Reading a little bit further into the docs, it would appear that they initially wanted a bit more access than he was comfortable giving. They wouldn't let him just give the info after 60 days and wanted a trace device that would let them intercept information unencrypted in real time. The court order only gave them permission to intercept certain information, but they would have had access to much more, and it would have compromised the security of their entire operation. Given the information we have available right now about US spy agencies' utter disrespect for the rule of law, he clearly made the right choice.
'Clearly'. I disagree. He was being an ass, and the operation didn't have the security he touted in the first place - it's like buying a lockbox at a bank, but giving your stuff to the teller to put in the box. That's not secure.
As an email service provider, I can attest these orders are not executed by the NSA, they're part of investigations performed by the FBI. They DO NOT want any more info than is listed on the court order. Are you kidding me? Using evidence gained illegally as part of a prosecution? A defense lawyer would have a field day with that.
If you mean that he made the right choice in talking with the media about the abuse of the government taking his SSL keys, instead of talking about his lack of cooperation, then yeah, I agree he made the choice that was in his best interests. No publicity is bad publicity they say.