Some fantastic answers above. There are many positives, as already mentioned, for the company to keep it open and out there. And that's the best way for you to approach the issue with them. I'll mention one of the negatives in case those involved end up reading this thread: this sort of nonsense from a company hurts its reputation among developers and can even spark boycotts. For myself, for example, if you come back and report you were forced to take the stuff down, I'd spend the time to look up that company and make sure I publicize the fact that it's not the kind of place a developer who had a choice would want to work. The ill will of your work pool is a much larger loss than sharing some code with the competition.
