> You see, the “server test” comes from the 9th Circuit, and is binding law in California, where most of the tech companies are. This is a misunderstanding tha

> You see, the “server test” comes from the 9th Circuit, and is binding law in California, where most of the tech companies are. This is a misunderstanding that has to stop: judicial opinions are not law! Judicial opinions represent a judge's interpretation of the law, and courts take such precedents into account, but precedent can be and is overturned. There are all manner of precedents that are clearly, absolutely wrong, and which have never happened to be reconsidered by another court in a similar case --- but that's no reason to allow yourself to be bound by them in your life. To change what is or is not legal, legislatures have to change laws. The same, but less so, applies to mandates and orders issued by executive officials or agencies, at whatever level; they may be supported by law, but they are not themselves law, and since often the people making and enforcing those mandates and orders are not elected representatives, they do not have the authority that popular representation gives to actual laws.