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New Microsoft Stratagem on the Way?

New Microsoft Stratagem on the Way?
By Linux News Desk
Article Rating:
December 13, 2003 12:00 AM EST
Reads:
 23,424
Commenting on a one-day software developers' conference last week in California, software development maven Wayne Kovsky thinks we may have see the first signs of what he speculates might possibly be the first warning shot of a new corporate strategy from Microsoft.

The occasion was an afternoon panel at the conference focusing on legal issues, "Software Law and Legal Practices." One of the panelists, Steve Mutoski, corporate attorney at Microsoft, observed that that conflicts could arise in incorporating proprietary software in an open source offering.

Here's what Mutoski said that raised the alarm with Kovsky:

"A lot of open source contributors have day jobs at related industries and are contributing to projects without permissions of employers, and some of those contributions could actually belong to an employer. It's a hypothetical risk, but it's there."

Kovsky, whose own Colorado Software Summit is a fixture on the calendar of many of the digerati, is an astute commentator and analyst of the changing software scene. LinuxWorld would appreciate hearing from attendees of any other conference where similar statements about open source are made by attorneys, whether representing Microsoft or any other major proprietor.

Forewarned, they say, is forearmed.

Published December 13, 2003 – Reads 23,424
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Most Recent Comments
Muscle 03/21/04 08:43:36 PM EST

yeah, i hardly ever read the employment contract
dgarciahz 12/16/03 02:32:57 AM EST

I write you from Spain.
Here the default employement contract (if not explicitly and differently specified) states that an employee can't create "professional activity related assets". Ok... he can create them, but they are company's properties and employees must aware their persons in charge about it.
Assets generated ¿two years? (not sure about the time period) after leaving a company could be claimed by it.
So, I'm sorry, if companies apply claims according to the law, they are legitimated... maybe the law is too restrictive and we have thought about law modifications.
Just my opinion.
Ed Culbertson 12/13/03 11:11:02 PM EST

All I know is many 'employment contracts' have or at least used to have restrictions on what you could do. I was an electronic test tech for Honeywell back when they had large scale puters and I couldn't legally start a company or be involved in design/building any electronic device that remotely had anything to do with 'logic' or puters for a period of 5 (five) years AFTER I left the company! I am sure they put that fine print in for the software people too. Just fyi.

Most people don't read the employment contract when being hired, they just sign the page or two form and go to work.