Bill Gates supports government in Apple case

Apple has dug in its heels against US law enforcement since earlier this month when a judge ordered the company to write software that would enable FBI investigators to unlock Farook’s iPhone.

All of the government requests for Apple’s help in unlocking iPhones have been filed under the All Writs Act, an 18th century catch-all law at the centre of the legal battle that gives the government wide leeway to seek court orders forcing individuals or institutions to take some action.

On Monday, Apple boss Tim Cook sent a letter to the firm’s employees about the row saying its refusal was about a broader civil rights issue not just this one case.

One of Apple’s lawyers, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said the existence of the other cases showed the San Bernardino probe was not just about one iPhone. He laments the fact that Apple is fighting with the USA government but says “data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding people” is at stake. Apple hasn’t yet made any filings in the case because the Justice Department asked the magistrate to rule before Apple had an opportunity to object.

Some 51 members of Congress actually have shares in Apple and 31 out of Apple’s 38 lobbyists previously held government jobs.

Apple has until Friday to officially respond to a request for the San Bernardino case, but it appears that their help will be very unlikely. But with a fresh security policy update in 2012, Apple has secured the iPhone against such requests – iPhones running on its proprietary operating system, iOS version 8.0 and higher will not be compromised.

“The only way to guarantee that such a powerful tool isn’t abused and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands is to never create it”, Apple said.

Most of the people interviewed Tuesday agree with Apple, but at the same time understand the government’s position as well.

“They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case”, Gates added.

But by not unequivocally supporting Apple, Gates broke ranks with many other Silicon Valley leaders, who have backed Apple’s decision to resist a federal order to unlock Farook’s iPhone.

The L.A. Times reports that “In Apple’s fight to knock down a court order requiring it to help Federal Bureau of Investigation agents unlock a killer’s iPhone, the tech giant plans to argue that the judge in the case has overreached in her use of an obscure law and infringed on the company’s 1st Amendment rights, an Apple attorney said Tuesday”.

“Imagine changing everyone’s privacy on their phones and getting nothing in return for it of any value”, Lee said.