If Yahoo continued to resist, I'm sure the government would just gradually increase the amount until they had no choice but to comply. These kinds of fines are

If Yahoo continued to resist, I'm sure the government would just gradually increase the amount until they had no choice but to comply. These kinds of fines are usually issued for contempt of court. Judges don't take kindly to parties that try to ignore a court order, which would include writing off a court imposed fine as a cost of business. There's few things more terrifying than an angry judge with full power of contempt. There's no principle of proportionality, which gives judges almost unlimited authority. See Chadwick v Janecka (3rd Cir. 2002) as an example.