when i was a teen we had to move to a new state when my dad was laid off because he wasn't allowed to do his type of work in that state. I'm super glad to hear that they are banned.

@ThomasBCharlie

Ай бұрын

it makes such little sense to be able to kick someone out of a job and prevent them from using their expertise in other work, you're sentencing the person to misery that's borderline criminal

@rickloyd8208

Ай бұрын

​@@ThomasBCharlie What about companies, who hire junior developers, train them, and then they're ready to do a job, they quit and move to a better-paid one! While initially, nobody wants to take juniors because they need supervision, they are searching a way how to steal trained employee from competitor. I recently understood why in Japan people stay with the same company for a lifetime. If they quit, it's hard to find any good positions. The companies also take responsibility to take care of employees until they retire.

I'm close to 20 year as a professional game programmer and the non compete is the thing that made unable me to do solo dev on the side, cause I knew my old employer would try to claim it and they were not very known for caring about the wellbeing of their employees (hint: the company name rimes with "ctvision"). I since changed job and was able to knock it off my contract because my new employer understands that trying to make me NOT do it, just makes me want to quit, while allowing me makes me want to stay. After releasing 12 commercial games in my career, I'm finally working on my own solodev game, one that I can finally call my own, all that while still being employed as a full time game programmer.

I feel like that's a huge W for developers! Definitely a step in a positive direction.

@Stalofos

Ай бұрын

Double edged sword I think. Good for developers who work at big companies, bad for small time indie developers because it opens up a lot of competition now.

@MangaGamified

Ай бұрын

@@Stalofos What's the difference before and after the Non-compete was banned for indie developers because it opens up a lot of competition now? I mean isn't it already competitive?

I worked executive level for a software company that made people sign non-competes but chose to never enforce them. It was never worth the legal battle because courts have generally favored employees for a long time in this matter. It’s time to just end it completely.

@MangaGamified

Ай бұрын

not specific to anyone nor any industry but I prefer to side the side that doesn't want to buy their 2nd mansion or 5th sports car and the like. People just need to buy food and neccessities.

Great change. I haven't tested any of my non-competes before, but now it's one less thing to worry about.

I had one in effect for a whole year after leaving a role, but I think it's a good thing they're throwing those silly things out! Some discretion can be used in court to determine if someone really screwed another person or not without needing to have a hardcore "absolute" law about "not competing", when most ordinary folks just need another job after leaving another one, lol, they're not trying to jack Ubisoft :D

This is a good thing for most workers in most professions. Companies can fire us whenever they feel like it; but they would do their best to keep you from getting a better job when YOU want to. They only like the free market when they're the ones with freedom.

Non-competes were always a huge nonsense and honestly I couldn't even believe that this was a thing. I have signed some non-competes in the past and it just makes no sense. I as a worker I am obviously have to continue to work in the industry, if anybody could put an non-compete into their work agreement the economy would collapse or it would force me to work in unrelated field just so I can work and release my own projects. It's disgusting, sick and wrong.

Many years ago I was placed by Computer Task Group (CTG) at a contract-to-hire position with Charles Schwab. The "verbal" understanding was that at the end of the one-year contract Schwab could hire us directly if they wanted to. Well CTG got a new VP who decided to strictly enforce a non-compete so Schwab could NOT hire us at the end of the contract. I had to leave CTG and go work somewhere else for at least 6 months because I could apply at Schwab.

Definitely going to be an interesting challenge in the courts, but hopefully it will be allowed to go into effect and companies will adjust their policies to conform. I know California already bans non-competes, so your state is definitely going to be one of the primary models for shifting the policy. What we'll have to watch for is if the federal district court that hears the challenge issues a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order, since that would potentially delay the FTC's rule from going into effect.

@Unity3dCollege

Ай бұрын

I'd love to hear your thoughts about it on the gamedev show some time if you ever want to come on! :)

@jefflynch

Ай бұрын

@@Unity3dCollege Sure, I'd love to! We can talk more about it on tomorrow's call if you'd like.

Well, before it was just a thing, that needs consideration. I had a non compete after I quit game dev, and 8 years after it ended I still haven't finished my game, but it is very important for people with narrow field for their skill set.

I think a non compete clause was in my contract in the UK. However trying to enforce that good luck with that as most people left to work for competitors and often returned to the company a few years later. With regards to IP wasn't there a judgement given in the states that said if there is a certain way of doing something then that cannot be copyrighted or protected. You are 100% right about not using employer equipment and time to develop stuff. The company also encouraged people joining software jams where teams would compete against other companies teams, similar to game jams. If they did come up with anything good I suppose that the IP would belong to the company that the team worked for unless the competition had stated otherwise. It's all fraught with danger.

@MangaGamified

Ай бұрын

Yeah they should just patent or copyright the things they don't want to be copied w/out permission or give a raise if they don't want employees being baited to higher offers. Being hired means being wanted for the skills/experience you have, but how can you be hired if yo're not allow to portray your best skills and experience, and just slowly die of hunger. Employeers aren't buying their 5th car or 3rd mansion, they just wanted to have means to buy food.

Thanks for the info and not wasting my time getting to it.

A good step in the right direction 💯👍🏻 Hope that Game Dev Companies & other Software Companies in Latin America follow that lead. We have many changes happening this month... besides this news, there's also the TikTok's ban for youngsters... (which I consider a good thing after all, because every Social Network intends to create and maintain a certain level of codependency,... detrimental for kids and young people).

@trinityx3o522

Ай бұрын

Where is TikTok banned for youngsters? Also, if possible, could you explain in brief how they are implementing that?

Is this just for being able to get hired after leaving for a period of time? Can devs now form an llc and not be let go because of that?

@taayakin1108

Ай бұрын

Was curious about this as well

Nice to see this ruling!

It's already bad enough that there is a law against "too much advancement" - it goes something like... if your development goes too ahead of competition - you either cannot release it, or must share the patent with everyone in the field. This thing should also be reworked into something with more incentive to make bigger leaps in advancement of products.

Most companies who make employees sign them know they are unenforceable it's just an intimidation tactic

8500 is a precise number to pull directly out of thin air.

Wow, what terrific news! I hope that American McGee catches wind of this because it sounds like they're free to make games again! 🎉

very topical. keep it up

Quick question on the new Game Architecture course: does having it already in my course collection mean I'm already enrolled, or is something being weird?

It's about time. For a country that REALLY loves Capitalism the U.S. sure does love having laws that prevent competition.

This is great for everyone. Like hands down. Had an HVAC company attempts to do this to me, but it was already illegal in my state so I just laughed at them. He wasn't too happy about that. Lol Still makes me laugh thinking back to it. Lol Like I'm legitimately laughing out loud with these lols I'm not lying. 😂

Is this in Canada too?

I'd never even heard of non-competes. My job relationships with my employers or clients have always been startups or smaller companies though I guess.

Honestly Jason the whole work law situation is so unregulated because there's just not enough jobs so workers don't always have the option to say no to absurd work contracts when said contracts contain clauses that are not legally binding : Simply because its the choice between having a job or not having one.

Is this just for employees or also for freelancer contracts?

A good change imo. Also, first

@Unity3dCollege

Ай бұрын

I think so too!

I didnt know that this existed, non compete? What the fuck is this slave-like tactic?!?!

is this only for the US ?

I saw about these staff when watch Steve job movies ,I though it was just past staff didn't know still exist till today

I like this ruling but are there any potential drawbacks?

@Unity3dCollege

Ай бұрын

Not sure. Maybe Jeff knows??

@kaasronald3623

Ай бұрын

yes. "traineeships" are quite popular in software development, where the employer invests a lot of money into new employees training them to become really good, like an investment. non-compete clauses prevent these employees from just taking a job with the best training perks and then move to a different company. so the result will be that traineeships will cease existing, which means that it'll be extra hard to get a job if you aren't already experienced.

Here companies cry about non competes as they have to pay the employee during the enforcement of said contract.

Finally FTC doing something good. About time too, it was so messed up how companies took advantage of this.

great news, glad 4 everyone in US👍

But will it be enforced?

What the heck this was LEGAL in the US until now???

@flaviokonti5522

Ай бұрын

Pfft they are still legal in Europe

We've got an absolute lion for an FTC Commissioner. Lina Khan is going to bat for American workers and consumers.

I just hope it doesn't back fire on us or create turnover chaos.

@mcspud

Ай бұрын

Why would it create turnover chaos? People will only leave if the company is shit, so treat people better == loyal staff. This isn't rocket science.

@Ghost0fDawn

Ай бұрын

@@mcspud This is why you can already tell its a good change. There's already companies coming out declaring "How are we supposed to keep employees around now?!" As if, there's no other solutions besides using a contract to keep them from getting another job. Too many businesses hate easy solutions like a "livable wage" or "good working conditions"

Now its time to ban class action waivers. They shouldnt be legal

Great now ban patents

@petersuvara

Ай бұрын

Then watch cheap copy cats flood the market. The idea of patents is more beneficial than not.

@ngcq1811

Ай бұрын

​@@petersuvarayou can choose not to buy the copycats. Simple as.

@petersuvara

Ай бұрын

@@ngcq1811 sure, but have you looked at all the drop shipping copy cat scams on Amazon and Temu... it's out of control.

@anonymous49125

Ай бұрын

unironically this... remember - they patented minigames during loading screens and even digital currency in games :/ frigging boomer judges back in the early 2000s allowed companies to get away with crazy patents.

@anonymous49125

Ай бұрын

@@petersuvara umm... no though... you can make copy cats without patents and many people do... you literally can't patent the look and feel of a game... the best you can do is patent a novel mechanic if you can sell the patent office on it being so breakthrough and revolutionary that nobody can do it 100% the same way (like the nemesis system patent - which is even still debated it will hold water under any scrutiny, but they have got it) Or better yet, you can copyright (and it is by default) the source code and art in a game... so nobody can 1:1 copy your game and sell it like their own. Outside of that, copy cats are 100% legal in the US... just ask any of the flappy bird clones or similar... or harvest moon clones... or vampire survivors clones (I mean Magic Survival clones) and on and on and on... Patents on the other hand are a cancer and far more insidious than even copy cat cloners... like not being able to have coins in your game because some patent troll demands 50k,... or Atari just sitting the ability to have minigames during loading screens.... and so on....

They've been banned in California for a long time.

I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand, I really don't like corporate abusers shafting people, robbing them of their livelihoods and opportunities. On the other hand, I really REALLY don't like the govt coming in and dictating what terms people are allowed to have or not have in voluntary contracts. This effectively removes a negotiation tool from everyone's arsenal, even among people who were perfectly fine accepting them as condition of parting, since not everyone gets fired. Plenty of people leave companies of their own accord and take business with them, hurting all those who remain behind. All in all, while I think it'll help a lot of people, it might ultimately hurt a lot more. We'll have to see how things play out. But my gut reaction is, I don't like it on balance.

@plcdfa

Ай бұрын

In 99% of the cases companies just used it to make it harder for employees to switch jobs. And for the remaining 1% who actually take customers with them - it just creates more competition on the market, you should be happy about that.

@MarushiaDark316

Ай бұрын

@@plcdfa Unless the person who leaves was a jerk and was forced out for cause. Then they don't deserve anything and they'd just be poaching at that point if they took business with them, meaning the company gets punished for getting rid of a trash employee. Like I said, it's a tool. It depends how you use it. But most people only think about things from the employee side, never the company side.

I would definitely put something in a video like this about how this is just your interpretation and how you're not a lawyer and how this is not legal advice. I probably would book end it on both ends of the video to really make that fact inarguable.

I did the opposite of non competes. Anyone who worked well for me, I promoted to all major competitors. It bit me in the butt in a way I didn't expect, the guy got paid by a competitor to harass and deinfluence me on social media by making up lies... He's paid 500$/month

@TESkyrimizer

Ай бұрын

huh? isn't that libel?

@GoodNewsJim

Ай бұрын

@@TESkyrimizer libel, harassment, even death threats came from the guy. It's been over three years he's doing it. I'm saving evidence though so he'll have to rat out who pays him and a big name video game player probably going down. To me, I'm used to being ripped off, there's not a Big Tech you can name that hasn't broke a contract, didn't pay me, criminally robbed me, or discriminated openly in hiring. I just want the world to know if you do go ahead and treat some people nice, by going out of your way to tear down societal barriers to their advancing, they'll still be mean. Be kind to all anyway.

noncompete? I don't know this person.

Non competes hurt every industry by removing talent from the job market. You should charge $1 million or more to sign an NDA your freedom should never be for sale. Never give up your rights people. Suckers who will sell their souls for a cookie or a job are getting robbed. Always remember they need you more than you need them, workers make a company the owner isn't even there in most cases.

@controllerfreak3596

Ай бұрын

non compete and NDA aren't the same, I assume that was a typo. what I wonder is if this also affects moonlighting. like if I wanted to make materials for some indie project i was passionate about

cool. now destroy ip.

THANKS BIDEN

now ban godot thanks