[rubiety]

Gotta love how the absence of state laws restricting what contracts between private individuals can include is described as being "the most repressive".

Ultimately these clauses are part of private, consenting employment agreements. If you don't like a non-compete clause offered by an employer (which is possible in MA since are no strong laws against it), nothing is forcing you to sign it.

Especially since it's a "suppliers market" for labor in our industry, you should be able to easily negotiate out of one if an employer tries to bring it up.