Apple, Security, Privacy, and the U.S. Government.

Apple-February-16-2016

A message from Tim Cook, Apple CEO:

February 16, 2016 A Message to Our Customers

The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.

This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake.

Apple is responding to the order issued by a Federal Magistrate to “hack” the iPhone used by the gunman of San Bernardino Terror Attack.

The San Bernardino Case

We were shocked and outraged by the deadly act of terrorism in San Bernardino last December. We mourn the loss of life and want justice for all those whose lives were affected. The FBI asked us for help in the days following the attack, and we have worked hard to support the government’s efforts to solve this horrible crime. We have no sympathy for terrorists.

Regarding Apple involvement in the investigations:

When the FBI has requested data that’s in our possession, we have provided it. Apple complies with valid subpoenas and search warrants, as we have in the San Bernardino case. We have also made Apple engineers available to advise the FBI, and we’ve offered our best ideas on a number of investigative options at their disposal.

Apple has been providing assistance to the FBI in  the investigation.

We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone. (Emphasis mine)

A backdoor is the antithesis to security.

Opposing this order is not something we take lightly. We feel we must speak up in the face of what we see as an overreach by the U.S. government.

We are challenging the FBI’s demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications.

While we believe the FBI’s intentions are good, it would be wrong for the government to force us to build a backdoor into our products. And ultimately, we fear that this demand would undermine the very freedoms and liberty our government is meant to protect.

This is a polarizing issue, especially in the U.S. election year. Apple products, specifically the iPhone, are used in the United States by many people including the Government Officials. What would the Government Officials say should there be some kind of backdoor to their iPhones? They would be screaming bloody murder and blame Apple for such backdoor.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, indeed.

 

US Government to Cease Control over ICANN in September 2015

From iCANN Announcement:

14 March 2014
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today launched a process to transition the role of the United States Government relating to the Internet’s unique identifiers system.

ICANN’s announcement comes on the heels of an historic announcement today by the U.S. Government stating that it is ready to transfer its stewardship of the important Internet technical functions to the global Internet community. The U.S. Government’s current responsibilities to be transitioned include the procedural role of administering changes to the Domain Name System’s (DNS) to the authoritative root zone file – the database containing the lists of names and addresses of all top-level domains – as well as serving as the historic steward of the unique identifiers registries for Domain names, IP addresses, and protocol parameters.

In doing so, the U.S. recognized ICANN’s maturation in becoming an effective multistakeholder organization and requested that ICANN convene the global community to develop the transition process from of the U.S. stewardship to a global community consensus-driven mechanism.

ICANN contract with the US Government is due to expire in September 2015.

One request to whoever be in control of iCANN: Please keep the the Liberty of the Internet.

ICANN-logo-960x540