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May 8, 2015 ∞

The Amazon Noncompete Clause

Here it is, in all its overbroad glory:

During employment and for 18 months after the Separation Date, Employee will not, directly or indirectly, whether on Employee’s own behalf or on behalf of any other entity (for example, as an employee, agent, partner, or consultant), engage in or support the development, manufacture, marketing, or sale of any product or service that competes or is intended to compete with any product or service sold, offered, or otherwise provided by Amazon (or intended to be sold, offered, or otherwise provided by Amazon in the future) that Employee worked on or supported, or about which Employee obtained or received Confidential Information.

Whew. All that legalese is translatable into American English as:

You can't work in another warehosue that, you know, contains stuff people buy, with money, that is, um, anywhere, pretty much in the world.

The linked report by The Verge resulted in a much-needed revision to the policy, but it’s a powerful reminder that behind all the random stuff we order online are people who are sometimes commoditized and mistreated by their employers.

Image credit: “Amazon.com Customer Service Center (Huntington, West Virginia) 003” by Leonard J. DeFrancisci. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

May 7, 2015 ∞

Apple under federal anti-competition scrutiny, again

Micah Singleton writes for The Verge:

Sources also indicated that Apple offered to pay YouTube’s music licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its songs on YouTube. Apple is seemingly trying to clear a path before its streaming service launches, which is expected to debut at WWDC in June. If Apple convinces the labels to stop licensing freemium services from Spotify and YouTube, it could take out a significant portion of business from its two largest music competitors.

I dislike hyperbole, but the fact that Apple would even engage in behavior that is capable of misperception as anti-competitive is shocking.

Image credit: “Apple Headquarters in Cupertino” by Joe Ravi. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.