Comment by tombert

If you work for a BigCo, you're generally not allowed to do a "side thing", or at least they claim ownership and reserve the right to sue you over it if you are caught doing it. I know this isn't the case for every state, but it's still the case in NY; it's one of the (many) reasons I left Apple actually.

I don't think my current gig is so bad about that, but ironically I feel less of a compulsion to leave my current gig and start my own thing because I actually like this job.