Printable View
I just found this article. I've searched through the forums and nobody seems to have posted it yet.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/7/26627.html
Everyday the court systems astound me with their unsurpassed ignorance towards the status of the constitution in which they are supposed to uphold. We've fought so hard against communism, but if we remain at this pace, within a few years our own government may resemble the very thing we've feared for so long. Democracy my ass.
This is friggin ridiculous!!!!
My goodness, that is unbelievable. I really would like to know how they came to the conclusion that his ideas should be revealed to his employer, cos that's absolutely bullcrap.
I'm sorry, but I just don't know how the hell your own ideas should be disclosed to the company you work for, that's nonsense. Some court outcomes are just unbelievable, you really wonder what they base their final decision on.
Anyone agree with the court on this decision? Cos I'd just like to know your thoughts.
Cheers,
Greg
Be careful to read any agreements you sign when you get hired.
I think it also entitles them to take your first born son..
and have sex with your wife.
:cool:
Hehe...yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. Those dodgy *****s.
Hopefully them WorldCom (and other dodgy companies) executives get exactly what they deserve. Nothing worse then seeing RICH people cheating the average Joe.
Greg
When you are hired into a company, you almost always sign a contract. If you are working as an engineer, programmer, or other creative field, there is normally a portion of that contract that says that anything you design while working for that company is owned by the company. This is pretty much standard, and has been for a LONG time.
Does anyone remember the story of Apple computers? When Steve Wazniack created the first Apple, he was employed by HP. He had to present the computer to HP, because he worked there. HP obviously didn't think it was worth while, so they signed off the rights to it. Anyway, because he was an employee of a computer company, and he invented a new type of computer, that company owned the machine until they gave it up. This has been a standard policy since the 70's if not earlier.
In other words, I completely agree with the courts decision. The man signed a contract upon employment. As he said, nothing was written down. If he had been working on this idea for 12 years before being employeed at DSC like he claimed, don't you think he would have had some notes? If he only came up with the last piece of the idea while at DCS, shouldn't he have had the rest of the idea already programmed? Also, and this really makes no sense to me, why, in 1975, would he be working on code to run Mainframe software on a PC, considering PC's didn't exist at the time?????
From his site... http://www.unixguru.com/
Quote:
Mr. Brown had been working on this "idea" since 1975, 12 years before Mr. Brown even became an employee of DSC.
.
.
help companies that have old computer programs where the original source code has been lost or the cost to re-write these programs for modern computers is too expensive....run their computer programs on new inexpensive PCs and/or workstations but do not have the resources to manually convert these old computer programs.
Rulings like this lend much credence to the belief that "Silence is golden", especially when dealing with corporate America. Were Mr. Brown more skilled in the tactics used by big corporations, he would have had his wife patent his ideas.
A contract isn't really even necessary to lose the rights to your invention. In patent law, there is a long-standing practice of enforcing "shop rights." If you develop your idea on the employer's time or using the employer's facilities, the idea belongs to the employer. But if the employee was hired for the purpose of inventing, then the idea belongs to the employer no matter when or how it was developed.
The article doesn't say what exactly Mr. Brown was hired by DSC to do, and his web site simply says that his job was not software development "at the time he was fired," the implication being that development may have been his job at some point when he was working on this idea. I would certainly want to know that before jumping to any conclusions. If he was hired as a software developer to work on these kinds of things and then moved to technical support 2 months before being fired, then why shouldn't the employer own the idea after paying Mr. Brown to think of it?
The article also says that "he thought of some of it outside office hours," implying that he worked on some of it on the employer's time. These kinds of cases are *VERY* fact specific, and there's no way to know from an article like that what all the facts are. And Evan Brown's web site is going to portray the facts in the light most favorable to him, of course.
In this case, though, the contract he signed "granted DSC rights to anything invented by Brown during his course of work with the telecommunications computer company." I don't know too many ways to parse that language except to say that DSC owns whatever he invents in that time.
I agree with souleman. There's a very good chance that DSC does, in fact, own the idea.
problemchild> from his site...
He wasn't doing programming or reverse engineering, but he was doing tech support for alpha/beta software. So, even though he wasn't writing code, he was working with it.Quote:
Mr. Brown's job at DSC was to provide technical support for the Motorola Cellular Division software testing group
souleman -
It also says "at the time he was fired." That makes me wonder what his job was previously.
I don't give a crap what you sign... If you come up with an idea, and you do not work on it during company time, who are they to take your idea and profit off of it? Considering that the majority of everyone's day is spent working for someone else, are you not allowed to think anymore until you are off the clock? Put your brain on hold from 9 to 5 in fear that your ideas will get taken? Is that even possible? God forbid while you are at work a good idea should pop into your brain. Whether you work on it during work or not, they own it. That's messed up. But of course they only own the good ideas, not the bad ones.
How about some guy comes up with the idea for a weapon of mass destruction during work hours. Uses it and destroys millions of people. Not his fault, it's the companies invention just because he was working for them when he thought of it. But of course that would never hold water because it wouldn't benefit the copmpany. Only when something benefits them does it hold water, no matter how intrusive and unfair it is to the individual. Basically if they want it they take it. That's what it comes down to.
Coporations run the US now. No such thing as individual rights. Our country is Utilitarian. Whatever brings the most people happiness. So basically stealing one guys idea makes him unhappy, but brings the corporation happiness which is more important than just one person being happy. Sounds like a ruthless street gang to me.
No matter what the law says about this, if it is legal for a corporation to do so or not, I still think this is ridiculous. Yes the contract may say the corporation owns our thoughts. Yes the government may agree. But if I recall, isn't the position of the government to uphold freedom, and give us the option of choice? Our government has become nothing more then a sidekick for the corporations who run this nation. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the people who have the ability to control my thoughts and claim ownership upon them are the very people who run this country. In my opinion, this is the only logical conclusion.
The purpose of government is to empower itself by whatever means necessary. Haven't you figured that out yet? No government in the history of human civilization has ever shrunk or become more honorable over time.... they only grow and become more corrupt. It's what they do.Quote:
isn't the position of the government to uphold freedom, and give us the option of choice? Our government has become nothing more then a sidekick for the corporations who run this nation.
Anyone who thinks they have any rights whatsoever needs to come back down to planet Earth. :D
It comes down to this if you are at work and talk about your ideas on company time then they have a right to claim you were paid for working. As silly as it sounds you have a sound idea develope it on your own time, and now days anyone can be fired. Fact is he may not have had his idea if he was not exposed to the very code that made him think and come up with his idea. Example as a Network Admin I wrote little programs that would for example clean out files on the servers that were not to be there empty temp folders, even pause databases so nightly backups happened. Ok that all belongs to the company wrote it on their time had the ideas for them on their time. OK they fire me and I'm gone in like 20 minutes and my account removed from the system. Now killing my account took away all these little tools I wrote, so they lost them cause I could not even say you need to say this and that. About one week later they called me, asked you deleted my account they said yes told them I was sorry they wiped out vital information and programs. They lost all of them now I can do what I want with them and forget it any sys admin has their own tools they write. So while they were screwing me they actually hurt their own system cause they did not understand. So say only what you must at work.
Some people will do anything to get what they think is 'ahead'. they'll sign anything, agree to anything just to get that job. If you don't sign, even if your better qualified, the job goes to the one who does. Its really being forced to sign, almost under deress. How can stupid people be stopped from screwing it up for every body. If concerned people boycot these corps, concerned people will be out of work. Corporations can get away with anything because "our" representatives allow it and were not united enough to do anything about it.
I was working in a book store while going to school, the manager in the store next door, a payless shoe store, asked if i knew of anyone who needed a job, and went on to say they would have to take a drug test every month or so. I went balistic on the poor guy. But, can you imagine the nerve of these f@#ken people? demanding a drug test to sell three dollar shoes. and they get away with it, because some poor schmuck will starve if he dosn't agree.
Man, we gotta get rid of the ass-holes running this country, the government should be on the side of the people and not allow **** like this to happen.