| a. | Noncompetition:In consideration of the covenants and agreements of the Company herein contained, the positions of trust and confidence you occupy and have occupied with the Company and/or its affiliates and the information of a highly sensitive and confidential nature obtained as a result of such positions, you agree that, from the date of your Termination of Employment for any reason, including a Termination of Employment initiated by the Company with or without Cause, and for, as determined by the Company in its sole discretion, twelve (12) or eighteen (18) months thereafter (such12- or18-month period, as determined by the Company in its sole discretion, the “Noncompetition Period”), you will not, directly or indirectly, either as an employee, employer, consultant, agent, principal, partner, stockholder, corporate officer or director of an entity, or in any other individual or representative capacity, worldwide, engage in any business that is competitive with the business of the Company or any of its affiliates. You may, however, own stock or the rights to own stock in a company engaged in the business described in the immediately preceding sentence that is publicly owned and regularly traded on any national exchange or in theover-the-counter market, so long as the combined value of your holdings of stock and rights to own stock of such company do not exceed the lesser of (i) 1% of the capital stock entitled to vote in the election of directors (or similar applicable governing body), or (ii) yourW-2 wages from the Company and its affiliates for the most recently completed calendar year. |