Kamutula: Thanks for the feedback… My observation has been that, initially, many businesses/organisations had no clear policy regarding Internet use in the workplace, but were depending on their employees to exercise some discretion in when and for how long they used the facility for personal matters. However, when it appeared that discretion was not being exercised and the work was suffering, stringent measures were implemented, which may appear somewhat draconian, until one realises that people are not always prepared to exercise the requisite self-control that the circumstances demand…

There can be a bigger cost when restrictions are are too strigent. However, as stated in the post, exercising descretion how long personal use of the Internet at the office done, is probably the only guiding principle.