The U.S. Government in the guise of the NSA believed that they were beyond reproach for their spying on innocent citizens all over the world. Everyone expects governments to spy on their enemies and perhaps on the government of even their allies. Spying on random citizens, domestic and foreign, is beyond the pale and everyone but the NSA and its apologists know this.
It turns out that there is a price to be paid. The European Union is expressing its disapproval in a dramatic and unmistakable fashion. They are threatening to suspend TTIP negotiations, something dear to the those lobbying—and donating to—the government for stronger copyright protections.
They are also calling for an end to the safe harbor provisions of data transferred to U.S. corporations and the termination of the SWIFT program that helps track bank transactions. In addition, the EU is calling for an EU only Internet structure to help keep the NSA out.
The NSA, of course, cares about none of this. They’ll just keep on doing what they’re doing. But the tech community in the U.S. is already feeling the blowback from these programs and will be sure to make their displeasure known to the government. The government can and will ignore this in the short term, but at the end of the day there’s too much money and influence from the business community to ignore. When that day comes, I hope those who believe in their impunity are called to answer for their actions.