[bluejekyll]

California protects these rights by default. And no company can take them away from you. (I'm not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of all current law).

That being said, it does not mean that you are free to earn money outside your employer, but they don't own your brain.

Make sure you can prove that your work never comes from work machines, etc. This includes not using company internet connections as well.

[btilly]

California protects those rights by default to the extent that they do not infringe on anything that your employer is working on. Not knowing that your employer was working on it does not protect you.

The bigger your employer, the less of a protection California's default is.

[obstinate]

Right, so for example, if you work in one of the big places that has their finger in almost every pie, it's tough. What could you work on that's not conceptually related to something Microsoft or Google are doing? You couldn't even make video games.