“Apple Inc. agreed to unlock a drug dealer’s iPhone before abruptly changing course in October after a judge said he wanted more information from the company before issuing a warrant, federal prosecutors said,” Christie Smythe reports for Bloomberg.
“Apple’s response was ‘the first time ever’ it opposed the government on such a demand, the Justice Department said Monday in appealing the magistrate judge’s Feb. 29 decision that the company need not cooperate with the U.S.,” Smythe reports. “‘The Department of Justice has made the same application, for the same assistance, from the same company, dozens of times before,’ the government said in a 51-page legal brief. ‘The company has complied every time. Until now.'”
“The government in its brief argued that Apple’s about-face was driven by marketing concerns rather than principle,” Smythe reports. “Last month, in response to the California judge’s order that Apple aid in the San Bernardino investigation, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said U.S. demands for iPhone access are a chilling attack on privacy. The rulings in Brooklyn and California may eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. ‘Judge Orenstein ruled the FBI’s request would ‘thoroughly undermine fundamental principles of the Constitution’ and we agree,’ Apple said in a statement on Monday.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Oppose government overreach no matter how many lies they tell.
SEE ALSO:
Can the FBI force a company to break into its own products? No, says U.S. Magistrate – March 2, 2016
Obama ‘s gonna push this with all his might – let him know he can’t.
Obama has nothing to do with it. Too dumb to know that he is not the only government employee?
The FBI reports to the Attorney General. The Attorney General reports to the President.
Therefore, Obama is the ultimate decision-maker on this issue.
Doesn’t the government neglect to say that Apple did it for earlier phones with earlier operating systems which did not have the same security? And that these earlier cases did not equate to a “master key”?
I’m always deeply suspicious when someone tries to manipulate what I’m thinking by giving inaccurate details …
Does anybody know which version of IOS is installed in this particular iPhone?
It’s entirely possible that they are being asked to do something which is not possible on this particular iPhone, even though they have done something seemingly similar on other iPhones with earlier versions of IOS.
It’s an iPhone 5s with iOS 7 loaded on it.
You didn’t read it here:
Early on, the security apparatchiks must have scared the piss out of Obama with something deep — maybe something real and secret like Area 51, or maybe only cherry-picked classified data and ginned-up NSA worldbook projections that were just as scary. Obama the “Constitutional Scholar” wouldn’t have caved in to their demands unless their scare stories had weight and teeth and he believed them.
Can we conclude that the danger is real and imminent, then? Maybe not.
The National Security Establishment, more established than Eisenhower’s Military/Industrial Complex, likes to play each new CEO in order to cement their power. The late, great Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan laid out their game plan in his 1998 book Secrecy.
I think the security gang hornswoggled Obama, and did the same with Dubya, and even Bill Clinton. Hillary knew all about “it” as First Lady, which may be why she’s skittish about email servers. Before Bill Clinton there was G.H.W. Bush, a former CIA Director. Reagan believed in leprechauns, and after he was shot, let Nancy’s astrologer direct public policy.
Before then the story becomes murkier, but an ominous theory takes shape, one involving political corruption, blackmail, CIA social engineering, a shadow government, justice decided by star chambers, “rogue” Lieutenant Colonels making foreign policy, and the ascendance of the principle of plausible deniability, which defeats accountability.
Just an idea.
That’s a pretty interesting if almost conspiracy theory. I know that peace and love are the top threats to that government, goodness knows they are more afraid of that then aliens. I mean aliens are kewl, they got all this weaponry and decrypting technology.
Granted I’m half asleep but the “timeline” as laid out in this “article” makes no sense. Rather it distorts the events to try to achieve a desired effect.
The ultimate ridiculousness is that it is the work phone at the center of it all! The personal phone with all the terrorist buddy contacts on was destroyed!!! Is Obama too busy to read the unanimous warnings any of the tech EXPERTS are unanimously saying!!! Or is it that he’s just a puppet for the FBI, the Hill, the Banks, Wall Street, the warlords, and the wealthy few! It’s amazing America seems to be electing another 4 years of this corrupt crap with Hillary—or worse still raging fascist Donald Trump! Bernie Sanders for President you degenerate idiots!!!
Is Obama and others too busy to read the unanimous warnings from the tech community??? Or is it that he’s just a puppet for the FBI, the Banks, Wall Street, Corporate America and the wealthy few!!! It’s amazing America is electing another 4 years of this corrupt crap with Hillary!!!—or worse yet, raging fascist hate/fear monger billionaire clown Donald Trump!! Vote Bernie Sanders for president you idots!!!
Obama don’t the sole government employee. He is not personally out to get you.
There is a lot of paranoia on this forum…
Agreed. But don’t forget that it isn’t paranoia when it is true!
Correct. So this is paranoia.
Just so we’re clear. Apple has complied in the past when the request was for data in Apple’s possession (i.e. when the phone was backed up to the cloud). This case is different because what the justice (FBI, local police, district attorneys, justice department) establishment wants is to unlock a phone. As has been noted elsewhere the security, military and foreign affairs (NSA, CIA, defense department, state department) establishments seek stronger security to protect their own stuff. And they have the funding and hackers necessary to crack even Apple’s current system not to mention a system that’s three years old. They just don’t want to share with the poor ole FBI.