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Originally Posted by ryanknapper
I am not a lawyer, but I am an American, so I have an opinion:
Does an unsigned contract count as a confidential document? Podshow gave that contract to someone, so it was their property, unless they signed it or another document stating that future communication would be held confidential.
If the recipient of the contract never signed a confidentiality agreement, they are free to pass it along to anyone they wish.
Side note: I remember when I received my first Microsoft certification in the late 90's. On the envelope it said that by opening the envelope I agreed to the terms and conditions inside. I seriously doubt that would hold up in court, but it certainly does open up some interesting avenues of thought.
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No matter who posesses the contract at the time, it is still intellectual property of the lawyers who drew it and the subject who commissions the lawyers to draw the contract. When they send the contract to a potential candidate, it is still the intellectual property of Podshow and its lawyers. Even if the candidate does not sign a confidentiality agreement, he/she (for sake of not fucking slashing any he/shes for the rest of this post, I'm calling it a male candidate) can be held accountable or liable for any damages resulting from him publishing/reproducing/broadcasting of said contract.
When he sends the contract to Keith for perusal, the contract still remains the intellectual property of Podshow. Keith has the option to either return the contract to Podshow and not use it, or use it for his own sick, great purpose. Being the dick we all know and love, he uses it and reads it verbatim on air.
By broadcasting the Podshow contract, Keith could very well have caused damages against Podshow. This contract could have been meant for some pissant who gets 100 listeners and has no real Podshow value. By reading this contract, and allowing the insinuation that this is the only Podshow contract, Keith's actions could be construed as slander against the Podshow company. By reading and in essence publishing the intellectual property of another entity, Keith could have had some legal action taken against him.
REMEMBER, I said "could have". ANYONE CAN sue ANYONE for ANYTHING! Podshow isn't stupid enough to sue Keith for this, because of my aforementioned Rule #1 of Litigation: Don't sue poor people.
ALSO REMEMBER: I'm not taking fucking Podshow's side. I'm just pointing out what might have been. If a girl can sue Myspace for getting herself raped, Podshow could have done MUCH worse to KATG then they did. All they did was laugh at it, which was probably the best move they could ever have done. You can't ignore it, and if you sue, you end up wasting your money suing poor people.
As for your Microsoft thing, it's common. However, many times, if you get that, you can probably find the agreement also online so as not to be caught with your pants down.