AMD NDA Scandal

crazyeyes writes "Just two weeks ago, a Thai journalist walked out of the hush-hush AMD event in Singapore over a controversial NDA that required him to 'send any stories to the vendor before his newspaper can publish it.' AMD categorically denied it happened, but today, we not only have proof that it happened, we also have the sordid details of the entire affair. Here's a quote from the editorial: 'First off, the non-disclosure agreement covered everything confidential said or written over the next two years on the product, and had a duration of five years, during which anything published or used in marketing would have to receive written approval from AMD before it could be used. Worse, at the end of the five years, all copies of the information made would have to be returned to the chipmaker.'"

News?

[band-aid-brand (1068196)]

All I got from the article was that someone is impatient about getting some benchmarks and that a Thai Journalist MIGHT have walked out because of a NDA which may or may not exist... exciting...

Seems to be a non-issue...

[Reemi (142518)]

unfortunately, there is not verbatim copy of the NDA, only a section that seems to paraphrase.

It is not unusual to have a NDA covering a longer period so one does not have to sign it each and every occasion. Then, even according to the text such a NDA is only applicable for confidential information. That means, everything posted in the Bankok Post would not be confidential anymore ;-)

How much control can AMD have over the articles to be published? Not much probably as long as no confidential information is there. But we'd need to see the original text.

Btw, why not link to the article of the journalist involved:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Database/05Sep2007_data 006.php [bangkokpost.com]

bad policy

[SolusSD (680489)]

Sometimes bad policy like this is made by ignorant management and not with the intention to screen bad press. Not saying that that is the case here, but the person(s) involved in writing the NDA could very well have been working under the requirement to safeguard information about new amd products until the products are released. Sometimes the paranoid "they're controlling the press" mentality is solely the product of tin foil hats. :)

Wrong Scandal

[sjvn (11568)]

As a journalist, we're always being asked to sign BS NDAs. Most of us refuse to sign ones far milder than this idiotic one. After all, in the end we always find our what the big secret is anyway. If you're not good at being snoopy, what are you doing as a reporter anyway?

The Real scandal is described here:

All of those invited to the event were given an NDA to sign before going on that 5-star, all-expense-paid trip to Singapore. Hidden in that piece of legal boilerplate were some sneaky clauses. Yeah, don't we just love those clauses. This is what Don found in that NDA:

Excuse me? If I went on any "5-star, all-expense paid trip to Singapore" at a vendor's expense I'm going to be--and I would deserve to be--fired in less time than it took me to write this note.

Steven

Re:Wrong Scandal

[Angostura (703910)]

When I was a tech journalist, by standard procedure was to read the NDAs and cross out the most egregious clauses, sign it and return. If I was feeling particularly charitable, I would point out the parts that I had deleted. Their an agreement. You are within your rights to amend before signing.

Re:Wrong Scandal

[Angostura (703910)]

You can see why I am no-longer a journalist. I can't even get the distinction between 'their' and 'they're' correct. Excuse me why I go and beat myself about the head with a large Chambers 20th Century dictionary.

Re:Wrong Scandal

[PCM2 (4486)]

Excuse me? If I went on any "5-star, all-expense paid trip to Singapore" at a vendor's expense I'm going to be--and I would deserve to be--fired in less time than it took me to write this note.

Hear, hear. I've worked for a couple of different publications in the trade press and we were generally only allowed to accept gifts from vendors totaling in the realm of about $20. Attending an industry meet-n-greet held at a fancy restaurant was often enough to set fingers wagging.

Re:

[PCM2 (4486)]

In the UK, and other countries where budgets are tighter, freebies often are accepted. The UK journalists I know who do accept freebies would be adamant that they only accept ones that have true editorial interest and would also argue that it doesn't influence their writing. For the average staff writer that's probably correct - they don't know, or care who is paying for the flight.

In the latter case then that seems fair enough, provided the editor who accepted the package isn't going to put pressure on

Re:

[MarsDefenseMinister (738128)]

Excuse me? If I went on any "5-star, all-expense paid trip to Singapore" at a vendor's expense I'm going to be--and I would deserve to be--fired in less time than it took me to write this note.

I agree completely. Singapore's nice, but it's not THAT great. I would have held out for Paris or Rome.

Re:

[Alzheimers (467217)]

I would, but I've signed the contracts that say I'm not allowed to...

So what

[Oddster (628633)]

Let's get this straight: AMD is a company working for profit. They are at least afforded the right to decide what kind of information about unreleased products will be made available to the market. If information (or, heaven forbid, disinformation by the media!) is released that was not part of AMD's market strategy, product strategy, or competitive strategy, it could severely damage their business.

For example, if AMD was targeting 32 TB/s of memory bandwith at 2ms latencies for their year 2 target, th

Re:

[Rogerborg (306625)]

You, sir, are dumber than a retard's nutsack. The issue isn't the NDA, it's that AMD are claiming de facto editorial rights over the publications. They're not stifling all information; you will see articles, but the only ones you'll be allowed to see are positive ones. Do you get that? Once you agree to this NDA, if it turns out that the product sucks, then you're not allowed to print that it sucks, and you're not even allowed to print that you're not allowed to print that it sucks. If you don't want a

Re:

[Belial6 (794905)]

Lets get this straight: AMD is a corporation, and thus has no ethics, good or bad. Only the single minded goal of making as much money for share holders as possible. They present a reporter with an NDA. The reporter is a human who does have ethics, good or bad. The reporter judges the NDA to be evil, and makes a big deal about the company doing evil. This obviously is an attempt to make the ethicless company lose money if it continues on the same path. Since the company's sole goal is to make money,

No technical knowledge? Don't work in tech company

[Futurepower(R) (558542)]

From the article, which some comment posters above did not bother to read:

"Finally, AMD agreed to let Don and the other journalists attend the event [in Singapore] without signing that particular NDA... On Day 2 though, they were presented with another NDA to sign before a factory visit. [my emphasis] This one stipulated that "any confidential information from this visit would need written approval from corporate communications before it could be used."

It seems quite common that executives of technical companies have no understanding of their company's products, and because of that they sometimes have sink-the-company ideas. It won't matter to the executive if his company does poorly, he will just get a job somewhere else. When the company lays off employees they will suffer, however.

People with no technical knowledge, and little or no interest in learning about their company's products, should be encouraged to get a job somewhere else, or retire. They are dinosaurs from a pre-tech world.

If you are technically knowledgeable, why let someone stupid ruin your efforts? If you get together with other technically knowledgeable people and use some social skill, you can eliminate ignorant executives from your company.

Re:No technical knowledge? Don't work in tech comp

[PCM2 (4486)]

It seems quite common that executives of technical companies have no understanding of their company's products, and because of that they sometimes have sink-the-company ideas.

I'm sorry, but if I was an executive of a large vendor in the highly competitive tech sector and I allowed reporters to tour my manufacturing plant without signing an NDA... THAT would be a sink-the-company idea.

You don't give out tours of the factory to give journos the scoop on everything you're working on for the next ten years

That's the NDA process for you

[Helmholtz Coil (581131)]

Having gone through the NDA process a few times, it's been my experience that it's really a negotiation and rarely a "take it or leave it" affair-they wouldn't be talking NDA if they didn't want to talk to you in the first place, so there's usually some flexibility.

What seems to happen is one or both sides offer an initial NDA that's insane (I think just to see what they can get away with, really); then the idea is to try and negotiate towards a sane(r) middle ground. So without knowing any details, the newspaper could have countered with a suggested NDA of their own, and walked away from the table if AMD wouldn't bend. No story for the paper in this case, but AMD also doesn't get the publicity it needs. If it happens enough with other media organizations, AMD ends up having to be a little more flexible if they want any coverage at all.

Apologies to kdawson But...

[florescent_beige (608235)]

Ok, AMD paid for a trip for a bunch of journalists to go to their manufacturing facility and listen to some lame marketing talk and have a look around. Is this the problem? Or is the problem that AMD wanted to stipulate "any confidential information from this visit would need written approval from corporate communications before it could be used"? I quote that from Tech ARP since that seems to be the request that caused them to stamp their little feet.

AMD wants to protect their confidential manufacturing

Reading between the lines

[5pp000 (873881)]

I think the reason this story is interesting is the hint it gives that AMD is having real trouble getting working Barcelona parts in any volume. Looks to me like they set this thing up because they either hoped to have good news, and then didn't, or because they just want to try to distract people from the Barcelona delays. Either way, seems like baaaaaad news.

All I can say is, I hope they pull out of this.

kdawson

[uofitorn (804157)]

Seriously, who is this guy? All he ever does is post stories that link to sketchy blog postings that tend to bash MS and other big corporations. I'll be amazed when I see a story by him that contains some actual substance.

Read the corrected/updated story

[postbigbang (761081)]

see http://www.bangkokpost.com/Database/05Sep2007_data 006.php [bangkokpost.com]

Then note how much non-news this really is. A bunch of local yokels got a bit enamored with themselves.

Nothing to see here. Move along and smear somone else.

So, they protect their confidential information?

[bluefoxlucid (723572)]

AMD is protecting their confidential information... if a journalist has AMD Confidential and Proprietary information, then anything they write about AMD's new, mostly-secret products needs review by AMD to make sure that the vendor didn't spill anything confidential about upcoming products. .... this is a 'scandal'? It's necessary and proper legal protection for their information. This is about as 'scandalous' as the US government clearing folks, letting them access cleared data, and then expecting them to pass any information they release about secret projects through a censor to get checked for the particular secret portions of those projects (TEMPEST shielding ... we use it... but you can't tell them how to make it, cut that part out and you're good to send).

This is either sensationalist or stupid. Looks like it comes from the "information wants to be free" hacker crowd.

So don't sign. Buy one off the shelf and review.

[guidryp (702488)]

If the NDA is insane, don't sign it. This sounds like AMD want to filter all reviews. Certainly some will wait and just review it with no strings.

Sounds like we get the AMD official reviews monday, and the real reviews after you can buy it.

Re:another example

[djmurdoch (306849)]

He refused to sign, AMD relented, and then on Day 2 of the visit he was asked again to sign, and refused. That's what TFA says.

Conclusion?

AMD sucks, the reporter is a hero, and you can't read (or spell).

Re:

[PCM2 (4486)]

AMD sucks, the reporter is a hero, and you can't read (or spell).

Right. The guy accepted a vacation package paid for by AMD, showed up at a fluff PR event in Singapore, then went home without any story at all. What a hero. He better buy a second phone right away, or else the New York Times hiring office might not be able to get through the busy signal.

Re:another example

[NMerriam (15122)]

went home without any story at all.

???? He seems to be the only one who got an interesting story at all. Everyone else just printed a bunch of press releases from AMD. Of the hundred (totally guessing) reporters at this event, he's the only one who will stand out in an editor's mind when it comes time to hire someone.

Re:another example

[JackieBrown (987087)]

You definitely get a plus for reaching -1 insightful

Re:another example

[MindStalker (22827)]

WTF, your rights by the Constitution are restrictions on government, not on private entities. You can sign all your rights away except your life or liberty (slavery for instance).

It is very very common for secrets to be shared with an NDA. And no just because you are a journalist doesn't give you the "right" to share these secrets when you signed an NDA. This journalist decided not to sign, AMD decided not to share its secrets. End of story.

Re:

[fastest fascist (1086001)]

So by your logic, all NDAs are invalid since they restrict a person's right to free speech? Get real here.

Back to school for you!

[ColdWetDog (752185)]

You are also forgetting the NDA is excluding basic human rights organized by the constitution, one of which is the freedom of the press.

Did you sleep all the way through your civics classes? "Freedom of the press" refers to prohibitions by the U.S. Federal government concerning what journalists can publish. Private entities are "free" to restrict how their own confidential information is dispersed.

You really need to get out more often.

Re:

[sabinm (447146)]

I'm going to reply to you and to the ones below you who don't think this is a freedom of speech issue because the federal government isn't doing it.

Just like a person can be sued for wrongful imprisonment, another person can be sued for slander, individuals can sue private entities who infringe on their rights. They may (or may not) be able to make a federal case out of it, but that doesn't mean there aren't protections against these things. Governments (ideally) do two things: protect me from you, and p

Re:

[Planesdragon (210349)]

You are also forgetting the NDA is excluding basic human rights organized by the constitution, one of which is the freedom of the press.

NO.

The bill of rights is limits on what the government can do unilaterally through force of law. Those are your constitutional rights, and you may suspend them as you see fit, especially if it gets you some benefit. (For example, if you've ever gotten a DMV ticket, you probably waived your right to a trial by jury to get it over with faster.)

An NDA is a perfectly acceptable contract -- you agree not to tell, and I agree to tell you something I wouldn't otherwise. You could even argue that the NDA is pa

Re:

[hasbeard (982620)]

Actually, I think they are already in the process of opening their driver specs.

Re:

[JackieBrown (987087)]

That's just talk until they actually do it.

Re:

[JamesRose (1062530)]

No of course not, intel has never done anything as stupid as getting caught.

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[by Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I agree with you. Sure, the NDA requiring someone to have his story double checked is stupid and the reporter was right to refuse to sign it. Sure, AMD is truly dumb for trying to deny it. They should have just come forward. What I don't understand is why the censorship tag? AFAIK, companies are free to keep secrets and share them with anyone agreeing to their term. Calling this a censorship cheapen the word much like the words peace, terrorists, racism and so on have been cheapened.

The big deal in th

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[quanticle (843097)]

The journalist in question did not sign the aforementioned NDA. He was expressing his disappointment in the other journalists who did sign the agreement, either out of ignorance or apathy. He's also broadcasting the fact that the so called "independent media" of blogs and citizen journalists may not be as independent as it seems, thanks to agreements like this.

Re:

[mangastudent (718064)]

He's also broadcasting the fact that the so called "independent media" of blogs and citizen journalists may not be as independent as it seems, thanks to agreements like this.

EXACTLY.

The important point here is how AMD has poisoned the well with this action.

Just how much (larger) a gain of salt will I have to take anything I read about their new stuff? I know much of tech media are barely more than shills for those they write about, but this (the initial NDA he refused to sign) goes quite a bit beyon

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[NMerriam (15122)]

If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

I know lots of folks don't read the stories, but you could at least try to make it NINE WORDS into the summary before responding! The FIRST SENTENCE of the post was not exactly an SAT-level reading comprehension test.

Re:

[TerranFury (726743)]

AMD is stupid enough to think it should be able to get away with this bullshit.

AMD might be able to get away with it in Singapore? I wonder if Singaporean journalists just get used to the censorship that their (benign and efficient, but totally authoritarian) government imposes on them. I mean, after you've been self-censoring for the government for your whole career, what's the big deal if some other power-that-be start making similar demands?

Of course, there are groups -- particularly among journalists, actually -- who want more freedom of speech. But the devil's advocate ins

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[Score Whore (32328)]

First, I don't see anything in the article that shows they have anything new that would allow them to confirm anything. All they've done is repeated the same story that AMD is using a rabid NDA. But let us go ahead and assume that such a thing exists. AMD decided to let this guy (and others) attend the conference, and even went so far as to pay for the trip. When they decide to take a tour of a manufacturing facility they want an NDA that includes:

"any confidential information from this visit would need written approval from corporate communications before it could be used".

While the article goes on to imply that that statement is the equivalent of agreeing to let AMD rape the reporter's baby, I just don't see it. They are bringing these guys into a private building where trade secrets are in use and don't want it all published in some article or blog.

I fail to see the egregiousness here. What's more I don't see how anyone with even half a brain would see anything wrong here. Please explain what exactly AMD is trying to "get away" with?

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[AJWM (19027)]

Reporters sign NDAs all the time, especially in the technology business. That's how they get sneak previews of technology not-yet-released, so that (for example) when it is released the articles will be already written and ready for press.

Maybe the terms of this particular NDA were more restrictive than normal, maybe not. Usually there's a date on which the NDA expires and the info can be released without review (because the company is issuing a press release on that day anyway). But that's typically for upcoming product releases, not visits to R&D labs or the like.

If they don't want a trade secret or confidential material to be reported, don't show it to a bunch of reporters.

Well, they didn't show it to anyone who didn't want to sign the NDA, so what's the big deal? It's up to each individual reporter to decide whether getting that kind of deep background info is worth the restrictions. At least AMD made the offer, giving the choice to the reporters.

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[NMerriam (15122)]

Usually there's a date on which the NDA expires and the info can be released without review

Yes, that's the point -- it's one thing to say "hey', we're going to show you some stuff so that you can do your own research and thinking and be ready to publish whatever you like on July 9th when we release the information to the public".

It's quite another to say "We're going to give you a tour, and by taking the tour you agree to let us review and edit every article you write for the next 5 years that might in some way contain information we could possibly construe as confidential".

The first is essentially a professional courtesy that is advantageous to both sides as well as customers. The latter is just a ridiculous overreach that any journalist (which of course excludes most trade rag writers) would laugh at and reject out of hand.

Re:

[NMerriam (15122)]

Sorry, still doesn't make an sense.

I'm not sure how you think that AMD requiring reporters to submit stories for approval fits into my free press. Is AMD the editor or the publisher?

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

Who gives a shit.

The journalist did and frankly, so do I. Sure, AMD can refuse to show the journalist anything at all but that is still better than reading an article from a seemingly independent journalist who was effectively made a puppet of AMD through an overreaching NDA. An NDA can be okay but this one is excessive since it compromises the journalist's independence.

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[Hatta (162192)]

What? What on earth keeps that "journalist" from starting the article with the words "I signed an NDA, so take what I write with a grain of salt" or whatever?

Maybe there's a clause in the non-disclosure agreement where you agree not to disclose that you signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Re:

[MidnightBrewer (97195)]

They do usually say that, yes. However, if you fail to neglect to say who you signed the NDA with, who's to say you're talking about the same one? "Oh, the one I was talking about was with *another* company. I can't tell you who, though, because I'm bound by an NDA."

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[Gorshkov (932507)]

Did you even read the fucking summary? The journalist refused the NDA. The journalist reported that AMD uses abusive NDAs. AMD denies the journalist's claim. Proof of the claim is found.

Did you even read the fscking story? The NDA said any materials used in marketing had to be cleared first. There is absolutly NOTHING in there about attempting to censor news stories, opinion pieces, or anything else.

How the bloody hell is a story about a company wanting to control the marketing of it's own products news?

Re:If the journalist was stupid enough to sign it.

[Danse (1026)]

Did you even read the fscking story? The NDA said any materials used in marketing had to be cleared first. There is absolutly NOTHING in there about attempting to censor news stories, opinion pieces, or anything else.

Are you illiterate or what? This is a quote from the story (emphasis mine):

First off, the non-disclosure agreement covered everything confidential said or written over the next two years on the product, and had a duration of five years, during which anything published or used in marketing would have to receive written approval from AMD before it could be used. Worse, at the end of the five years, all copies of the information made would have to be returned to the chipmaker.

Notice the difference between that and what you said? So the journalist would have to get approval from AMD before he publishes any story about anything that AMD considers confidential. What that covers is unclear, but could easily be construed to mean anything at all about the factory tour, and AMD is the one that makes the determination.

Re:

[by Anonymous Coward]

'or' is just a way to factor a sentence much like you would factor an equation. 'publish or used in marketing' can be split into two ideas, 'published in marketing' and 'used in marketing'. 'published in marketing' makes no sense while 'used in marketing' does and additionally implies additional actions beyond publishing.

Because 'publish in marketing' does not make sense, 'used' must be bound to 'in marketing' and the meaning of the phrase becomes 'publish' OR 'used in marketing'.

Re:

[quanticle (843097)]

I think AMD is getting desparate. Intel's Core and Core 2 line of chips have both been better performers than the equivalent AMD parts, and AMD doesn't want to be relegated to its old position of having to compete on price. I think this was AMD's attempt to generate some positive "buzz" around the company to create interest for current and potential shareholders. Something of a "Guys, we really are doing work and not screwing around with your money," sort of thing.