I can see your point. Even without written agreements there are unspoken agreements amongst friends in this regard. For example, if I own a small business, and so does one of my friends, it goes without saying that him poaching my team would feel like a stab in the back.

What I find interesting in this whole story is the value that these executives put on the teams they have built. Of all of the things that Steve Jobs could be worried about as the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world, he's spending his time stressing about losing a few engineers to Google? As an engineer this makes me happy, but I still find it a bit surprising.

These executives knew an agreement like this would have to be delegated to a vast number of people. To me this means they didn't think it was a big deal. I say that because if they were doing something they viewed as extremely illegal they would have been concerned that someone in the delegation path would blow the whistle. Seems to be a crisis of perspective at that top.

Indeed, I am even more confused about this now that there's email evidence. The agreement is about active recruiting not blowing off applicants.