Oh, look. Google changed a service and now they're "abandoning every principle it once stood for".
Which has been said by someone, somewhere, (or some variation) for literally every service change Google has ever done. Stop it. You're adding nothing.
And they are not "philandering" with the NSA. They are subject to NSL's just like everyone else.
Google won over developers in the beginning because they provided information on search, essentially making the SEO business possible.
Hiding information is a increasingly popular trend that SysAdmin's, above other people, should be wary and distrustful of.
If you vehemently demand that Google (or any other company) has absolutely no obligation to its community, then don't be surprised when you're left with absolutely nothing.
What next? You're going to demand that banks increase fees for the fun of it?
Which has been said by someone, somewhere, (or some variation) for literally every service change Google has ever done. Stop it. You're adding nothing.
And they are not "philandering" with the NSA. They are subject to NSL's just like everyone else.