I'm debating about whether or not to bring this up

[margotb822]

At work, the RNC site is accessable, while the DNC site is not. Should I bring this up to the IT department? In the worst case, both sites would be blocked, but I think that this is not right (minor, because I can still come here and to other sites, but an issue none the less).

What do you think?

edit: typo

[Kittycat]

1. Send an anon note via interoffice mail ;)

Yes, bring it up.

[tblue]

2. Absolutely. The sooner the better.

[pacalo]

3. Type an anonymous note.

It won't get the DNC unblocked, but it could block the RNC.

[rainy]

4. I work in a school system and found out that Drudge was available but not

DU. So, I complained and said that I get my news from DU. They unblocked it. How great is that?

[villager]

5. absolutely -- these double standards need to be called out

n/t

[monmouth]

6. Be careful though, the implication being your spending time on

non-work related sites. Must be a RW outfit you're with perhaps? They would make it tough for you. Anonymous is the way to go.

[margotb822]

8. Yes, I definitely work in a conservative organization

But, I think I would go the way of rainy and say something about getting news from the site. Everyone I work with knows my political leanings, so I think that might fly. I don't intend to stay here more than I have to, so I'm not worried about flushing my career because of politics (besides, isn't that discrimination?).

[monmouth]

10. Hahaha, only if your a Dem...lol

[margotb822]

13. It's funny because it's true

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. All too often...

These are decisions made by one manager or team leader or even one IT weenie. It is completely by fiat, not a matter of any policy.

Complain loud and long. This is the sort of stuff that continues to exist when people continue to act the sheep.

[MindPilot]

9. IT weenie!? We're weenies? C'mon show some respect

Most filtering systems start with a template of some sort that has to be adjusted to the needs of the user base. One of the first things the system at my workplace did after installation was start blocking the NYT site because it found the word "rape" in a story on the front page.

It has never decided to block DU, FR, RNC, DNC, Bartcop, or anything political, but it does block stormfront, Fred Phelps site, Ogrish, and anything else pornographic, hate-based, or violent.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

16. Hey, so am I.

I proudly call myself an IT Weenie. When I was a roadie, I called myself a "road puke", proudly as well.

[MindPilot]

18. Well, then, in the words of the great orator Rosanna Rosanadanah

"never mind" :hi:

[TechBear_Seattle]

14. Not necessarily

We use a filtering service. Basically, our firewall is scheduled to retrieve an updated list of sites from WatchGuard based on criteria we in the IT department set (block sites deemed as "too distracting," racist, porn, etc.) If a site comes up as banned that should not be (Amazon is classed as "too distracting," but the company execs want access to it) we can add the address to a different list that overrides addresses that are blocked.

It could very well be that the OP's company subscribes to a similar service that, for whatever reason, has blocked the DNC site with no one in the IT department being any wiser. The fix could be a modification of the blocking criteria or simply adding the address to the white list.

Not everything is a neo-con conspiracy, you know. :hi:

[MindPilot]

11. I would say yes, mention it to your IT person.

They either have to block all political content or none.

[PoliticalAmazon]

12. Filtering software

A few years ago I did a stduy on AOL's internet filtering software for kids and found a blatant anti-liberal bias.

If I did a search for "Democratic Party" and the county in which I live, I was taken to the local GOP headquarters web page. Couldn't access the DNC, web pages about the Dalai Lama, anything on being gay, but could access the nutball Constitutional Party website, the RNC, Pat Robertson's web pages about teens addicted to internet pornography, teen suicide, and any number of rabidly homophobic "Christian" websites. If you searched for "Buddhism" there was one web page that turned up...and it was actually a Christian website bashing all other religions.

With persistence I finally spoke to Rich D'Amato, public spokesperson for AOL, and he assured me it was a simple mistake.

However, every AOL tech I spoke to about this gave a different reason/excuse for the biased filtering.

I finally got ahold of the company that contracts with AOL for their filtering software, and there were wildly differing reasons for the anti-liberal/anti-anything-but-Christianity bias.

Whether you should tell your company or not...touchy situation. Either way you are going to end up losing.

[applegrove]

15. I you are allowed to surf the net during office hours - say lunch - I'd bring it up.

[undeterred]

17. No, You aren't supposed to surf at work anyway.

You are just drawing attention to the fact that you are using the internet for non-work related stuff on company time.