Nvidia very strict NDA leaked

[mr moose]

56 minutes ago, TheGermanLinus said:

But when shit gets real, u will see what i'm talking about

I have been following the tech industry, working in it and alongside it and just being a builder/enthusiast since the 80's (not too mention I studied CPU design in EE in the early 90's). If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that based on an article they read online (or in a magazine), I'd be a very rich man right now (and the world would be a very different place).

 

I'm afraid this Website just had a slow news day or were losing readership and needed something juicy to bolster their portfolio.

[TheGermanLinus]

https://videocardz.com/76645/nvidias-new-non-disclosure-agreement-leaked

[Lathlaer]

12 minutes ago, TheGermanLinus said:

https://videocardz.com/76645/nvidias-new-non-disclosure-agreement-leaked

Yeah, I'd be careful with videocardz. They are quick to jump on a news train particularly with some intrigue to it. Still remember those Computex booth payment allegations.

[theGamer93]

I am from germany which is why my english grammar may be bad. And also I worked as a tech journalist and I know the NDA-Situation.

 

In germany you normally get an NDA for every single product or event and at a given time they end and you can publish the information. This helps both as YOU can pre-produce your content and they have everyone writing about your new product, at the same time. Now you know, why your feeds get flooded with articles about one product at a given time.

 

This NDA is special as they only had 2!! days to sign it AND it is valid for 5 years. Heise is one of the biggest tech publishers. They exist for more than 20 years and they have a very good reputation. In every Tech-Company, their magazines arelying around. Their law department check every NDA and this time, they told them not to sign this NDA as it is very restrictive. Maybe these kind of NDAs are common but they aren't in germany. That's why the wrote about not signing this.

 

Regards

[Lathlaer]

Well more and more outlets are picking up on this story so hopefuly NVIDIA will comment somehow. Though after GPP I'm not holding my breath.

 

I don't think this is as bad as people think but it's the PR nightmare and right now it's actually in the best interest of tech news outlets that NVIDIA should clarify. Otherwise every news and review of NVIDIA products will have to be preluded with a disclaimer "We did not sign the you-know-what" because people will think they signed and will not trust those reviews.

[mr moose]

21 minutes ago, theGamer93 said:

I am from germany which is why my english grammar may be bad. And also I worked as a tech journalist and I know the NDA-Situation.

 

In germany you normally get an NDA for every single product or event and at a given time they end and you can publish the information. This helps both as YOU can pre-produce your content and they have everyone writing about your new product, at the same time. Now you know, why your feeds get flooded with articles about one product at a given time.

 

This NDA is special as they only had 2!! days to sign it AND it is valid for 5 years. Heise is one of the biggest tech publishers. They exist for more than 20 years and they have a very good reputation. In every Tech-Company, their magazines arelying around. Their law department check every NDA and this time, they told them not to sign this NDA as it is very restrictive. Maybe these kind of NDAs are common but they aren't in germany. That's why the wrote about not signing this.

 

Regards

5 years for NDA is standard, they are reporting it as something out of the ordinary which leads me to think sensationalist article:

 

http://blog.easynda.com/2015/04/20/standard-duration-non-disclosure-agreement/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2016/03/10/the-key-elements-of-non-disclosure-agreements/#6977931c627d

 

I think if we dig deeper they probably had longer than 2 days to sign.

 

Don;t believe everything you read,  news limited is one of the worlds largest news corporations, I wouldn't take anything they printed at face value. 

 

 

[mr moose]

13 hours ago, TheGermanLinus said:

i can perfectly read and understand german, but there are lots of lawyer stuff that i dont unterstand...

 

but maybe in america the only thing u need is that your reading and understanding in english is perfectly... lucky you! But when shit gets real, u will see what i'm talking about

You wanted a lawyers perspective:

 

 

I Guess after 30 years of this I know a few things. 

 

 

[PandaCamper]

I'm Sorry if I am a bit late. 

I think some of the debate exists because of the different Laws in different countries. 

Heise is a German News Company, therfore all NDAs it signs are aplicable to german Law.

In German Law such contracts (NDAs) between 2  Companies (its different between a company and a private person, or 2 private persons) are applicable to the word.

This means that the "solely for the benefit of NVIDIA" passage can be used (even if it was not Nvidias original intetion) to silence Heise should a unwanted topic come up.

Additionaly you have to keep in mind it apllies to all confidential information including those given by Nvidia partners such as Asus, Msi, etc. That would include the GPP Contract! (if the NDA would have been in place back then)

I think that Nvidias intention were not evil, but the (wording of the) NDA is quite bad (or gives Nvidia ALOT of power should they choose to abuse it).

If Nvidia will abuse this, only time will tell

 

P.S.: Sorry for bad English

[lacion]

7 minutes ago, PandaCamper said:

I'm Sorry if I am a bit late. 

I think some of the debate exists because of the different Laws in different countries. 

Heise is a German News Company, therfore all NDAs it signs are aplicable to german Law.

In German Law such contracts (NDAs) between 2  Companies (its different between a company and a private person, or 2 private persons) are applicable to the word.

This means that the "solely for the benefit of NVIDIA" passage can be used (even if it was not Nvidias original intetion) to silence Heise should a unwanted topic come up.

Additionaly you have to keep in mind it apllies to all confidential information including those given by Nvidia partners such as Asus, Msi, etc. That would include the GPP Contract! (if the NDA would have been in place back then)

I think that Nvidias intention were not evil, but the (wording of the) NDA is quite bad (or gives Nvidia ALOT of power should they choose to abuse it).

If Nvidia will abuse this, only time will tell

 

P.S.: Sorry for bad English

that's not necessarily true, even though in the US you can pretty much draft a lot of stupid things in a contract, in the EU and most EU countries. you can not. 

 

a contract on this side of the world cannot override a law. as an EU company, Heise has to abide by EU laws, not US laws. I'm like 99% sure you cant make someone forget about freedom of speech.

 

also, that contract is pretty much like any other Tech NDA's I seem, as they seem to come out from the same template, except google's NDA's that are about x4 times larger documents.

[mr moose]

15 minutes ago, PandaCamper said:

I'm Sorry if I am a bit late. 

I think some of the debate exists because of the different Laws in different countries. 

 

Nope, the only reason debate exists is because the internet is easily fooled.

[PandaCamper]

2 minutes ago, lacion said:

that's not necessarily true, even though in the US you can pretty much draft a lot of stupid things in a contract, in the EU and most EU countries. you can not. 

 

This is true with contracts including a private Person, they have special protection.

Contracts between companies don't, because it is believed that they are "smart" enough to have their contracts checked by lawyers anyway.

 

Acording to Heises Law department a contract between buisness could include "every time you sneeze Nvidia gets 10k$" , however a contract with a private Personscould not