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Blog bans

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Illinois

This Kentucky blog ban episode brings up an interesting point for Illinois.

I’ve been told by some state employees that they can’t access this or any blog during business hours (although a back door is still open that a few people know about and which I would never divulge). For others it’s not a problem. I’ve never bothered to check up on who, if anyone, is being blocked here because I figured it wasn’t really a big deal. Now that it’s become big news elsewhere, I’m not so sure.

I’ll keep comments open through Saturday afternoon so that people can fully respond to this question, but are you being blocked? If so, what agency are you with? Any corporations blocking blogs out there? Â·

UPDATE: And, please, let’s stick to the question. The State Journal-Register now has reader comments on its website, as do some other papers, so why should I be blocked and not them? And even if they didn’t have comments, what’s the difference? But, wait, don’t answer that. It was a rhetorical question. Let’s stick to the topic at hand.

UPDATE: And another thing… with all the news feeds I have and the hundreds of links, this site is designed to be more of an Illinois news portal than a blog. It’s a starting point. So, this site shouldn’t be treated any differently than any other news sites, particularly since the idea is you can get to all of those places from here.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 11:15 am

Comments

I think some people from the Gov’s and JBT’s staff have found that back door. This is a good move.

Comment by Wumpus Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 12:20 pm
Employee access to the net depends upon the job. Are you a correctional officer who “walks the line” with the inmates? You probably don’t even need your own pc.

Are you a clerk? You probably only need access to your department’s and the state’s website - it is a cheaper way to make available certain information - leave request slips, insurance forms, etc.

Are you the agency vehicle coordinator? Then you probably need access to the site of the charge card vendor.

Do you arrange travel for departmental employees? Then you probably need access to commercial sites.

Are you an undercover law enforcement officer investigating kiddie porn or hackers? Then you should have complete net access.

In short, depends upon the job - there are no absolutes … .

That said, it would be interesting to see which agency blocks what for which employees … and if there is any blocking done in the office of any and all elected officials.

Comment by Smitty Irving Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 12:53 pm
There’s a whole lot of state employees who have computers, who don’t have access to the internet while at work. We have to do that on our own time, at home. At work, state employees are supposed to be working. That’s why we get berated by everyone.

Oh, and I’m off work as I write this. FYI.

Comment by Tessa Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 12:53 pm
Tessa, are you another of those ‘take every Friday off’ state employees?

Just kidding…

Comment by Slash Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 12:55 pm
Internet access - yes. Questionable sites are blocked.

Blog access - no.

Comment by IDOT'er Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 12:59 pm
No state employee should be blogging during the work day just as they shouldn’t be shopping on e-bay. How is any of that work related?

Comment by not a state employee Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 1:20 pm
This site is about state government and politics. Why wouldn’t a state worker have the right to see news from here or a place like the SJ-R, which, by the way, also has comments now?

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 1:22 pm
And, either way, that wasn’t the question. Let’s move on, please.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 1:23 pm
If employers across Illinois responded by blocking Blagojevich’s site — and only Blagojevich’s site — we’d have a lawsuit on our hands.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 2:13 pm
My bud at IDOC says they block everything with “blog” in the URL.

Comment by anon3456 Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 2:31 pm
I’d love to be able to access the Internet at work, because of the type of work that I do. I would have access to information that is pertinent to the people that I serve, and I could do research to back up what I do. I could read articles and have access to information that affects me and the people I support as it happens, instead of finding out after the fact (like the downsizing situations).

Where I’m at there are only a handful, and truly it is only about 5 people, who have access to the Internet, at work. Others can’t even use those computers to look up information on the ‘net because they don’t have clearance. It’s fairly ridiculous. We could do much better work if we had access to the information out there.

Oh, right, DHS is the agency I work for.

Comment by Tessa Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 2:37 pm
Like Tessa, I work for DHS. I have internet access and obviously am not blocked from this site, so I doubt anyone else with access is either. But I never ever comment from here. This is my exception.

Comment by gotta be anonymous Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 3:25 pm
My employer determines if an employee has a work-based need for the internet. If so, then they receive access. They are subsequently assumed to be an adult who does not need to be watched over. We filter for porn, gambling and sports-not blogs. Compliance checks find the approach works quite well.
Yes, a state agency.
No, not under the Governor.
There’s your sign.

Comment by NumbersGuy Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 3:51 pm
I have heard that CMS doesn’t block the blog, but they may monitor who goes to it.

Comment by Wheres the leadership??? Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 4:12 pm
it’s funny if they really are blocking certain sites for political reasons, because Illinois.gov, supposedly state government’s portal, is little more than a Blago ad.

That by itself is an outrage that no one ever seemed very bothered by.

Comment by anonymous409 Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 4:55 pm
You could have a blast running a drinking game where you drink a shot every time his name appears on just the main page. You would think he was the only state worker, or that they have a dedicated punctuation key that drops his name into everything they type.

Comment by Gregor Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 5:42 pm
In Kentucky’s case it was a purely political move — the embattled conservative administration is blocking news from state emloyees (news which, of late, has been all bad for the governor and his cronies, and I think “cronies” is a fair word to describe them and their activities).

But, this policy you bring up sounds more like one of “You ought to be working instead of reading/ playing/ blogging/ shopping/ surfing”.

Lots of private companies block internet use from their employees. Many more track internet use to learn what employees are up to (production and efficiency and all). The smart companies know they could be on the hook for something an employee writes or does while using company equipment during business hours.

The state should be no different.

Unless the Internet and blogs are directly related to your work role (DHS I should think would be questionable in that regard — what news can you get from a blog that you can’t get by radio, tv or — more likely — telephone or police radio). I could see the press office having such all-access, but that’s about it. Some agencies requiring research could maybe have limited access… not sure how open or limited though.

—

Anonymous409, did you ever see illinois.gov before Blago took office? It was one big G-Ry “ad”. Blago is the governor after all, much as many dislike that fact. (Heck, same goes for the White House website… perks of incumbency ‘n all.)

Comment by NW burbs Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 5:55 pm
IDOT employee with internet access. In my District most of us are comfortable with checking the Journal-Register or a few other News groups for Transportation/State Government related articles - usually before normal working hours - but are too paranoid to check/comment on this site during work hours. We always wait until we go home.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 7:08 pm
I scan this and Bernie/Statehouse quickly at work to see what the bosses have not told us today, and to find out what’s really going on, but I do not post from work. Which makes me crazy on Fridays when you shut down early before I get home. The bosses xerox the heck out of the real capfax, it’s everywhere.

Comment by anon Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 7:34 pm
I also am a DHS employee. We don’t have internet access unless our job requires it. Most employees don’t have it (unlike the for-profit world). For the record, we didn’t get personal computers until December, 1998. Most workers still don’t have voicemail (unlike the for-profit world). The agency frowns upon out-of-network email (unlike the for-profit world). Approval for internet access goes thru the chain of command and all internet usage is monitored by an outside contractor. Our computer security is very tight and closely monitored (unlike the for-profit world).

Comment by Emily Booth Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 7:36 pm
Oh, oh Rich. Now when Monday morning comes, the SJ-R site will be blocked. Probably the Southtown and Sun Times too.

Comment by Papa Legba Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 7:38 pm
Like Anon 7:08 I am an IDOT employee. I regularly check regional and local newspapers for articles that may influence my projects. However, when an article catches my eye, I do read other articles that have a political nature.

That being said, I would have a difficult time explaining, if caught, why I would be checking the Capital Fax Blog site on state time.

“B Team” as I “B” here when you got here and I “B” here when you leave.

Comment by "B Team" Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 9:13 pm
The thought of posting during work hours is crazy! First of all, I am busy “doing more with less”. Second, the computer at work is over ten (10) years old- and using a dial-up connection. I can’t even download work files via the internet. (Of course, now that CMS has been in charge of our computers, everything is just dandy)! Third, there are just too many new democratic hack employees in our agency to risk posting during work hours!

Of course, none of them are actually ever in the office during work hours- they are always out of the office in “meetings”.

Comment by joe blow Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 10:00 pm
Rich: why not just point your readers to this BoingBoing page, which tells people how to get around Internet filters and censors. There’s multiple methods and many allow the user to remain anonymous. Some tech-savy required, but it’s worth giving a shot I think.

Comment by Kiyoshi Martinez Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 10:01 pm
It’s interesting to me - but not at all surprising that the people who do the vast majority of real work at DHS - and probably other state agencies - can’t get decent computers, aren’t allowed internet access, get less than stellar furnishings and equipment…but the folks at the top who spend all their time looking for ways to drive the rank and file crazy get laptops, cell phones, blackberries, tvs, new furniture, and come and go as they please, and everyone just accepts it. “No more business as usual” - that’s for sure. No other administration at this agency was this blatant about total disregard for how taxpayer dollars are spent - unless of course it means decent computers and access to the outside world for the rank and file. Then there’s no money available.

Comment by cynic Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 10:10 pm
I am a state worker (IDOT) with internet access. I can get to the home page of the Capitol Fax but I am blocked when I try to go to the â€˜blogâ€™ site (I have tried this during my lunch hour). I regularly check out the Springfield Journal and really like the â€˜reader commentâ€™ option for the posted stories. However, I am not political and would have a tough time explaining why I am looking at your site at work (since you donâ€™t praise the Governot (not misspelled), instead you report the real facts.
IDOT has a news feature on their internal website. The news website list transportation related articles from newspapers across the state in addition to â€˜goodâ€™ stories about Blagojevich. Take note, no â€˜badâ€™ stories about Blagojevich are reprinted from any of the newspaper articles on the IDOT internal website.

Comment by state worker #1 Friday, Jun 23, 06 @ 10:22 pm
Y’know… thought of another thing.

McClean County employees must not have any problems with connecting to the Internet and posting to blogs during work hours considering how often elected Recorder of Deeds Lee Newcom used to post to Illinois Review (or at least not until some progressive comes along and points out the waste of taxpayer dollars during the workday)…

Comment by NW burbs Saturday, Jun 24, 06 @ 1:41 pm
Why not trust state employees to use good judgement and penalize them if they don’t?

If other news portals with comments are open, then this one should be as well. Most media outlets will soon allow comments because it attracts many more hits, which justifies higher ad prices. So, either open up the news or close it down.

Comment by Anonymous Sunday, Jun 25, 06 @ 3:30 am
We have “intra-net” & can access only our “stuff”, “Outlook” for “E” mail & those necessary programs to do our jobs. At IDOC {for obvious reasons} the “internet” is very limited. I’m an upper middle mgmt. employee & we do not have access to it in my area …don’t know of many {if any}who do. Admin. perhaps in Spfld I’m sure do & whether they access your site is un-known. Though I personally enjoy & value this site ver much,the information & the “blog”…, folks shouldn’t be doing it from work. And , at least in our dept., ALL computer “traffic” goes thru Spfld…your terminal to Spfld & then to whom ever … even within the same building your’e in. News I can see no problem with, but “blogging” on “Company time” is a potential problem. Call me “old fashioned”. Besides you can go home, report the events of the day from the comfort of home and under an “assumed name” to let them have it.

Comment by anon st. illinois worker Sunday, Jun 25, 06 @ 6:21 am
Ah..yes…the state web filters. I remember them quite well.

The solution I always used and that I’m sure lots of people use is an aggregator. Go use a third party product…say a “burner” and “burn” those feeds. The State isn’t blocking those domains.

There’s countless bloggers using the same process in China where there’s quite a large filtering process.

Comment by Jake Parrillo Sunday, Jun 25, 06 @ 9:40 am
I am a middle management employee in IDOC. It is also widely known that I am a republican. Due to procurement responsibilities, my job requires internet access. I used to have to bring home work that required access to the CMS procurement site or to research vendors for bids. I still bring home work but I have been granted internet access. This has allowed me to be much more effective in my duties. I had requested internet access for some time and it didn’t happen until this administration.

Capitol fax was blocked on our system several months ago when allegations arose over overzealous employees/staffers using state computers to make pro-blago/anti-GOP comments in the comment section.
As much as I hate to agree, no employee should be blogging on state time, they did the right thing. That said I do miss Capitol Fax as “the best” Illinois news portal.

Comment by Middle management Sunday, Jun 25, 06 @ 12:07 pm
Our blog has apparently been blocked by the City of Aurora because we’ve made some critical comments of Mayor Tom Weisner.

Comment by OpenlineBlog.com Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 5:22 am
DHFS (formerly Public Aid) blocks all kinds of web sites eg.Insightbb.com, Capitolfaxblog etc.
CMS requires authorization for internet access according to your job but does not block. They do have “sniffer” software that can analyze where you have been visiting.

Comment by SeeTheMess Monday, Jun 26, 06 @ 7:46 pm
The state network use is monitored by a third party company - probably another crony of someone’s. It was this company that alerted the state that one of the agency’s websites had been hacked by a European/Russian hacker trying to extort funds to let them boost the website’s security some months ago.

Speaking of web access - what about all of the Governor’s “advertising” on the State of Illinois website? (www.illinois.gov) - this is supposed to be for state use, but if you’ll notice, the Gov seems to be the only one working - his name is all over not only those pages available to the public, but also to the intranet sites that only state employees have access to. A good example of that is the webpages for the time-keeping allocation system, there is a frame of changing graphics and text giving kudos to the governor for some of his various programs. Do the employees really need to be advertised to by his ego-ness when filling out their “time cards”? I think his overuse (read his name is just about everywhere on it ) that this amounts to state funded political advertising/campaigning.

Comment by bbishere2 Tuesday, Jun 27, 06 @ 7:45 pm