I think the reference was to when the telcos were granted retroactive immunity for violating the pre-existing laws governing the handover of data between 2001-2

I think the reference was to when the telcos were granted retroactive immunity for violating the pre-existing laws governing the handover of data between 2001-2007. https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL34600.pdf https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RL34600.pdf The point here is that we do have statutory and constitutional procedures that are supposed to prevent abuses of this process. If when you break those rules, you just get a "get out of jail free" card, your incentive as a company to challenge illegal requests really does diminish profoundly. If you say no to an illegal request, you get into trouble. If you say yes, precedent suggests the government will bail you out.