First of all, even if it weren't illegal, it would still be extremely sleazy. Second, many people who do objectively illegal things (a) are subtle enough about

First of all, even if it weren't illegal, it would still be extremely sleazy. Second, many people who do objectively illegal things (a) are subtle enough about it to leave doubt and (b) rarely will be caught on the totality of evidence that would convict them. If they leave enough of a trail to prove them guilty on the small things they don't care much about, what are they up to that's hidden from view? Let's take extortion. Real-world extortionists don't say, "give me money or I'll shoot up your storefront." Making it that obvious will put them in jail. Accidents and annoyances occur, with escalation over time. Rumors are spread, often by the extortionist, that the extortionist is taking interest in the business and will demand payment. Someone goes in, hits his head on the side of the door and demands recompense. Or the extorted party is asked to purchase "protection" services. White-collar extortion tends to focus on reputation rather than physical violence, and the services are dressed as some kind of consulting, but it's a similar game. It's hard to convict because most criminals can stay just on the right side of the line, at least in terms of where they leave a record. Is this a price-fixing cartel? No, not quite (at least, not from what we know). However, if people are being instructed to follow no-poach agreements and terminated when they break them, it's quite likely that these networks of collusion are being used for worse things, like blacklisting. A no-poach agreement denies career opportunities to people who would otherwise have them. without their knowing why the opportunities are not there or even that it is occurring. That's a big deal. It makes it not unlikely that these companies are also blacklisting, say, people who might support collective bargaining for engineers or who otherwise fight for themselves. Shit, I might be on a PITA list somewhere. Those sorts of probably illegal collusive arrangements exist all over the Valley, especially among venture capitalists who compare notes on prospects instead of competing on a fair market. Indeed, most of what VCs do would be highly illegal (insider trading, market manipulation, pump-and-dump, use of negative rumor to punish and intimidate) if it pertained to publicly traded stock rather than private equity. This is a major issue. Even if not illegal, it's still sleazy and shameful.