> In a way legislation, taxation, treaties, open standards are somewhat like it. When those change it affects everyone That's the key: it affects everyone. In

> In a way legislation, taxation, treaties, open standards are somewhat like it. When those change it affects everyone That's the key: it affects everyone. In constitutional law there's this concept called a bill of attainder, which is a law directed toward a specific person instead of an action. Many constitutions, including that of the US, forbid them. I think any solution to these problems will be as much legislative/regulatory as technical - GDPR is an early model for this - but it has to be about the behavior. Otherwise it's just politicians playing favorites. I've seen some of the replies mention precedent as though it's a good thing, but we hardly need another precedent for the government picking winners and losers.