Apple refuses to unlock phone of San Bernardino shooters

The FBI wants Apple to write a software to unlock an iPhone left behind by one of the San Bernardino shooters who killed 14 people and injured 22 at a holiday party last December. They believe there could be potential information about future attacks that they cannot access due the phone becoming permanently inaccessible after 10 failed attempts.

Apple is refusing and are filing a motion to overturn the court order. Apple argues that unlocking the phone would make all of their users less safe, and at risk of being accessed by the FBI. The brief says, “The government says ‘Just this once’ and ‘Just this phone’ but if the order is permitted to stand, it will only be a matter of days before some other prosecutor, in some other important case, before some other judge, seeks a similar order using this case as precedent.”

The tech company vs. the U.S. government fight has caused other tech giants Microsoft, Google and Facebook to show their support by filing court motions. Microsoft President Brad Smith said, “We at Microsoft support Apple and will be filing an amicus brief next week.”

When Apple Chief Tim Cook addressed the controversy he said breaking into the phone would be “bad for America.” “Some things are hard, and some things are right, and some things are both – this is one of those things,” said Cook to ABC News.

A public hearing between Apple and the FBI is scheduled for March 22^nd.