I have no problem fighting them in this way, so long as the software is careful and uses the more conservative and less political blackhole lists (such as SpamHaus).
Our government has no clue when it comes to technology. It's not the government's job ALONE to protect us. Sometimes we have to do it ourselves.
I'd like to see a version of this that DoS's banner ad services that do drive by malware installs...
1. No commercials on music channels. EVER. Never have had them. XM had to change from commercials to non commercial BECAUSE Sirius wouldn't air commercials.
2. Lee Abrams.
Lee Abrams runs the programming at XM. He is the architect of Clear Channel's "cookie cutter" formats.
3. Cost.
XM is $9.99 a month.
But you don't get:
1. All the channels (some are premium) 2. Internet streaming access (costs you $5 a month extra) 3. No discounts offered if you pay annually OR add other receivers to your account.
Sirius is $12.95 (or $9.95 if you pay annually)
For EVERYTHING.
No wonder Sirius is the service that TALENT seems to be gravitating to. Such as Mel Karmazin. Howard Stern.
Their threats are empty. They are CONVICTED of being a monopoly and illegally USING that power to force themselves into dominance in other markets.
If MS attempts to use a patent to stifle Linux uptake, the courts can strip the patent from them even if it IS a valid patent.
Microsoft threatening like this is the best thing that has ever happened to those of us who oppose software patents. MS is huge and rich, but compared to the rest of the US and world economy, they are a flyspeck. Microsoft seems to be ACTIVELY trying to turn the whole world AGAINST them.
Funny how Ballmer is sounding like Darl McBride...
If you are a former customer, expect to be sued. You have our "presssccciiooouss" IP.
Suing your customers, or THREATENING to sue your customers is not a proven successful business tactic.
IBM has more patents than God, and their business interest is in protecting Linux. I am not too worried about MS or someone sucessfully getting Linux stopped via software patents, and the attempt will do more to teach our business community and our government that software patents are bad and should be abolished or limited in scope.
For one thing, companies should have to choose: Copyright or patent. They can have one or the other, not BOTH.
Something tells me the black market in RFID jammers and duplicators is going to be rampant...
This is totally wrong. You are compelled by law to attend school. Most can't afford to NOT go to government school. Now the government is tagging people like animals.
Be VERY afraid of the first RFID generation, ones who grow up with this commonplace, who never knew an age without it. Who will thing we are a bunch of kooks for opposing it.
That is why those who want to social engineer people ALWAYS want to start with the schools...
CBS, Dan Rather, and FORGED MEMOS don't exactly enforce confidence. Dan "Red" Rather shot his wad and lost.
The fact that CBS laments blogs reiforces the fact that the OLD MEDIA is upset that they are no longer the final, dictatorial word as to what Americans see and believe.
This guy is insane. IMO, Merkey is a "rabid dog" that SCaldera has tossed over our fence in the hopes he bites someone and gives them rabies.
This guy has slandered Linus, he's slandered PJ, and everyone else who has dared question him or his motives. I bet/. gets a nastygram (CC'ed to Darl McBride of course)for daring to post this story.
It seems to me that keeping detailed logs of your users is just a big legal headache.
One of my clients was once interested in installing detailed internet monitoring and logging (so as to see who is wasting time on the web). They lost interest rapidly when I pointed out that they could be compelled to provide it in court should someone sue.
SurfControl and the other Big Brother ware makers never include that in the copy.
Here's what I'd do: You need to keep certain logs so you can know if there is an intrusion, DoS, etc, but program your logs to automatically erase every week. That means that there will never be more than THE CURRENT WEEK's worth of data that could be subpoened.
Of course, I'm sure if ISP's start doing THAT the RIAA will just get Congress to pass laws that make us all retain ALL logs for all time...
"Gordo is now meeting with Shepard, Slayton, Grissom and Conrad. That should be a party. It's hard to believe that Glenn and Schirra are the only ones left."
I'm sure he's happier today. Gus Grissom was his best friend, and I'm sure he is glad to once again be able to trade stories and barbs with him.
After seeing "The Right Stuff", and hearing my dad (who met him) tell me about meeting Gordo Cooper when he was an elementary student in Eastern Ky, he was always my favorite of the Mercury Seven.
He was truly one with the "right stuff".
Like the rest of the original 7, he was not only a fantastic pilot, he was also a scientist, and a damn good one.
It's ironic that on the day we lose the last American to go into space alone, we send another American into space alone.
" There is NO FRIGGIN WAY this is going to stand. The RIAA and MPAA will see to that. $$$"
Most likely. Sadly. But the Supreme Court has basically upheld perpetual (one day less than eternity is limited) when they upheld the Sonny Bono copyright extension, so it will probably go down on appeal.
"No, he's referring to the french revolution. You remember that one, right? The average worker couldn't afford to buy bread, so revolution was inevitable. The current crop of aristocrats don't seem terribly concerned with the welfare of the masses."
And that, is our future less than a century from now, I'm afraid.
Eventually the corporate oligarchy will be overthrown by sheer weight, as we outnumber them.
The tech industry is the LAST (and pinnacle) wave of the industrial revolution. Lose those jobs and the middle class is gone forever.
I am a systems and network administrator. It'd be awfully hard to outsource MY job, as there will always have to be someone at the site to diagnose, repair, design, and impliment systems and networks.
But technology will get me as well. If they ever invented the "transporter" you can be DAMN sure some US megacorp will buy (bribe) Congress to allow them to import foreign slave labor on demand.
Fortunately that's at least a century (if not more) away. At the rate we are bleeding away the tech industry with nothing else to replace it, our economy and thus, technology will be long gone by then.
High tech is the LAST wave in the industrial revolution. Thanks to greedy corps, and wacko green-nuts, we outsourced the factories 20-30 years ago. Our economic resurgance of the 80's and 90's were DIRECTLY related to the growth of the tech industry that replaced dirty industry.
Bleed those jobs away from this country, and it's over.
"How does the US get the money? We assume that the Nike corporation is paying taxes, which would benefit the US economy, which should eventually create newer, better jobs for Americans. Of course, any respectable corporation cooks their books so that taxes paid are minimal, and governments (both state and federal) are constantly giving tax breaks as well. Anyone know where to find out how much taxes a corporation pays?"
Corporations do not pay taxes.
The corporate income tax is the biggest lie and biggest illusion that people believe in.
A corporate tax is passed on to the workers, customers, and ultimately, everyone else as a cost of goods/services sold.
Want to increase the corporate income tax, to make people feel good, that we are GETTING BACK AT THOSE EEEVIL corps?
It won't do a thing to them. They will raise prices, cut wages, etc. It would make everyone ELSE suffer.
That's why the corporate income tax should be used as a sword to DISCOURAGE outsourcing. Give them credits equal to the salaries of Americans employed inside US territory. That would stop outsourcing cold.
These "Benidict Arnold" corporations, in exporting good paying jobs to other countries, will do themselves in in the long run.
These megacorps want to get away without paying US wages, while at the same time, being dependent on a US consumer-supported MARKET to sustain their product.
Dell and HP, for example, aren't selling their expensive services and products to India. They are selling them to the USA and Europe.
Therefore, outsourcers depend on EVERYONE ELSE NOT outsourcing middle-class jobs, or else their market will ultimately collapse.
It's not just the corps that are betraying the American worker. Corporations will do anything allowed by law to make a buck. I don't have a problem with that, if business didn't make money, NONE of us would have jobs.
The traitor here is our government which does NOTHING to stop this practice, nor to even discourage it. Both parties are responsible. Both parties are beholden to the corps.
John Kerry gave some lip service to stopping outsourcing, but when you look at where his fortune comes from (his wife), mainly from OFFSHORING Heinz plants, one must wonder how serious he is about it.
The problem of outsourcing, like the IP cartels (MPAA/RIAA) are enemies that we can't vote out of power because BOTH parties are under their spell.
My solution to outsourcing is very simple.
Give all American businesses a tax credit equal to the salaries of all American citizens they employ inside the USA, minus the salary of all non-US citizens employed outside the USA.
This will allow outsourcers to play by the existing rules, while giving businesses who employ Americans a tax advantage over them.
There really won't be a loss in tax revenue, as all corporate taxes are illusory (all taxes get passed on to the customer), and it will help it, as it will encourage employers to employ more people and to pay higher wages.
" "Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Article I, Section 8, US Constitution
The US system is intended for initial exploitation, but whether that's being practiced now is a whole other story."
Unfortunately, the Constitution has been used and abused in recent times like a $5 whore.
The Supreme Court upheld the Sonny Bono "perpetual copyright act" despite Larry Lessing's argument against these extensions based on that clause.
Apparently Congress can extend copyright and/or patent terms to "one day less than forever" and it's still for a "limited time".
It was a TERRIBLE decision, as the court decided to ignore the Constitution and rewrite it to suit them, proving once again that LIMITED DURATION needs to apply to FEDERAL JUDGES just as much as to patents and copyrights.
Hell, back when this country started, the average person was dead by age 50, and old men typically were appointed judges. They probably didn't serve more than 5-10 years on the bench at most before croaking.
Supression of the free market by government means (government enforcement of the noncompete) is socialistic, not capitalist.
If our corporations are going to be allowed to hire and fire at will, lay off and outsource to India at will, to improve the company's fortunes, it seems to me that the employee should have that right as well.
To use the government to suppress that freedom is socialist. The contract means nothing without the government backing it up.
>>>
This is not libertarianism.
It's areas like this where the government plays a legitimate role, in protecting the worker from the corporation. Employer-employee relationships are NOT that of equals, and it is therefore a legitimate function. No one should be ABLE to sign away certain rights, even consensually.
>>>
If you are going to spout crap like this, at least have the guts to put your name on it instead of posting as a coward.
"As for such clauses being UnAmerican, nothing could be further from the truth. It's a classic example of American thinking, use your power to prevent the competition from horning in on your resources, human or natural."
Such clauses are VERY Anti-American. They give the employer TOTAL power over the employee and violate the spirit of capitalism. Indeed, noncompetes are in many ways a SOCIALIST idea...
With a noncompete, an employee has no guarantee of employment at that company, yet, has his ability to find other work limited.
It's a classic case of the corporation wanting to have it both ways... The same capitalist corporation that will, without any qualms, outsorce to India, lay off 5,000 workers, etc to increase their profits suddenly becomes DEVOUT MARXISTS when the EMPLOYEE wants to "fire the company" to do much the same...
This is one reason why we in IT need to organize.
Not to form a union, but perhaps an association that we can use to lobby Congress as a large group with some clout to get such things as noncompetes made illegal.
The last time I was asked to sign a noncompete, I asked how much they were going to pay me to not work... That ended the issue.
Noncompetes are also on shaky ground legally, despite what you said. Most have language in them that is clearly illegal.
Not only do most noncompetes violate the law, they are most often imposed on the employee as a condition of employment, AFTER becoming an employee. You never get to see it until after accepting the job, quitting your old one, and being more or less forced to sign.
Also, under contract law something of value must be granted to both parties to be legal. "Sign this or you lose your job" has been found most of the time to be ILLEGAL, as a contract signed under duress is not consensual.
Here are legal reforms needed to regulate noncompetes:
1. Noncompetes must be disclosed to prospective employees during the INTERVIEW process, and furnished in hard copy so that the interviewee can review it with an attorney off site.
2. Noncompetes become null and void if the employee is fired or laid off.
3. Noncompetes cannot be used to prevent the employee from working in their field.
4. The noncompete, if invoked, requires the employer to pay the former employee their previous salary during the time in which they cannot get work. This is in the State's best interest, as otherwise the employee would be drawing unemployment, a burden being unfairly shifted from corporation to taxpayer...
5. No noncompete can have more than a 6 month duration.
6. The employer is liable for all legal expenses related to litigating a noncompete, including paying the employee's expenses should they prevail. They should also have to post bond as guarantee of this payment PRIOR to the court accepting any complaint from an employeer with regard to an employee.
7. Noncompetes that have ANY language in them that would be found in violation of the law would become null and void in their entirety.
Could it be the BSA (Which is Microsoft) doesn't want to admit that they are losing business to Linux and FOSS like Open Office, and this is why they are losing money?
It's easy to blame "piracy"... Which is a red herring these days.
" I have never had a cell phone because I don't want to be bothered by anyone when I'm: A. not home B. not at work
If acompany paid for it as a requirement for work, I'd take it. If they quit paying, I'd turn it in. If they try to use that against me, the state labor board will win."
The only people who ever contact me outside work are my co-workers. We are a small IT department of 4 people, and I'm the senior Systems Engineer (my title). Two newer guys, I'm training. My manager is one of my best friends.
I take their calls always. And they take mine.
The owner of the company? Only if I feel like it.
I've insisted that I remain hourly pay instead of salary. I've worked 90 hours in the last 2 weeks, and they've paid out the ass for it. That is as it should be...
" 1. Are you working? Many are not or will shortly not be. What is the cost of keeping you vs. from elsewhere."
The economy has definately turned around in most places. It's not the Y2K/Dot Bomb boom again in IT, but things aren't like what they were 2 years ago either... THIS is the time where the winners and losers of this period of boom are going to be decided, and companies with a "you can't go somewhere else, so we'll fuck you over" attitude are going to be the losers. Companies with a winning attitude don't nickle and dime their employees with what matters to small stuff.
If they want you to have a cell phone, internet connection, PDA, etc, because they intend to MAKE USE of those things to service their company, or their customers, then they should expect to pay for them just as they pay for the cost of all their other goods/services sold.
" 2. Has the same things been cut for management? In some companies, management must provide a cellphone and their own broadband. If yours has cut all theirs, you can bet that you will pay for yours as well."
Managers are salaried, and are exempt from overtime and other requirements (they generally are expected to work more than 40 hours, while regular employees can't be forced to do so).
They also make a HELLUVA lot more than someone who is an IT staffer.
It's one thing to ask someone who makes 100 grand a year to shell out $100/month for a cell phone and broadband internet, it's quite something else to demand it of people who make $30-60K.
"Now our new CIO has elected to stop that benefit using the argument that we should be dedicated staff who desire to be responsive and should do what it takes to make that happen. The rumor now is that we should also pay for blackberries, cell phones and pagers."
Sounds like your CIO has been reading too many stupid management books...
The most useless layer in IT departments are IT managers, as it's the worst job IN IT... The worst ones are paper pushers, meetings-goers, and subscribers to the latest fad management book.
The best ones break, die, or go somewhere else because they try to actually take on the impossible job of PROTECTING their staff from the other layers of management which match the descriptions above, and they get to go to meetings instead of doing cool IT work.
I don't know how big your company or IT staff is,, but if your staff is fairly small, I'd get together as a group, DO NOT get cellphones or other stuff they won't pay for, and cancel your "work" broadband connections (it's for home use now) until the idiot with the expense account, fancy office, company cell phone and car who does nothing better for the company than warm an expensive chair backs down.
I'd bet this CIO is relatively new, and from the "beancounter" mentality, and is looking to score points with the rest of upper management. You can usually back such people down if you show a little steel.
Where I work (West Virginia) as sysadmin for a network services company, I'm offered a mere $10 a month in compensation for my cell phone.
I turned it down, so I have the priviledge of turning it off, and ignoring it when it's the boss calling, otherwise I'd probably rack up more than $10 worth of my minutes used by the company.
In the case of the story author, I'd refuse to get a cell phone or broadband for company use. I'd not give them the number if I had a cell phone, and I'd tell them I'd cancelled my broadband that I use for work they now won't pay for, and won't get it back unless they reinstate it. If they want you to work, then you should show up for work and be on the clock.
While it's not 1999 anymore, it's not 2001-2002 either. If you are good, companies that pull that kind of shit won't be able to retain you (or their clients) for long by nickle-and-diming.
A broadband connection costs the company what, $40-50 a month? Which is money IT can write off their taxes.
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I have no problem fighting them in this way, so long as the software is careful and uses the more conservative and less political blackhole lists (such as SpamHaus).
Our government has no clue when it comes to technology. It's not the government's job ALONE to protect us. Sometimes we have to do it ourselves.
I'd like to see a version of this that DoS's banner ad services that do drive by malware installs...
And here's why:
1. No commercials on music channels. EVER. Never have had them. XM had to change from commercials to non commercial BECAUSE Sirius wouldn't air commercials.
2. Lee Abrams.
Lee Abrams runs the programming at XM. He is the architect of Clear Channel's "cookie cutter" formats.
3. Cost.
XM is $9.99 a month.
But you don't get:
1. All the channels (some are premium)
2. Internet streaming access (costs you $5 a month extra)
3. No discounts offered if you pay annually OR add other receivers to your account.
Sirius is $12.95 (or $9.95 if you pay annually)
For EVERYTHING.
No wonder Sirius is the service that TALENT seems to be gravitating to. Such as Mel Karmazin. Howard Stern.
Their threats are empty. They are CONVICTED of being a monopoly and illegally USING that power to force themselves into dominance in other markets.
If MS attempts to use a patent to stifle Linux uptake, the courts can strip the patent from them even if it IS a valid patent.
Microsoft threatening like this is the best thing that has ever happened to those of us who oppose software patents. MS is huge and rich, but compared to the rest of the US and world economy, they are a flyspeck. Microsoft seems to be ACTIVELY trying to turn the whole world AGAINST them.
Funny how Ballmer is sounding like Darl McBride...
If you are a former customer, expect to be sued. You have our "presssccciiooouss" IP.
Suing your customers, or THREATENING to sue your customers is not a proven successful business tactic.
IBM has more patents than God, and their business interest is in protecting Linux. I am not too worried about MS or someone sucessfully getting Linux stopped via software patents, and the attempt will do more to teach our business community and our government that software patents are bad and should be abolished or limited in scope.
For one thing, companies should have to choose: Copyright or patent. They can have one or the other, not BOTH.
Something tells me the black market in RFID jammers and duplicators is going to be rampant...
This is totally wrong. You are compelled by law to attend school. Most can't afford to NOT go to government school. Now the government is tagging people like animals.
Be VERY afraid of the first RFID generation, ones who grow up with this commonplace, who never knew an age without it. Who will thing we are a bunch of kooks for opposing it.
That is why those who want to social engineer people ALWAYS want to start with the schools...
CBS, Dan Rather, and FORGED MEMOS don't exactly enforce confidence. Dan "Red" Rather shot his wad and lost.
The fact that CBS laments blogs reiforces the fact that the OLD MEDIA is upset that they are no longer the final, dictatorial word as to what Americans see and believe.
This guy is insane. IMO, Merkey is a "rabid dog" that SCaldera has tossed over our fence in the hopes he bites someone and gives them rabies.
/. gets a nastygram (CC'ed to Darl McBride of course)for daring to post this story.
This guy has slandered Linus, he's slandered PJ, and everyone else who has dared question him or his motives. I bet
Has had a nuclear meltdown! ;)
It seems to me that keeping detailed logs of your users is just a big legal headache.
One of my clients was once interested in installing detailed internet monitoring and logging (so as to see who is wasting time on the web). They lost interest rapidly when I pointed out that they could be compelled to provide it in court should someone sue.
SurfControl and the other Big Brother ware makers never include that in the copy.
Here's what I'd do: You need to keep certain logs so you can know if there is an intrusion, DoS, etc, but program your logs to automatically erase every week. That means that there will never be more than THE CURRENT WEEK's worth of data that could be subpoened.
Of course, I'm sure if ISP's start doing THAT the RIAA will just get Congress to pass laws that make us all retain ALL logs for all time...
"Gordo is now meeting with Shepard, Slayton, Grissom and Conrad. That should be a party. It's hard to believe that Glenn and Schirra are the only ones left."
I'm sure he's happier today. Gus Grissom was his best friend, and I'm sure he is glad to once again be able to trade stories and barbs with him.
After seeing "The Right Stuff", and hearing my dad (who met him) tell me about meeting Gordo Cooper when he was an elementary student in Eastern Ky, he was always my favorite of the Mercury Seven.
He was truly one with the "right stuff".
Like the rest of the original 7, he was not only a fantastic pilot, he was also a scientist, and a damn good one.
It's ironic that on the day we lose the last American to go into space alone, we send another American into space alone.
There is NO SUCH THING as an ordinary cat. As any cat slave (You can't own a cat, they own you) can tell you.
My cat is nopw 9. She's a marbled gray and orange, and her name is Polgara (David Eddings).
" There is NO FRIGGIN WAY this is going to stand. The RIAA and MPAA will see to that. $$$"
Most likely. Sadly. But the Supreme Court has basically upheld perpetual (one day less than eternity is limited) when they upheld the Sonny Bono copyright extension, so it will probably go down on appeal.
"No, he's referring to the french revolution. You remember that one, right? The average worker couldn't afford to buy bread, so revolution was inevitable. The current crop of aristocrats don't seem terribly concerned with the welfare of the masses."
And that, is our future less than a century from now, I'm afraid.
Eventually the corporate oligarchy will be overthrown by sheer weight, as we outnumber them.
The tech industry is the LAST (and pinnacle) wave of the industrial revolution. Lose those jobs and the middle class is gone forever.
I am a systems and network administrator. It'd be awfully hard to outsource MY job, as there will always have to be someone at the site to diagnose, repair, design, and impliment systems and networks.
But technology will get me as well. If they ever invented the "transporter" you can be DAMN sure some US megacorp will buy (bribe) Congress to allow them to import foreign slave labor on demand.
Fortunately that's at least a century (if not more) away. At the rate we are bleeding away the tech industry with nothing else to replace it, our economy and thus, technology will be long gone by then.
High tech is the LAST wave in the industrial revolution. Thanks to greedy corps, and wacko green-nuts, we outsourced the factories 20-30 years ago. Our economic resurgance of the 80's and 90's were DIRECTLY related to the growth of the tech industry that replaced dirty industry.
Bleed those jobs away from this country, and it's over.
"How does the US get the money? We assume that the Nike corporation is paying taxes, which would benefit the US economy, which should eventually create newer, better jobs for Americans. Of course, any respectable corporation cooks their books so that taxes paid are minimal, and governments (both state and federal) are constantly giving tax breaks as well. Anyone know where to find out how much taxes a corporation pays?"
Corporations do not pay taxes.
The corporate income tax is the biggest lie and biggest illusion that people believe in.
A corporate tax is passed on to the workers, customers, and ultimately, everyone else as a cost of goods/services sold.
Want to increase the corporate income tax, to make people feel good, that we are GETTING BACK AT THOSE EEEVIL corps?
It won't do a thing to them. They will raise prices, cut wages, etc. It would make everyone ELSE suffer.
That's why the corporate income tax should be used as a sword to DISCOURAGE outsourcing. Give them credits equal to the salaries of Americans employed inside US territory. That would stop outsourcing cold.
These "Benidict Arnold" corporations, in exporting good paying jobs to other countries, will do themselves in in the long run.
These megacorps want to get away without paying US wages, while at the same time, being dependent on a US consumer-supported MARKET to sustain their product.
Dell and HP, for example, aren't selling their expensive services and products to India. They are selling them to the USA and Europe.
Therefore, outsourcers depend on EVERYONE ELSE NOT outsourcing middle-class jobs, or else their market will ultimately collapse.
It's not just the corps that are betraying the American worker. Corporations will do anything allowed by law to make a buck. I don't have a problem with that, if business didn't make money, NONE of us would have jobs.
The traitor here is our government which does NOTHING to stop this practice, nor to even discourage it. Both parties are responsible. Both parties are beholden to the corps.
John Kerry gave some lip service to stopping outsourcing, but when you look at where his fortune comes from (his wife), mainly from OFFSHORING Heinz plants, one must wonder how serious he is about it.
The problem of outsourcing, like the IP cartels (MPAA/RIAA) are enemies that we can't vote out of power because BOTH parties are under their spell.
My solution to outsourcing is very simple.
Give all American businesses a tax credit equal to the salaries of all American citizens they employ inside the USA, minus the salary of all non-US citizens employed outside the USA.
This will allow outsourcers to play by the existing rules, while giving businesses who employ Americans a tax advantage over them.
There really won't be a loss in tax revenue, as all corporate taxes are illusory (all taxes get passed on to the customer), and it will help it, as it will encourage employers to employ more people and to pay higher wages.
" "Congress shall have power . . . to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." Article I, Section 8, US Constitution
The US system is intended for initial exploitation, but whether that's being practiced now is a whole other story."
Unfortunately, the Constitution has been used and abused in recent times like a $5 whore.
The Supreme Court upheld the Sonny Bono "perpetual copyright act" despite Larry Lessing's argument against these extensions based on that clause.
Apparently Congress can extend copyright and/or patent terms to "one day less than forever" and it's still for a "limited time".
It was a TERRIBLE decision, as the court decided to ignore the Constitution and rewrite it to suit them, proving once again that LIMITED DURATION needs to apply to FEDERAL JUDGES just as much as to patents and copyrights.
Hell, back when this country started, the average person was dead by age 50, and old men typically were appointed judges. They probably didn't serve more than 5-10 years on the bench at most before croaking.
These days they serve terms lasting decades...
>>>
Supression of the free market by government means (government enforcement of the noncompete) is socialistic, not capitalist.
If our corporations are going to be allowed to hire and fire at will, lay off and outsource to India at will, to improve the company's fortunes, it seems to me that the employee should have that right as well.
To use the government to suppress that freedom is socialist. The contract means nothing without the government backing it up.
>>>
This is not libertarianism.
It's areas like this where the government plays a legitimate role, in protecting the worker from the corporation. Employer-employee relationships are NOT that of equals, and it is therefore a legitimate function. No one should be ABLE to sign away certain rights, even consensually.
>>>
If you are going to spout crap like this, at least have the guts to put your name on it instead of posting as a coward.
"As for such clauses being UnAmerican, nothing could be further from the truth. It's a classic example of American thinking, use your power to prevent the competition from horning in on your resources, human or natural."
Such clauses are VERY Anti-American. They give the employer TOTAL power over the employee and violate the spirit of capitalism. Indeed, noncompetes are in many ways a SOCIALIST idea...
With a noncompete, an employee has no guarantee of employment at that company, yet, has his ability to find other work limited.
It's a classic case of the corporation wanting to have it both ways... The same capitalist corporation that will, without any qualms, outsorce to India, lay off 5,000 workers, etc to increase their profits suddenly becomes DEVOUT MARXISTS when the EMPLOYEE wants to "fire the company" to do much the same...
This is one reason why we in IT need to organize.
Not to form a union, but perhaps an association that we can use to lobby Congress as a large group with some clout to get such things as noncompetes made illegal.
The last time I was asked to sign a noncompete, I asked how much they were going to pay me to not work... That ended the issue.
Noncompetes are also on shaky ground legally, despite what you said. Most have language in them that is clearly illegal.
Not only do most noncompetes violate the law, they are most often imposed on the employee as a condition of employment, AFTER becoming an employee. You never get to see it until after accepting the job, quitting your old one, and being more or less forced to sign.
Also, under contract law something of value must be granted to both parties to be legal. "Sign this or you lose your job" has been found most of the time to be ILLEGAL, as a contract signed under duress is not consensual.
Here are legal reforms needed to regulate noncompetes:
1. Noncompetes must be disclosed to prospective employees during the INTERVIEW process, and furnished in hard copy so that the interviewee can review it with an attorney off site.
2. Noncompetes become null and void if the employee is fired or laid off.
3. Noncompetes cannot be used to prevent the employee from working in their field.
4. The noncompete, if invoked, requires the employer to pay the former employee their previous salary during the time in which they cannot get work. This is in the State's best interest, as otherwise the employee would be drawing unemployment, a burden being unfairly shifted from corporation to taxpayer...
5. No noncompete can have more than a 6 month duration.
6. The employer is liable for all legal expenses related to litigating a noncompete, including paying the employee's expenses should they prevail. They should also have to post bond as guarantee of this payment PRIOR to the court accepting any complaint from an employeer with regard to an employee.
7. Noncompetes that have ANY language in them that would be found in violation of the law would become null and void in their entirety.
Seriously... I mean, how many people are employed out there because of the need to remove viruses and spyware from systems because of IE flaws?
Could it be the BSA (Which is Microsoft) doesn't want to admit that they are losing business to Linux and FOSS like Open Office, and this is why they are losing money?
It's easy to blame "piracy"... Which is a red herring these days.
" I have never had a cell phone because I don't want to be bothered by anyone when I'm:
A. not home
B. not at work
If acompany paid for it as a requirement for work, I'd take it. If they quit paying, I'd turn it in. If they try to use that against me, the state labor board will win."
The only people who ever contact me outside work are my co-workers. We are a small IT department of 4 people, and I'm the senior Systems Engineer (my title). Two newer guys, I'm training. My manager is one of my best friends.
I take their calls always. And they take mine.
The owner of the company? Only if I feel like it.
I've insisted that I remain hourly pay instead of salary. I've worked 90 hours in the last 2 weeks, and they've paid out the ass for it. That is as it should be...
" 1. Are you working? Many are not or will shortly not be. What is the cost of keeping you vs. from elsewhere."
The economy has definately turned around in most places. It's not the Y2K/Dot Bomb boom again in IT, but things aren't like what they were 2 years ago either... THIS is the time where the winners and losers of this period of boom are going to be decided, and companies with a "you can't go somewhere else, so we'll fuck you over" attitude are going to be the losers. Companies with a winning attitude don't nickle and dime their employees with what matters to small stuff.
If they want you to have a cell phone, internet connection, PDA, etc, because they intend to MAKE USE of those things to service their company, or their customers, then they should expect to pay for them just as they pay for the cost of all their other goods/services sold.
" 2. Has the same things been cut for management? In some companies, management must provide a cellphone and their own broadband. If yours has cut all theirs, you can bet that you will pay for yours as well."
Managers are salaried, and are exempt from overtime and other requirements (they generally are expected to work more than 40 hours, while regular employees can't be forced to do so).
They also make a HELLUVA lot more than someone who is an IT staffer.
It's one thing to ask someone who makes 100 grand a year to shell out $100/month for a cell phone and broadband internet, it's quite something else to demand it of people who make $30-60K.
"Now our new CIO has elected to stop that benefit using the argument that we should be dedicated staff who desire to be responsive and should do what it takes to make that happen. The rumor now is that we should also pay for blackberries, cell phones and pagers."
Sounds like your CIO has been reading too many stupid management books...
The most useless layer in IT departments are IT managers, as it's the worst job IN IT... The worst ones are paper pushers, meetings-goers, and subscribers to the latest fad management book.
The best ones break, die, or go somewhere else because they try to actually take on the impossible job of PROTECTING their staff from the other layers of management which match the descriptions above, and they get to go to meetings instead of doing cool IT work.
I don't know how big your company or IT staff is,, but if your staff is fairly small, I'd get together as a group, DO NOT get cellphones or other stuff they won't pay for, and cancel your "work" broadband connections (it's for home use now) until the idiot with the expense account, fancy office, company cell phone and car who does nothing better for the company than warm an expensive chair backs down.
I'd bet this CIO is relatively new, and from the "beancounter" mentality, and is looking to score points with the rest of upper management. You can usually back such people down if you show a little steel.
Where I work (West Virginia) as sysadmin for a network services company, I'm offered a mere $10 a month in compensation for my cell phone.
I turned it down, so I have the priviledge of turning it off, and ignoring it when it's the boss calling, otherwise I'd probably rack up more than $10 worth of my minutes used by the company.
In the case of the story author, I'd refuse to get a cell phone or broadband for company use. I'd not give them the number if I had a cell phone, and I'd tell them I'd cancelled my broadband that I use for work they now won't pay for, and won't get it back unless they reinstate it. If they want you to work, then you should show up for work and be on the clock.
While it's not 1999 anymore, it's not 2001-2002 either. If you are good, companies that pull that kind of shit won't be able to retain you (or their clients) for long by nickle-and-diming.
A broadband connection costs the company what, $40-50 a month? Which is money IT can write off their taxes.