Privacy and Viacom vs. YouTube

The Mercury News has a great article on the Viacom vs. YouTube/Google Ruling:

A federal judge in New York has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom a database linking users of YouTube, the Web's largest video site by far, with every clip they have watched there.

More information on this topic is also available here on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Deeplinks Blog. According to that post EFF plans, "to continue discussions with the parties on ways to protect the privacy of the YouTube users and ensure that their rights under the Video Privacy Protection Act are given effect."

Besides troubling legal questions this brings up troubling privacy concerns. If all this information is being cached about us can and will be able to be demanded successfully by parties able to compel a judge to sign a discovery order; is it ethical for companies to keep such data? Does this question of business ethics get sticky now it has been shown that litigants can get to it? Will this have a chilling effect on how people use the Internet? I mean, why wouldn't it?

Technorati Tags: Free Speech, Web 2.0, Media Law, Internet Law, Privacy, ssloansjca

Will new CSU policy be a first amendment threat?

There is a new draft CSU security policy that is now being reviewed by IT professionals at San Jose State University. This proposed policy could be seen by some as having a chilling effect on freedom of the press for student journalists, journalism faculty and bloggers. It provides for possibly extensive monitoring of communications on California State University owned computer systems and networks, for example one part of the draft says, "As determined by risk assessment, appropriate logging and monitoring controls must be implemented on CSU information systems, data and network resources." The draft policy says, "authorized CSU personnel may appropriately inspect, capture, and/or disclose community member information stored on CSU information systems or a community member’s activities on CSU information systems or network resources without the consent of the community member."

In another part of the documents the term "community member" is defined in such a way as to include both students and faculty members.

The reasons for such a possible search includes, "to ensure the ethical, legal and appropriate use of CSU information systems, data or network resources." While the term "acceptable use" is defined "appropriate use" is not.

As a journalist, a blogger and a faculty member who teaches journalism, I hope this cannot and will not be used as a way to search the Email, web browsing history and/or stored files of student journalists, bloggers or journalism professors to find a source of a story that may be considered not appropriate by the university or by the managers of our university's information systems.

This is only a draft. I hope the final version of this policy is written in such a way as to protect very explicitly the first amendment rights of members of the campus community.

Technorati Tags: San Jose State University, SJSU, CSU, California State University, San Jose, ssloansjca

Scoble and workplace free speech

Thank God I am not an at-will employee
Today Scoble posted about an executive whom he talked to who got fired after talking to him. According to Scoble, "Most big companies, in their employment agreements, have in there that you aren’t allowed to talk with the press unless given permission by the PR departments." Then I thought about a conversation I had the other day with a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. (He was doing a follow up interview on the status of Skype at San Jose State University.) I felt totally at-ease talking to him because here at San Jose State we have a union. I am not an at-will employee. Of course, there are other lesser ways to punish an employee rather than fire him/her. But, I think the right of free speech in the workplace is important and I am willing to pay the price to exercise it.

Would my blogging and podcasting have gotten me fired were we not a union shop?
I have no way of knowing for sure because that would have changed everything. I might never have even blogged. But then, I would likely have never even applied at SJSU, because when I did apply having a union and free speech was a primary consideration. But, if you asked me in my opinion, I think I would have been fired long ago. They have been furious at me more than once for things I have published, blogged and/or podcast. One persons free expression is another persons trouble making.

How un-Cluetrain of them!
Apple may make cool gear, but I hate their anti free speech policies. According to Scoble, "I’ve met some people I KNEW had an iPhone and they were so scared of retribution or consequences that they wouldn’t answer a single question." Sometimes I ask myself if freedom of speech is so important to my why do I keep buying Apple hardware? Apple's attitude makes me feel better about the new Treo I bought. Now, according to Scoble Apple-like policies may be spreading to Microsoft, "Have you noticed that no one has started talking about the next version of Windows? I have. That’s on purpose. They learned their lesson and realized that letting you see inside the meat factory is a little too messy for this new world of PR. Rather keep all that mess behind corporate walls and come out when something is actually finished."

Do we really have free speech in this country?
Do we really have free speech if a company is allowed to fire an employee for speaking to the press? We may not send folks to jail for exercising their rights of free speech, we just deprive them of their ability to provide for themselves and their families. Is that really free speech? In my opinion it is not. And again I say, Thank God I am not an at-will employee. And, thank God we have unions where I work. I wish more folks did.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Free Speech, Apple, Scoblizer, Cluetrain, Web 2.0, Scoble, ssloansjca

About Me

Transparency: About Me
I had been a newspaper photographer before coming to SJSU. I also ran my own business doing photography and media production (primarily for labor unions.) My BA was in photojournalism. In 1987 I was hired by the School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC) as a photo lab technician. I became an Information Technology Consultant (ITC) as a result of JMC’s purchase of computers for desktop publishing. An ITC is a very general job classification used for technicians who are generalists rather than narrowly defined specialists.

After my hire in JMC I went back to school under the fee waiver system and received my MA in Instructional Technology, with a concentration in Media Design and Development. I am an Instructional Designer by training. Having an interest in operating systems and especially content creation applications, I studied my passion mostly on my own time. I was certified on Windows 2000 by Microsoft. I started blogging, podcasting and video blogging.

After years of desktop and application support in JMC and the College of Applied Sciences and Arts (CASA) I was assigned to Academic Technology to a position that has been described as “running the help desk.”

I am a believer in collective bargaining. The fact that the CSU system had a union was a primary reason I sought employment with SJSU in 1987. You might say I am a philosophical trade unionist. Others may not agree with my pro-union views but it is not just a philosophy at SJSU. Collective bargaining became the law of the land in the CSU system with the passing of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA).

Technorati Tags: SJSU, CSU, California State University, Education, ssloansjca