FC: eWatch firm specializes in spying on corporate critics

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Okay, you activist wannabes, get over it. What you post online may be as 
public as if you were shouting it from the street corner. If you don't like 
it, be anonymous. The tools have never been easier to use, and it's the 
only way to shield yourself from reprisals. Don't trust your Internet 
provider or mail service to keep mum: That's identity escrow, and it's as 
bad an idea as government-coerced key escrow. --Declan]

*********

> From: "Daniel C. L'Hommedieu" <dcl () linuxcrypt com>
> Subject: eWatch
> To: declan () well com (Declan McCullagh)
> Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 19:04:54 +0000 ()
>
> Declan,
>
> Have you seen this troubling article at Business Week?
>         http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/july2000/nf00707g.htm
>
> It's about a company - eWatch - that (quoting Slashdot), "specializes in
> tracking the comments of, and garnering personal information about folks
> with a beef with a company. The service isn't cheap, upwards of $5,000
> per 'screenname.' This was apparently used against Northwest Airlines
> sick-out employees last Christmas. The BusinessWeek article seems to
> hint that eWatch is used primarily to root out uncomplimentary messages
> on 'rogue' web sites. So, should we be careful about what we post here,
> Usenet, or anywhere else? Especially if we post about our own companies?
> Interesting indeed..."
>
> Business Week implies that companies could use it for personal (as in,
> one-on-one) "reeducation" -- that is, to contact people who are
> publicly irritated about a company's product or customer service and
> attempt to "correct" these "incorrect" attitudes.
>
> If this sort of thing goes on too much longer, we won't have any claim
> to the First Amendment online.
>
> Daniel
> --
> Daniel C. L'Hommedieu
> dcl () linuxcrypt com

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