This is an interesting situation. Obviously no-one has any sympathy for the terrorists, but a federal judge is requiring Apple to build access to unlock an iPhone. There’s a more complex issue at stake, at least there appears to be – maybe not. Here’s the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. magistrate has ordered Apple to help the Obama administration hack into an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in San Bernardino, California.

The ruling by Sheri Pym on Tuesday requires Apple to supply highly specialized software the FBI can load onto the phone to cripple a security encryption feature that erases data after too many unsuccessful unlocking attempts.

Federal prosecutors told the judge they can’t access a county-owned work phone used by Syed Farook because they don’t know his passcode. By default, Apple has encrypted its iPhones to allow them only to be accessed using a passcode. (read more)

What do you think?