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posted by martyb on Tuesday September 13 2016, @07:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the better-don-your-asbestos-undergarments dept.

An anonymous poster 'The ABKCO Thieves' writes in about new hire paperwork.

I recently started work at a well-known e-commerce business, which is a great opportunity for me. Only after I started did I find out the full inventions, NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), non-poaching, and work-for-hire agreement is onerous. It treats any work of authorship during my employment as their property, even if done on my own time and equipment. I can't post the agreement because it would identify the company, and potentially me as well.

Earlier this year I began contributing code to a GPL v2 project that has existed for more than a decade. I want to continue to do so, but how can I without risking "contamination" of it thanks to this agreement? Part of my goal in contributing is to have real live code I can point to, so going under the radar defeats that purpose.

Are these sorts of intellectual property agreements common?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @09:06AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @09:06AM (#401208)

    Hitting the DVDs last night?

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Tuesday September 13 2016, @09:35AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Tuesday September 13 2016, @09:35AM (#401213) Journal

    You mean it's not on Netflix? Of course! The bastards don't want you thinking for yourself, or running about with explosive tipped crossbow bolts! But then, neither do I! I just want everyone to realize that as long is there is one male corporation with these policies, they will breed, and only one species is getting out of this alive. Besides, I liked Gerard Butler when he was a quirky character actor with an extremely thick nothern English accent, before he became the right wing wet dream of "300", the Gay Fascist Porn Movie, or the something has fallen, somewhere, most likely due to really bad acting.

    But Dragons. What was it in the "Hobbit"? Dragon-sickness? The irresistable urge to own everything you can, for no reason? Like a Donald, for the very first time? Unfortunately, the Donald's hands are too small, and the "for hire" clauses are as well.

    I was working, for a while, for a University with such an explicit policy. I discovered a cure for the common cold, a faster-than-light drive, and a solution to the Fermi paradox. Since the University would claim ownership of all these, I have never published. In fact, this is the first time I have ever mentioned these discoveries! But, I cannot tell you about them, because. . . . Yeah, IP for human progress. Mercenaries!

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @10:14AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @10:14AM (#401221)

      You mean it's not on Netflix?

      Why bother with Netflix?
      https://duckduckgo.com/?q=watch+reign+of+fire+2002 [duckduckgo.com]

      Right, sorry, you can't just watch streaming video for free by searching for title and year, that never works. Torrents are the only way because torrents! Torrents!

      • (Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Tuesday September 13 2016, @03:13PM

        by bucc5062 (699) on Tuesday September 13 2016, @03:13PM (#401336)

        Free is relative and some of those "free" streaming sights either want too much information or try to talk you into a CC number. I have had some luck with Putlocker, but some of the alternative links for live streaming got real sketchy with me.

        --
        The more things change, the more they look the same
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @10:24AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 13 2016, @10:24AM (#401223)

      I discovered a cure for the common cold, a faster-than-light drive, and a solution to the Fermi paradox. Since the University would claim ownership of all these, I have never published.

      That's perfectly fine. Humanity doesn't deserve your brilliance. Please take the discoveries to your grave.