A not-so-surprising result from a recent study by FaceTime and IDC: banning IM use does not necessarily lead to non-use.

[from Banning Instant Messaging does not reduce business risks]

FaceTime Communications and IDC have conducted a joint survey into Instant Messaging security. This shows that most organisations which prohibit Instant Messaging in the enterprise fail to address critical network security, information security and regulatory compliance risks posed by its unauthorised use among workers.

36 percent of the survey's respondents reported that IM is prohibited by their organisations, but only 17 percent of those prohibiting IM reported having a solution in place to block usage. Public IM clients can easily be downloaded and used by workers without IT knowledge or control unless IM blocking solutions have been implemented.

The implied solution, though, by FaceTime (and others of its ilk, like IMlogic, Akonix, and Zonelabs) is software that will actually block IM use. If that is applied as part of the roll-out of a corporate, secure IM solution, I am all for it. But the lose-lose case -- where the company shuts down all IM use -- is simply stupid. But we should never underestimate the power of human stupidity, or the willingness of the establishment to prohibit innovative and dangerous ideas.