[BC] IT troubles

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

From: R A Meuser <rameuser at ieee.org>
 > It is really simple, the company owns the equipment and put it in your
 > hands to accomplish a work function. They make the rules. Where I work
 > all our mail and packages is opened as well as a security measure.
 >

It is not that simple. The same communications
law that anybody who even got a 3rd Class ticket
had to learn about, referencing that a third party
can't divulge communications between two other
parties, had its basis in Constitutional
Law --the Communications Act of 1934 --gawd,
I wish people in communications were still
required to be licensed so they would have
obtained some modicum on knowledge about
this.

The fact that even courts are not privy to one's
private communications also has its basis in
Constitutional Law. The only reason why your
company can pry into the personal business of
its employees is because nobody (yet) has
spent the million-or-so dollars it takes to bring
this to the Supreme Court.

 > Anyone who is competent with a computer should know how to bypass
 > security and firewalls for personal use purposes. If you can't or choose
 > not to, then it is your problem. Any decent company very clearly lays
 > out the rule they expect you to follow. You are always free to go elsewhere.
 >

When a company prevents outside access to
real IP addresses, the only bypass available is
a dial-up (guess what I'm using). Of course I can
always "steal" intellectual property with a thumb drive.

And, like many, I am NOT "free to go elsewhere."
I couldn't get past the HR Departments of companies
who advertise for my engineering skills because,
contrary to law, they will not hire anybody my age.
In spite of the fact that I have been sick two whole
days in my entire life, it is "well- known" that 64
year-olds increase the cost of company medical
insurance.

If you are under 50 and you don't mind uprooting your
family to move to another state, then you may have the
option of another job. The rest of us don't have that
freedom anymore.

Over 25 years ago, I did a straw-man study about this,
published in EE Times. There were 50 cover letters
and resumes sent to companies who advertised for
specific engineering skills. Twenty-five were written
by a real candidate who listed a recent BS degree.
Twenty-five were written by another real candidate
who listed a BS degree obtained in the '70s. There
were twenty-five responses, none for the older
engineer.