The Justice Department, frustrated by its inability to unlock the iPhone of one of the attackers in the San Bernardino killings, demanded Friday that a judge immediately order Apple to give it the technical tools to get inside the phone.
Apple's refusal "appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy" rather than a legal rationale, prosecutors said in a court filing that further escalated the confrontation between the Obama administration and Apple.
"This is not the end of privacy," the Justice Department declared, a mocking reference to Apple's rationale for contesting the court order prosecutors obtained from a judge directing Apple to help them break into the phone.
The sharply worded, 25-page motion to compel Apple's cooperation seemed aimed as much at swaying public opinion as influencing the federal magistrate judge in Riverside, California, who issued the order to Apple.
A blistering open letter this week from Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, had rallied many privacy advocates behind the company, and law enforcement officials said that the latest volley from the Justice Department on Friday was meant largely to rebut Cook's arguments and buttress the government's own case.
Apple executives, speaking with reporters after the filing on the condition that they not be identified by name, said they were puzzled by the Justice Department's decision to rush back into court before the company even had a chance to respond to this week's court order.
http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/apples-refusal-to-unlock-iphone-a-marketing-gimmick/51075132
Apple's refusal "appears to be based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy" rather than a legal rationale, prosecutors said in a court filing that further escalated the confrontation between the Obama administration and Apple.
"This is not the end of privacy," the Justice Department declared, a mocking reference to Apple's rationale for contesting the court order prosecutors obtained from a judge directing Apple to help them break into the phone.
The sharply worded, 25-page motion to compel Apple's cooperation seemed aimed as much at swaying public opinion as influencing the federal magistrate judge in Riverside, California, who issued the order to Apple.
A blistering open letter this week from Timothy D. Cook, Apple's chief executive, had rallied many privacy advocates behind the company, and law enforcement officials said that the latest volley from the Justice Department on Friday was meant largely to rebut Cook's arguments and buttress the government's own case.
Apple executives, speaking with reporters after the filing on the condition that they not be identified by name, said they were puzzled by the Justice Department's decision to rush back into court before the company even had a chance to respond to this week's court order.
http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/apples-refusal-to-unlock-iphone-a-marketing-gimmick/51075132
