The description of "Audition Project" as presented is questionably ethical, almost certainly violates almost everybody's pre-existing employment agreement, and

The description of "Audition Project" as presented is questionably ethical, almost certainly violates almost everybody's pre-existing employment agreement, and puts Automattic and the contractor in a very compromised legal position in many states over the IP that the employee of the primary company is creating while on a spurious contract with Automattic. It seems like a colossally bad idea almost all-around. I mean, would Automattic tolerate an employee working contract gigs for a potential future employer if Automattic were to be made aware that's what the employee was doing? Weird.