Microsoft joins Apple in dispute with FBI

Microsoft will file a statement of support in a California court next week to rule against the FBI’s demand that Apple give access to an encrypted iPhone belonging to an attacker. Microsoft says it is ‘square behind Apple’. Apple requests that the requirement be dropped.

Microsoft will hand over an amicus curiae to the judge next week, the company’s chief legal officer, Brad Smith, said during a Congressional hearing. “We don’t believe that courts should settle cases involving 21st century technology with a law written in the age of the mechanical calculator,” he said, according to the Seattle Times. According to the lawyer, it is up to Congress to decide on this.

The law Smith is referring to is the All Writs Act, which dates back to 1789 and allows United States federal courts to compel companies to do as they ask. Top executives at Twitter, Google and Facebook also previously expressed support for Apple’s refusal to write special firmware for an attacker’s iPhone. According to the CEO of Apple, this would be equivalent to a ‘master key’.

Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates initially appeared to support the FBI, but later nuanced his stance by stating that no one wants government access to everything, but it would also not be good for government agencies to go blind. He can envision situations where access must be granted, Gates said.

Apple has now officially requested the court to withdraw the claim. “This case is not about a single iPhone. The Justice Department and the FBI are seeking in court a dangerous power that Congress and the American people have stopped them from: the ability to force companies like Apple to protect the basic security and privacy of hundreds of people. millions of individuals worldwide,” the request reads, according to The Verge.