Yes, and it makes a hell of difference in lobbying fire power.
I'm not really a Apple fan but I hope they win on this.
Lavabit eventually decided to close instead of giving access to the data of their customers. Apple won't close but I wonder if they would go as far as leaving the USA, both the country and the market. That would be more than extreme but if they lose it would be the only alternative to caving in. My very safe bet: it's not going to happen (leaving the USA).
I'm not sure if that would really work, with extradition agreements and all. A lot of other countries' governments will actually agree with the FBI's position, not the position of the American people.
In other news, Apple has been complying all along with Chinese authority requests, including placing Chinese user data on Chinese servers and hand over relevant data when asked. In China if they made a fit over this they'd be thrown out and blocked along with Google and Facebook. For them, complying with Chinese authorities is a revenue-driven business decision.
In the absolute worst case outcome of the FBI case, I imagine they would end up complying with US authorities as well, as a business decision.
For some smaller countries, providing the right privacy-friendly legal protections could be used to attract large multi-nationals.
Iceland is already poised to take advantage of this. A little bit of legislation, a few moderate tax breaks, and they could court Apple rebasing their corporate home, at least mostly on paper, there.
I always wonder how hard it would be and just how effective it would be if it was done.
Sovereignty is a funny topic... If Apple "buys" a country with a land border the "abdication of existing government" could be considered by their neighbours over the border as grounds to consider the territory "vacant" ... If Apple "bought" an island nation or a country comprising multiple islands, then they would have to "defend" their new home from the newfound "enemy" of the USA ( and I hear the Navy is quite formidable ;-) ) who might be a little bit pissed off, or may just decide like to "consider" that Apple purchasing the country makes it not a country and they don't have to listen to Apple when they ask nicely not to enter their territory with aircraft carriers, or say ... submarines that tap into undersea cables...
Right now Apple has a fair amount of protection by virtue of being an American company, an American company that is also considered an American person with rights under the constitution, such as not being "compelled to speak", which is why we're hearing about this sort of possible change in tactics. The FBI can't force them to talk so they ask for the script so they can talk for them.
If you don't have either (a) a competent military of your own, or (b) countries which have strong enough economic or cultural relations with you to want to protect your interests with their military, it is meaningless to form a micronation for the purpose of evading a large country's laws. The US or any other army could just invade, capture, or colonize your little country, which is pretty much how the world has worked throughout history.
Furthermore, without good relations with other nations, you're not going to get very far with exports, internet connections, food, passenger transport, investment, and just about everything else you need to sustain basic life and business.
While i'm not a legal expert, it seems the major difference is the size and name recognition of the companies.