[xilni]

No can do, not sure if enforceable but employment agreement says all code I write even if unrelated to job is theirs.

[burnt_toast]

Joel Spolsky wrote an excellent article about these kinds of clauses in programmer employment agreements.

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2016/12/09/developers-side-pr...

[caconym_]

> This ambiguity is meant to create enough of a chilling effect on the employee working in their spare time that for all intents and purposes it achieves the effect that the employer wants: the employee doesn’t bother doing any side projects that might turn into a business some day, and the employer gets a nice, refreshed employee coming to work in the morning after spending the previous evening watching TV.

Nailed it.

[mgkimsal]

write something illegal, see if they want to actually own that code. write strong encryption libraries and make them available for anyone to export.

[jedimastert]

I'm with you. At my current job there is no possible way to start any kind of "paying" side project.

[CodeCube]

So start a not-for-profit side project then (assuming a side project is something you're interested in) ... if your employment at this current place ever ends, then you have something tangible to take with you and show off; and side projects have a way of being more valuable than purely what money they can bring in (experience, clout, connections, etc)