Tech-savvy Jolene Ivey "seriously bummed out"

Virus concerns block Md. lawmakers' Facebook, MySpace access

By Gadi Dechter | gadi.dechter@baltsun.com

12:02 PM EST, February 6, 2009

Some tech-savvy members of the General Assembly were "seriously bummed out" this morning to learn that their computer access to Facebook and MySpace has been blocked because of virus concerns on the legislature's computer network.

Office of Legislative Information Systems Director Michael Gaudiello today confirmed that lawmakers were notified of the block yesterday and that it was because of a "significant increase in viruses and malware affecting the Maryland General Assembly computers." The block pertains to all computers running on the legislature's network, including the laptops lawmakers often use to surf the Web during bill hearings.

This morning, Gaudiello told The Baltimore Sun that there has been so far no damage or loss of data associated with the dozens of viruses coming from links hosted on the social-networking Web sites, but that the action was taken as a precaution. The ban was first reported on Legum's New Line, a political blog.

"I wouldn't say I'm devastated, but I am, like, seriously bummed out," said Del. Jolene Ivey, a Prince George's County Democrat. Ivey said she sometimes used Facebook to communicate with constituents while in Annapolis.

Related links

• Maryland Politics: No more Facebooking in the legislature

Del. Curt Anderson, a Baltimore Democrat and the unofficial Wikipedia-keeper in the General Assembly, had a more pungent reaction: "It's a dark day," Anderson said. "I've personally been contacted by half a dozen [lawmakers] wanting to know how to get [Facebook] back."

Gaudiello said DLS is monitoring additional sites for virus activity and may be blocking those, but the user-generated encyclopedia Wikipedia is still available. "At least there's somewhere we can go," said Anderson, shaking his head mournfully.