http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/270386-government-seeks-to-force-apple-to-help-unlock-a-dozen-other-iphones

Thanks, Hank.

That "All Writs Act" was the name I'd forgotten when referring to the "18th century law" in response #107. 

"The agency sought a work-around in the court order, which does not directly demand that Apple decrypt Farook’s iPhone 5c. Instead, the order asks Apple to create software that would disable a failsafe that triggers the phone to wipe its own memory if an incorrect password is inputted 10 times in a row." - J. Comey, Dir. FBI

Right...thereby creating digitally compromised OSs, just for the FBI. Not. Once created it'll get out there...just like everything else. Then they'll say, "Ooops, sorry about that." when the hackers get everyone's data. NO!

And anyone believes that won't be used on every iPhone user here and abroad? Then...Samsung, etc. Our new take on John Donne..."Ask not for whom the phone rings...".

I'm all the way with Doc here. This would open an extremely dangerous precedent. And if you think that precedent would not be abused by the FBI, NSA, or whomever, then I have a bridge to sell you.

Just look at what is happening right now in the good old USA: the TSA abusing everyone's rights in the name of 'security' (what else?), no fly-lists that people get into without even knowing why and are nearly impossible (if not impossible) to get out of....

Open your eyes, guys!!! This is the time were you MUST defend your rights - or you WILL lose them.

No, the US courts [thus government and law enforcement agencies] absolutely love to deal in precedents.  Right or wrong, if it has been 'similarly' done before, it can be 'legally' done again.... meaning that if somebody can get away with rape because it happened in his own bedroom, somebody else will because somebody else was 'stupid' enough to stumble into a rapist's living room after being lured ther for untoward purposes. 

Seriously, US law is not as staright forward as ours and doesn't necessarily follow the same loical paths, not to say our dudicial system is perfect, either, but one has to better understand the US 'way' of doing things before categorically declaring anything as being set in stone/concrete.

Fact is, the US government ans its agencies are the most invasive and downright invading on the planet, so if you think for one milisecond that this stops at just one phone, then you are either uninformed, completely naive and/or delusional.  Worse still, while the Yanks and Brits are notorious for sticking their noses in the affairs of others [domesric And otherwise], Australia is pretty much tarred with the same brush and sooner or later follows suit to appease its more powerful allies.

And no, this is not tinfoil hat talk here.  Truth is, there are ***** who would see you down and/or dead if it advanced their goals, wealth and prosperity.  It's a fact of life, and has been since the dawn of time, those with the power and wealth will fuck anyone over to enhance their own prospects, and in this technological era of the 'information highway', where knowledge is power, governments and corporations alike are seeking to extract anything and everything from everywhere to increase their power over anyone and everyone.

Anyone who doesn't realise this needs to get the duck shit out of their eyes and ears and face up to the reality that's evolving before their eyes.  Truth is, the majority of the world has become so complacent, blindly trusting even, that it simply complies with the status quo, right or wrong, and lets governments and corporations shit all over them without complaint... not even a question as to the reasons why.

Oh, and for those Americans who still believe the Constituton is a bill of rigths that still protects them, think again.  The powers that be saw these as a threat and have been undermining them for the last 300 or more years.  Slowly but surely your bill of rights has been evaporated, and this week's court decision against Apple is just the first grab for power in a whole new order of things  Now the precedent has been established, a whole raft of changes will be now implemented over time to dilute your 'protections' even more. 

And yeah, given recent events, my tinfoil hat needs replacing with something more heavy duty.

Given recent events, the constant undermining of the 'bill of rights' over the last 200+ years, they're already lost.  In fact, they have been lost for a longer time, only the illusion they still exist remains.

I'm assuming that you read the order. The originators and their titles show that they probably did know what they were demanding. Shame on them for over stepping.

Well said.

Here's a comment from another site. I think it sums it up pretty well:

"Emails are stored on servers, not phones. SMS and Phone records as well as GPS coordinates history can all be subpoenaed from Telco. Google will gladly hand over search and account history, as will twitter and facebook with proper documents. There is nothing on that phone they don't already have. If the FBI needs that phone to learn about terrorist cells they obviously haven't been doing their jobs. This is how the govt pits Americans against the "evil tech companies" to get you all for backdoors so they can continue mass surveillance which never actually stopped..."

This is just the government wanting 1 billion iPhone users to give up on privacy. Of course Bill Gates is seizing the moment to weaken Apple and he says he supports the FBI.

What I've been saying all along...and there'd be no need for all this if the ham handed FBI hadn't screwed the pooch by changing the password...and yes...it would compromise the security of all iPhones, not just the terrorist's. Unacceptable on every level.

The Court Order reveals only a 'justification' for further loss of basic rights.

Of course Bill Gates supports the FBI, why else would Windows 10 have data collection devices concealed deep within the core?  Yes, there's probably more to it, and I think it's no coincidence that Apple was hit with this ourt order at this time.

And who doesn't think this was a planned move by government to delve even deeper into everybody's business?  This situation has been in the making for several years now, and it is the first of many new intrusions to so-say ramp up national security.  Bullshit, it's about power and control and always has been...and that pooch wasn't screwed deliberately?

If, as has been reported, a county employee changed the passcode after the perp's death, why don't the fibbies just ask that dude what the new passcode is?

Bueller?

Bueller?

That'd be too fechen simple.... and public servants aren't paid to think, regardless of how simple the solution may be.  Besides, obtaining the 'new' password' that way would not have served the purpose.... that of setting a legal precedent which can and will open a floodgate of intrusions into the privacy of ALL US citizens.

Sadly, the American people have been brainwashed with talk of the Constitution, patriotism and: "Do not ask what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".   Seriously, it doesn't matter who's sitting on the White House throne Uncle Sam has been fucking you over for 400+ years.... using fear and paranoia to hustle the populace into manageable categories.  Truly, this threat to privacy has been in the making since before your Constitution was cleverly crafted by men who saw the potential to govern <read control> everyone and everything in the land.

Is any country any better?  I'm sure the Brits and French have more than enough political skeletons in their closets, as do most other countries, but of all the 'free' peoples of the world, Americans are the least free of them all, with government led patriotic chants whipping them into compliant frenzies that serve only to feed the lust for power their leaders have held onto and embellished over decades of governance.

It reminds me of the Metallica song: Sad But True.

The phone isn't syncing up because the cloud side was reset, and you can't put the new password to sync the phone back up unless you can get in.

Regardless, that only gets them whatever was synced, not everything on the phone.  They really do need into the phone, it really is possible there is information on it they can't get elsewhere.  What they don't need, is a key that can easily be used to get into any other phone.  If they handed it off to Apple, odds are they can get into the phone just fine, and send the FBI a data dump without having to let them know how.

"However, that very argument may have been undermined by a new court document that had just been unsealed in which an Apple lawyer points to no fewer than 12 other cases in which the US Justice Department is asking for access to iPhones.

Apple alluded to the fact that there were other cases that would be impacted by the current case in an Q&A posted on Monday, but with the unsealing of this court document, we now know that there are an additional four phones in Illinois, three in New York, two in California, two in Ohio and one in Massachusetts that the federal government wishes to access.

Further highlighting the fact that it is not solely a case of access to phones in the rare incidences of terrorist acts – none of the 12 other cases are thought to have any connection to terrorism.

In other words, what Apple has said repeatedly – that agreeing to create a version of its mobile operating system that can be used to bypass its phones' security would serve as a precedent for law enforcement to gain access to future phones – does appear to be true."

in

The Register - Bill Gates is really upset that you all thought he was on the Feds' side

Jorge...go over this thread from the beginning.

Isn't what you just posted what I've been saying? And Bill Gates? A disgrace. How come Nadella isn't saying a word? Hiding behind daddy? 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that...as long as one is not blindly naive. Since day one, it has been the job of the citizenry to be the government's monitor. It is also EVERY citizen's duty to work for the success of America. When Australia (or Britain, for that matter) have a Constitution and when the English and the Commonwealth stop being "subjects" of one family or another, in one form or another, then we'll discuss that further.

not totally. privacy is a unique selling point for them. after all they compete with Google (which selling point is quite the opposite) and Microsoft (which has so many backdoors that you'll have a hard time to find the frontdoor).

also one thing to keep in mind is that Apple is a hardware company. even if they would gather as much data as their competitors they just don't have the capabilities to handle it. so for them privacy is not just a selling point, but also just easier to do.

in regards of fighting terrorism i would consider it to be more effective to let the Syrian Arab Army and the Russian air force do their job instead of building a backdoor in my phone (there are already enough of them).