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Judge Favors Apple In iPhone Unlocking Case In New York (google.com)

The Washington Post reports that Apple has prevailed for the moment in its fight with the FBI over the agency's demand that Apple help them break the security of an iPhone — but not in the California case about the phone belonging to San Bernadino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook -- that more famous case, as we mentioned the other day, is of course not the only case with a phone the FBI would like to peek into. New York federal judge James Orenstein scoffs in his 50-page decision at government arguments that Apple should be compelled to produce a software solution that would give them full access to content of the phone belonging to a drug dealer's phone. [Orenstein] found that the All Writs Act does not apply in instances where Congress had the opportunity but failed to create an authority for the government to get the type of help it was seeking, such as having firms ensure they have a way to obtain data from encrypted phones.

He also found that ordering Apple to help the government by extracting data from the iPhone- which belonged to a drug dealer --would place an unreasonable burden on the company....

He also expressed concern about conferring too much authority in the government. "Nothing in the government's arguments suggests any principled limit on how far a court may go in requiring a person or company to violate the most deeply-rooted values to provide assistance to the government the court deems necessary," he said.
Whether the same logic will prevail in California is yet unclear; the New York decision is not binding on any other court.

30 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. Not much reaction yet from the Wall St. casinos... by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 2

    Doesn't look like Apple's making any big after-hours moves in the wake of the announcement.

  2. Apple has more $ than the FBI by turkeydance · · Score: 3, Insightful

    and 43 other countries.

    1. Re:Apple has more $ than the FBI by dissy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So?

      No one said it was a burden Apple couldn't afford financially. They said it was an undue burden.
      There's no shame in having to look the words up.

  3. And I scoff at his opinion. by BrendaEM · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Everyone who stands to gain power will surly opt for totalitarian control.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
    1. Re:And I scoff at his opinion. by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Funny

      You may be right. And stop calling me Surly.

    2. Re:And I scoff at his opinion. by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Funny

      You may be right. And stop calling me Surly.

      Yes, that was over the top. While not obviously surly, you do seem a bit demanding...
      Surely you agree...
      I know Shirley does...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  4. Darn that President of yours plays a long game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    he had a supreme judge bumped off just so he could ensure the majority vote on this issue.

  5. EDNY by Etherwalk · · Score: 5, Informative

    To be clear, this was a decision from a Federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of NY. (E.g. Long Island and Staten Island). It is not binding on any other court, but it is a Federal Court Decision, which gives it more weight than most equivalent state court decisions, and it is from a fairly well-respected District. (For example, they are responsible for some of the classic electronic discovery cases). They are not the Southern District of New York, which is the rock star of District Courts--but it has enough persuasive weight that most other courts will take it at least a little seriously. They just aren't required to follow it.

    1. Re:EDNY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      From what I can see, this Brooklyn decision was argued by both Apple and the relevant Law enforcement.
      This has allowed the judge to hear both sides and probably make a more considered judgement.

      The San Bernardino case was ex-parte, so Apple was never able to make any submission before the order was made.

      If nothing else, it proves that ex-parte orders of this magnitude should not be permitted.

  6. This is what I've been saying since day one... by KGIII · · Score: 5, Informative

    Feel free to scroll through my post history. Under what authority does the judge issue these orders? Nobody has been able to cite where this authority is coming from. Lots of people have told me that I'm wrong, in lots of ways. Nobody has actually answered the damned question or shown where the authority comes from. The judge doesn't have this kind of power.

    An example, albeit not a good one, is that even though there's litter on the ground, a judge can't just order a random person to pick it up. There's nobody even charged in this case. There has been no indictment, no arraignment, nothing... There's nobody charged AND if there were, I'm still not sure that the judge has authority to issue this order.

    People are still running around calling it a warrant. It's not a warrant. It was never a warrant.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    1. Re:This is what I've been saying since day one... by Earthquake+Retrofit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Back when dinosaurs roamed the internet, there was a guy here with some authority who could make sense of things like this named New York Country Lawyer.

      --
      Fifty years of Yippie! 1968-2018
    2. Re:This is what I've been saying since day one... by BitterOak · · Score: 3, Informative

      Under what authority does the judge issue these orders?

      Under the All Writs Act. I'm not saying it necessarily applies in this case, but it is the authority judges cite. (At least the judge in California did. In NY, the Justice Department asked the judge to use it.)

      --
      If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
    3. Re:This is what I've been saying since day one... by KGIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The authority to issue this order (a writ) in this particular case. This is not a warrant. You need to understand that if you want to have this conversation.

      Compound that with there *is* no party being charged (at this time). This is *not* a warrant and there's nobody who has been charged or indicted or arraigned or anything. That last part can be easily changed but, for now, there's nobody charged - they can charge one or both of the dead people posthumously.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    4. Re: This is what I've been saying since day one... by mrchaotica · · Score: 2

      I miss that guy. Groklaw, too.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    5. Re:This is what I've been saying since day one... by bitingduck · · Score: 5, Informative

      The judge actually lays it out pretty well in the order.

      DOJ went to the court to have them issue a writ to order Apple to break into the phone around when the guy in NY was charged. They did this because they thought it had evidence that would be useful in getting a conviction. The guy later plead guilty, which you might think would render the writ moot, but DOJ wanted to continue investigating to see if there was data on the phone to implicate collaborators of the guy who plead guilty. The courts normally defer to the discretion of the investigators and say "yes, while it looks moot, I understand you want to do a thorough investigation and see if there's evidence of criminal behavior of other people, so I'll go ahead and approve this writ". So far so good. Judge Orenstein even explains it more or less that way.

      Until Apple say's "hey, this is putting a burden on us, and we're not a party to any of it, and we're not in the software breaking business. We don't even have tools to break our own after OS7, and while we've previously cooperated a few dozen times on earlier OS versions, this is getting to be both a lot of work and y'all are starting to ask us to make things from scratch that we think are dangerous to make even once. We think you're pushing this AWA thing too far, and here's why." (and they submit their briefs)

      The judge reads it all, has hearings, etc and then says "Yes, Apple, you're correct, the AWA doesn't give me the authority to order you to do what DOJ asks, and all these other laws and precedents back them up, too. Have a nice day. DOJ, you guys are way overreaching, and your attempts to bypass the legislative process are transparent. You lose this way, and that way, and this other way, too. None of your arguments claiming I have that authority are any good. Go away. kthxbye."

      And then the DOJ has the option to appeal to the circuit court, but they'll probably wait to see what they get in California. If they lose about the same way in both places, they might back off. If they get conflicting orders, they'll probably appeal the one they don't like and try to get an appellate court to agree with them, but Apple will be doing the same thing with the order that *they* don't like. If two circuits then come up with different resolutions to the interpretation of the AWA (or other law in the case) then the supreme court will probably take it when it gets appealed to there.

    6. Re:This is what I've been saying since day one... by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 2

      Well, given the iPhone 5c in question is property of the San Bernardino County, I don't really think both cases are similar in any way. There is no need to charge anyone, the iPhone is government property, there shouldn't be any personal and/or private data on it. It ends up with the government asking Apple to unlock a government property.

      Why should a company be forced to get information off a phone in a very complicated way when the owners together with the FBI by malice or incompetence voided the option to restore it easily? Even more to the point: why should any government entity be allowed to operate phones without mobile device management software on it, that would allow them to access any of their phones no matter what passcode their employee has set?

      Especially when almost everybody with experience believes there's not a thing of interest on the phone? Not the least because it wasn't his nor his wife's private phone which they destroyed, but a government owned phone which he likely suspected to not be "safe".

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  7. not binding, but still useful by Trepidity · · Score: 4, Informative

    When courts are encountering an issue that's been decided before in another court, they often at least consider the other court's rationale, even if it's not binding precedent for them. That's termed "persuasive precedent". It's especially useful when several decisions going the same way pile up; then a party in a subsequent case can say, "every previous court to consider this issue has decided [x]", putting the onus on the other side to explain why the case here should go differently.

  8. The App Store, once Apple settles with FBI (humor) by rcharbon · · Score: 2

    http://www.y42k.com/2016/02/29/when-apple-settles-with-the-fbi/

  9. Re:Darn that President of yours plays a long game by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Funny

    . . . and I thought that Obama was was going to nominate himself for the empty seat on the Supreme Court

    He can't do that. Biden will recess-appoint him after Obama resigns, and just before BIden walks into the DNC convention and kicks Sanders to the curb.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  10. Since this device is running iOS 7... by daveschroeder · · Score: 2

    ...I guess it's time for Apple to update its law enforcement compliance guide:

    I. Extracting Data from Passcode Locked iOS Devices

    [...]

    For iOS devices running iOS versions earlier than iOS 8.0, upon receipt of a valid search warrant issued upon a showing of probable cause, Apple can extract certain categories of active data from passcode locked iOS devices. Specifically, the user generated active files on an iOS device that are contained in Appleâ(TM)s native apps and for which the data is not encrypted using the passcode (âoeuser generated active filesâ), can be extracted and provided to law enforcement on external media. Apple can perform this data extraction process on iOS devices running iOS 4 through iOS 7. Please note the only categories of user generated active files that can be provided to law enforcement, pursuant to a valid search warrant, are: SMS, iMessage, MMS, photos, videos, contacts, audio recording, and call history. Apple cannot provide: email, calendar entries, or any third-party app data.

  11. Re:Darn that President of yours plays a long game by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    What makes you think that Obama favors Apple's position?

  12. All Writs in danger by v1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If this goes far enough and it looks like it's going to get put up to SCOTUS, it's very likely the feds wil back down. Because then All Writs goes under the supreme microscope and may itself get ruled unconstitutional. THAT is something the FBI doesn't want to happen, because it's too useful of a law to lose. They're playing a dangerous game of chicken here. That NYC judge spelled it out, All Writs is a blank check. It's not even a matter of "inadequate protections against abuse"... it has essentially NO limits at all. The law just has to say "we need you to cooperate", and you have to do what they tell you to do, unless you can prove that it's clearly too much effort to demand. So if they can make a case that it's not too difficult for you to do, you have to do it, yours or anyone else's rights be damned. That'll make it a tough sell to keep on the books if SCOTUS gets involved.

    Go look up "writ of assistance". In theory it was a "you can't interfere with my doing my govt job", but in practice it was typically applied as a "you are required to cooperate with and assist me in performing my government job, otherwise you're interfering with me". (it was a similar blank check, and was often used as a perpetual univeral search warrant for customs) That's one of a handful of principle complaints we had a few hundred years ago while living under England. I have NO idea how All Writs got on OUR books after we so clearly despised its grandfather, and it needs to go away. So I'm all for Apple talking this to the top.

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  13. He just handed it over to the congress to solve. by dsmatthews9379 · · Score: 2

    "The ruling is not binding in any other court"

    "Orenstein found that the All Writs Act does not apply in instances where Congress had the opportunity but failed to create an authority for the government to get the type of help it was seeking, such as having firms ensure they have a way to obtain data from encrypted phones."

    So he is saying, OK if you want it, put it in law explicitly and see how the voters react to it. Seems to be conformation of what I pointed out the other day, this "issue" is confected with the aim of getting it into the lime light and making it a current political diving point.

  14. All Writs Act (1789), which is two sentences by raymorris · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The authority the FBI points to is the All Writs Act, passed in 1789. It's a law which probably should be repealed, but hasn't been. It says the following:

    (a) The Supreme Court and all courts established by Act of Congress may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law.

    (b) An alternative writ or rule nisi may be issued by a justice or judge of a court which has jurisdiction.

    By the text of the law, a court may render any order which is EITHER necessary OR appropriate in aid of a case under their jurisdiction, provided it is consistent with other law. To be clear, I'm not saying that SHOULD be the law; I don't like it, but that IS the text of the law, and it has been for 227 years.

    Subsequent court decisions have held that when Congress passes a law providing more detail about a certain type of order, the more specific law controls. This is how they interpret the phrase "agreeable to the usages and principles of law". In other words, courts can issue any order they want, under the All Writs Act, unless there is some other law saying otherwise. So the legal question is, "is there some other act of Congress which overrides in this case?"

    So by law, the question comes back to you (and Apple): "by what law is the authority granted by the All Writs Acts removed?"

    Apple points out that Congress did make a law requiring telecommunications manufacturers and carriers to allow for phone taps, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, but chose not to address decryption of past communications in that particular law. They made other laws in this general area, but none (other than the All Writs Act) that would allow for this type of order. Recently, Congress debated making a law that would require decryption. Congress didn't end up passing any law. The FBI says "because there is no law to the contrary, the All Writs Act applies". Apple says "because Congress chose not to make a law requiring decryption, that's the same as Congress making a law forbidding an order to decrypt, and the All Writs Act should not apply".

    As much as I'd prefer Apple to win, their argument that Congress NOT passing a law is the same as Congress passing the opposite law is a bit silly. The fact that Congress didn't pass a law making cardboard legal is NOT the same as Congress passing a law making cardboard illegal.

    The All Writs Act should be repealed, but it hasn't been. Courts have "interpreted" in such a way to trim it down to Constitutional scope. It FEELS like this use of it SHOULD be unconstitutional, but how so? The Constitution basically says the police have to get a warrant before they can search the phone. They did get the warrant.

    Is this a taking of Apple's property (resources) without due process? We're watching the due process, so I don't see any specific clause of the Constitution which forbids it. In my analysis, the All Writs Act, though a bad law, is law and does give the court the authority.

    1. Re:All Writs Act (1789), which is two sentences by Ixokai · · Score: 4, Informative

      Why do you think someone has to be charged first? You seem to have this very firm idea that its an absolute requirement that someone has to be charged before a court has jurisdiction over them.

      They don't.

      Search warrants happen all the time before someone is charged, they rely on a judge determining there's probable cause -- these happen BEFORE charges because they're how the initial evidence of the crime is gathered.

      This is similar, though its not a search warrant and Apple is not a party to the actual criminal investigation (which makes this all a little bit weird). The authority for this order comes from the All Writ's Act. Its practically a blanket authorization of judicial orders covering anything that's not specifically covered by another area of law.

      Its a horrible law, but was passed when the country was young and it hadn't fully developed all of its body of law yet, but whenever there's something novel that happens, the All Writ's Act gets invoked.

      Its established in other law that third party companies have a responsibility to assist the executive in exercising its authority -- wire tapping, for example -- provided several tests are passed, such as it not being an undue burden. Apple argues, among other things, that this is an undue burden (and no talking about how rich they are matters: undue burden is a legal distinction that doesn't go away just because you can afford it). But, as with a telecom company and wire taps, no one has to be charged before the judicial order is made requiring the telecom to assist the executive in the wire tapping.

      The thing is, that 'established in other law' is not only being stretched by the FBI here, but Congress specifically forbade the executive from mandating certain technological decisions that would lead to them being able to break digital encryption. So the FBI is citing the All Writ's Act to get the order, instead of relying on the CALEA, which specifically addresses what is legally required of companies in the form of assistance provided, and under what limitations such assistance operates under.

    2. Re:All Writs Act (1789), which is two sentences by Wovel · · Score: 2

      Apple is also making first amendment arguments: code has been ruled to speech, speech can not be compelled by the government, corporations are protected by the first amendment.

      Further down you said we are seeing due process. You would certainly agree then that the the original ex-parte ruling unconstitutional.

      Tell me why the 9th and 10th amendments did not invalidate the all writs act when they were enacted. Put that question in front of any rational jurist and it should be self-evident. Unfortunately, judges have been reluctant to take away their own power. Obviously, the magistrate from New York is an exception. The All Writs Act is an unconstitutional law. The fact that it has stood for more than 200 years since the bill of rights just proves how rare this magistrate is.

      We don't need a law to give judges power to fill in gaps in the law. As far as the federal government is concerned, the law is explicit. You don't have to be a radical constructionist to believe this. Just a rational human. There is no law or constitutional power given to the government to conscript third parties into assisting with criminal investigations. Due process may compel you to hand over items or testify in court. It can't be used to conscript anyone into civilian law enforcement.

  15. Re:Not much reaction yet from the Wall St. casinos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Everyone knows the Feds already have it. Apple knows they have it. The Feds want presidence so every other company will willingly step in line.

  16. Chinese by AndyCanfield · · Score: 2

    If the FBI wins, everyone in the USA will be insecure, and everyone else in the world will buy an iOrange phone from China.

    The constitution says "We the people,,,". not "We the paranoid cops...".

    I'd rather be free than safe.

  17. Re:He just handed it over to the congress to solve by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 2

    "The ruling is not binding in any other court" "Orenstein found that the All Writs Act does not apply in instances where Congress had the opportunity but failed to create an authority for the government to get the type of help it was seeking, such as having firms ensure they have a way to obtain data from encrypted phones." So he is saying, OK if you want it, put it in law explicitly and see how the voters react to it.

    More like "change the law that says you can't".

    In the section of CALEA entitled “Design of features and systems configurations,” 47 U.S.C. 1002(b)(1), the statute says that it “does not authorize any law enforcement agency or officer —

    (1) to require any specific design of equipment, facilities, services, features, or system configurations to be adopted by any provider of a wire or electronic communication service, any manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, or any provider of telecommunications support services.

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  18. Re:Not much reaction yet from the Wall St. casinos by stealth_finger · · Score: 2, Funny

    Apple has already given the data away to marketers.

    ^ TROLL

    You're right, they don't give away data, they sold it. Probably for twice what it was worth because they put in a shiny folder with an apple logo on it.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
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