Legal Constraints on Web Journals Surprise Many "Bloggers"
Somewhere between First Amendment rights and total repression there is a practical middle ground.
- Pam Farr
Les Jenkins at Stupid Evil Bastard pointed me to this article, and it's one that any of us with both a weblog and a job should take seriously. We may live in a country with a constitutionally-guaranteed right of free speech, but many of us are forced to check that right at the door to our workplace.
Late last year, John Stanforth posted to his personal Web site a reminiscence about software he had developed for internal use by a former employer. It was a minor project, he said, one he never thought would warrant any secrecy.
So he was bewildered when, about two months later, he received a cease-and-desist letter in an e-mail from his old company. It said that by mentioning the project, he had violated the nondisclosure agreement he signed when he joined the firm in June 1997.
Stanforth conferred with his lawyers, who told him that as far as they could tell, he hadn't compromised any trade secrets. But he removed the references to the project and the company because he didn't want to contend with the headache of potential litigation. The company never took further action.
Those of us who write on a wide range of topics are being forced to become increasingly aware of the legal limitations placed on us. In the bold new world of online self-publishing, the old legal framework governing printed matter applies more than we might have thought possible.
I have two simple rules that I follow.
Rule #1:
I never, ever write anything about my job or my company. I don't think I've ever even identified my employer, and though I work for a very good company, I would prefer not to tempt fate. Only two or three of my 40+ colleagues in my office even know that I have a weblog. If asked, I won't lie about it, but neither do I advertise.
Rule #2:
When in doubt, refer to Rule #1
I've chosen what seems to be a rather common-sense approach. Don't court the possibility of misinterpretation. If you have to ask whether or not it a topic is appropriate, let it lie. Otherwise, you're running the risk of having to deal with something like this:
Experts on Web publishing warned that anyone digging for details about a person or company via Google or other search engines can unearth reams of archived Web log material.
The most flippant of remarks published two years ago could broadcast something a company doesn't want competitors or potential clients to know.
Even with supposedly anonymous Web logs, clues can tip off readers to people's identities, whether it's jargon the writers use, references to conversations between cubicle-mates or stories about personal experiences.
"The Internet creates a veil of separation between you and other people," said Gregory Alan Rutchik, managing partner at the Arts and Technology Group, a San Francisco firm specializing in copyright and publishing law. "Don't be misled by the fact that you're sitting in a room, behind a locked door, at your computer. There's ways to find out who you are."
For instance, those aggrieved by a posting have occasionally gone to court to force Internet service providers to identify customers or cut off access to offending sites.
One woman, a Web designer who asked that her name not be used, said she lost her job because of what she wrote on her Web log.
She was summoned to her supervisor's office to discuss the narratives -- often derogatory -- that she'd written about her company and co-workers. Although it doesn't say so on her Web site, the blog is mostly fiction, consisting of veiled references and often composites of people, she said....
Two days later, she was fired. "I was shocked that they would take it seriously," she said, "and that little old me with this little old Web site would cause such a stir."
Indeed. I think most of us think of our weblogs as something small- unless you're Glenn Reynolds, of course. My humble corner of the Internet gets 150 hits on a good day, so it's easy to lull myself into thinking that no one notices anything. The reality, though, is that things can and do get noticed, and the possibility exists that even the most innocent post can be misconstrued and twisted into something it was never intended to be.
Regardless of our best intentions, if we are writing about our employers or clients or really anyone that we have a business relationship with, it can be used against us. Not that I would necessarily counsel giving in to the bastards, but there is something to be said for self-preservation. Besides, at least in my case, I have no shortage of topics to explore, and my employer, frankly, is not a particularly interesting subject.
Tread carefully, y'all. You're on your own out there....
