[Air-l] Internet ethics

[Alex Kuskis]

This legal ruling seems to me to be an anomoly,
as personal Web-surfing and watching are clearly NOT
akin to reading a newspaper or talking on the phone.
As TV and movies join online gaming as major
forms of entertainment and distraction on the Web,
business will restrict at-work Web usage, if it
hasn't already. Otherwise, the loss of productivity
will be too great, as the following item suggests.
..........Alex Kuskis

Online March Madness Most Watched (Where Else?) At Work
Some 77% percent of the live video streams of the first round of the NCAA 
tournament originated from work locations.

By Antone Gonsalves,  TechWeb.com
March 31, 2006
URL: 
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=184419789

Work was the most popular place to watch online video during the first two 
days of March Madness college baseketball, a Web research firm said Friday.
On March 16 and 17, 77 percent of the live video streams of the first round 
of the NCAA tournament originated from work locations, ComScore Networks 
said.
CBS Sportsline, CBS Sports and the NCAA teamed up for the inaugural 
broadcast of March Madness on the Web.
The live coverage delivered 14.9 million streams during the first two days, 
and 16.4 million streams over the first four days, which covered two rounds 
of the championship.
Not everyone trying to watch on the Web got to see the live broadcasts. 
During the first day, 79 percent of 608,000 unique visitors accessing the 
feed actually viewed the game, ComScore said. On the second day, 88 percent 
of the 524,000 people accessing the video actually saw the games.
"The popularity of March Madness On Demand is a testament to the significant 
progress of streaming video over the past few years," Peter Daboll, 
president of ComScore, said in a statement.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gail Taylor" <gdtaylor at uiuc.edu>
To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 10:02 AM
Subject: [Air-l] Internet ethics


> Hi everyone,
>
> I'm starting to track the manner in which employees are
> being disciplined by their employers for using Internet-
> based technologies during their on- and off-duty work hours.
> I came across a news story this morning that might be of
> interest to others of you who might be doing the same.
>
> An administrative judge in the U.S. has ruled that "surfing
> the web is equivalent to reading a newspaper or talking on
> the phone" in workplace settings. The employee in question
> works for a government agency. Do you think this ruling is
> one that private sector employers will see as a signal to
> rethink and restructure current definitions of employee
> appropriate use of Internet-based technologies?
>
> -- Gail
>
> Gail Taylor, M.Ed.
> Human Resource Education Ph.D. Student
> University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
>
> *****************************************************
> Judge: Web-Surfing Worker Can't Be Fired