Google IARC is _not_ enlightened. The only way in which Google is enlightened is they have perfected the art of PR and selling employees that pro-employer polic

Google IARC is _not_ enlightened. The only way in which Google is enlightened is they have perfected the art of PR and selling employees that pro-employer policies are really pro-employee policies. If you are in California, which is where the majority of Google employees live and where Google has their HQ, if you work on something outside of work hours and without work equipment or resources, then you own it, full stop. That's California law. Google lawyercats will show up and say "well unless it's related to what Google does, and Google does everything', which is an incredibly flimsy argument with zero legal precedent that only a lawyer on Google payroll would accept. A company can't in good faith say "we work on literally everything therefore the law doesn't apply to us." IARC is a trap. If you just didn't say a word to Google and worked on something off hours, you own it. With IARC, now you've created a paper trail and a chance for Google to say we discussed it and we clearly said the employee could not work on this, so now if it does go to court you've just massively complicated your life, all to accomplish something that the state law guaranteed you in the first place! There's literally zero upside to IARC. I've unfortunately witnessed the head of OSS approvals at Google, mislead people on this issue and go as far as to vaguely threaten that employees who continue to debate the topic on internal company mailing lists will be terminated. Google IARC is a scam and it should not be held up as a gold standard. CA Labor Code Section 2780 is the gold standard.