Google CEO stands by Apple CEO in urgency over privacy. The path begins to diverge from dystopian?

No.

Their stand is noble and "good" but I think those are still secondary to the fact that this position is essentially self-serving; I don't blame them for it either. Google, Apple, et. all are international businesses and the US government and its spy systems are currently extremely unpopular on a global scale. They would be stupid to publicly say, "Yes! We will help!" even if they actually want to, which of course I suspect they don't really.

Most realistic outcome: These companies make a secret deal behind closed doors where both parties can get more or less what they want while saving face publicly.

Most foolish outcome: Tech companies go full "liberty" and the hammer comes down. IMHO many if not most of people in technology are extremely naive about government power and history in general. I know Google and Apple are extremely influential companies but the nature of state power is another thing. There's no reason to expect that the people at the top of these companies are "wise" in that regard; they could actually overstep their bounds and be reminded of that abstract concept called "The Sovereignty of The State." The US government actually needs the cooperation of tech companies more than ever as it is facing a lot of challenges as it were. Whether or not those companies should help is of course another matter, but to think the government will just say, "Oh OK. Nevermind then." is complete utter fantasy. Remember that Silicon Valley and much of the tech even preceding it was deeply intertwined with the State's interests. I know that angers a lot of people, but again, this is the nature of the State. It is sovereign by definition. This is why in principle the NSA hacking the hell out of these companies and their devices was "no big deal" except to those who are ignorant or have simple one-dimensional views of US history, law, and spycraft. I'm not saying you have like any of this; I'm just telling you what we're in.

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