Without addressing the tinfoilery... ummm... have you ever actually looked at the size of government contracts in the US? They're usually the largest customer

Without addressing the tinfoilery... ummm... have you ever actually looked at the size of government contracts in the US? They're usually the largest customer any Fortune 500 company has, so large that losing them as a customer would destroy the company. There are a handful of exceptions, but for most companies, they are very much not going to bite the hand that feeds them. If daddy asks for access, daddy gets access. That's one of the reasons I support making ISPs a municipal public utility. Municipal governments will tell the government to pound sand if they don't have a court order with a judges seal. Any private company in the US will only open the door for them and ask if they've had a chance to review their bid on the latest government contract.