Fahlman@CMU-CS-C.ARPA (04/15/84)
From: Scott E. Fahlman <Fahlman@CMU-CS-C.ARPA> Of the responses I've received, both by mail and in person, several have said that a three-year paid sabbatical wouldn't be so bad (but you would be prevented from starting a company or doing anything that involves significant machine resources or a team of people), several have said that the clause probably wouldn't stand up in court (but it's no fun to fight a big company in court), and many have said that this policy would keep lots of good people away from the company in question. Nobody has told me about any similar clause used by another company. Some consulting firms require their employees to agree not to jump over to work for the clients for a year or so, but that still leaves them with lots of options within the field of AI. In any event, the company that started all this is now reconsidering their position and are trying to find some less restrictive way to protect their proprietary information, so the whole issue may soon be moot. It's nice to find a company where the lawyers still work for the researchers, and not vice versa. -- Scott Fahlman