My company basically owns my IT brain while I am employed for them, so anything I develop in an area of HP's business is considered theirs. This might seem restricting to some, but they do have a specific program which allows HP employees to register their involvement in OSS projects. Involvement of course if reviewed to ensure that investment in development of proprietary IP (intellectual property) isn't fritted away. I imagine community benefit versus opportunity to sell a product is always the consideration. Approved projects of import are recognised by linking at the http://opensource.hp.com site. Also employees are encouraged to submit any inventions they have which are reviewed and submitted for possible for development and subsequent recognition. I would imagine that most "enlightened" companies might have a similar approach.
Assuming that your employer is providing you opportunities to develop and grow your knowledge and skills (and not stifling them) it seems only fair that they own a the IP in your head, and should get first option as far as its use. (Of course this isn't an official HP position, just my view from where I sit) Martin Martin Visser ,CISSP Network and Security Consultant Technology & Infrastructure - Consulting & Integration HP Services 3 Richardson Place North Ryde, Sydney NSW 2113, Australia Phone: +61-2-9022-1670��� Mobile: +61-411-254-513 Fax: +61-2-9022-1800���� E-mail: martin.visserAThp.com -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
