Divide by Null - undefined

While at school, the subject about one's online identity came up with regards to interviews. Some colleges look up applicants on the internet as a sort of prescreen. Many employers do as well. Some high schools even suspend students based on myspace profiles and a few private schools completely ban the site.

Is this ok? Can employers, school administrators, etc. penalize a worker/student over something they wrote on the internet?

A blogger, Dooce, got fired for writing about her job without consent of the company or coworkers. Another blog, Waiter Rant, is completely about his job, but he keeps just about all identifiable information as secret as possible, as well as having gotten permission to write.

There have also been stories of kids getting suspended because of myspace. These students, however, engaged in these activities outside of school and not directly concerning school (aside from another student in the first story). Thus, should the school intervene? It seems more appropriate, to me, that parents or the police/authorities get involved with those examples of hate crimes and underage drinking. Since it didn't happen on school grounds or involved a school threat, the school, I believe, should not have the authority except to pass on the information.

Then there are also the cases of job interviewers doing a quick google search of the applicant. This seems to be valid. It's a quick background check and can give insight to the person's personality when outside of an interview. Blogs and such are different, in that information goes online and stays there, unlike a conversation between friends in a bar. This might be bad, however, for people who can easily separate their social life from their business life. As technology progresses, some lines lose their definition.

I feel as though I'm digressing. Perhaps it's that it's late. Perhaps I'm tired. Perhaps I'm just forcing myself to write without actually thinking about what I'm typing. In any case. I'll leave this open to see what other people think about this.