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Apple looks to first amendment for help in FBI battle

Last updated: 01:16 25 Feb 2016 AEDT, First published: 20:16 24 Feb 2016 AEDT

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A legal battle has commenced, with the FBI looking to force Apple to require the firm to write new software to help unlock the iPhone.

Tech giant Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to use the first amendment as its main defense to protect its code against the FBI.

The two have been embroiled in a public battle, with the FBI asking for Apple’s help in its attempt to hack an iPhone of one of the killers in the December mass shooting in San Bernadino.

A legal battle has commenced, with the FBI looking to force Apple to require the firm to write new software to help unlock the iPhone.

But Apple is claiming it cannot be forced to write an operating system with weaker security under the first amendment, which protects freedom of speech.

By doing this, the firm is (in theory) claiming that the software is creative work expressing a point of view, rather than a set of rules and instructions for computers.

Last week,  the US District Court in Los Angeles ruled that Apple must provide "reasonable technical assistance" to investigators seeking to unlock the data on the phone, including bypassing the passcode protection function so they can attempt an unlimited number of password guesses.

James Comey, FBI Director, said: “We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist’s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. That’s it.”

The debate has been raging, with companies including social media titans Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) quick to back Apple’s fight.

Most recently, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates gave his opinion, saying: “You don’t want to just take the minute after a terrorist event and swing that direction, nor do you want to in general completely swing away from government access when you get some abuse being revealed. You want to strike that balance that the United States leads in setting example.”

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