Sorry, I don't buy it. Maybe I'm a little biased based on past events, but any company that "reminds" someone like that is asking for it. They should have a very clear, flexible policy that claims rights to only work done on company time and/or with company resources. Under no circumstance should the company claim rights to all work done by an employee. It creates a very hostile environment, and is also a very, very stupid business move as it will drive away a great number of highly skilled potential employees.

Even if they convinced an employee to sign such a contract, they should have the common sense to allow them to continue work on projects that are:

1. Not closely related to work being done at the company
2. Not using company resources and
3. Especially not when they provide no financial benefit to the company.

Having employees write modules for CPAN and helping out other programmers in their spare time should be greatly encouraged. Would you rather your programmers just sat at home and played video games? Contributing to Open Source projects is a great way for employees to further develop their skills and improve your company's public image, all at no cost to you. Discouraging employees from doing so results in a very negative situation where everyone loses.

This is a prime example of a very ignorant company shooting itself in the foot. I hope they take steps to patch it up soon.

Rather than post based on uninformed opinion, why not search for Tilly's email address (look at his CPAN modules) and discuss the matter with him?

If you think that his employer is evil and stupid, then convince him to quit and the problem is solved. If you can't convince him, then there is probably more to the story than you know and you shouldn't talk about what you are ignorant on.

Assuming all information posted by tilly is accurate, what more could there possibly be to the story that would negate my point? It seems to be a fairly straightforward point does it not? Discouraging your employees from improving their skills through contributions to open software development is a stupid move.

So what's the counter-argument? Why would I bother pursuing this further?

Oh, and I didn't say his employer was 'evil' I actually referred to being silent and ignoring such problems as 'evil.'