Well I am in FloriDUH and from what I understand the employment law is such that anything you say on a contract is absolutely enforceable, forever. That is how one developer put it who I know, who is very knowledgeable in these areas. Thanks for the info, yes state applicability and enforceability is a big deal. For me it is not enough to 'hope' something is unenforceable, I want real solid ground. Thanks Marc On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 06:45:53 -0700, Christopher A. Williams <chrisw01@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Wed, 2005-03-23 at 07:31 -0500, Marc M wrote: > > 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. > > IANAL, but I would look for a lawyer directly in the state you are > signing this contract in. Make sure you understand the laws of the state > under which the agreement is governed. Also, this kind of contract is > absolutely unenforceable in some states - California is one of them. > There, pretty much the only inventions the company can own are those > that are created while on company time or created using company > resources. Apparently, California law also requires that this be > disclosed to you. I know this because I just signed an inventions > agreement when I started a new job and this was included in the terms. > > The terms of this contract appear to be way over the top and I'm sure a > good lawyer could shoot major holes in it. I doubt such terms could > stand up in court. Hope that helps! > > Cheers, > > Chris > > -- > ==================================== > "If you get to thinkin' you're a > person of some influence, try > orderin' someone else's dog around." > --Cowboy Wisdom > >
