[quote name='daroga']It would be illegal for me to leak source code to a game or program. This trade or corporate secret is no different.[/QUOTE]
Alright, I know it's just Wiki, but this was my understanding of "trade secrets":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_secret
[quote name='Wiki']A company can protect its confidential information through non-compete non-disclosure contracts with its employees (within the constraints of employment law, including only restraint that is reasonable in geographic and time scope). The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information - it does not expire as would a patent. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.[/quote]
[quote name='Wiki']Trade secrets are by definition not disclosed to the world at large. Instead, owners of trade secrets seek to keep their special knowledge out of the hands of competitors through a variety of civil and commercial means, not the least of which is the employment of non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and non-compete clauses. In exchange for the opportunity to be employed by the holder of secrets, a worker will sign an agreement not to reveal his prospective employer's proprietary information. Often, he will also sign over rights to the ownership of his own intellectual production during the course (or as a condition) of his employment. Violation of the agreement generally carries stiff financial penalties, agreed to in writing by the worker and designed to operate as a disincentive to going back on his word. Similar agreements are often signed by representatives of other companies with whom the trade secret holder is engaged, e.g. in licensing talks or other business negotiations.
Trade secret protection can, in principle, extend indefinitely and in this respect offers an advantage over patent protection, which lasts only for a specifically delimited period, for example twenty years in the U.S. For example, Coca Cola has no patent for its formula and has been very effective in protecting it for many more years than a patent would have. However, the "down side" of such protection is that it is comparatively easy to lose (for example, to reverse engineering, which a patent will withstand but a trade secret will not) and comes equipped with no minimum guaranteed period of years.
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I perfectly understand intellectual property like source code, but it seems absolutely villanous (and it should to you) that a private citizen would be gagged from revealing ANYTHING about a large company simply because they are a large company. That's an extremely slippery slope you are treading on, willing to hand over your civil liberties so easily.
[quote name='elwood731']So, you can't really go to work for Coca-Cola, steal their formula, and then post it online.[/QUOTE]I perfectly understand this as well. It's called submitting to a legal contract.
But if you have information about a company, and are not under contract from them to keep it secret, certainly it's your right to yell it out as loud as you can.
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