My bet is the government told him to modify his codebase to capture passwords at the point where they're in cleartext and gave him x days to do it. He didn't re

My bet is the government told him to modify his codebase to capture passwords at the point where they're in cleartext and gave him x days to do it. He didn't refuse to do it, but closed up shop instead so he didn't have to. I doubt the government can compel him to continue running a business he wants to close down. It'd be like having a broken taillight and being given 15 days to fix it. If the person took the car off the road, they'd not be compelled to make the repair. Perhaps they can demand he continue to do business (although it seems like a pretty tenuous request), or perhaps they can blackmail him with threats of criminal prosecution lest he keep his show on the road. Who knows?