Commentary
Banned In Baltimore: Maryland General Assembly Blocks Facebook, MySpace
- by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, February 6, 2009
In one of the more bizarre governmental leaps of logic, the Maryland General Assembly's Information Services Director has blocked access to Facebook and MySpace due to a fear of computer viruses.
"With the beginning of the 2009 Legislative Session, we have observed a significant increase in viruses and malware affecting the Maryland General Assembly computers," the Office of Legislative Information Systems Director Michael Gaudiello wrote to staff on Thursday, according to Legum's New Line. "After several weeks of analysis, we have determined that many of the infecting programs are originating from pages hosted on www.facebook.com and www.myspace.com."
That's not all. The IT department intends to continue its investigation and ban other sites determined to be "problematic."
Has Gaudiello ever heard of anti-virus software? Banning Facebook and MySpace clearly doesn't solve the problem of viruses, as many, many sites can install malware. And, clearly, many lawmakers find social networking sites useful for spreading messages to the people they represent.
Jolene Ivey, a Prince George's County Democrat, told the Baltimore Sun she used to communicate with voters via Facebook. "I wouldn't say I'm devastated, but I am, like, seriously bummed out," she said.
Wendy Davis is a Senior Writer at MediaPost. You can reach Wendy at wdavis@mediapost.com
They should use my site
http://www.thecampuscenter.com
no chance of viruses or any problems.
take a look.
They should have said the real reason, because people spend half the working day screwing off to facebook. And for what? A typical Facebook update "John is sharpening a pencil... Mary is bored... Tom is writing on Facebook rather than doing his expense reports." Sorry but we need civility and we need to return to a simpler time. It's no wonder why we no longer work 9 to 5. No one gets anything done in that time cause they are updating their facebook page to tell folks they just flossed at their desk. Good for Maryland. Now ban any use of the web at work for all and let's get back to work so we can go home already.
HAHAHAHAHAHA.. What's next, unplugging all the telephones for fear of hearing that people no longer travel by horseback and the buggy-whip industry is dead?
Silly way to handle performance issues, if indeed @walter is correct. Facebook and MySpace have become part of the landscape of political life. Learn to deal with it.
Wow, this seems like a timely and lively for that matter discussion as some girlfriends & I were at Starbuck just this past Wednesday talking about social sites and using them at work. Actually one of my friends did experience a virus.
On my facebook I have my valleywaterdistrict as a friend which is kinda random, but at the same time I can see benefit. Especially in CA where we are experiencing drought, comments and information can be critical. The flip side could be the Guadulupe River flooding, I would definetely like to know ahead...
ps I like the horse & buggy comment
pss my girlfriend (not me) did say that they get 'addicted' to their facebook and spend a bit more time on it at work then they should
To paraphrase a friend of mine, Facebook and Twitter are just fads, like pockets and the Internet.
FYI: That should be banned in "Annapolis". But good post nonetheless :)