[w1ntermute]

If the writers are really that pissed, what's to stop them from just jumping ship and starting a new tech blog? They'll be able to take their industry contacts and Twitter accounts with them, meaning they could have a near seamless transition.

[mikeryan]

Undoubtedly there's a non-compete in place, at least for Arrington. The writers could maybe jump ship if they are willing to take the leap, but they'd have to be very careful to steer clear of Arrington if they do so.

Note non-competes as the result of acquisitions are pretty much iron clad even in CA.

[ig1]

It's unclear if they do have non-competes. Non-competes make sense for developers at a startup stopping them working for a rival to that startup, as there's plenty of other firms that developers can work for.

But for tech journalists ? - if you stop them working for a tech news site they can't get another job. It's not as if they can become sports journalists or war correspondents, a large part of their value is in their specialism and contacts in that specialism. Hence a non-compete would probably be considered an unfair restraint of trade.

[pyoung]

"Note non-competes as the result of acquisitions are pretty much iron clad even in CA."

I think that only applies if the employee in question had ownership/investment in the acquired company. If they did not, then the non-compete is not valid (at least in CA, I have no idea about WA).