... (of course, one can always debate about the wages of these labors) Yes, if you ignore the part of the employment/"contract work" relationship being critici

... (of course, one can always debate about the wages of these labors) Yes, if you ignore the part of the employment/"contract work" relationship being criticized, it doesn't sound bad at all. There are upsides and downside to everything, and passing judgment on a labor relationship (or anything) does not require being at one end of the spectrum or the other. The 1099 runaround has been around for ages. Just because it's relatively new (at least publicly) for the bay area tech startup scene, that probably isn't going to change society's views on the practice (though I'm sure we'll get some delicious "stifling innovation" rants trying anyway).