Unethical Website of the Month June 2004

If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, then humor is the last defense of the web creep: those who profit by encouraging unethical behavior by others. Yeah, yeah, we've heard the litany of defenses, beginning with "Lighten up, man!" and "It's all in good fun!" to "Nobody uses this who doesn't want to!" and "We're just providing what people want!" As Colonel Potter used to say, "Horse hockey." Sites like Don's Boss's Page aid and abet goofing off on the job: you know, the stuff that costs the economy billions a year, the stuff that adds dollars to what we pay for goods and services? The stuff that means that those of us who believe in actually earning our salaries have to work that much harder, all while putting up with various systems designed to catch us goofing off, because there are so many workers like the ones who frequent www.donsbosspage.com?

Boy, I think my sides are going to split.

Don's Boss Page is the brainchild of someone named Don Pavlish, and features such goofing off aids as:

• Downloadable sound effects to play over the phone so your boss thinks you're hard at work
• Tips from master goof-offs around the world, who describe computer tricks and assorted deceits to facilitate extensive web surfing on the job.
• A downloadable "panic button" that will instantly turn this site into a fake spread sheet if the boss walks by. The site itself appears in the address tool bar as "Spreadsheet_2003.doc"..oops, better update that, Don, your boss is getting suspicious!
• Testimonials from satisfied users of the page, and breathless media notes, from The New York Times, USA Today, and various cyber rags.

Finally, the site entices other sites to install its "panic button" on their pages by linking them as "worker friendly websites." There are 38 listed, ranging from the obvious ( "The Claudia Shiffer Fan Club ) to the disturbing ("Break Room for Public Communications Safety Personnel???").

Don's light-hearted approach to cheating is both destructive and irresponsible, driven by the self-righteous deception that bosses somehow "deserve" to be cheated, and that unethical behavior is, you know, like, waaay cool. There is hope: all signs indicate that the site has not been updated in quite a while, and that Don has either lost interest, or grown up.

Or best of all, been fired.

See unethical sites from other months