David Karp, Ipswitch

Boston, MA

Director of Marketing

Careful companies reading between the lines of this item will notice that all the high-flying legal language and talk of human rights are orbiting the real issue: acceptable use policies. Companies – and employees – operating without an acceptable use policy are like aerialists operating without a net. If there is no clear understanding about what is or is not allowed, the greater law of the land will pertain, and that might or might not be in the best interest of the firm or the employees. Smart companies will explicitly allow personal use with guidelines, partly because we all know people will do it anyway, but mostly because it creates a better workplace environment. Look to the array of personal services available to Google employees and look at the hard work and long hours they put in.

David Karp, Director Of Marketing, Ipswitch