Cyberporn a problem at work

2000-09-13 15:21

Johannesburg - Browsing pornography sites on the Internet while at work is becoming a major problem, as evidenced by the resignation of the Cape Metropolitan mayor for just such an offence, according to a report in the Johannesburg newspaper, The Star.

The Reverend William Bantom was on Tuesday also expelled from the New National Party after he was caught downloading pornography - including child porn - from the Internet and watching pornographic videos in his council office.

The Star reported that more and more office workers have taken to keeping an eye on a different kind of bottom line.

"Recent studies have shown that 97% of companies that have opened up their network infrastructure are seeing some misuse of the privileges around the Internet," Jako Voges, of information technology firm, Symantec told The Star.

Of these, 56% say their employees admit that they violate company practice or policy and make personal use of the Web during office hours.

"Consequently, nearly two out of three companies today feel a need to discipline some employees because of how they are using the Web during business hours."

Voges told the Star further that the Web is being used by many employees to obtain stock quotes, engage in live Internet chats, check the latest sports scores or for random browsing.

Porn browsing is a particularly large problem.

Voges says research has revealed that there are more than 60 000 X-rated sites on the Web.

Most porn accessed in working hours

"If you consider a recent article in USA Today which says a staggering 50% of registered hits on these sites occur during business hours, the drop in productivity rates is enormous."

For example, in just one month IBM, AT&T and Apple Computer in the United States calculated a loss of $42 000 (about R294 000) in wages owing to their employees surfing the Penthouse website during business hours, the Star reported.

Voges adds: "Policies that are understood and accepted by all employees must be put in place. This could be done through the use of Internet management tools and email-filtering applications that help to enforce Internet access policies by limiting access to sites deemed undesirable, or by scanning incoming and outgoing email content."

Voges also points to a report in the April 1999 edition of Business Week that 70% of workers with access to email have received adult-oriented email at work. Another 64% received email that could be defined as "offensive" or "politically incorrect".

Just such a case was highlighted on Tuesday by the announcement that police were investigating the origin of a video clip found on a computer at police headquarters in Pretoria showing Nelson Mandela's face being transformed into that of a gorilla.

Pretoria mayors do not even have computers

Meanwhile, Internet news service, Pretoria Online reported that Pretoria residents need not worry about finding their mayors huffing and puffing at the cyberflesh paradises of the Web. Not necessarily because they're upstanding, clean-living citizens (which they may well be) but simply because they can't get on the Web.

Following the fall from grace of the Cape Metropolitan mayor, Pretoria Online did a quick survey on the Internet likes and dislikes of mayors in the Greater Pretoria area.

Only Centurion's Christa Spoelstra admitted to an Internet connection at home. But she joins the mayors of Akasia, Pretoria and the Greater Pretoria Metro in not even having computers in their offices.

Possibly the one-eyed queen in a realm of officials stumbling blindly alongside cyberspace, a laughing Spoelstra said that she hardly ever surfs the web, never mind porn sites. She does, however, use her Internet connection for e-mail which she finds to be an increasingly important tool in her work.

Even more amused was Pretoria metropolitan mayor, Joyce Ngele. Metropolitan mayors who have the time to surf the Web are indeed very fortunate, she laughed. She said she does not have time to watch TV, nor does she use a computer at home or at work.

"Anyway, I would not know how to surf the Web", she admitted. Ngele's personal assistant, Ben Taljaard, reiterates this, saying that they have been far too busy at the mayor's office to even ask for an Internet connection.

Pretoria mayor, Daniel Mampuru, also does not have a computer in his office or at home, his office confirmed on Wednesday.

At Akasia things are even simpler: "No we don't have Internet", an assistant to mayor Olivier Lekhuleni said. "We're too poor."

Parliament to probe cyberporn

Parliament will hold public hearings into cyberporn - particularly the downloading of child pornography from the Internet - next year, the Star reported the chairperson of the National Assembly communications committee, Nat Kekana, as saying on Tuesday.

Kekana said his committee was concerned about the number of reported cases involving access to pornography and child pornography via the Internet.

- SAPA