CA Court Favors Employees in Trade Secret Decision
Posted by
michael
on from the sanity-prevails dept.
legal_tinker writes "At grep.law, Tait Graves writes: 'In a majority of states, you can be enjoined from starting a new job because of what you know, even if you have done nothing wrong.' A California court just rejected that idea in California."
That's not going to happen soon with the FBI!
by
G0SP0DAR
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I remember a comical article from/. a while back about the FBI not wanting to hire geeks because so many geeks aren't physically fit. However, that was not the focus of the actual linked story. That basically said that the FBI wants hackers, but their ethical screening keeps them from hiring people who think like hackers. That only eliminates 100% of the candidates! If you know how to gain unauthorized access to a secure network, the FBI wants you, but they won't be able to hire you!
--
Calm down, it's *only* ones and zeroes.
Re:People Laid off from my company
by
topham
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Which is exactly why I believe it should be ILLEGAL to place a clause in an employee contract which is expected to be unenforcable.
It would quickly eliminate the crap from the employee agreements.
Re:People Laid off from my company
by
schon
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
The problem is that the person voluntarily gives up the future use of that knowledge to advance professionally now.
Sorry, but nobody should have to sign away their life just to 'advance professionally'.
And voluntary? Yeah, just like the kids that work in asian sweatshops. They do it cause they love it, right?
If they don't agree to the companies terms, they don't get the knowledge in the first place.
Umm, how exactly is this 'voluntary'?
Sounds a little like "I'll give you this nice, shiny doughnut if you sell me your soul."
Again, the logic can be (and probably is) used by people who run sweatshops.
If a company wants to keep it's employees, it should treat them like people, not inventory.
Much of the world would like America's prosperity and much of the world envies it.
True enough, but I doubt that you could count any developed nations as part of that.
Well, these are the sorts of things you have to
do if you want that prosperity.
Ahem, bullshit.
In case you hadn't noticed, the US isn't really #1 at anything besides tooting their own horns. With the arguable exception of movie production (which is fraught with it's own evils) I'm hard pressed to think of anything that you're better at than the rest of the world.
And in case you hadn't heard, there are much better (as decided by the UN) places to live and work - primarily because of people with your mindset.
allowing people to make agreements between themselves is an expression of freedom
Yes, but who, exactly keeps watch to ensure that one party isn't being taken advantage of. Someone has to watch out that a megacorp with an army of lawyers doesn't take advantage of it's workers.
Or do you believe that all labour laws should be abolished, and we should return to the 'good old days' of child factory workers, and indentured servitude? Because that's exactly where your argument takes you.
Re:People Laid off from my company
by
Stephen+VanDahm
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
"Much of the world would like America's prosperity and much of the world envies it. Well, these are the sorts of things you have to do if you want that prosperity."
Saying that in order to be as prosperous as the US, you have to do everything the American way is like saying that since Grandpa Earl smoked a pack a day and lived to be 100, the secret to long life is to chain smoke. Perhaps NDAs and aggressive IP laws contributed to our prosperity, but perhaps if we didn't have those things, we'd be even more prosperous. Things are too complicated to easily determine what has and hasn't contributed to our success.
I think that there's something essentially un-American about aggressive IP laws. I understand the need to foster creativity, but no one owes anyone else a living. If I rip off your copyrighted work, then you have the right to track me down and prosecute me. But laws like the DMCA restrict consumer choice and consumer freedom based on something that they might do in the future -- this really is an attack on our freedom. Corporations and individuals ought to have IP rights, but the responsibility of looking after those rights belongs to the patent/copyright holder, not to Congress, and not to the regular law-abiding citizen. I don't download MP3's and DIVX movies, and I shouldn't have to be penalized for someone else's problem. If they can't or don't want to track down individual violations, then they should change their business model. No one put guns to the heads of Hollywood execs and told them to make movies.
Steve
Re:USA arrogance.
by
Guppy06
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
"We don't envy American (Govt) war mongering, engineering of governments"
What, you're more proud of European government engineering? Proud of the examples certain EU members have mde of various African and SE Asian countries?
"We have better economic growth than the USA."
First off, after the past year I doubt it. Secondly, just because you're growing faster doesn't mean you've caught up yet.
"We have better social policy - we look after our poor people better. We have fewer homeless people, slums. We have accessible healthcare for all, not just the rich. We have a nicer climate overall."
These have beeen brought up so often that I'm actually getting curious whether or not anybody really has any data on this to back these up.
"We have more glorious beaches with fewer people."
Only if you assume all beaches in the US are on the Florida penninsula, southern California, or Oahu.
"We rarely have to queue for anything for more than five minutes."
And by that I assume you're suggesting that we do?
"Our hospitals are not full of gunshot wounded."
Oh really?
"You get to club us with a big stick if we put a trade tariff on,"
Unless it's GM food, huh? Or just about any produce, for that matter? Bananas ring any bells?
"You trash the world environment and you won't let anyone else attempt to clean up (Kyoto)."
About the only way we're preventing Kyoto from being implemented (which we aren't... or "weren't") is by not signing on. IMO, trying to claim that that is our way of actively trying to prevent outher countries from implementing Kyoto themselves is really stretching it.
"And while you're at it, you might get your UN dues paid."
We might, as soon as UN diplomats start paying off their NYC parking/traffic tickets.
"Disclaimer. I do have friends in the USA who are just as horrified by the pervasive ignorance of their compatriots as I am."
I dislike blind patriotism myself, but I fail to see how your post makes you any better than those you claim to dispise. You don't like how pro-American jingoists make overly-broad, baseless and unprovable statements, but you think that your anti-American jingoism is somehow better? "Proving" that the US is the Great Satan requires just as much proof as "proving" the US is utopian. And either way, silly little catch phrases bleated out by political activist sheep just won't cut it.
"I post anon because I don't like being attacked by the idiots in the majority."
You think you're in the minority here? Obviously you're new to Slashdot. I'm surprised there isn't a "+1 Anti-American" mod option yet.
Slashdot Mirror
I remember a comical article from /. a while back about the FBI not wanting to hire geeks because so many geeks aren't physically fit. However, that was not the focus of the actual linked story. That basically said that the FBI wants hackers, but their ethical screening keeps them from hiring people who think like hackers. That only eliminates 100% of the candidates! If you know how to gain unauthorized access to a secure network, the FBI wants you, but they won't be able to hire you!
Calm down, it's *only* ones and zeroes.
Which is exactly why I believe it should be ILLEGAL to place a clause in an employee contract which is expected to be unenforcable.
It would quickly eliminate the crap from the employee agreements.
The problem is that the person voluntarily gives up the future use of that knowledge to advance professionally now.
Sorry, but nobody should have to sign away their life just to 'advance professionally'.
And voluntary? Yeah, just like the kids that work in asian sweatshops. They do it cause they love it, right?
If they don't agree to the companies terms, they don't get the knowledge in the first place.
Umm, how exactly is this 'voluntary'?
Sounds a little like "I'll give you this nice, shiny doughnut if you sell me your soul."
Again, the logic can be (and probably is) used by people who run sweatshops.
If a company wants to keep it's employees, it should treat them like people, not inventory.
Much of the world would like America's prosperity and much of the world envies it.
True enough, but I doubt that you could count any developed nations as part of that.
Well, these are the sorts of things you have to
do if you want that prosperity.
Ahem, bullshit.
In case you hadn't noticed, the US isn't really #1 at anything besides tooting their own horns. With the arguable exception of movie production (which is fraught with it's own evils) I'm hard pressed to think of anything that you're better at than the rest of the world.
And in case you hadn't heard, there are much better (as decided by the UN) places to live and work - primarily because of people with your mindset.
allowing people to make agreements between themselves is an expression of freedom
Yes, but who, exactly keeps watch to ensure that one party isn't being taken advantage of. Someone has to watch out that a megacorp with an army of lawyers doesn't take advantage of it's workers.
Or do you believe that all labour laws should be abolished, and we should return to the 'good old days' of child factory workers, and indentured servitude? Because that's exactly where your argument takes you.
"Much of the world would like America's prosperity and much of the world envies it. Well, these are the sorts of things you have to do if you want that prosperity."
Saying that in order to be as prosperous as the US, you have to do everything the American way is like saying that since Grandpa Earl smoked a pack a day and lived to be 100, the secret to long life is to chain smoke. Perhaps NDAs and aggressive IP laws contributed to our prosperity, but perhaps if we didn't have those things, we'd be even more prosperous. Things are too complicated to easily determine what has and hasn't contributed to our success.
I think that there's something essentially un-American about aggressive IP laws. I understand the need to foster creativity, but no one owes anyone else a living. If I rip off your copyrighted work, then you have the right to track me down and prosecute me. But laws like the DMCA restrict consumer choice and consumer freedom based on something that they might do in the future -- this really is an attack on our freedom. Corporations and individuals ought to have IP rights, but the responsibility of looking after those rights belongs to the patent/copyright holder, not to Congress, and not to the regular law-abiding citizen. I don't download MP3's and DIVX movies, and I shouldn't have to be penalized for someone else's problem. If they can't or don't want to track down individual violations, then they should change their business model. No one put guns to the heads of Hollywood execs and told them to make movies.
Steve
"We don't envy American (Govt) war mongering, engineering of governments"
What, you're more proud of European government engineering? Proud of the examples certain EU members have mde of various African and SE Asian countries?
"We have better economic growth than the USA."
First off, after the past year I doubt it. Secondly, just because you're growing faster doesn't mean you've caught up yet.
"We have better social policy - we look after our poor people better. We have fewer homeless people, slums. We have accessible healthcare for all, not just the rich. We have a nicer climate overall."
These have beeen brought up so often that I'm actually getting curious whether or not anybody really has any data on this to back these up.
"We have more glorious beaches with fewer people."
Only if you assume all beaches in the US are on the Florida penninsula, southern California, or Oahu.
"We rarely have to queue for anything for more than five minutes."
And by that I assume you're suggesting that we do?
"Our hospitals are not full of gunshot wounded."
Oh really?
"You get to club us with a big stick if we put a trade tariff on,"
Unless it's GM food, huh? Or just about any produce, for that matter? Bananas ring any bells?
"You trash the world environment and you won't let anyone else attempt to clean up (Kyoto)."
About the only way we're preventing Kyoto from being implemented (which we aren't... or "weren't") is by not signing on. IMO, trying to claim that that is our way of actively trying to prevent outher countries from implementing Kyoto themselves is really stretching it.
"And while you're at it, you might get your UN dues paid."
We might, as soon as UN diplomats start paying off their NYC parking/traffic tickets.
"Disclaimer. I do have friends in the USA who are just as horrified by the pervasive ignorance of their compatriots as I am."
I dislike blind patriotism myself, but I fail to see how your post makes you any better than those you claim to dispise. You don't like how pro-American jingoists make overly-broad, baseless and unprovable statements, but you think that your anti-American jingoism is somehow better? "Proving" that the US is the Great Satan requires just as much proof as "proving" the US is utopian. And either way, silly little catch phrases bleated out by political activist sheep just won't cut it.
"I post anon because I don't like being attacked by the idiots in the majority."
You think you're in the minority here? Obviously you're new to Slashdot. I'm surprised there isn't a "+1 Anti-American" mod option yet.