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I know we'd all prefer a heartfelt apology when the government beuracy mistreats us, but dropping it isn't such a bad thing.

The worst thing that can happen is that they don't ever reconsider things, never back down, and they dig in even harder every confrontation no matter the circumstances.

All in all, I think the outcome is on the good side of the spectrum.

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Well, dropping it may or may not be a bad thing, but it's really the only option that Twitter had anyway.

If the government withdrew the summons, and Twitter went ahead with their suit, the case would have been mooted by the summons withdrawal anyway, and would have been dismissed.

They could potentially amend the suit for damages to recoup the cost of compliance with an erroneous and arbitrary action, but given qualified immunity, it would be a very high bar indeed, and would almost certainly set the wrong kind of precedent (which is to say that it would reinforce existing precedent.)

Why would it be so bad if the government dug in and doubled down? I'd love to see a company like Twitter fight the US government.

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