in reply to Professional Employees and Works for Hire
As of today here is the status. This came up from an incidental issue about a month ago. I have been told that if I wish to continue being employed, I cannot post code. If I continue being employed, then I will be admonished for the code I have released so far. If I leave my employment then the decision about what happens with any and all of the code of mine that people here have seen is not mine.
Can you find somebody high enough on the hierarchy level that he is allowed to do some independent thinking on his own, and try to negotiate things? Try to change your contract so you are allowed to work on open source projects, provided it is not against company interests. You might need some legal counsel here. From what I saw from you on Perlmonks, people higher up on the hierarchy ladder will not want to lose you. You may have more leverage in a negotiation situation than you currently realize. I also think it should be rather easy to argue for the fact that visiting and posting on Perlmonks is a great way to enhance your skills (making the point that you don't just waste your time there). Then it mainly comes to the point that you don't post code if that act will be against the company's interest.
Christian Lemburg
Brainbench MVP for Perl
http://www.brainbench.com