The power dynamic between law and technology is strange. In general, it seems that technology wins if can get a foothold and build a user base of people who feel the benefits are worth more than the downsides. It's another form of democracy.

Law always gets the last word though. The thing that's interesting is that the US seems to let things go for a while before clamping down. The whole "present a warning about browser cookies" thing in the EU is a bit of a disaster.