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Apple Might Be Forced to Hand Over iOS Source Code to the FBI (theguardian.com)
Bruce66423 writes: In its latest filing, the FBI implies that, if the burden on Apple programmers of their alternative approach is too great, then Apple should release the whole source code to the FBI to allow them to do the work, quoting the precedent of the Lavabit confrontation. Clearly it is time for Apple to move offshore!? To recall, Lavabit abruptly shut down in 2013 when the FBI attempted to get the company to hand over the encryption keys for its secure email service. While the current situation seems to put Apple in the same ballpark as Lavabit, what gives the Cupertino-giant company an advantage is the immense support it is receiving from other Silicon Valley companies and personnel.
Many believe that the FBI doesn't really need Apple's help in unlocking the iPhone. Reports claim that the iPhone in question already has a "backdoor" which could allow the government-backed institution to access the data on the smartphone. Other widely reported theories include cracking the iPhone and manipulating the innards to trick the system into spilling out all the information. One proposed method, which requires the phone's NAND flash chip to be taken out, may not work, though. Daniel Kahn Gillmor, a technology fellow with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, pointed out the risks in playing with flash memory. He said that an error in removing the memory could make the data unreadable forever.
From TFA:
“The FBI cannot itself modify the software on Farook’s iPhone without access to the source code and Apple’s private electronic signature.
“The government did not seek to compel Apple to turn those over because it believed such a request would be less palatable to Apple. If Apple would prefer that course, however, that may provide an alternative that requires less labour by Apple programmers.”
If only there was someone in charge that could tell the FBI to stop this.
Maybe Apple would want to pack up and completely move to Ireland then...would it have more to offer than massive tax breaks? (http://qz.com/273631/how-apple-got-its-2-tax-rate-in-ireland/)
Thinking about the Apple situation, I noted that for years people have predicted that we would live in a corporatocracy.
And here we are, huddling in fear while giant organizations battle for our rights.
It is now too expensive for anyone except the upper 1% to go to court, so we are forced to hope and pray that some organization will take up the cause, leaving us on the sidelines rooting like sports fans.
Of course, those giant entities will only battle for our rights if it aligns with their other goals - Apple isn't opposing this out of their good nature, it's because doing it would cost the money and hurt their bottom line with future sales.
What a world we live in!
This is what governments do when they start leaning towars totalitarianism. And then they say "it's for your own good". Historically, this never goes pretty or well. This isn't about a phone, it's about getting all companies to acknowledge "whose boss". We jump, you say "how high" or else...you have no rights except those we allow you to have, and they can be revoked at any time it's convenient for us,,,hmm...America, home of the not so brave, not so free.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
Um, what constitutional protection?
The FBI went through a court, that is the extent of the protection the constitution guarentees with the fourth amendment.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized
Do you try to say that there isn't probable cause, there want an Oath or affirmation, or that the thing to be searched was not described well enough?
Not simple.
The source code is a stretch, the seizure of source code was not specified in the writ.
It is more than source code...
This would be a second pile of worms.
And I suspect interesting bits are not Apples to release.
It is not uncommon for hardware to be built with devices that are opaque without
information obtained via NDA. Files that contain offsets for registers and functions
that describe and make the device do its thing fall into this NDA world like nVidia driver
blobs in Windows and Linux.
For the FBI to work with blobs Apple would have to engineer an API and deliver binary blobs.
A single chunk of silicon can contain the IP of numerous companies.
Some are patent exchange agreements with exclusions to sell and disclose.
The complexity of patent contracts and portfolios is non trivial.
This can extend to tools and tool chains.
Apple recently chopped LLVM from some of its build tool chains read why.
Swift and other internal tools and libraries may apply.
It is likely that source is shared on many other devices so to reach in
and grab source, tools, make files and more for one device would be
a reach into all of the products: iPad, Mac, iTunes, AirPlay, Apple Watch.
The Apple ecosystem is not public. You cannot hire individuals with knowledge
of iPhone and IOS internals without their being in violation of individual NDAs.
Training... there is no external training program for internals.
A less worthy bit of hardware is the Pandaboard and obtaining
full documentation is non trivial. When Texas Instruments backed off
interesting software devel stopped. The graphics hardware IP blobs
are often the tightest in the industry and would be necessary. Radios,
network chips, USB devices.
Copyright... it took a couple years to identify all the copyright owners
in some flavors of BSD Unix and rewrite or license them. Transfer
to someone without permission could be expensive.
Most licenses are not transferable... sure if identified in open court
but most contracts have silence clauses.
Some IP might be international in origin. Can this court reach out
to compel IP from a Japanese, Korean, Chinese Canadian company.
Someone is smoking some wackey tbackey...
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain.