Gates is towing the party line, he just wants to keep status quo. All the companies suing the government are doing it for the theatre "oh please Mr Government, you REALLY REALLY shouldn't take this data and use it", meanwhile they're salivating at the thought of actually collecting this for the government and tying it up with a nice neat bow.
What civil disobedience could Snowden have done? Nothing that would have caused a discussion of this magnitude. And even with all that he's revealed, the government is still going on with business as usual. There will be no substantive change. It's really disgusting how few people care about this - "if you're doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide" - if I hear this one more time I'm going to puke on someone's shoes.
To summarize: Gates is a government suckup and Snowden IS a hero.
What civil disobedience could Snowden have done? Nothing that would have caused a discussion of this magnitude. And even with all that he's revealed, the government is still going on with business as usual. There will be no substantive change. It's really disgusting how few people care about this - "if you're doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide" - if I hear this one more time I'm going to puke on someone's shoes.
To summarize: Gates is a government suckup and Snowden IS a hero.