If it was legally released under an open source license, someone can and should grab it before he deletes it, put it somewhere else, and people other than him can certainly legally keep using it or working on it, right?
I guess the employer could try cease-and-desisting others and claiming it is their IP and the open source license was not legal.
Yes. At least in my country. That's why I forked the repo and perhaps see if it is useful maybe I'll even commit something.
I think they will have a hard time tracking down me and then fight a legal battle overseas. If they were to send me a C&D letter I would simply not comply, answer or do anything. First they have to find my address though.
A lot of people already has forked it, the code is available in a ta, maybe even in the history. Because of the seemingly bad communication now it will never go down.
I guess the employer could try cease-and-desisting others and claiming it is their IP and the open source license was not legal.