This situation should have ended 20 years ago with the first round of the crypto wars. /sigh/
> Anyone that stands up to the police-state-mentality is honorable.
Exactly. They aren't alone, either - with Apple taking first-mover risk, it should be easier for others to stand up together.
It's important to realize that there isn't much neutral ground here. Now that the line has been drawn, you're either helping implement backdoors or you are making a stand, potentially at personal risk. Collaborators will not find much cover if they attempt to hide behind a Nuremberg Defense.
I strongly recommend that everybody watch Quinn Norton and Elanor Saitta's amazing talk from 30c3, "No Neutral Ground in a Burning World"[1]. Most people didn't ask for the responsibility, but it's irresponsible to avoid it by pretending that technology is somehow external to politics. Everything we implement has political consequences, and we (the people implementing all of modern technology) need to start thinking about those consequences.
[1] https://media.ccc.de/v/30C3_-_5491_-_en_-_saal_1_-_201312272...