This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business. Despite the recent dotcom demise, the Internet has made millionaires out of many people and provided us all a valuable resource for information. But it's also been a major headache. Companies report that they've lost considerable time in productivity while employees surf the Net at work. And with everyone surfing, downloads take even longer because so much information is moving in.
Companies are also concerned about liabilities resulting from possible harassment suits.
Because the Internet often brings objectionable material into the workplace. It's been a major concern for parents because of what it brings into homes. 60 percent of all day trading, leisure browsing and viewing of obscene Internet content occurs during work hours. Universities are discovering that much their network bandwidths are being used for music downloads. 28 percent of young people 17 and under visited an obscene Web site in one single month last year.