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they HAD to? didnt Apple refuse to do this exact thing?

Apple refused to create new software to allow the FBI to brute force an encrypted device. OpenAI just had this info floating around on hard drives.

And then 3 or 4 allies of the US passed laws enabling the government to require companies to develop tools or face prison time.

So they probably have developed the tool, and once developed been secretly compelled to use it.

> And then 3 or 4 allies of the US passed laws enabling the government to require companies to develop tools or face prison time

My understanding is that Apple’s executives were surprised at the forcefulness of the opposition to their stand together with the meekness of public support.

(Having worked on private legislation, I get it. You work on privacy and like two people call their electeds because most people don’t care about privacy, while those who do are predominantly civically nihilists or lazy.)

If you are referring to the incident below, it is different because the government asked Apple to write software to allow access to the device:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple%E2%80%93FBI_encryption_d...

If Apple had simply had the text records, they would have had to comply with the government order to provide them.

And Apple did provide all iCloud data they had available.

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