Hello: I have a 'technical' question that does not involve technology specifically, but I am hoping that someone on the list can help me. I have an employment possibility doing Red Hat Enterprise Linux and a lot of security stuff. I really want the job but they are making me sign this Stalinist contract to the effect that ANYTHING now or in the future (thoughts, concepts, software, plans, processes, RECORDINGS, images, etc.) -- is THEIRS. You wouldn't believe it if I had time to type everything. Basically I am a slave to them from now on. That's right, anything NOW OR IN THE FUTURE, on the job or off. So if you are configuring/writing/tweaking software all day, one would <think> that you would later be liable or subject to just about anything they want to claim. Think about it. Who doesn't learn and grow from one job to another? Who doesn't apply things/practices/habits/processes, from place A to place B? I beat out every other candidate from multiple agencies with this. I have come a LOOOOONG way in this process with the recruiter and I am formulating a letter to the effect of 'I am sorry but I am not signing my life away and if it's a dealbreaker so be it'. I also included some HUGE info to show that I am interested in 'educating' these recruiter types as to the restrictions they are placing on something that is suppossed to be 'open'. I am beginning to conclude that some people and opportunities are not worth fooling with, since they come with more headaches than they are worth. Does anyone know a qualified lawyer in the space of OSS that understands contracts, employment, and the GPL for starters? If someone can represent me in this matter I may actually be able to go forward and strike through terms and conditions. And have any of you run into similar situations? What did you do? Finally let me underscore that this goes WAAAY beyond the typical 'trade secrets'/proprietary information type verbiage, which I would consider normal and reasonable under most circumstances. Thanks Marc
