If you want some advice, but you're concerned about revealing your idea...

Maybe you've got a great idea for a game, or even a great game in development, and you need some advice about how to bring it to market. But you're afraid that if you reveal it to me, I could steal your materials and use them to make the fortune that is rightfully yours.

You don't need to worry. People discuss confidential material in the game industry all the time, and their intellectual property rights are still protected. There's a legal mechanism to make sure you don't give away your rights when you discuss your game with other people. It's called a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.

An NDA is a short, simple contract in which someone else (me!) promises not to reveal your idea to anyone in exchange for getting a chance to look at it. You don't have to pay me anything for a non-disclosure agreement; the privilege of hearing about your idea is payment enough. It's perfectly legal and completely binding. Professionals in the game industry use them all the time.

I'll be happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we get started.

Just let me know in advance that you want me to sign an NDA, and I'll send one out to you by E-mail, fax, or the post office, whichever you prefer.

[Up] to Consulting.