UPDATE: Feb. 25, 2016, 3:27 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple Inc. on Thursday asked a federal magistrate to reverse her order that the company help the FBI hack into a locked iPhone, accusing the federal government of seeking “dangerous power” through the courts.
The filing represents Apple’s first official response since the judge’s order last week and builds upon arguments voiced by the company’s chief executive and supporters.
The Justice Department is proposing a “boundless interpretation” of the law that, if left unchecked, could bring disastrous repercussions for digital privacy, the company warned in a memo submitted to Magistrate Sheri Pym.
“The government says: ‘Just this once’ and ‘Just this phone.’ But the government knows those statements are not true,” lawyers for Apple wrote.
The filing was made the same day that FBI Director James Comey defended the government’s approach during separate appearances on Capitol Hill.
The dispute broke into public view last Tuesday when Pym directed Apple to help the FBI gain access to a phone used by one of the assailants in the San Bernardino, California, attacks.
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I’m surprised TPM has not been covering this right from the beginning.
I can understand that some might have conflicted feelings about the appropriateness of the FBI request and/or Apple’s resistance, but it seems to me that some serious issues are raised here, and a number of questions arise also.
eg: It looks like the FBI basically is looking for the easy way out here, where is the NSA in all this and why is Apple being asked to carry their water, aren’t the FBI minimizing what they’re asking for (I’ve heard numbers of requests that run as high as 175), are there alternative means of gaining the information the FBI wants, eg: phone records, etc.
The issue here is whether corporate interests can be permitted to override a lawful subpoena. It’s not that Apple can’t comply, it’s that they don’t want to. Far better for them to advertise to criminals and terrorists the world over that if you use an iPhone to store your incriminating evidence, no judge or jury will ever see it.