Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, February 29, 2016

Summoned to Capitol Hill, Apple Comes Armed With Questions for Congress

Apple, summoned to Capitol Hill to explain why it is refusing to help the government access a terrorist’s phone by developing malware to hack in, says Congress should be the one answering questions.

Bruce Sewell, Apple’s top lawyer and senior vice president, will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. In the prepared text of his opening statement, Sewell calls for public debate around three questions in particular.

“The American people deserve an honest conversation around the important questions stemming from the FBI’s current demand,” Sewell wrote.

“Do we want to put a limit on the technology that protects our data, and therefore our privacy and our safety, in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks?

“Should the FBI be allowed to stop Apple, or any company, from offering the American people the safest and most secure product it can make?”

And: “Should the FBI have the right to compel a company to produce a product it doesn’t already make, to the FBI’s exact specifications and for the FBI’s use?”

A California federal magistrate judge ordered Apple to help the government break into an iPhone used by San Bernardino killer Syed Rizwan Farook on February 16—but Apple says that demand is onerous and oppressive, like asking them to breed “cancer” to infect their own product, and opposite their mission to protect users’ cybersecurity.

Apple thinks the answer shouldn’t come from the courts. “The decisions should be made by you and your colleagues as representatives of the people, rather than through a warrant request based on a 220 year- old-statute,” Sewell wrote.

Read the rest of Sewell’s opening remarks below as a preview to Tuesday’s hearing:

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2726483/Testimony-of-Bruce-Sewell-March-1-2016.pdf

Original Article
Source: theintercept.com/
Author: Jenna McLaughlin

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