2/26/16

On US v Apple iPhone

I start with two questions, finish with another:

1. Suppose the US government forces Apple to "fix" the terrorist iPhone so its agents can look inside. Is there not unbreakable encryption software available to block government access—perhaps not in this one case if they didn’t use it, but in the future for other terrorists?

2. Suppose the US government cannot prevail. How could Apple (or any other smartphone manufacturer) resist similar demands from China, the EU, Indonesia, Brazil, or others less concerned with legal niceties without ceding those markets to more pliant competitors? 

If there is secure software encryption, the government's demand won't get it very far even if it does win this one case.
Unless all other countries respect Apple's claim to keep the iPhone encrypted, Apple must either yield or lose important markets to more pliant competitors.

In short, if the government prevails, it may not gain very much. If Apple prevails, it may not gain very much. 

I assume the very smart attorneys on both sides understand this. So what’s really going on?

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