Re: "Who cares?"
An increasing proportion of the populace.
While it's true that consumers are largely clueless (and worse, apathetic), as I've pointed out before elsewhere it's also the case that as a regime becomes more oppressive, its populace is forced to react. There's a wealth of historical data that demonstrates this very clearly.
Once ordinary people in former allied nations understand that the US is essentially a hostile combatant, and they actually begin to feel the heat from that aggression, they will refuse to have any dealings with it. Specifically this means that US based service providers will be boycotted, not only as a matter of conscientious objection, but as a practical matter of personal safety.
This is very different than, say, boycotting Israeli products due to their policy of genocide and illegal occupation. As a UK citizen I feel great sympathy for the plight of the (largely adolescent) Palestinians, but I don't particularly fear Mossad spying on me and subsequently extraditing me to Israel for torture and summary execution.
With the headline revelations made by Assange, Snowden and friends, the general population is now acutely aware of exactly who the threat is, and the specific implication this has if their privacy is violated. That's something that's increasingly hard to ignore, even among formerly clueless, apathetic consumers.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
