Personal webpages can get you fired [CNN]
Forwarded message:
Barrett January 15, 1998 Web posted at: 5:47 p.m. EST (2247 GMT)
TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (AP) -- Hired to teach computer technology at a marketing company, Cameron Barrett suggested his trainees check out his Web page, where he published his own fiction.
Some women staff members did, and were shocked by the violent and sexually explicit passages.
They complained to their boss, and Barrett was fired.
[text deleted]
"Just as people need to watch what they say in real life, what you put on your Web page is going to be visible to everyone, including future employers," said Esther Dyson, a director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco.
Personal Web pages aren't considered private
Although the First Amendment prevents the government from stifling speech, private employers are under no such constraints.
Companies can fire people for comments deemed inappropriate, and experts warn that personal Web sites, even if done at home, are public venues that employers can use to determine who is suitable for the company.
[text deleted] ____________________________________________________________________ | | | The most powerful passion in life is not love or hate, | | but the desire to edit somebody elses words. | | | | Sign in Ed Barsis' office | | | | _____ The Armadillo Group | | ,::////;::-. Austin, Tx. USA | | /:'///// ``::>/|/ http://www.ssz.com/ | | .', |||| `/( e\ | | -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- Jim Choate | | ravage@ssz.com | | 512-451-7087 | |____________________________________________________________________|
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- An entity claiming to be Jim Choate wrote: : : Forwarded message: : : > TRAVERSE CITY, Michigan (AP) -- Hired to teach computer technology : > at a marketing company, Cameron Barrett suggested his trainees check : > out his Web page, where he published his own fiction. : > : > Some women staff members did, and were shocked by the violent and : > sexually explicit passages. : > : > They complained to their boss, and Barrett was fired. Not all that surprising. If Barrett suggested his pages as an example, that makes them part of his curriculum. Curriculums that don't fit in with the Diversity model are usually pretty short-lived. That's a big "Duh" on his part. Mark - -- [] Mark Rogaski "That which does not kill me [] wendigo@pobox.com only makes me stranger." [] [] finger wendigo@deathstar.jabberwock.org for PGP key [] anti spambot: postmaster@localhost abuse@localhost uce@ftc.gov -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBNL68EHzbrFts6CmBAQFcNAf9HLlKRRkxU432Auzml50ekYGNJIZX1EXQ LGAccA+wA80/zLq/cDkXPjn2Ce0z6skmI9zQ2a8BNblm1mn4hbHFMVFlffvd2CRj OANASDTxkgwPQcGPSes/CukQ72BYip1aE2CxX2WwgnsKOrMhGGsJ07K7nNhOza3i f8i5N6W/3EHP64pXKOQ2iWVQWzGXTZDW4YHI6DziUD2wXlpphkhoPQUseWA+2W4/ 1ikHP8UKuqE+UXpBUKFNyjVYDhdlKDUiHlOcAj1OnGJGNL4JBxa/6jeZFOA1oCdO tT9Orsco8pXoezP5rrajqHJ453RWSZUcxCoC0BDev0XjHEARd/nm/A== =TA1+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
At 5:46 PM -0800 1/15/98, Mark Rogaski wrote:
Not all that surprising. If Barrett suggested his pages as an example, that makes them part of his curriculum. Curriculums that don't fit in with the Diversity model are usually pretty short-lived. That's a big "Duh" on his part.
And as with the AOL case of Timothy McVeigh (no, not _that_ one) being kicked out of the Navy for labelling himself as "gay" and as a "boy hunter" on one of his AOL profiles, there are already calls for new privacy laws. Which misses the point. By illegalizing the keeping or disclosing of lawfully obtained information, greater harm is done. I heard Nadine Strossen of the ACLU arguing today that more laws are needed to "prevent" these "abuses." In fact, more _technology_ is what's needed. The technology of Web proxies, remailers, nyms, and such. (As to what I personally think about these cases...the Barrett case strikes me as just another PC firestorm, with someone being fired by a scared college for fear of lawsuits by offended womyn and sistas. But Barrett was dumb to tell his students about his non-PC page. As for the McVeigh case, if the Navy allows gay soldiers and sailors....well, I can guess most straights will refuse to volunteer for the Navy. Again, in a corporation or such it should be their right to refuse to accept gays, or straights, or blacks, or whatever they choose. That it is a taxpayer-funded enterprise makes the case much more confusing and, probably, irreconcilable.) --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- An entity claiming to be Tim May wrote: : : And as with the AOL case of Timothy McVeigh (no, not _that_ one) being : kicked out of the Navy for labelling himself as "gay" and as a "boy hunter" : on one of his AOL profiles, there are already calls for new privacy laws. : : Which misses the point. By illegalizing the keeping or disclosing of : lawfully obtained information, greater harm is done. : : I heard Nadine Strossen of the ACLU arguing today that more laws are needed : to "prevent" these "abuses." In fact, more _technology_ is what's needed. : The technology of Web proxies, remailers, nyms, and such. : This issue was covered in _The Right to Privacy_ by Ellen Alderman and Carolyn Kennedy. The book was misplaced during my recent move, and I didn't get very far through it. I do remember that the current legal standard for invasion of privacy depended upon whether the information was gathered from a public medium. A psychiatric evaluation or Telco records would not be considered a public forum, so could not be used by an employer (unless the evaluation was given by the employer, I guess). A web page, on the other hand is about as public as you can get. I would agree that with the right technologies (proxies, remailers, etc) there would be a de facto protection of privacy, and (insert the not-even-close-to- a-lawyer disclaimer here) that there should be some legal basis that since the effort was made to hide the True Name, the content could not be used, if there were a compromise. Looks like a win-win. It still doesn't deal with morons who *provide* their employers with the ammo to terminate employment. You can make a system foolproof, but you can't make it damnfoolproof. Mark - -- [] Mark Rogaski "That which does not kill me [] wendigo@pobox.com only makes me stranger." [] [] finger wendigo@deathstar.jabberwock.org for PGP key [] anti spambot: postmaster@localhost abuse@localhost uce@ftc.gov -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0 Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBNL7xbXzbrFts6CmBAQG6YQgAhywAsGpbDIBY/5h/KSLG+C4BdpYuqIOD Gg1Zy/05gB02+Ap2o7YOpx5pP92iG4uWnYNlUcq6tf+83atd5Y0fvHEnuS5GinQX mdZ8HqZMNR/XaVH+J/BLWcWPjWWGYnI7Zms/3VFvE5tA+0KVX3lKBqpTiCRCOIZi pqInONdqo1derBidHiM0KEcfZJ6zwecaS164NgmKI7/+akDSauK/ja44sKc+4bLI Qfaamrm9pXPKNvc+WOMMNzjNpwzqemfpobDsB3morIcn/eJa/1sE3H2NwnMKvOLY bNhXjfj9P5FNiMqJMHeKMX0vVJGPp3B72y0QEJwpaR5LHst792KF1w== =WPJ3 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (3)
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Jim Choate -
Mark Rogaski -
Tim May