"From what I understand Tim is doing, and I greatly admire, is trying to avoid a judicial requirement that they be able to do this on demand. The so called "back door" requirement, because he knows, as others do, that such a feature would be used by more than the intended audience, and for more than the intended uses, to the detriment of Apple's users."

To be fair - the only reason he's doing it is because it would cause a significant drop in sales for Apple devices. People overseas would immediately stop buying because "The American government is listening", and that's assuming countries like China and Russia wouldn't ban them outright.

This is the big thing American politicians are missing or glossing over in their campaigns to get re-elected: Forcing American companies to compromise their products will result in a significant loss of revenue overseas. Microsoft, Google, et al, have already reported it and foreign governments have already started banning goods/services (due to the Snowden revelations).