Corporate Censorship of Independent Blogs & Websites

At a time when the possibility of increased internet censorship and policing through SOPA and PIPA caused huge national outcries, protests, and a partial shutdown of the internet through voluntary website "blackouts," it is perhaps no surprise to learn that censorship still continues to rear its ugly head in corporate America.

One respected direct-selling company which formerly encouraged its independent consultants to blog and utilize social networks to promote their business, recently published its new policies.

Among the changes was a new policy that demands that all self-employed consultants hire an attorney from a hand-full of attorneys picked by the corporation to look at all "independent personal websites" and sign off on them by the end of the year to make sure the websites comply with the new policies.

The company may now require the passwords to the blogs and websites it approves.

Definition of Website

• web site: a computer connected to the internet that maintains a series of web pages on the World Wide Web; -- wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
• A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a set of related web pages content such as text, images, video, audio, etc. -- Wikipedia
•  A set of interconnected webpages, usually including a homepage, generally located on the same server, and prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization. -- http://www.thefreedictionary.com/website

While the definition of a website clearly involves multiple interconnected pages, not only are all consultants being required to pay expensive legal fees to make sure their independent websites now meet the new policies, but the term "independent personal website" might be applied at the company's discretion to Facebook and any other pages, articles, social networks and/or other websites where the company was ever mentioned.

In 1997 Mattel, Inc. tried something comparable. The "Pink Anger" outrage over certain publications and websites being sued and forced out of business, ensured that sales of the Barbie doll never again saw dramatic increases like they did in the 1990s.

Censorship and heavy-handed legal maneuverings are never popular with the American public. Creating a new policy that punishes small business owners for following the previous policies is also frowned upon. But creating a legal scenario where only representatives who can afford attorneys can survive is not only bad business, it is un-American.

Also see: Barbie Collectors vs. Mattel: 1997's 'Pink Anger' - National Barbie Collecting Examiner