> -----Original Message----- > From: Jon Elson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2003 12:14 AM > To: Protel EDA Forum > Subject: Re: [PEDA] License Legalities
Wow dude, Guess I touched a personal nerve here ? Which seems to have clouded your perception of what I wrote. But without the full picture or appreciation of our employees FULL T&C and working environment, I fail to see what makes you so informed as to compare me to the type of corporate tyranny you mention below. If I ever took things personally I might be offended :-) So I wont respond directly to what you have written below as I am nothing like the kind of person you are insinuating. Good luck with whatever good crusade you are on. As a last thought, our longest serving employee, excluding myself, has been with us 14 years of their own choice. Our shortest serving employee is 3 years, after him the least length of service of the others is 6 years. We operate a flat management structure where we all work on the same level. There ages range from 23 to 56. All of them are welcome to resign with only 1 weeks notice if they wish (that IS in their T&C). No slavery here. Not exactly the same picture as you painted below. But such discussions are much more fun over a beer, instead of a list server, as words alone only ever convey cold sentiment & no sincerity whatsoever, so very often are taken out of context. Best Regards John A. Ross RSD Communications Ltd 8 BorrowMeadow Road Springkerse Industrial Estate Stirling, Scotland FK7 7UW Tel +44 [0]1786 450572 Ext 225 (Office) Tel +44 [0]1786 450572 Ext 248 (Lab) Fax +44 [0]1786 474653 GSM +44 [0]7831 373727 Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW http://www.rsd.tv ========================================== > > > > > John A. Ross wrote: > > > > >I would not also say it was restrictive, if you worked on any > >confidential projects or used proprietary technology I am sure your > >employer would have you under personal NDA or contract even > AFTER you > >left them. > > > Yeah, there was a real nice story in the paper last year, I think. A > guy who worked > for Alcatel came up with an idea. He ran it by the corporate powers, > and they > had no interest in the idea, and I believe he got that in > writing. He > quit, and > developed the product to the point that he started selling it, or at > least showing > it to potential customers. He is now a legal slave of Alcatel, > developing the product > and doing custom modifications for free. He expects to be > required to > support the product > for free for the life of the product, unless his lawyers can > find a way > to break the > terms of the agreement he apparently signed. If he fails to > continue to > work on this, > they apparently can jail him on contempt of court charges. I > think they > also have > a requirement that he take no other job for the duration of > this. If I > recall correctly, > this is going on in Texas. The product WAS very related to his work, > and the business > of Alcatel, which certainly clouds the picture. I think > Alcatel would > be totally > justified to enforce some of the terms of the usual non-compete > agreements and > trade secret protection, and could make him work (as an employee) of > Alcatel, > or make him take the product off the market. Even forcing > him to turn > over the > entire product, and spend a certain amount of his own time > documenting it and bringing Alcatel employees up to speed on > it would be reasonable. But, this slavery business, with no > end in sight, is just too much! > > > > >The principle is easy, if the company invests in them, they should > >invest in the company with their best efforts and loyalty. > In fact we > >even invested in them by paying the fees for vocational training or > >education they wish to take on their own time, for personal > improvement > >as long as it increases their skills base used within the company. > >Because of this even some of our assembly operators have attained > >education to degree level. > > > > > Sure, you should work for your employer when he's paying your salary. > But, I have > heard of so many cases where a guy who designed aerospace parts, for > instance, > thinks up an idea for a better fishing reel, on his own time, > and ends > up having to > give all profit to the employer. (There are, I'm sure, lots of cases > that can be > found where the employee used some facilities or company time > to develop the product, that changes the picture very much.) > > Jon > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
