Staga: So if he woud do it old fashion way by using pen, paper and envelope taken from his office the company could still rip those letters open and see whats inside?
Guess they can also listen their employers phonecalls too.
Here you get sentenced if you do that, guess people have more rights for their privacy here 
You are way overboard involving constitutional issues here.
It has nothing to do with civic rights. If your employer is held responcible for things you do, he must have control over it. It's not a state policy. It's a private policy of a company and an employee enters it voluntarily. Do not accept a job if you do not like the conditions.
In my company, all incoming mail is opened and all outgoing faxes are copied and filed, as well as e-mail. Also regular correspondence sent by mail written on behalf of a company or in conjunction with the company must be approved.
It's them who get sued if you run scam on company letterhead paper or phone system, so why should they not be able to control it?
Nope but that doesn't give me any rights to open my workers emails, letters or listen his calls. There is a reasonable expectation of privacy. So an employee has to be specifically warned - and sign for it - that he is aware of the monitoring. There are no personal e-mails in the company unless specifically arranged.
Karnak: In the United States it would mean those things. B.S. It has nothing to do with US - it's a private business of any company.
Using the company's equipment, even mere office supplies, for personal business is theft. B.S. again - you are being too general. In your company it may be so, in mine it may be different. Ever heard of a thing called "perks" or "standards" or "accepted practices"? They are different everywhere. You should really try to avoid those generalisations for no good reason.
Hortlund: If I use a piece of paper and a pen from work, and write a private letter If you use a company letter-head or an envelope with a return adderss and or official stamp, no. Otherwise - yes. All e-mail by definition contains a company identification of origin on it, not just uses company servers. So it does belong to a company.
Hortlund: Geez what happened to the "land of the free",and the "rights of the individual. ... Hello 1984. " That is exactly the freedom to run one's private business like on seems fit - not according to what some dupe believes he one should do.
What you are proposing is much closer to despotism - disallowing a business owner from running his business in his own way.
Do not confuse freedom from government oppression with freedom to enter into a voluntary contract of any kind with any individual and be bound by conditions of that contract.
miko
