People In Massachusetts Pushing To Get Rid Of Noncompetes

from the good-for-them dept

Last year, we had a discussion looking through all of the research showing how harmful noncompete agreements can be to entire industries and regions. In fact, the research suggests pretty clearly that Silicon Valley's success compared to Boston's high-tech region is in large part due to the lack of enforceability of noncompete agreements in California. While much of this research had been ignored, it looks like some people in Massachusetts are trying to make more people aware of how much harm noncompete agreements are doing to business in the state.

The problem is most people only think about noncompetes from the perspective of the company offering the noncompetes. That leaves out the perspective of both employees and other companies. With noncompetes, there's a lot less movement of employees around an industry. That means less cross-pollination of ideas -- which is a key element towards faster and better innovation. It also means employees less willing to go work for startups, because if it doesn't work out, it's much more difficult for that employee to leave and go work elsewhere. Finally, when everyone's enforcing noncompetes, it's much harder for companies (even who use noncompetes themselves) to hire the important employees they need from other companies. All in all, noncompetes are a lose-lose initiative hurting all the companies in a space as well as their employees. It's good to see a push in Massachussetts to get rid of them.

Filed Under: massachusetts, noncompetes

Massachusetts Worker Cleared Of Child Porn After Malware Discovered On His Machine; Life Still In Shambles

from the not-a-good-situation dept

Remember the ridiculous Julie Amero case in Connecticut? That was the one where a substitute teacher was facing jail time because the computer she used in a classroom had malware that displayed pornographic images. The local prosecutors wanted to send her to jail, despite the fact that it was the malware that put up the porn. It looks like a similar situation (luckily, without the jailtime) is playing itself out in Massachusetts. There, a "computer illiterate" state employee was fired for child porn found on his computer. After hiring a computer forensics expert, who pointed out that the state's IT department hadn't configured the machines securely and that it was chock full of malware, the guy has been cleared of child porn charges -- but that doesn't change the fact that he's been disgraced and out of work for over a year.

Filed Under: fired, malware, massachusetts

Stephen King Slams Attempt To Ban Violent Videogames

from the where-are-the-parents? dept

After yet another court recently tossed out yet another law that would ban the sale of certain video games to children, it appears that the state of Massachusetts is next up in the lengthy list of states wasting taxpayer money in order to appease some grandstanding politicians who want to "protect the children." However, the video game industry has an interesting ally this time around. Writer Stephen King spoke out harshly against the proposed ban while stating plenty of common sense:

"What makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous.... What really makes me insane is how eager politicians are to use the pop culture as a whipping boy. It's easy for them, even sort of fun, because the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud. Also, it allows legislators to ignore the elephants in the living room."

While perhaps not quite as eloquent as some others, it's nice to see the press picking up on King's feelings, rather than simply parroting the politicians' dubious claims concerning the need for such laws.

Filed Under: massachusetts, stephen king, video games

New Massachusetts Law Would Open New Casinos While Throwing Online Gamblers In Jail

from the place-yer-bets dept

Sometimes it's impossible not to be cynical about the political process and what's really going on behind the scenes. Sure, people will often ascribe the worst motives to various politicians when other reasons may be more accurate, but it's difficult to see how Massachusett's governor Deval Patrick can put forth this new bill on gambling with a straight face. It pushes for the opening of three new casinos in the state, while simultaneously banning online gambling (which the federal government is already working on). Federal attempts at banning online gambling, however, have focused on stopping credit card processing and stopping the casinos themselves. Patrick's bill actually goes against the gamblers -- threatening them with up to two years in jail and $25,000 in fines. It's difficult to see how this bill can be seen as anything but a plan to try to squeeze more money out of the new casinos by making licenses a lot more valuable by totally banning the competition.

Filed Under: casinos, gambling, massachusetts, online casinos