[elmo2you]

Since when can they not refuse a NSA backdoor? Where does the mandate come from, with which the NSA supposedly can instruct commercial/private entities to integrate technological back doors? Does it even have such a legal mandate. I'm sure the NSA will argue that they do, but that doesn't mean they actually have it.

[trasz]

Some of the ways are already known: your company can be denied lucrative government contracts if you deny. Or you might learn you can't export your products due to export restrictions. Other ways are known to exist, but details are not available yet - go read about National Security Letters, or kangaroo "secret courts".

[HappySweeney]

Not that I don't agree, but how do you know the secret courts are kangaroo?

[bdamm]

Government buyers that are less important (e.g. state level tollways) would be mandated to buy the backdoored algorithm by having the federal government cook it into a specification of how to buy tollway equipment, for example. Once the backdoored algorithm is in the product suite, it can be put to work on a more tactical level.