I once signed on as a contract engineer (mechanical, not software) for a Fortune 100 company. My contract was actually with a contract agency that this company normally uses. I had negotiated the details of the job with my manager and then met with the onsite manager of the contract agency to deal with the paperwork. The lady got bent when I actually took about 45min to read every single line of the contract. She got even more huffy when I signed it but crossed out and initialed about 3 lines of the contract and handed it back. She claimed that I could not do that. I told her to talk to my manager and run it by legal (I knew they really needed my skill set) and get them to initial the crossouts and mail me a copy. The lines that I crossed out legally claimed anything I might invent, create or produce at work or off-hours for the terms of my employment. So if I invented the proverbial better mouse trap on my own time this Fortune 100 company would have moved up a few notches and I would get my salary. Legal signed off on my edits and I went to work. So the moral of the story is don't be intimidated into signing something you don't understand and don't be afraid to seek changes to the contract if it is not acceptible.