You've just been hired at Calvin and Hobbs[sic], an investment company. Most of your day consists of seeing clients and giving them financial advice. Being that you are such a grade-A swindler, you are making good money. Unfortunately, sitting behind a desk all day gets boring. But, one day, while walking to the water cooler you over hear Jane talking on the phone with one of her girlfriends.
Although she is personable enough, there are days you wish she would put down her phone to stifle herself. She talks about her nights at the clubs, guzzling Cosmos and going home with different men. You often ponder what any man would see in a woman plain as vanilla yogurt and as obnoxious as a braying jackass. Just when you thought you had enough, your imagination starts: Why not write down these stories and put them on a blog.
You recall reading an article about making money starting a blog while sipping your imported coffee drink at Starbeans, a good company buying coffee beans at third-world prices only to charge their customers a terrorist's ransom for a sip of their re-badged Folgers. After snapping your fingers, you raid the office supply room for a legal pad and wait as Jane starts talking. Her awful laugh sends shivers down your spine, but your steady hand guides the pen. True-blue ink fills the space between lines, as you absorb last night's drunken high-heeled excursion.
For this first blog posting, you are to consider the legal problems with writing a blog about one of your coworkers. To help you consider the dangers, go to this link: https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal
Write at least one danger you could face by writing a blog. Then, discuss if you have to reveal your identity if you decide to risk blogging about coworkers.
Once you've done that, what might be some things you can do to protect yourself from harm while writing your stories. Hint: Think about the identities and names of people.
This first blog should be at least five to seven sentences long.
You must be careful to not infringe on someone's original ideas. When quoting or stating information from a source be sure to cite it. Also, blogging can be an open invitation to be sued and must be careful of what they post. Every blogger has a right to their opinion but it will not keep them from being sued or sought after for defamation of another's character. A blogger should be mindful to stick to the facts over their opinions especially if they do not have anything nice to say. A person can choose to write anonymously but, when a subpoena is ordered a blogger's identity must be revealed from their blogger's site. If a blogger uses a personal computer that may also be tracked by their ISP. I would say the best protection would be to play it safe and smart, do not post anything that will make you a target for trouble. Learn about your rights and have a good lawyer on speed dial.
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