Netflix and Hulu are highly popular video streaming services among the Hawaii state employees, who have apparently been wasting taxpayer’s money by watching their favorite shows on these services. Now, however, these streaming services have been blocked for employees of the state of Hawaii.
Netflix block, a good move
WFSB notes that a memo has been issued by state Chief Information Officer Todd Nacapuy to other government officials stating, “In order to preserve sufficient online access for state business, we will be immediately blocking video streaming services.” According to CivilBeat, Nacapuy also said, “The state has finite IT resources, and increasing these resources requires an investment.”
Blocking State workers’ access to Netflix and Hulu is seen as a good idea by information technology consultants. This kind of ban imposed on the entertainment viewing eliminates any chances of misinterpretation by people who may question what is actually being done by the state workers, says a computer technology consultant and community college lecturer in social media, Burt Lum.
Ryan Ozama, communications director for Hawaii Information Service, said that anyone running a business would make a similar kind of analysis, determining how much is being paid for internet, how much of it is actually needed for the business and how much of it is being consumed for things that they shouldn’t be paying for.
Waste of taxpayers’ money
Citing the state Office of Information Management and Technology, Hawaii News Now previously noted that employees spent 100-300 hours on Netflix from July 28 – August 4. House of Cards and Orange is the New Black are a couple of the popular shows watched by the employees. The viewing quantity almost equals to 2-9 full-time employees watching TV shows for a full 40-hour work week.
The ban will be imposed only on entertainment viewing, while employees are still allowed to go to media sites that are helpful in matters relating to the job. These include YouTube, Adobe Flash Media and several other sites of similar nature. Though the department can figure out the specific employees that have watched Netflix, and also the amount of time spent, no punishment has been announced for such employees.
