Does anybody believe the FBI isn't out to defeat encryption?

The argument that accessing Farook’s iPhone is an isolated request is very clearly a talking point planned well out in advance, and like many efforts that have come from the White House, we’re seeing an obviously organized media blitz to sell it, to the point that they’re overplaying their hand. The Department of Justice (DOJ) responded to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s public statement warning against the FBI’s demands with a federal court filing calling his concerns an effort to protect his “brand marketing.” Apple hadn’t even responded to the court’s request yet. This was a public statement from Cook and Apple. And the DOJ responded with a court filing without even waiting to see what arguments Apple actually presented to the judge.

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Cook is sticking to his guns, sending an email out to Apple employees telling them “Apple is a uniquely American company. It does not feel right to be on the opposite side of the government in a case centering on the freedoms and liberties that government is meant to protect.” He wants the government to form a tech commission to discuss the privacy implications of what the FBI wants. And he reminds everybody of the obvious that Comey is hoping we’ll ignore: That if the government is successful in forcing Apple to help them here, they can come back to the courts again and again and again to order them again and again and again. Comey’s counterargument can be best paraphrased as “No, we won’t,” even though everybody knows full well they have a mission to defeat encryption.

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