You know, you're totally correct that they're well within their right to do... something. But why? What damages could they collect? It would take far less cash to rewrite the library I made from scratch than it would to pay lawyers to write some scary letters. There's no trade secrets. It's not even a novel idea. It would be terribly expensive and embarrassing for either Box or Uber to try to juice this even if they were motivated to. Hell, I'm technically still an active contributor to one of the OSS projects Box uses and maintains—absolutely treacherous ignorance that doesn't make me lose a second of sleep.

It’s not really about trying to figure out why they would do it. Think about pointing a loaded gun at your face. No one else is around and your hands are nowhere near the trigger. Would it be a good idea to do it? Most people would say no, because _why risk it_?

You had no good reason to tell us the origin of this other code, and could just as well have told us you threw it together a while back for shits and giggles. Or said nothing about it at all! But by writing out precisely why (in a very legally damning way) on your website, you’ve completely exposed yourself to litigation. You’re pointing the proverbial loaded gun at your face. And as far as consequences go, facing down a vindictive or irrational former employer in court is pretty close to that metaphor.