Non-disclosure

[Robert Marti]

[Date written: April 19, 1989 ]

In a recent posting I wrote on the subject of non-disclosure:
> I also agree that people who get information under terms of
> non-disclosure should keep their mouths shut.  HOWEVER, I always
> get the impression that vendors usually don't mind at all if
> you pass on the information revealed under non-disclosure.

I received three or four replies concerning the subject, including one
from a Sun employee.  The reactions left me with the impression that my
posting was unfortunate and partly even stupid for the following reasons:

- The fact that the posting appeared in this newsgroup may have
  suggested that it was directed at (or even against) Sun.  Nothing
  could be further from the truth.  As customer, stockholder and former
  employee I wish them all the success in the world and I condemn any
  breach of non-disclosure agreements with Sun -- or any other company for
  that matter.  (Please note that I already said so in my original posting,
  albeit not as strongly worded!)

- The wording in my posting was too strong.  (How about replacing
  the passage "usualy don't mind at all" above with "sometimes don't seem
  to mind"?)
  On top of that, I didn't think the problem through entirely:
  Obviously, a company wants their (prospective) customers to know of new
  developments early on so that they plan to buy their future products.
  On the other hand, the competition should ideally be taken by surprise
  on the day a new product is announced.  Therefore, as long as new product
  info circulates only among customers, all is fine EXCEPT of course that
  the likelihood that the competition obtains this info increases with
  the number of people in the know.
  It also makes a difference how far off an introduction date is.  If it's
  just a couple of weeks away, then disclosing priviledged info doesn't
  hurt the company much UNLESS they run into last minute production problems
  with their product in which case they'd be accused of hyping vaporware.
  In summary:  Don't violate non-disclosure agreements because no matter
  how "good" your intention, you may still hurt a company.

However, and this is a point I already had in the back of my mind when I
wrote the original blurb, if vendor reps first divulge UNSOLICITED
information and then add as an afterthought "oh, by the way, this info is
confidential", then I do not feel obligated to keep my mouth shut.  As it
turns out, this happens fairly often, although invariably official
intoduction dates are just a couple of weeks away.

-- 
Robert Marti                      Phone:      +41 1 256 52 36
Institut fur Informationssysteme
ETH-Zentrum                       CSNET/ARPA: marti%inf.ethz.ch at relay.cs.net
CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland       UUCP:       ...uunet!mcvax!ethz!marti