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If I have to work in some other field to be allowed to retain rights to the work I do outside of work, that's going to be their loss. I couldn't get anything mo

If I have to work in some other field to be allowed to retain rights to the work I do outside of work, that's going to be their loss. I couldn't get anything more than extremely vague assurances that my unrelated side work "shouldn't be a problem" from my former employer, while there were IP assignment clauses in the contract. They weren't willing to put anything in writing to exempt it, so development stayed on pause while I worked for them, I resented them for it, and eventually I had to leave because my motivation was sapped. (For that and other reasons, but largely that.) Salaries should buy a job well done and come with some boundaries to protect the company and any IP it has a right to. Salaries shouldn't buy the rights to my first born child nor the thoughts I have in the (24 * 7) - ~40 hours that I'm not working for them every week. I applaud Mr. Liu for walking away, and while I've always ignored the AWS recruiters, this policy ensures I'll never consider them. It's like saying to employees: we'd rather you don't have any external motivators for caring about software development as a topic.

camgunz 5y ago
Yeah IP assignment and invention are pretty wild clauses. They're designed at the behest of investors; so your "brilliant" SWEs can't come up with a great idea, leave your company, and get rich on their own. Some jobs are like that, like maybe ML or AR or something--cutting edge tech kind of work. But like, if you're a mobile app dev building a feature, what are you inventing? And if you do invent something (not impossible; game devs invented all kinds of cool stuff for example), there's not a lot to stop you from quitting, "waiting" a month or two (setting up a company quietly), and marketing/building your product. That said, I know people who've had their side projects picked up by their employers under these kinds of clauses. They're serious, and many companies are serious about enforcing them. Don't just wave them off.
- refurb 5y ago
  Those clauses are just designed to be as broad and all encompassing as possible. Why? Because then there will never been an contention who owns IP. No trial, no arbitrage.
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camgunz 5y ago

Yeah IP assignment and invention are pretty wild clauses. They're designed at the behest of investors; so your "brilliant" SWEs can't come up with a great idea, leave your company, and get rich on their own. Some jobs are like that, like maybe ML or AR or something--cutting edge tech kind of work. But like, if you're a mobile app dev building a feature, what are you inventing? And if you do invent something (not impossible; game devs invented all kinds of cool stuff for example), there's not a lot to stop you from quitting, "waiting" a month or two (setting up a company quietly), and marketing/building your product. That said, I know people who've had their side projects picked up by their employers under these kinds of clauses. They're serious, and many companies are serious about enforcing them. Don't just wave them off.

refurb 5y ago
Those clauses are just designed to be as broad and all encompassing as possible. Why? Because then there will never been an contention who owns IP. No trial, no arbitrage.

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