The rumored back-door legislation from the Senate Intelligence Committee has now surfaced. From Reuters:

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has begun circulating long-awaited draft legislation that would give federal judges clear authority to order technology companies like Apple to help law enforcement officials access encrypted data, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The proposal from Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, does not spell out how companies must provide access or the circumstances under which they could be ordered to help.

It also does not create specific penalties for noncompliance, leaving that determination to judges, the sources said.

Importantly:

Previous legislative efforts have focused on requiring technology products to have a built-in “back door” for law enforcement. The latest approach would not mandate any specific technology, but rather would require companies to figure out how to access the data.

A rose is a rose is a rose. If you force Apple to give you access to encrypted data, that’s equivalent to a back door.