During a conference call with reporters late this afternoon, Apple lawyers confirmed that the court hearing schedule for tomorrow has been vacated. In addition, the order compelling Apple to assist the government in hacking the iPhone used in San Bernardino has been stayed.
“As there is presently uncertainty surrounding the government’s need for Apples’s assistance, the court’s February 16, 2016 Order Compelling Apple, Inc. to Assist Agents in Search, in case number ED 15-451-M, is hereby stayed, pending further submissions in this case,” reads the court order issued today.
The government was also ordered to file a status report by April 5, 2016.
Apple lawyers stated during the conference call that their position has not changed and that they are ready to proceed if the case comes back.
The government has apparently found a way to hack the iPhone without Apple’s help in building what has been described as the GovtOS, a specialized version of iOS, which would act as a master key with the ability to unlock iPhones.
Apple said it wasn’t aware of a vulnerability that would allow the government access to the San Bernardino iPhone.
Lawyers said if the government wants to proceed in the case, they would like to know the details of what they did to try to get access to the phone. However, if the government drops the case, Apple may never know how they accessed the phone.
Apple lawyers pointed out that this really isn’t a legal victory and that the case could come back at any time.
While the government’s case may have started out strong, they have come under increasing pressure in recent weeks from groups supporting Apple. They have also tried to answer, or deflect, tough questions from Congress.
The case certainly isn’t over yet. The government could potentially hack into the iPhone itself, or it could wait for an even more incendiary case to come back at Apple with.
I suspect they KNOW there is nothing of value on the phone and they are unwilling to risk a loss based on that.
Now Apple KNOWS of the threat to confiscate the IOS source code, they need to plan.
Do they shift the security side off shore and license it back, putting it out of reach ?
Do they have 2 versions of security and tell the US public the government insists the USA can only have 2nd best ?
Will other players now look at off shoring data centres, will other governments look at insisting local data is stored locally for privacy and protection.
This is one mother of a can of worms
This isn’t good news at all. This means the FBI knew they’d probably lose. Expect a future attempt when fewer people care.
I don’t think offshoring it will work. The US government has shown that it believes it can bully right through that, and the courts have agreed.
This was a lose-lose for the government. If the lost the case, they would set legal precedent that they would have to overcome in the future. If they won, the public would want to know what information was garnered from the device at the price paid to the public welfare. If no valuable information was gained, the government would have a significant negative social precedent to overcome.
This is the government way of tucking tail and running without admitting defeat. They will be back the next time they have a stronger case, and if they’re lucky, against a weaker opponent.
There is a difference between a US company owning assets overseas and an overseas company with no presence in the US. Apple has enough overseas money to set up a new company in the Bahamas or where ever.
Right. That’s exactly the kind of relationship the US courts have ripped through, unfortunately.
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note how the FBI refers to the action as “Apple’s assistance” — you know, like lending them a hand moving a sofa. and doesnt refer to it as “demanding Apple weaken encryption by devising an entirely new OS comprised of a critical backdoor exploit”
it’s not quite lose-lose — the congress is now writing bills to compel the same sort of action from tech companies. we must stop them from passing.
What I meant by lose-lose was that the government could not win on it’s current path. You are right, they have to take a new angle to get what they want. Which they will do, and hopefully, they will fail.