HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: clifto@indep1.UUCP (Cliff Sharp)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: A question on legal rights of software
Date: 5 Nov 92 22:54:21 GMT
Organization: as little as possible

In article <ARTK.92Nov3154941@cc-color1.Congruent.COM> artk@Congruent.COM (Arthur Kreitman) writes:
>  Your friend is partially correct.  In fact the copyright, as a 
>"work for hire" will belong to the consultant.  To correct this "problem"

   Right, as far as I've seen.

>many consulting contracts include a clause that automatically assigns
>any copyrights to the contractee (you being the contractor).  Even if
>you do own the copyright, it may not do you any good.  All consulting
>contracts include confidential information/trade secret clauses.  If the
>work to which you own the copyright includes trade secret, or is a trade
>secret, you won't be able to do anything with it.

   Well, that becomes a matter of litigation.  If you write the software,
and it includes "trade secrets" of the client, there's kind of a Mexican
standoff there; they don't automatically own your work just because it
contains their trade secrets, and you can't use it 100% because it does
contain their trade secrets.
   Illustration: you include in this software a nifty new way of determining
the day of the week.  You own that subroutine (unless your contract says
different); it probably doesn't contain any trade secrets of the client.
   Illustration 2: you include in the software a routine that is undoubtedly
related to a trade secret of the company.  You own the software (see the
disclaimer above), but you can't distribute or use it without their 
permission.  Mexican standoff.
   Illustration 3: you signed a contract with the client that says that
everything you write is their property.  You own nothing but the knowledge
you gained from doing the project, and as long as you don't violate their
trade secrets you can keep on writing software just like the one you did for
X company.
   And remember the "shop rights" thing; if you use any of their equipment
to do the software, they have at least "shop rights" to use it (they can't
necessarily sell it or give it away, but they can use it internally for just
about anything they want to do).

-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Cliff Sharp  |      clifto@indep1.chi.il.us   OR  clifto@indep1.uucp       |
|     WA9PDM     |                 Use whichever one works                     |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: clifto@indep1.UUCP (Cliff Sharp)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: A question on legal rights of software
Date: 5 Nov 92 22:45:00 GMT
Organization: as little as possible

In article <1d6u90INNied@leo.asc.slb.com> hargrove@nobelium.asc.slb.com (Jim Hargrove) writes:
>Usually, the copyright to the software belongs to the client based on a common law principle of "shop right." This can be changed by contract. 

   Not as I understand it; the copyright belongs to the writer, unless otherwise
agreed upon by contract, but if you use the client's facilities AT ALL to do
the software, then they have "shop rights" to use the software for their own
purposes as they wish.  The difference I'm trying to point out is for those
who manage to get to do the work at home or at their own office; if no
customer premises are used to do the work, the "shop rights" don't exist.
-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Cliff Sharp  |      clifto@indep1.chi.il.us   OR  clifto@indep1.uucp       |
|     WA9PDM     |                 Use whichever one works                     |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
From: further@access.digex.com (further)
Subject: Consultant Available
Organization: MPSI, Limited, Peekskill, NY USA
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 23:12:30 GMT

Programming Available

If you know anyone who's looking for a Windows consultant 
(MSC, Borland, C, C++, frameworks) who guarantees customer 
satisfaction, send me some E-Mail.  We take care of those 
who take care of us.
From: harvey@loon.cs.umn.edu (Stephen J. Harvey)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: EE & SW Jobs on Macintosh in NYC
Keywords: macintosh scsi drivers quadra nubus
Date: 10 Nov 92 00:11:10 GMT
Organization: University of Minnesota

Position #1
=========== 
Electrical Engineer Position Available in NYC !
Electrical Engineer needed for SCSI card for Macintosh Quadra. Knowledge of
68040, SCSI, Nubus, Macintosh, Able preferred. Small, fast-growing company.
Great opportunity. Conley Corp. 16 West 22nd St., 11th Floor, New York, 10010
 
Position #2
=========== 
Mac Programmer Needed in NYC !
Programmer/Analyst needed for Mac SCSI device driver work. Experience in
device
drivers for MacOS, A/UX, SunOS preferred. Think C, MPW C and 68K assembly
environment. Must have low-level knowledge of Mac internals. Conley Corp. 16
West 22nd St., 11th Floor, New York, 10010.

DO NOT RESPOND TO SENDER. RESPOND VIA SURFACE MAIL TO NEW YORK ADDRESS, or:
CONLEY@applelink.apple.com
From: clifto@indep1.UUCP (Cliff Sharp)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: Certification software for a new communication protocol
Date: 12 Nov 92 05:47:01 GMT
Organization: as little as possible

In article <huff-101192094953@pgl6.chem.nyu.edu> huff@mcclb0.med.nyu.edu (Robert A. Bowman c/o ejhuff) writes:
>This project involves multivendor equipment which accepts messages from
>async modem, transmits over radio to receiver with forward error
>correction, and from there to a receiving computer.  Information about how
>to go about designing tests for the various protocols involved is needed.

   Thanks for telling us net-novices where you wanted us to apply to work.
Whether _you_ think it's simple or not, it took me a minute to find the
"nyu" in your message and _assume_ that you're talking about something in
New York State somewhere (only a few thousand square miles, why bother?).
>
>Email replies will not be forwarded.

    Thanks for the courtesy.  I'd rather not have my name attached to
your previous post.  I like to think that I could take care of details
like placing the job within a few hundred thousand square miles.
-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Cliff Sharp  |      clifto@indep1.chi.il.us   OR  clifto@indep1.uucp       |
|     WA9PDM     |                 Use whichever one works                     |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Telecommuters, Remote Wor
From: 9138827a@levels.unisa.edu.au
Date: 29 Oct 92 14:11:21 +0930
Organization: University of South Australia

This item has been cross-posted to misc.jobs.misc and misc.rural
================================================================

I am undertaking postgraduate study at the School of Library and
Information Management, University of South Australia, Adelaide, on
the particular information needs of telecommuters - those who perform
job-related work at a site away from an organisation and communicate
electronically rather than commuting physically.
 
I would be very interested in, and would greatly appreciate a response
from those who are telecommuters, to the following questions. If you
are not a telecommuter but know of others who are it would be
appreciated if you could pass this on to them:
 
 
Q1      Does the organisation to which you telecommute provide any
        library and information services which are accessible to you
        online? (eg catalogs, reference assistance, databases, literature
        searches, document delivery services, organisation information
        such as daily bulletins and administrative gazettes.)
 
        If yes:
 
        (a) What services are provided?
        (b) How useful are these services to you?
 
Q2      (a)     What is the nature of the organisation to which you
                telecommute?
 
        (b)     If you sometimes commute physically to your organisation,
                how frequently do you do this?
 
Q3      What are the particular information needs that you have as a
        telecommuter?
 
Q4      What basic information services do you consider should be
        provided by an organisation for its telecommuters? (see Q5 for
        additional and desirable services)
 
Q5      What additional information services would you perceive as being
        highly desirable for an organisation to provide for its
        telecommuters?
 
Q6      Are there any further comments you wish to make regarding the
        information needs of telecommuters?
 
Q7      Would you like a summary of the results of this survey E-mailed
        to you?
 
Respondents can be assured that individuals and organisations will not
be identified in any report or summary of this survey.
 
Please E-mail your response to my Internet address:
 
9138827a@ntx.city.unisa.edu.au
 
Thank you for your cooperation
 
Bronwen Strong
From: eager@eagercon.com (Michael J. Eager)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: A question on legal rights of software
Date: 7 Nov 92 01:58:44 GMT
Reply-To: eager@eagercon.com
Organization: Eager Consulting

In article 5NOV199208041521@dstl86.gsfc.nasa.gov, olson@dstl86.gsfc.nasa.gov (Paul Olson) writes:
>
>How ethical/legal (I know, oxymoron!)  would it be to have the code disable
>itself if the final payment was not received?  As long as the customer data
>remains intact, is there anything illegal about doing this, similar to what
>the Brigette Fonda character did in Single White Female?


There are Canons of Ethics produced by ACM and other organizations.  I'm sure
that having code which has a time-bomb in it is a violation of ethics, no 
matter what the circumstances.

As for legality, you have certain legal rights to enforce a contract and to 
collect payment.  This may include (if you have specified it in the contract)
repossessing the program.  I don't think that there is any legal right to 
booby-trap code.  In fact, your doing so may constitute breach of the contract
and may be anticipatory breach.  It could be argued that you never intended
to do the work, since you have this fatal flaw in the code which you inserted
intentionally.  You certainly would be liable for any damage or loss which 
was caused as a result, since it is hard to say that you did not anticipate
that there would be damage, or to claim that it was unintentional.

---
Michael J. Eager		Michael.Eager@eagercon.com
Eager Consulting		(415) 325-8077 
1960 Park Boulevard, Palo Alto, CA 94306-1141
Xref: sparky misc.jobs.contract:4087 misc.jobs.offered:13435 ba.jobs.offered:2542
From: alanh@cup.portal.com (Alan E Hattman)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract,misc.jobs.offered,ba.jobs.offered
Subject: Paradox-SQL Contract - Sacramento CA (Broker)
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 15:31:45 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: usa

                         PARADOX PROGRAMMER/ANALYSTS

                              Job # 100WS


Mini-Systems Associates has multiple immediate contract openings for
experienced Paradox developers.

We have a client located in Roseville CA (near Sacramento) looking for
professionals to assist in the development of a factory planning/scheduling
and inventory evaluation application.

You need to have a minimum of 2 yrs experience developing multi-user (SQL)
Paradox applications, preferrably in a Novell LAN environment.  The
application will run on 386 based PCs.

Location:   Roseville CA
Rates:      Open (DOE)
Length:     6 months to 1 year
Start:      ASAP

For consideration / information contact:

William Santos - Sr. Account Executive
Mini-Systems Associates                      The Right People....
100 Homeland Court, Suite 405                      The First Time...
San Jose, CA 95112                                         Guaranteed!!

Voice:  408-451-0254
Fax:    408-451-0277
Email:  alanh@cup.portal.com  (ASCII format only!)
From: clifto@indep1.UUCP (Cliff Sharp)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: Repost: Those danged IRS "20 questions"
Keywords: IRS  1099  20 questions
Date: 5 Nov 92 22:32:19 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: as little as possible

In article <1992Nov2.101156.17722@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov> earle@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov (Greg Earle - Gainfully Unemployed) writes:
>First of all, thanks to the person working at DEC for re-posting those danged
>IRS 20 Questions.  I appreciate it.
>
>
>[Feel free to post followups instead of e-mail, as this is more general.]

   Please feel free to summarize!  This stuff has been bothering me for years
now, and a friend argues with me that the 20 questions only apply to people
who are 7 feet tall and have Maseratis (or something like that); it would be
really nifty to find the answers to the questions you pose, and probably very
helpful to the newsgroup if you were to summarize whatever you receive.

-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Cliff Sharp  |      clifto@indep1.chi.il.us   OR  clifto@indep1.uucp       |
|     WA9PDM     |                 Use whichever one works                     |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Xref: sparky misc.jobs.contract:4080 misc.jobs.offered:13411 ba.jobs.offered:2535
From: alanh@cup.portal.com (Alan E Hattman)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract,misc.jobs.offered,ba.jobs.offered
Subject: DOS /Windows/C programmer, San Jose CA (Recruiter)
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 10:21:26 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: ba

****************************************************************************
Opportunity Number: 61AH

POSITION TITLE      : PROGRAMMER
SKILL REQUIREMENTS  : Microsoft C and DOS (3-5 Yrs Exp)

LOCATION OF CONTRACT: San Jose             START DATE: ASAP
CONTRACT PAY RATE   : $25/Hr               LENGTH    : 90 Days to Perm

           Excellent opportunity for an Intermediate level
           programmer looking to join a dynamic - growing (20% per yr)
           software company.

           You will be entirely responsible for the enhancement(s) to
           existing modules for hospital/medical resource mgmt/planning
           software.  Strong background with Microsoft C is necessary.
           Experience with MS Windows (3.0 or 3.1) and Borland C++ is a
           big plus.

For consideration / information contact:

Alan Hattman - Branch Manager         The Right People...
Mini-Systems Associates                     The First Time...
100 Homeland Court, Suite 405                    Guaranteed!!
San Jose, CA 95112

Voice:408-451-0246
Fax:408-451-0277
Email:alanh@cup.portal.com (ASCII FORMAT ONLY)

***************************************************************************
From: clifto@indep1.UUCP (Cliff Sharp)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: A question on legal rights of software
Date: 7 Nov 92 21:04:43 GMT
Organization: as little as possible

In article <1992Nov5.032804.25816@tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca> timk@tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca (Tim Kuehn) writes:
>The problem with this though is if you write a nifty menuing system, or 
>some other slick algorigthm, what happens when you go to your next 
>client/contract? If you re-write the setup from memory, or take code 
>samples from one contract to make the next contract go faster, does 
>this constitute copyright violation? 

   If they copyright the look-and-feel of it, it certainly will!  Well said.

>My personal feeling is that, to avoid such problems, I'll give the client 
>a non-exclusive license of one kind or another while I retain "ownership" 
>of the SW. This way they can do whatever they want within the realms of 
>whatever licensing arrangement you make, and as a contractor I don't 
>have to worry about future legal entaglements over possibly re-using the 
>code.

   Again, well said!  And well forgotten from my previous articles on the
subject.
   Note to others who work as contractors through other firms, as I do
frequently: make DAMN sure they allow this, cover it _completely_ in their
contracts!  It's occurred to me that, although I've marked my own pre-
written routines as "Copyright 19xx, Clifton T. Sharp, Jr." that they can
under certain circumstances claim ownership through the contract they signed
with my contractor, and turn it on me and actually own those routines (unless
I come up with $1 zillion to fight it in court).  REALLY great advice, and
thanks again for pointing it out!
t
-- 
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|   Cliff Sharp  |      clifto@indep1.chi.il.us   OR  clifto@indep1.uucp       |
|     WA9PDM     |                 Use whichever one works                     |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
From: ed@titipu.resun.com (Edward Reid)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: A question on legal rights of software
Date: 10 Nov 92 01:31:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: titipu.01010064.i8uooi
Reply-To: ed@titipu.resun.com (Edward Reid)
Organization: Accuracy, Ltd.
X-Mailer: uAccess - Macintosh Release: 1.6v0

Robert E. Maas  rem@btr.com  writes:
> It seems unethical to get paid by someone to do work for them [and] then
> claim you own that work and re-sell that same work to somebody else.

I'd say the key is the expectation.  There's nothing wrong with working that
way IF (and *only* if) you and your client understand in advance what the
deal is.  If you entered a contract with no discussion of ownership, at full
contracting rates, then I agree that you have no right to claim ownership
of the product.

> especially if you are charging your normal
> rate for the hours you spend on it.

That and advance agreement are the keys.  Client should get a break on price
in return for letting you keep the rights.

> (1) Produce the part you intend to share with multiple customers BEFORE
> you start your contract, and give a demo of your already-working
> program during the negotiations for the contract.

Except that's not always feasible.  You may not have known the need existed
until the request for bid arrived, and you don't have time to build a demo. 
Building the system under contract means you have one guaranteed sale to
finance the development.  Since the client is providing this guarantee for you,
they may deserve a greater break than if you arrived with product in hand.

> (2) Make it clear from the start that you want to retain ownership of
> some of your work for possible resale to other clients, and charge
> accordingly.

I think that's the key.  And make sure it's in the contract!  It's well worth
the cost of getting an attorney to review, or even write, the contract in such
a case.

Edward Reid  (8*}>
  eel:   ed@titipu.resun.com  or  nosc.mil!titipu.resun.com!ed
  snail: PO Box 378/Greensboro FL 32330
From: lloyd-ritter@cup.portal.com (Lloyd-Ritter and Associates)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: QA/datacomm eg Ethernet/tcp/ip/lan/Tandem ex. nice,sbay,recruit
Date: Mon,  9 Nov 92 09:48:42 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: ba

location-sbay                             rate-open
start-asap                                length-4mo
skills-QA-the whole gamut,good datacomm-Ethernet/LAN/TCP/IP/T RING
       AND TANDEM experience a big big plus

call JAYA at 415-964-6644 or fax 964-8719
no e-mail please
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
From: eager@eagercon.com (Michael J. Eager)
Subject: Re: A question on legal rights of software
Reply-To: eager@eagercon.com
Organization: Eager Consulting
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 01:59:14 GMT

In article 92Nov3154941@cc-color1.Congruent.COM, artk@Congruent.COM (Arthur Kreitman) writes:
>In article <1992Nov2.194624.10337@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> gao@eecg.toronto.edu (Xiangyang Gao) writes:
>
>
>
>>   I have a question on legal rights of a software which you are hired
>>   as a consultant to produce.
>>
>>   Initially I thought the copyright of the software or firmware
>>  you are hired as a consultant to develop belongs to your client. 
>>  However, one day I was told by a well-informed gentleman that
>>   in most cases the copyright belongs to the consultant! 
>
>  Your friend is partially correct.  In fact the copyright, as a 
>"work for hire" will belong to the consultant.  To correct this "problem"
>many consulting contracts include a clause that automatically assigns
>any copyrights to the contractee (you being the contractor).  Even if
>you do own the copyright, it may not do you any good.  All consulting
>contracts include confidential information/trade secret clauses.  If the
>work to which you own the copyright includes trade secret, or is a trade
>secret, you won't be able to do anything with it.


No, no, no.  The rights on a work for hire belong to the person paying 
for the work, not the worker.  This is common law. 

The clause in the contract is there to confirm that this was agreed upon,
not to change any common convention.  

Any other arrangement has to be made by contract.

Think of it as if someone built a fence for your house.  When you pay for the
work, it is yours.  It doesn't remain the workman's property.  Same with
consulting.  If you do work and are paid for it, it becomes the property of
the person paying for the work.

---
Michael J. Eager		Michael.Eager@eagercon.com
Eager Consulting		(415) 325-8077 
1960 Park Boulevard, Palo Alto, CA 94306-1141

Xref: sparky misc.jobs.contract:4085 misc.jobs.offered:13434 ba.jobs.offered:2540
From: brada@bardlover.Eng.Sun.COM (Brad Albom)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract,misc.jobs.offered,ba.jobs.offered
Subject: CONTRACTS: Intermed. & Sr. Unix (SunOS) SysAdmin (SF Bay Area)
Keywords: job, contract, SF, Unix
Date: 10 Nov 92 22:21:05 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc., Mountain View, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: bardlover

Software Engineering Solutions, Inc is a small contract
programming house specializing in placing consultants in the 
Sun and DEC markets.
 
We have several new contract positions open for engineers with 
real world experience dealing with various levels of Unix.
 
Note: This means that you must have previous experience in actually 
working with these systems in real world applications.
Sorry new grads, classwork & projects do not count, although real
world work through a University may be counted. That is, work on 
a real, commercial product. 
 
Intermediate Level Admin Position -

        Administer and support a relatively small, but heterogeneous 
        network of primarily Suns, but also PCs & Xterms. Some 
        database admin would be helpful (eg. Ingres) 
        Contract Length: 3 months with possibility for extension 
        or conversion to permanent employee for client. 
 
Senior Admin and Support Position -
 
        Long Term contract to provide on-going support for a large 
        user who is tied into an older SunOS release (3.5).
        Most support will involve isolating bugs & potentially 
        providing fixes or workarounds.  As such, some kernel 
        hacking may be needed. 
 
All positions are in the SF Silicon Valley (eg. Sunnyvale, San Jose,
Mtn View, Milpitas). 

Also, please note that we are a small contract programming house
and as such, do not have funds to fly people into SF for interviews.
If you're planning on being in the Bay Area, please let us know
when & we'll see what we can do. Otherwise, out of the area resumes
will have to go to > /dev/null.

Finally, if you don't have the skills for the above positions, you're 
welcome to submit your resume for other openings we might have down 
the road.  However, if you do so, please do not expect a reply from 
us unless we do come up with something appropriate. 
 
To speak further with a human about these positions, try:

Ken DeCesare at (415) 969-0141

and/or send resume (ascii email preferred), availability and rates to:

-brad albom
Software Engineering Solutions, Inc (Not related to Sun Micro)
Office: (415) 969-0141    - Probably get a secretary or Ken
FAX   : (415) 969-0177    - Probably get a high pitched tone
email : brada@eng.sun.com - Best Bet (in on random days during week)