The Justice Department announced this week that it
has successfully accessed data stored on the Apple iPhone that belonged to the
San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help so they’ve asked a
federal judge to vacate the disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break
into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary.
“As the government noted in its filing
today, the FBI has now successfully retrieved the data stored on the San
Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone and therefore no longer requires the assistance
from Apple required by this Court Order,"
DOJ spokeswoman Melaine Newman said in a statement. "The FBI is
currently reviewing the information on the phone, consistent with standard
investigatory procedures."
Oh, never mind says the government to Apple. We didn’t
require your help after all. We don’t need you now; you can go back to your
business quietly now; we’ve called off our goons; we got what we wanted without
you. No details will be provided about how we did it or who showed us how; no
apology necessary; no mea culpa; no shame on us. Just forget about it; if we
want to shake you down again in the future – the next time we feel like
violating your constitutional rights -- we’ll get another court order. That’s
easy enough.
"From the beginning, we objected to
the FBI's demand that Apple build a backdoor into the iPhone because we
believed it was wrong and would set a dangerous precedent,"
Apple said in a statement. "As a result of the government’s dismissal,
neither of these occurred. This case should never have been brought."
That’s right; the case should never have been
brought in the first place; the government had no right to try to force Apple
to do something inimical to its business interests and the interests of its
loyal customers; and I explained in detail why here and
here.
Oh, never mind say the government goons.
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