US Justice: Apple is unruly to give access to iPhone due to marketing

The Justice Department urges the judge to force Apple to cooperate in making data on an attacker’s iPhone available. According to the Public Prosecution Service, Apple refuses mainly because of marketing and its business model.

Initially, Apple had five days to respond to the demand to help unlock the data on the iPhone, but after the public response from Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Justice Department is urging the judge to ban the manufacturer. orders to cooperate, reports Wired, among others.

“Instead of aiding an investigation into a deadly terrorist attack and complying with this February 16 court order, Apple has publicly rejected it,” the prosecution said. According to the Public Prosecution Service, that attitude seems to be based on nothing more than his “care for his business model and marketing strategy”. Apple would have the technical capabilities to comply with the order and should therefore be required to cooperate. “Following a discreet and limited court order does not mean the end of privacy,” the 35-page document continues.

Apple actually had until Tuesday to respond in court and the Public Prosecution Service urges it, but the manufacturer seems to be getting a postponement until next Friday, Bloomberg writes. It will then have to explain substantively why it does not want to comply with the requirement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in an open letter to his customers on Wednesday that it is challenging the judge’s decision. According to Apple, it sets a “dangerous precedent” when a tech company is forced by the government to effectively provide a “master key” for all its devices.

The case concerns the iPhone 5c of the man who shot 14 people in San Bernardino in December. The FBI can’t get to the data, so Apple has to develop a special firmware, or an ipsw file.