I'm astonished that I came to this thread and the top comment was a lengthy defense of Google. This behavior is absolutely unacceptable. "Standard industry prac

I'm astonished that I came to this thread and the top comment was a lengthy defense of Google. This behavior is absolutely unacceptable. "Standard industry practice" my ass. This is literally the "if your friends all jumped off of a bridge" argument. It's not okay for Google, and it's not okay for everyone else. Many wrongs don't make a right. I shouldn't need your permission to be creative on my own time. Employees do not exist to give their lives in service of your giant capitalist machine. Employers have zero claim to any IP generated in the employee's own time using the employee's own resources - end of story.