[chrismeller]

Personally, I see it as the opposite side of the same argument people use about drugs - that simply banning things doesn't work, motivated people will find another way to obtain them. There is no one more motivated and persistent than the US Government... Even if all the US tech firms join together and refuse to sell to them, the US is not the only country on Earth with tech companies making innovations in this area.

So in that sense, yes, they'll keep looking and someone else absolutely will. As someone pointed out below, the real solution is to have them lobby the US Government to give up their pursuit, anything else is just a delaying tactic.

[nostrebored]

People who don't think that the NSA already has technology that even casinos use have their heads in the sand.

[chrismeller]

I also firmly believe that is true and we’re making a big deal out of absolutely nothing with these kinds of open letters.

[abc-xyz]

Even if all you gained was a delay, which I certainly don't believe is true[1], then it would still be a big win.

[1] their tech would most likely be much inferior, and when the likes of Google/Amazon/Facebook/etc. have to choose between getting kicked out of countries or providing their tech to authoritarian governments, then they usually pick the latter.. because profits is more important than the imprisonment and death of millions.