Should Board of Director members do blogging?

My first thought in being a corporate blogger is, what can I say or not say?

For example, a few weeks ago I posted something on my java.net blog which turned out to be legally innacurate, and could potentially harm my employer. One of my co-workers saw it and asked me to post a clarification, which I've done.

The fact is, as an employee representing the company, writing in a venue owned by the company, my words carry a different weight than when they're written on my own blogs either at 7gen.com or here.

The U.S. Constitution may gaurantee that Congress shall not pass any law infringing on my right to speech, but the Constitution is silent about Corporate control over my speech. That is governed by the employment contract and the vagaries of employment law. Of which I'm not terribly familiar with at the moment.

So anyway, I was searching this afternoon for information on corporate blogging and found something of interest.

Why Corporate Boards Should Blog

This is an article published by irwebreport.com explaining to BoD members why they should be blogging. It describes blogging as the most cost effective way for BoD members to communicate with the public, to demonstrate to the public the value of having a BoD, etc.

Now, I own shares in several companies and as a peon investor feel completely out of the loop concerning the typical BoD. Every so often I get a mailing about a shareholder election, and it's usually inconsequential things such as asking approval for the issuance of new shares. Oh, and we get to pick among a crew of pre-selected candidates for BoD positions, where they're generally greying white guys in dark grey suits wearing ties. Fat lot of difference it would seem to make to select between one old greying white guy and another.

So the thought of being able to communicate directly with BoD members is enticing. But I'm not holding my breath.