[dredmorbius]

To be fair: they have no choice in whether or not to participate.

Whether or not they're participating willingly or not is another question.

Breaking the model under which they operate is the only real way to ensure that

Maciej Cegłowski's "The Internet With a Human Face" is one of the best examinations of what's wrong, and how to fix it, I've read (though Bruce Schneier and Eben Moglen also do a good job).

http://idlewords.com/bt14.htm

[gurkendoktor]

> To be fair: they have no choice in whether or not to participate.

That depends on whether there is another country that they could move their companies to, but which does not have similar laws in place :)

[dredmorbius]

Inside the US, data services firms are governed by NSLs and the FISA court, offering impunity by way of legislated immunity and sanction.

Outside the US, they're subject to flat out illegal hacking, offering impunity by virtue of remote access and state-actor status. Though parties whose confidence is violated in that case aren't gagged from reporting this.

[aeturnum]

Where do we draw the line? It's clearly not willingly if they have a gun to your head. Would you move away from your friends and family for work? If your company announced they were moving out of the country, would you consider your decision to follow our not to be under duress?

These companies could have done more, but I think your standard for coercion is a bit high.

[auxbuss]

You can move a company without physically moving yourself. This is not a barrier.