Abstract
The purposes of this paper are (1) to highlight problems concerning employee misuse of the Internet while on the job, (2) to provide an ethical and economic analysis of this phenomenon, but, more importantly, (3) to evaluate existing solutions and suggest new ones, and (4) to do justice to the points of view of employees engaged in this activity. When Internet usage is unrelated to the business or the defined position of an employee and is done on company time, there is at the very least a presumed decrease in productivity. That presumption will be evaluated below. By reason of the employee’s extraneous preoccupation with the Internet there is probably also a decrease in the amount of conscious attention given to the processing of company business problems, which the employee is paid to solve. There are also moral issues concerning the misuse of time, evasion of responsibility, and breach of employee-employer contract. Moreover the employer can incur additional expenses when company resources are not being used as intended. This can be construed as indirect theft on the part of the abusers.
Recommended Citation
Friedman, William H., "Is the Answer to Internet Addiction Internet Interdiction?" (2000). AMCIS 2000 Proceedings. 226.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2000/226