Apple Files Motion to Reverse Court Order to Install FBI ’Government OS’

As probably expected by most industry watchers, Apple has filed a motion to reverse the court order that demanded the company to develop software that weakens iOS security, hence allowing the FBI to crack open the iPhone 5c used by Syed Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters (via TechInsider).

In a call with the press, an Apple executive called the demanded iOS version “Government OS.” In line with previous reports, Apple said it will argue against the court order based on the First and Fifth Amendments.

Apple logo

Meanwhile Apple vice president and general counsel Bob Sewell and FBI director James Comey will testify on March 1 before the House Judiciary Committee, sources confirmed to the Guardian.

This will be the first opportunity for Congress to ask Apple to clarify why it is challenging the court order demanding the company to unlock an iPhone that belonged to one of the terrorists who killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in the San Bernardino slaughter.

The FBI director will speak first without other witnesses, and Sewell will follow alongside Worcester Polytechnic Institute professor Susan Landau and New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance, according to the Guardian.

Vance said that he has 175 iPhones that his office can’t access in criminal investigations, up from 111 late last year. He also had harsh words against Apple and Google over their encryption policies. “This has become the Wild West in technology,” he said. “Apple and Google are their own sheriffs, and there are no rules.”

The legal battle between Apple and the FBI played out in the media after the iPhone maker was ordered by a federal court to create software that would weaken iOS security. Apple said it won’t “hack its customers,” and more recently, a company executive confirmed to the New York Times that it will work on upgrading the iPhone’s security level even if it doesn’t win this specific legal battle against the FBI.

Apple court fact sheet

Motion to Vacate Brief and Supporting Declarations

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