March Madness

March 16, 2006 –By Chris Gaither and Dawn C. Chmielewski, L.A. Times Staff Writers

College basketball fans can catch the NCAA action online starting tomorrow when CBS offers free streaming media of March Madness. But that could pose a headache to corporate IT departments that would have to deal with possible network meltdown.

According to 8e6 Technologies, an Internet filtering company in Orange, Calif., a user accessing streaming media can slow a network by 20 to 30 percent.

Said Eric Lundbohm, VP of marketing at 8e6 Technologies: "If you have 300 people in a company of a thousand doing it, you can use up a lot of bandwidth very quickly."

To avoid what 8e6 called "a network heatstroke," company COO Paul Myer advises businesses to impose "reasonable limits" for employees to watch online. For example, online viewing could be restricted to "before work, during lunch and after work, but not during prime working hours."

Then there's another way that 8e6 Technologies is trying out for its own employees: The company bought three plasma TV screens so employees can watch the games.

"It makes it a better place to work," Lundbohm said.

About 8e6 Technologies
8e6 Technologies is a security company dedicated to Internet filtering and reporting. We are the only Web filtering company that uses a unique “pass-by technology” on a highly scalable appliance. Our standalone reporting appliance is easy to use and provides extremely detailed information, faster than any other product on the market. 8e6 helps protect its customers from all internal threats including spyware, malware, and Internet abuse leading to data loss and liability–while preventing bandwidth misuse. By preventing improper use of network resources and employee time, 8e6 also increases productivity and ensures regulatory compliance. Our standalone security solution achieves a dramatic reduction in the cost of hardware, subscriptions, maintenance, and support, and produces a substantially lower total cost of ownership. A Web filtering pioneer since 1995, the company maintains headquarters in Orange, California, with offices in Taipei and Beijing, as well as a network of channel partners worldwide. For more information, please call 888.786.7999 or visit www.8e6.com.