- NDAs for specific purposes covering specific activities/material are a necessary safety belt for any business deal in which sensitive information could be disclosed.

- NDAs for employees who regularly come into contact with sensitive information, and limited to such sensitive information, are a necessary defence against industrial espionage and other such dirty dealings.

- NDAs blanket-applied to entire workforces and drafted so as to cover practically anything that employees might come into contact with are a god-damned human rights violation, often foisted on employees after they have signed their contracts of employment and separate to their employment contracts. The same goes for the non-compete agreements that employees are asked to sign along with them, the main purpose of which seems to be to restrict the employees freedom of action in seeking employment with other firms in the same line of business. China is correct in giving such contracts short-shrift.

Punchy and juicy (not Punch and Judy). This is why I come to CLB. Ideal length for any post, Dan.

In all of my years doing what i do, I have never heard a good enough reason to sign non disclosure agreements. When an entrepreneur asks me to sign an NDA, my first question to them - and I mean right away - is why?

I am often told for 'protection' but the truth is they do not protect all that much.

Here is what needs to be understood: except for a very few rare companies, asking to sign an NDA means you have something to hide and that it must be hidden no matter what. The fear is, of course, that someone will steal one's project.

If you give me a business plan and ask me to sign an NDA, what I basically interpret is that you are afraid that I will steal your idea and make millions off of it and so on.

However, if I can really 'steal' your plan and build a business off of that plan than what you are telling me is that you have a very, very weak business. Who would want to invest in a company if I could simply take away your 20 or 40 page document and start making money?

A real business is not only the business plan, but much, much more.

However - and to be fair to those who want people to sign NDAs - if you came to me or if I approached you with a business idea, I would most likely ask you to sign an NDA prior to releasing any real information.

So I guess I am not consistent (: