Would you want to be the one who makes that stand against them? You can be guaranteed that you are from that day onwards a marked man. Everything you do, everywhere you go, and every person you talk to will be monitored. They will look for the tiniest chin in your armour, and once shown they will hang you out to dry. This explains why companies like Google and Yahoo had little choice but to comply. It might also explain why Obama so drastically changed hs beliefs.

If Google et al are facing major potential economic loss due to a widespread lack of confidence in the security of their data, they had better come up with a plan to combat that loss.