[conspire] Order to Compel Apple to Assist With SB Shooter Unlock

[Don Marti]

begin Rick Moen quotation of Thu, Feb 18, 2016 at 06:36:11PM -0800:
> Quoting Steve M Bibayoff (bibayoff at gmail.com):
> 
> > What I don't understand is do they REALLY need Apple to write this for
> > them? It does seem like a simple (or at least straight forward) enough
> > task. And I'll be really surprised if they're not tools out there
> > already that does this.
> 
> Here's a (very speculative, twisty) possibility:  Maybe there already
> are.  Maybe the point of the Assistant AGs' court action is merely to
> establish legal precedent about right to compell breaking of device
> security, for use in later/other cases entirely.
> 
> They might already know all about what was on Farook's iPhone 5c, and
> only be trying to gain the right to compell technology firms as a goal
> in itself.

Another version with even more speculation.

 * Apple _has_ complied willingly and there's already
   a back door in iOS devices. (After all, the company
   has more than $180 billion stashed overseas thanks
   to tax policy that it depends on US government
   goodwill for.  And Apple benefits from remarkably
   favorable trade, patent, and copyright law.*)

 * The back door is a strong one: structured to
   require the brute-force computing power of the NSA,
   keys and/or knowhow at the NSA, and source code
   and keys maintained by Apple.  Apple and the US
   government must align their powers to use the back
   door.

 * The back door is deniable. When discovered it will 
   looks like a subtle vulnerability.

 * The terms of the deal require the US government to
   participate in disinformation litigation/co-op
   marketing for Apple.

(Google wants the same kind of deal, but the Android
pipeline is harder to secure, and Android OEMs
introduce enough reliably exploitable vulnerabilities
that the US government is not motivated to pursue it.)

* Apple peddling unadulterated cypherpunkism would
  be like Don Vito Corleone going into the heroin
  business--a sure way to lose friends in government.
  Valuable info on economics and game theory coming
  to Alameda Theater next week:
  http://www.alamedatheatres.com/images/2016SpringClassicPoster.jpg

-- 
Don Marti <dmarti at zgp.org>                   
http://zgp.org/~dmarti/
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