In an exclusive interview with ABC News on Wednesday, CEO Tim Cook said that the government is asking it to develop software to break into the iPhone obtained from one of the San Bernardino shooters and that such software is the “equivalent of cancer”.
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Apple (AAPL, Tech30) has spent the better half of two weeks in the spotlight because of the case.
During the last debate prior to the Super Tuesday primaries, moderators asked where the candidates stood on the federal court order that would give the FBI authority to gather information from the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino killers, who are suspected of being terrorists affiliated with the extremist group ISIS. Apple’s decision not to obey the court order, and the response from celebrities and politicians, has turned into fodder for the media.
But public support has been more divided. “I can invest six figures in Apple, and my biggest concern is that the world is changing, and they are not”.
“This would be bad for America”, he said.
Apple attorney Ted Olson told CNNMoney’s Laurie Segall on Friday that complying with the order could mean a government with “limitless” powers. “We explore technologies, and we explore products”. There’s no stopping point.
Apple shareholders rejected a proposal that would have required them to adopt an “accelerated recruitment policy” to place minorities in top positions at the company.
Added the reverend Jesse Jackson, an Apple stock owner for 15 years: “Where we stand in controversy is a measure of our character”.
Jackson recalled how the Federal Bureau of Investigation wiretapped Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement.
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“There are now those who run for office who approve of so much government interference….” Jackson stated that “We oppose the unprecedented government over reach”. Maldonado, the creative director for Insignia Entertainment, stated that Apple’s board was “a little bit too vanilla” for his liking.
