How not to sign NDAs

Once again:<p>This post, in various guises, pops up about once a month. 'grellas had a solid response last month, and it'll stand us in good stead here too:<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1050457" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1050457</a><p>What I read, when I read posts like this between the lines, is that the author doesn't spend much time working with large companies. Small web startups, even if funded, might let an NDA go. Practically no company with in-house counsel --- that is, no company with more than a couple hundred employees --- will show any flexibility on this; they're often legally obligated to have you sign one.<p>My guess: despite Raymond's claims to routinely consult for companies with NDA policies, his experiences aren't representative; he's probably being tapped for his personality/reputation and not to actually get project work done. In this weird little subset of engagements, he probably has an atypical amount of leverage in negotation.

The only thing I can add is that I find myself presently in a situation as a consultant where we're actually not allowed to sign NDA's (or any customer documents for that matter).<p>We actually have to complete training (terrible, flash-based training which also, to my chagrin, informs us that we cannot expense hookers) twice a year to acknowledge that we won't sign anything from a customer. Probably half a dozen times, I've shown up onsite and a client has tried to get me to sign an NDA as part of their standard procedure. Only once has my inability to do so resulted in them postponing the project (until our respective legal departments argue it out I'm sure).