Silicon Valley has worked fine without noncompetes. (Actually, the California economy as a whole has done fine without them, to the extent that it is one of the

Silicon Valley has worked fine without noncompetes. (Actually, the California economy as a whole has done fine without them, to the extent that it is one of the largest in the world.) People leaving to play for other teams has led to beneficial competition and innovation, starting from the very beginning with Fairchild spawning AMD, Intel, and a ton of other companies. You don't buy people and you don't own their skills. You pay them enough to stay, or you let them leave. Stealing trade secrets is already illegal and that isn't going to change.