When does freelancing become illegal?

[Timothy Sam]

Hi, I was aquainted with a company a few days ago... I'm about to start tomorrow. My job is software developer trainee and my specialisation would be java... Before I got the job, I was a freelance web developer/designer. My company uses PHP, Java(probably J2Ee), ASP.Net and VB.Net and a vast variety of other languages. What we do... export data? So is freelancing for web design and programming gonna affect my career? I seek for advice... Many thanks!

[Henry Wong]

Are you going to be "exporting" confidential or other government secrets?...

Seriously, for programming purposes, the area of concern is encryption. Many countries, the US being formerly one of them, have some really stupid laws about the export of encryption codes.

It is not a problem to use encryption in your codes, but I would be careful remote logging into a system in another country to install a super strong encryption library -- check to make sure it is legal to upload the library.

Henry

[Mark Herschberg]

I'm very lost. What is being exported and what does that have to do with your job? I got the impression you were asking if it was legal to do freelance work on the side while you had a day job. If this is a company in the US, then it depends on your specific contract. It's never illegal (well, maybe if you're employed by the government), but it may violate your contract with your employer.

--Mark

[Timothy Sam]

Mark Herschberg

Yes you got my point. I want to do freelance work other than my present job. My company is a U.S. based company. I'm still waiting for my company manual so I could decide wether to pursue my sideline. It's not reallt about the money though... I just want to explore other things and not get stuck on what I do for work. Both of you guys, thanks for the inputs.

[Theodore Casser]

It sounds like the issue is really one of company policy, so it's best if you wait for the manual from your firm.

I know as far as my workplace goes, I'm not allowed in theory to do any freelancing without permission of my employer, especially if it's potentially conflicting with our main line of business. In practice, as long as it doesn't interfere with my job and doesn't detract from business opportunities or cause other problems, they let it slide. (A good example is that I've been working a bit of software I wrote for my wedding into a workable product. I might start charging for use of it, but my company's pretty understanding about my doing things with regards to it, so long as it's not during workhours and doesn't keep me from working 100% when I'm at the office.)

But you should check to see what the specifics are when it comes to your employer or you may find yourself out of a job. And that would be a Bad Thing.