shady programmers

I apologize in advance if this sounds paranoid or greedy, but that's not my intent ... my system is nothing extraordinary or revolutionary, but it wins more than it loses so I'm happy with it ... if it were converted to an EA it would mean many fewer hours sitting in front of my computer, and it would be easier to monitor more currency pairs ... but if I give it to a programmer, what's to prevent him from turning around and marketing it as the next $97 wonder robot? ... I'd gladly pay a fee for his services, but I think I should be able to own the rights to the final product ...

Make sure you work that out before giving the system

Any idea how??

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http://www.myfxbook.com/members/pc8multifx

that's my question ... how do I "work it out" ... are there legal options ... copyright, maybe ... or non-disclosure agreement ... what should I do, and how well am I protected?

Note: I am not a lawyer, I have no formal legal training. Please confirm everything with your lawyer regarding this matter.


There are contracts that can be put together (NDA, non-compete, partnership style agreement, etc). The main thing about this contract is that you need to enforce it. If you find the programmer in breach of the contract, you have to go after him yourself. The government won't police it for you.

Contracts also need these four things:

 

1. A meeting of the minds between the parties demonstrating they both understand and agree to the essentials of the deal
2. Consideration (something of value exchanged by each of the parties, such as cash, goods or a promise to do something)
3. An agreement to enter into the contract (typically evidenced by both parties signing a written contract, although oral contracts can be valid too in some situations)
4. The legal competence of each party, meaning the parties are not minors and are of sound mind.

Hey my friend this is Internet, every thinks end downloaded, shared, resselled. at less you become a programmer yourself, start coding in C++ and sockets !

goooood luck

Most people who think they had a good system not yet tested with various market condition...by putting it into EA, then u can see whether the system can works over time or at certain market condition how it behave. And what filter might necessary to improve it.

You need some element of trust to the programmers if you cannot code for yourself.

And if you so worry, request only the core system with the actuall setting is only guided by you! Just request the programmers with dummy setting and you can set it in the setting option(only you know).

I have coded for few people who think their system is profitable but not really as what they expect. Good thing is they dont get stuck their many hours to determine the system really workable or not.

If you would like to test whether your idea work 24/7 market condition, I can code for you.
Prerequisite, you need to trust that i just coded your system and no intention to sell it. And I do charge very minimum token USD50 for the time spend.

interested, P.M me.

Oh, this was exactly my thoughts !!! how to prevent a shady programmer from marketing your product ...

I do have a nice set of custom indicators that works really good and would love to have it converted to an EA. The coder can ofcourse keep it & use it for free, but I definitely wouldn't want him to sell it commercially.

-Gc

Interesting, you do have the holy grail !

So tell me what happen if this system already exist over here in the forum and distributed for free. The programmer will argue you that the system was already existing on the net....

Look, just learn to code yourself, than ask for free help to ajust your logic !

All you need is a non-disclosure agreement. If the programmer violates the terms or tries to sell the design, you can sue. Just be sure to spell out margins of similarity so "derivative works" are also excluded.

He's the best

There are two types of answers: theoretical and practical.

Theoretically, there are things like non-disclosures and confidentiality agreements, and their enforceability. But for these to have any meaning, you need to put in time, money and effort. A lot, in fact. Is it worthwhile going to that all that trouble when you don't know if your EA is going to make any money in the first place?

Practically, there are no EAs that when released into live trading will automagically start and continue to make money forever and a day. It needs input on an on-going basis from a human being that designed the EA in the first place. A purchased EA will not get that unless it comes with a on-going support agreement. The programmer may manage to sell a few copies here and there if they choose to do that, but without support it is unlikely to turn into a best seller. Whether you want to spend your time worrying about this, or you want to focus on your trading activities, the decision is up to you.

There were some good ideas presented here. Cheers!

Just learn to code mq4 if you're worried about your ideas being stolen and sold.

It's really not rocket science. Anyone with enough drive can learn how to code mq4. If you really have a winning system, that should be more than enough drive to make one learn to code.