It absolutely is a game. And governments don't always succeed in winning the game against powerful coalitions. Besides "the government" is a large, fractured entity with political divisions and its own internal power struggles. If one subset of "the government" can look impressive by milking some showy support of Apple, and use this to defeat internal rivals, they absolutely will.
The vast majority of people in the US agree that, when it comes to the illusion of keeping them safe, that Apple should bend over and give up the info.
Now, I personally do not agree with this stance, but it's obvious to me which way the wind is blowing.
Even if they think security is more important than liberty, iPhones are more important than security, so it evens out. It's a gamble but Apple may win this.
Why are you saying this? There is always a choice. TC may choose to go to jail. His successor may also choose to go to jail. To the point that Apple shareholders may choose to let Apple go bust and burn the servers with the source code of iOS. You can argue that this is silly, idiotic and what not. But there is always a choice. Some brave people have choosen to go to jail previously.
This is not about going to jail. No one is going to go to jail. If Apple loses, they will have to comply (assuming it is technically possible to do so). They are going to appeal what is (at this point) an order from a magistrate judge. They have at least three higher forums (district judge, court of appeals, supreme court). If and when they get a final, adverse order they can't appeal, they are going to comply.
Apple also has a form of resistance not available to you or I. They don't have to fall on their sword. A sword as big as theirs can be used it to decapitate (or, more aptly, recapitate) the FBI. With a 12-figure bank account, you can get a lot of people elected...people who will be more than willing to replace those in charge at the FBI.
What's more, they don't even have to actually do it, they just need to make the FBI believe that they actually would do it if the FBI presses the issue.
Right, but the FBI knows they wouldn't. This whole situation is generating good PR for Apple. Getting people elected that can change things would be a waste of their money because if known, it is very bad PR (the public is generally against lobbying like this) and the good PR created by this "fight" ends immediately.
The Feds will always try, but in this case there is some push-back. The fact that this case has been made public and Apple is fighting against this is a victory in and of itself.
And if they do have to comply this time, it would be nice if Apple were very vocal about continuing to make it impossible to comply in the future with newer iPhones.
I'd like to know what would happen if Apple said "Looks like we can't guarantee the safety of our users as an American company anymore. We're moving our headquarters and signing key to Iceland. For now, we'll keep our US company as a subsidiary which will provide R&D etc. to Apple Iceland as a service since we can't just move the office, but Apple is now an Icelandic company."
What? This is literally a game. What are the feds going to do against Apple, one of the most valuable companies in the history of modern civilisation? Have them pay some fines? That's about the worst they can do. They can't shut down the company.
They do that all the time for not complying with edicts.
For those of you whom have never experienced it, even 48 hours in jail is a truly miserable and ugly experience, one that no corporate titan is interested in.
The implications are huge however. AFAIK most smartphone users use iPhones. People will be outraged -- and not only people but _MANY_ business depending on Apple tech, and many governmental agencies both in USA and abroad.
If they actually try to hit that hard they'll find themselves in a very bad PR situation. They might not care for that but the consequences of such an action will bite them really hard on the ass.
Does the federal government think this a game? Apple doesn't run things, the people do, and will, in the end, use their full power to get what they desire.
Do people think this a game? Apple doesn't run things, the federal government does, and will, in the end, use it's full power to get what it desires.