Comment on In a hearing on data centers, a resident of Tyrone Township, Michigan, asked a simple question: Have you signed a non-disclosure agreement? Officials refused to answer

iocase@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• pivot_root@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  If you can’t afford the time or money to defend yourself from a SLAPP lawsuit, the legality doesn’t matter much anymore. It is unfortunately in most peoples best financial interests to not personally test the legality of unenforceable BS.

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  • dustyData@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Exactly, corporations care not for the legality. It’s just that the very existence of a signed NDA opens up the power to suit, countersuit or in general drown a person in so many administrative fees that they are condemned to eternal poverty anyway. Whether the actual text is legal or not is irrelevant. An NDA is a weapon in many other ways.

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  • thermal_shock@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Yup. When the punishment is financial, rules only exist for the poor.

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• oce@jlai.lu ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  The only thing NDAs can really cover are true trade secrets that could cause actual damages to the company.

  Isn’t it very easy for companies to argue any confidential information/agreement would damage them?

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  • iocase@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It has to be a specific trade secret AND cause actual damages.

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• Sirdubdee@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  And as an elected official, you should not be able to sign away your constituents’ ability to have a transparent government.

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• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  PSA most NDAs are unenforceable BS.

  They expose you to vexation litigation within the same public bureaucracy that these companies are buying up.

  If you want to see what a private industry can do to fuck over an attorney with a spine and a bit of skill, just check out the history of Steven Donzinger.

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