Ed, it's part freedom of speech and part privacy. It's certainly not the

marginal cost of sending an email message that matters here, it's the

siege we're under by employers (and the state, and big business) upon

freedoms and privacies that historically were tilted more towards the

individual than they are today. I'm sure you remember making private

calls while at work somewhere. We all did it, and it was considered

reasonable so long as we kept it to a minimum and it didn't interfere

with work.

Immeasurably more important then whose time or dime the call or email

was made with is the information content of the communications. This is

the real issue here. Whether we use tin cans, punch cards, the phone,

email or personal conversation, the mechanics of communication are

inexpensive, incidental and totally subordinate to the content of the

communication itself. To argue that sending information digitally is

intrinsically different then using a phone, and therefore subject to a

different set of rules is a phony argument.

But again, the ownership (forever!) and manipulation of that information

content is the important issue, and on that count, employees/citizens

are losing, one piece at time.

Now I'm old-fashioned. I believe that when I communicate with someone,

that person and I get to decide who else can listen in on/record/repeat

what we say. This 'right' wasn't spelled out in the Bill of Rights, but

that's the way it was. We didn't grow up in a world where one

unilaterally gives up this "right to privacy" to get a job, unless

perhaps we applied for work at the CIA.

As to the effect of this "corporate right" on freedom of speech, how

freely will people talk/type if they know their every word/email is

recorded for possible use against them at any time in the future? The

effect: most people will gravitate towards keeping mum or saying only

the "politically correct" things, and the few still willing to speak up

will be easy targets.

This isn't the biggest issue on Earth, but it is another brick in the

wall that will become our prison if we don't do something about it.

Bill

> > Freedom of speech ain't what it used to be!

>

> This, of course, has nothing to do with free speech.

> You are using company computers and company software to send messages

> across company networks and through company servers. Do you really

feel that

> the First Amendment requires that the company let everything go

through?

>

> Freedom of Speech requires that you have an outlet for

> your words. It does not require unrestricted access to every possible

outlet.

>

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> Ed Leafe