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In EULA-like situations where you "can't" negotiate the contract, it's not clear to me whether reading it is a good move, game-theoretically.

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Yeah, exactly this. I read my first contract ever really closely, saw it had a bunch of potentially onerous terms, then signed it anyway because I had no negotiating leverage and it effectively quadrupled my income.

What I've heard from a lot of WA devs is "yeah, if it looks like it's going to be a problem, I'll just move to California." It's nice that option exists, but it's kind of silly that "defensive relocation" is something people even have to consider.

"yeah, if it looks like it's going to be a problem, I'll just move to California."

I don't think this works. You'll still get sued in Washington.

How does that work if you sign a non-compete for a job in california with a company registered in delaware?

Yeah, no, not at all. Or actually, it's not that simple. Many non-competes are specific to a region in the hopes of making them less likely to be ruled overly broad. Furthermore, if you work and live in California, the WA court can be found not to have standing, and the company can't bring suit in California because pretty much all non-completes are considered void there.

I still think it is nice to know what you have agreed to. But I hear you.

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