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This is a bit off topic, but I don't understand the government's need to stunt technology for the good of the country. Is there really a net benefit for spending trillions on cyber spying? I've yet to see a cost benefit analysis on that, and would appreciate any input on that.

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There probably is not, but there is a benefit to those who make a living from spying and undermining freedom. Also, as a matter of psychology, most people prefer it when "something is being done" even when that something is ineffective or self-destructive, so there is some political motivation to "do something", so you can claim to "have done something" in case something bad happens, to avoid being responsible.

One would think that doing something like weakening and backdooring encryption would provide a negative net benefit because it helps hackers to steal information more readily. I guess it depends on what you think of the broken window fallacy.

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