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Cyberspace at Work:
Getting Wired...The
Cyber-Workplace.
When companies commit to getting "on the Net,"
they usually mean that their employees will have Internet access and e-mail
accounts and/or that they are considering building a home page. The website
(home page) may just be an online version of the company brochure, or the
company may be selling and advertising its products online as well.
The company's intellectual property lawyers may
review a selection of names and advise the company accordingly. Domain names are
registered. Generally some thought is paid to getting a firewall installed, to
try and insulate the company's computer network from the Internet. Thereafter,
the site planning is turned over to the marketing group and no one thinks about
the legal and security risks. The in-house legal department is generally not
consulted. Outside Internet law specialists are not even considered, and
corporate compliance issues remain unseen and untended.
After all...it's only the Internet, and there
are no laws in cyberspace. Right? Wrong!
If people only used common sense and treated
electronic communication just like any other kind of written communication, most
businesses would be far better off.
Just think about it...how many people work on
and have to sign off on a press release? It starts with marketing, and then
moves to the lawyers and then back to management, with all final changes being
cleared by in-house and sometimes outside counsel. Spokespeople are carefully
screened, to make sure they meet the company's high standards and maintain the
company's image. Everything they say is scripted and edited.
Compare the sole company spokesperson
scrutinized in everything they do while representing the company, with the
thousands of employees turned loose, unchaperoned, in cyberspace. Each one has a
company e-mail address, "johndoe@megahugecompany.com." And each one is now an
official company spokesperson, worldwide... each and every one of them...
Every time they post a comment on a message
board, upload something into an online library or chat, they are speaking with
apparent corporate authority. Every word has the veracity that only appending a
"megahugecompany.com" to the tail of an employee's e-mail address can give.
The dangers here are obvious: Employees have
the power to commit libel, violate copyrights, make material misrepresentations
about a company or its products, reveal trade secrets or inside information, and
generally do anything else you wish they wouldn't do. And they can do it with
the click of a send key and publish it worldwide in the flash of an eye. And, if
they do it under the company's name, the company may be held liable.
While a well-tailored e-mail and electronic
media policy may prohibit employees from using e-mail or the Internet for
anything other than official company business, third parties wronged by
employees may be able to make claims against the employer. There are two ways to
limit these risks: use an e-mail address that is not the domain name of the
company's website; and require digital signatures on all e-mails and Internet
postings, indicating that the opinions expressed are not those of the employer.
Try using technology to resolve problems caused by technology. It might level
the playing field
For related articles, check out:
Cyberspace
in the Workplace
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Parry
Aftab, Esq., 
Marvel and
all character names and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of
Marvel Characters, Inc., and are used with permission. TM & © 2004 Marvel
Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. “Super Heroes” is a Co-owned registered
Trademark.