I don't know why you pointed at my post. I'm speaking on stuff I know about. I too suspect the FBI is lying as well but more because they were concerned of setting precedent against themselves. At least with this the waters can remain murky. This case wasn't at all going to be an easy case for them to win and as time went on the PR would've gotten worse.

Secondly, it makes Apple look like their system isn't secure and the FBI doesn't even have to back up its claims that it broke into the phone at least currently. However, because the FBI came out so strongly, they are being challenged by the EFF to follow the rules of the VEP spelled out by the government. I thought the article is pretty clear....but since my post might not be given that I just posted a link i'll quote a portion of it for context.

The point I was bringing up is that the FBI could be opening itself up for lawsuits from Apple or other groups like the EFF based on the governments own stated rules.

I didn't even bring up the fact that for all we know the phone was still using iOS 8 in which case maybe the vulnerabilities used for this phone on wouldn't be available for iOS 9/ iPhones 6 and newer.

Apple complying would of resulted in a PR disaster.

Oh I didn't know that iPhone 5Cs were released in 2013 though

Apple should have just unlocked it. If you're not a terrorist or a criminal, who cares?

It's the principle of the thing. If Apple lets the Justice Department walk all over them, it sets a bad precedent for other companies and customer security. Once a back door is created, it's almost a reality that it'll be on the black market and in government hands, easily abused to steal information and embed spyware. Liberty trumps security.

no they shouldn't have. You don't spend millions and billions of dollars on security and encryption to break it yourself. You're setting yourself up for hackers, foreign governments, terror groups left and right to easily break into American phones and wreak havoc on people's lives....cyber terrorism.

I know. That's why I added "lbr". The 5c is an iPhone 5 in every way except for the casing and a few more radio bands.

I wanna pile on!

We need encryption and security. Just like we need locks on our doors and clothes on our bodies. We need our governments to follow the rules they demand us to follow.

Let's say you own a business and you have proprietary data that makes your business stand out. Let's also say that your rival wants to know that data. Without proper security, your data might as well be public knowledge. And then your business loses the advantage because your competition knows your secret.

Or let's say you text your spouse that you're running late and won't be home until 2am. You then lose your phone and somebody hacks it. They know that your spouse will be alone until 2am. They break in. Maybe they harm your spouse.

Is it worth it? No. There will always be people willing to do harm. Our best defense is to have a defense. Look at all of the security changes that have come out since 9/11. Look at all of the invasive laws. The NSA spying. All of this in the name of security. Airports and airlines aren't much safer. Just read the news. Terrorist attacks still happen. Why? Because people who seek to do harm will find a way to no matter how much oversight the government has. That's why they're criminals. What these proposed laws seek to do is to negate the privacy of the average citizen. And the only reason they would want to do that is because the greater goal is control over the population. Scare people into submission, if you will.

This. apple is trash for not opening it. for all they know they may have gotten some vital information and contacts in that phone. Apple can rot.

That's really uncalled for. They weren't asked to just open it. They were asked to create a new operating system that could be loaded into the phone so that it could be unlocked without deleting any of the content. They also want future versions of iOS to have a backdoor so that they can access any phone that comes across them. The downside to that is if there's a backdoor, hackers can find it and they will get in.

Apple made the right choice.