Open Source Taint?

[Ben Woosley]

Hey Folks,

I've recently been offered employment by a large software company, and 
in discussing the terms of my employee agreement, it's come up that 
browsing the source of open source projects, particularly those under 
the GPL, should be avoided because it may "taint" the software I later 
produce.  That is, someone could claim I'm violating the derivative 
works stipulation of the GPL.

I'm a bit puzzled by this, as I'd previously considered it analogous to 
an author reading books or a filmmaker watching movies.  As open-source 
licenses simply represent conditional re-assignment of copyright rights, 
I can't see any clear differences between the three acts.  Nothing in 
the GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html) strikes me as opposing 
this view.

I'll be speaking more with the company's lawyers on this over the next 
few days, but I was hoping someone who might have legal knowledge of 
open source could help elucidate my view on this matter.

Regards,
Ben Woosley
http://ben.woosley.name/