Competitive Non Compete Agreements would have prevented the invention of the Integrated Circuit?
In a footnote on a PDF that I found on Lance Weatherby’s excellent blog I discovered an interesting tidbit of information about Fairchild Semiconductor.
Fairchild was a spin-out of a company called Shockley. What’s a spinout?
A “spin-out” is a new firm founded by employees of an incumbent firm in the same industry. Unlike a “spin-off” the choice to form the firm in a spin-out is made by the employee, not the employer.
Robert Noyce, the founder of Fairchild, is credited with being the co-inventor of the integrated circuit. Maybe if he hadn’t been able to spin-out from Shockley the IC would have been invented later, maybe not. It’s no in-consequential matter. The IC shaped the course of human history in the second half of the 20th century.
So the question is, would a spin-out like this be possible in Georgia if Amendment One passes? The short answer is… NO. The research linked to in the PDF above is robust and a good read. Their conclusion is unmistakable.
Compare the growth of the technology industry in Massachusetts and California over the past 40 years and ask yourself if this Amendment will truly make Georgia more competitive. It won’t.
Protect yourself and your liberty to pursue a career of your choosing. Protect your rights as a worker in a state where you have almost no rights at all.
Vote No On Amendment 1.
