is it legal? - a question to those posting codes here

I have had a client who almost went out of business because one of his
employees was sharing drawing files with someone who asked for samples
so that he could learn about CAD drawings in industry, who was then
altering them just a little bit so that they were cosmetically
different. These were then being passed on to a competitor, along with
other information, who kept undercutting their bids by just enough to
see them win the jobs.<<<

Ian,

I see no relation between someone who would regularly deliver drawings to a public server that contains the latest, pertinent lifeblood of the comapny and someone who posts code on how to get the point coordinates of a polyline or send a command between Excel and AutoCAD (most of which was first learned here in the NG anyway
).
What you describe is pure industial espionage.
Which would be a totally different matter and wrong.

Bill

 

What I posted was an instance where someone provided information to
someone in response to a request for information. The fact that it was a
drawing as opposed to code does not matter. The person providing the
information was doing so to assist someone, only once the information
was provided they had no control as to where it went after that.

I was simply using this to show that posting code to a newsgroup or
discussion forum is very little different. The poster has no way of
knowing who the information is going to or who the person is they are
responding to.

What is the lifeblood of a company is not just the drawing or drawing
information. It includes everything that the company does to manufacture
its products. Also while an employee is being paid to do productive
work, that employee should not be spending the time assisting someone
who could well be a competitor. As I have said before, people have a
slightly different view when they are the ones paying the wages and they
find that their employees are spending work time helping people from
outside the company, or passing information on to others who they
believe they are helping.

It is a fine line you tread in this. Yes, discussion groups are
extremely useful otherwise we would not be involved in it. What
certainly is of concern is how much information you provide and more
importantly, who that information belongs to.

Again, as all drawings I produce clearly state, "..., IF IN DOUBT ASK".
Just don't assume to know what your employer's attitude is going to be.

 

Ian,
I agree that you have to be careful how much company information you divulge when interacting in a discussion group.
And yes, you have to know if the amount of time you are spending here would be looked down upon by your employer.
These are all elementary things any knowledable employee is aware of.
If someone that owns his own business decides to give someone a routine that they have developed, then that's a different story.

But everyone needs to keep this in mind:

This is a help forum for "customization" and coding.
And anybody having trouble figuring out how to do something with the open faced programming and interface that comes with AutoCAD, is going to get help doing it, one way or another. The information given here is not nor ever has been meant to be kept a secret. (Excluding copywrite issues).

You said:
The "who kept" to me sounded like they were doing it more than once or twice but on a regular basis, but you have cleared that up. Thanks.

BTW: Information is the "Life Blood" of any company.

Bill