..

Though, the obviousness of the situation shall hold true to this topic...

Companies shouldn't "Lock Down" the net.. That's just stupid and in many ways irresponsable on their bahalf...

However, using "Web Blocking" software such as WebSense (to name one).. Is probably the best way to handle the situation. Allow only sites that would be beneficial for company use.

But, block everything else, including search engines... And do also make sure to block all of those Anon Proxy sites. A lot of companies don't, so that means the web blocking software they have is utterly useless... There are also many techniques to block web blocking softwares via Perl script methods. ... So, in accordance to blocking the sites, they'd also make sure to block all other open ports that aren't vital to their business necessities.

Period. ::cough::