edit: Topic has been split from the 2016 presidential election thread.
As of Feb 19, this seems to be the best summary of the situation: http://www.wired.com/2016/02/apples-...ally-going-on/
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Some facts to further expand on this:Originally Posted by allegro
- The FBI "tried for 2 months" to get into the phone. Turns out they haven't tried a single passcode. (there is some justification here, but they are still really dumb)
- In at least one prior instance of the FBI physically bringing a phone to Apple for help getting in... Apple picked up the phone and there was NO FUCKING PASSCODE ON IT
- The FBI sets quotas for how many terror plots they will disrupt. Just... just fucking think about that for a second!
- The FBI thinks there is going to be some possible data on his work phone and not his personal phone that the terrorist destroyed.
While this is a good thing for the public to understand, this issue is huge. It may actually be the biggest issue in tech for over a decade. Using the All Writs Act of 1789 to force Apple to do this will set a horrible precedent if it is allowed to move forward. This will allow the government to mandate just about anything. You want every internet attached device to be turned into a government mandated surveillance tool? Cause this is how it happens. This is WAY beyond having your landlord give your apartment key to the police when they have a warrant. I'm not even sure what a good parallel is, but something along the lines of forcing a locksmith to break into a safe against their will might sort of scratch the surface.
There is further weirdness surrounding the situation. Apple asked the FBI to issue the request under seal, and then the FBI went public. I'm not really sure what to make of it but some believe this is the FBI trying to put pressure on Congress to push a bill through mandating crypto backdoors.
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