Web Logs - Free Speech or what?

[Chopstik]

Just came across this article and thought it somewhat interesting, particularly in view of the fact that I once kept one (sort of) and, after particularly bad days at my former office, was not shy about giving unsolicited thoughts on events in said office. Do they still have a right to impose their will on my singular self?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A9204-2002Dec18

Be interested in hearing if others have come across this or have thoughts relating to it. Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. Insanity is merely a state of mind while crazy people have a mind of their own.

 

[MasterRacker]

Short answer, Yes. When you go to work for someone, in return for getting paid, you are agreeing giving up a number of freedoms and are agreeing to be bound by the rules and policies of you employer.

Genreally, whetever you do or say on the company's time, or premises or with the company's equipment or property is the property of the company. What you do on your own time is your own property.

Intellectual property is still shaking out in the courts, but be vary careful about anything to do with your employer.
Jeff
If your mind is too open your brains will fall out...

 

[sleipnir214]

Free speech does not necessarily imply speech with no consequences.

As MasterRacker has said, in the case of John Stanforth, he signed a nondisclosure agreement that is probably a lot more wide-ranging than he thought. But he did sign the document, and is bound by his word. The lesson learned here is to not sign an NDA with no expiration or coverage limits.

The anonymous female web designer who lost her job may have crossed the line from protected speech to libel, even if fictionalizing the comments. Libel cases have been won against works of fiction -- the courts apply the question of whether a reasonable person could make a clear connection between the fictional character and a real person.

But of course, in neither case did the courts get involved, so we don't know what they really would have said. Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[multimed]

The lesson from Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility.

The great thing about blogs is that it allows anyone to be a publisher. Most people don't think of themselves as journalists, but in a lot of ways that's what they are. While they usually develop a community and typically have a specific target audience in mind, blogs are readable by anyone and words expressed today are still accessible weeks, months and years from now. Hopefully these stories will make bloggers think about what they're saying before they publish. Not that they shouldn't express themselves or anything like that, but heat of the moment words on a blog have a permanence that a rant to your spouse does not.

Things to keep in mind are any Non Disclosure Agreements or any kind of codes of conduct you signed. Of course it's much more clear with an NDA, codes of conduct are often signed when you first start working for a company. So many people don't actually read them and are sometimes even discouraged from reading them fully, and employers change or add to them along the way (which seems pretty shady to me.)

Of course the First Amendment still applies--say whatever you want and no one can tell you otherwise, and aside from NDA or code of conduct which you have agreed to, your company can't tell you how to live your life when you're on your time. However understand that your employer may not be so happy with you if you constantly slam the company. Whether dismissal is legal or not depends on the situation, just keep in mind that what you say in a blog (or on a forum like this for that matter) is of public record. Balance your desire to say borderline things with your desire to keep working with your current employer.