said by AVD:lets be consistent, we talking about the US or Europe here?
Let's stop the "I'm in the US, and nothing else counts" attitude. As the internet is ubiquitous, the US is just one country of many where Google is present.
Pehaps you haven't been reading lately. Google has been brought up in Europe, Australia and elsewhere on violations of THEIR privacy laws. (And I suspect in many countries it will be targeted because it is an American country that profits without giving back in kind.)
As the initial post stated "This would put Google at odds with the interception laws of the 30 countries that the system was used in" and LinkLogger concluded, "Ever had that feel that technology companies are going to start avoiding Europe?"