Thanks for your comment. You don’t come across as harsh, we love getting the opportunity to respond and clarify our logic.

There is certainly a need to block certain sites; porn, illegal download and known phishing sites make that list. The logic behind this, and our other blogs on the topic, is that excessive blocking and filtering, to save costs and increase productivity, can have the opposite effect and can cause more harm than good.

In an ideal world the Internet would be open for everyone to use responsibly and productively. However, it is not an ideal world and we all know that the Internet is continuously being misused at work. It is an employer’s responsibility to ensure Internet resources are being used as intended. Since excessive blocking has its fair share of drawbacks the only viable solution is Internet monitoring.

Internet monitoring doesn’t automatically translate into an Orwellian Big Brother situation. It can, if it is done incorrectly and over intrusively. But if Acceptable Internet Usage Polices are put in place, justified for employees, contain a certain allowance for personal usage and are clearly communicated, employees do not need to feel uncomfortable or have a negative perception that Big Brother is watching.

I have covered the best ways of monitoring Internet usage whilst maintaining a harmonious working environment between employers and employees in a previous blog.

It would be impossible for us not to be biased since we are convinced Internet monitoring is far better than restrictive blocking practices, this is why we develop our products. However, we are not grabbing our arguments out of thin air and I am convinced that, if asked, any unbiased employee would prefer having monitored Internet access than no Internet access at all and any (good) employer would prefer having hard working employees with Internet privileges than disgruntled, blocked and restricted employees.

So blocking certain sites is a big no-no, but playing the Big Brother is okay?
Is it me or there is indeed some controversy in your logic?

This seems especially biased if you count in the fact you sell these “monitoring and reporting softwares”.

Sorry if my point came across as harsh.