You are correct that U.S. policy is in some ways broken, but incorrect in assuming that warrant canaries serve no purpose or firms can be compelled to lie. The

You are correct that U.S. policy is in some ways broken, but incorrect in assuming that warrant canaries serve no purpose or firms can be compelled to lie. The far better arguments are that such an order would be unconstitutional -- look at the NSL 1A litigation for a good parallel. That's why CanaryWatch.org is run by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, NYU's Technology Law & Policy Clinic, and the Calyx Institute. I moderated an event at HOPE X last year with Nick from Calyx (and Ladar from LavaBit) and they have spent quite a bit of time thinking through this.