On Thu, Mar 31, 2022 at 9:05 AM Paul Timmins <paul@telcodata.us> wrote:
On 3/31/22 11:38, Laura Smith via NANOG wrote:
> However, perhaps someone would care to elaborate (either on or off-list) what the deal is with the requirement to sign NDAs with Cogent before they'll discuss things like why they still charge for BGP, or indeed any other technical or pricing matters. Seems weird ?!?

Same reason your employer doesn't want employees telling each other
their salary. Not every similarly situated customer pays the same for
the same service.


Having fought that issue[0], I'd like to point out that employees voluntarily 
sharing salary data is federally protected speech in the US, and cannot 
be waived through an employment contract:

https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages#:~:text=Under%20the%20National%20Labor%20Relations,for%20mutual%20aid%20or%20protection.

"Under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA or the Act), employees have the right to communicate with other employees at their workplace about their wages.  Wages are a vital term and condition of employment, and discussions of wages are often preliminary to organizing or other actions for mutual aid or protection. "
..."policies that specifically prohibit the discussion of wages are unlawful."

I understand the parallelism you were aiming for, but 
given how many people labour under the mistaken 
notion that US companies can forbid you from talking 
about your compensation, I felt it prudent to point out 
that's actually not a terribly good comparison.   ^_^;

Thanks!

Matt


[0] https://www.quora.com/My-coworker-asked-about-my-salary-how-should-I-respond/answer/Matthew-Petach