From: anonymous-remailer@shell.portal.com
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 15:58:31 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Java & Netscape security [NOISE]
Message-ID: <199511210731.XAA08374@jobe.shell.portal.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On Fri, 17 Nov 1995, Dr. Dimitri Vulis wrote:

> m5@dev.tivoli.com (Mike McNally) writes:
> > Frederick B. Cohen writes:
> >  > This is baloney.  When you work for Netscape or Sun and speak about
> >  > your company's products, you are representing the company whether you
> >  > disclaim it or not.
> >
> > Baloney.
>
> Fred is right. I used to work for Goldman Sachs & their internet usage
> policy stated that when you write to Internet or Usenet from a GS account,
> it will reflect on the firm no matter how you disclaim it.

I think this is true, and is where we start to get into reputations and
trust. 

If someone from Goldman Sachs posts to a Usenet group discussing abortion
or gun-control, and says that: "These opinions are my own and not my
employers."  Then, we can accept that, no matter how silly their opinions
are. 

But there is a difference in the way we look at it if someone from Goldman
Sachs posts to misc.invest.stocks instead and says that the Goldman Sachs
Strip Coupon Fund is better than the one from Merrill Lynch -- that it's
safer and produces higher returns because Goldman uses cubic spline
interpolation methodologies to interpolate the yield curve, while Merrill
Lynch doesn't.  There is a difference here. 

In the first case, the poster is not commenting about anything to do with
their work, -- it really is just one man's opinion -- while in the second
they are actually commenting upon something their employer is selling. 

If the employee tries to add, "these opinions are my own, and do not
reflect the opinion of my employer" then we have a huge credibility
problem. 

You really can't have it both ways.  You can't post officially and
unofficially at the same time, unless it really does have nothing to do
with your work. 

If you post from Sun Engineering, and you are posting to a group that
focuses on Sun, and you are talking about a Sun product, then people are
going to take your comments as an official statement from Sun. You are
that product's spokesperson, whether you disclaim or not, and should act
accordingly.  No matter what, that's the way people are going to see it. 

It's a huge responsibility ... it's not like speaking candidly at an open
Member's table at the Rideau Club or anything, like that. 

Sun and Netscape and AT&T should know this.



Alice de 'nonymous ...

                                  ...just another one of those...


P.S.  This post is in the public domain.
                  C.  S.  U.  M.  O.  C.  L.  U.  N.  E.