UBS is a Swiss bank that also operates in the United States.
Birkenfeld is an American who, while in Geneva, participated in UBS activities which helped Americans hide money from the American government - which I think breaks the US law regardless of what jurisdiction the "help" happens in.
Note that Birkenfeld was arrested in the US after going to the US government with information - in your Tarsnap example, it would be like a Tarsnap employee traveling to China to tell the Chinese government that he/she helped circumvent Chinese laws. I don't think anyone would be surprised if the Chinese government then chose to prosecute that person.
As a business you can offer services to clients which may be illegal in some countries but fully legal in other countries - just don't go to the countries in which it is illegal and expect them to not prosecute you for helping their citizens get around their laws.
Also I think the term "fiduciary duty" is being misused in your Tarsnap example - correct me if I am wrong but Tarsnap is not managing or holding their user's funds for them (the "fiduciary" part of the term), but their data.
The broader definition of the word "fiduciary" (meaning guiding) doesn't require money to be involved, but any sort of responsibility with some expectation of duty. The root fiducial is used, for example, to refer to guide marks on a PCB design.
Birkenfeld is an American who, while in Geneva, participated in UBS activities which helped Americans hide money from the American government - which I think breaks the US law regardless of what jurisdiction the "help" happens in.
Note that Birkenfeld was arrested in the US after going to the US government with information - in your Tarsnap example, it would be like a Tarsnap employee traveling to China to tell the Chinese government that he/she helped circumvent Chinese laws. I don't think anyone would be surprised if the Chinese government then chose to prosecute that person.
As a business you can offer services to clients which may be illegal in some countries but fully legal in other countries - just don't go to the countries in which it is illegal and expect them to not prosecute you for helping their citizens get around their laws.
Also I think the term "fiduciary duty" is being misused in your Tarsnap example - correct me if I am wrong but Tarsnap is not managing or holding their user's funds for them (the "fiduciary" part of the term), but their data.