“A Florida county sheriff has threatened to arrest Apple CEO Tim Cook, were a situation to arise similar to Apple’s resistance to government pressure in the ongoing San Bernardino terrorism investigation,” Cyrus Farivar reports for Ars Technica.
“Speaking at a press conference Wednesday that was published by FOX 13, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd… was asked about Apple’s refusal to help create a custom-firmware that would allow the FBI to brute force the seized iPhone 5C from San Bernardino,” Farivar reports. “‘You cannot create a business model to go, ‘We’re not paying attention to the federal judge or the state judge. You see, we’re above the law,” Judd said. ‘The CEO of Apple needs to know he’s not above the law, and neither is anybody else in the United States.'”
“He noted that if his agency were to face locked iPhones in the future, it may result in Cook being put behind bars, presumably under a contempt of court order,” Farivar reports. “‘But believe you me, if I get a toe hold in this county and I can get the state attorney’s office to prosecute, and a judge to back us up with it, I’ll lock the rascal up,’ Judd concluded.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Cool your jets, Rosco P. Coltrane.
This should not be decided court by court by court… This isn’t how this should happen. If there is going to be a law, then it should be done out in the open for people, so their voices can be heard through their representatives in Congress… Let me be clear, at the end of the day, we have to follow the law, just like everybody else. We have to follow the law. What is going on right now is we’re having our voices be heard. I would encourage everyone that have a voice or that wants to have a voice, wants to have an opinion, make sure their voice is heard. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, February 24, 2016