The reason the big companies didn't mount much of a fight is because they benefit from the surveillance state. Facebook and Google hoover more private data out

The reason the big companies didn't mount much of a fight is because they benefit from the surveillance state. Facebook and Google hoover more private data out of my life than the NSA ever will. They may have less sinister motives (I don't think Amazon intends to kill anyone with their drones,) but whipping up public ire about on-line surveillance will blow back on them. So they go the Captain Renard route ("I'm shocked, shocked to see mass surveillance going on here!"): they put up token resistance, but they don't want to be too effective.