Apple Gets Extension on FBI Court Order

(NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai have come to the defense of Apple Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook’s refusal to comply with the USA government’s request to unlock an iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, California attackers drew strong reaction from critics and supporters this week, but is unclear how the decision will affect potential buyers of the company’s products. Apple is being asked to create a code that does not exist in order to unlock the phone, a back door into the device that would provide the government access.

Pichai isn’t alone in his support for Apple. “Today our freedom and our liberty is at stake”. “We build secure products to keep your information safe and we give law enforcement access to data based on valid legal orders”.

“Apple may maintain custody of the software, destroy it after its goal under the order has been served, refuse to disseminate it outside of Apple and make clear to the world that it does not apply to other devices or users without lawful court orders”, said the Justice Department.

Apple in recent years required that law enforcement officials physically travel with the gadget to the company’s headquarters, where a trusted Apple engineer would work on the phones inside Faraday bags, which block wireless signals, during the process of data extraction.

Unsurprisingly, major USA wireless carriers aren’t among them.

Apple CEO Tim Cook returning from a break in his testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee’s Investigations Subcommittee. “Could be a troubling precedent”. Other tech companies like Yahoo and Microsoft declined to comment on this particular issue as if they have taken a muted stance supporting the fight of Apple.

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Cook said Apple has “done everything that is both within our power and within the law” to help the FBI conduct its investigation into the San Bernardino massacre, in which 14 people were killed. Indeed, AT&T (NYSE: T) CEO Randall Stephenson specifically called out Cook’s defiance against creating “backdoors” for hacking, suggesting such positions overstep the bounds of private companies.