|
 In a letter filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York,
prosecutors said that investigators late on Thursday used that
passcode to access the iPhone at issue, and as a result "no longer
needs Apple's assistance."
The letter marked a sudden end to a closely watched case, in which
the Justice Department had been appealing a ruling by a federal
magistrate judge holding that he could not force Apple to assist
authorities.
The case gained further significance after prosecutors in March
dropped a similar effort to force Apple to help access an iPhone
used by one of the shooters in December's San Bernardino killings,
after a third party provided a way to crack it.
Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Pierce said the cases have
"never been about setting a court precedent; they are about law
enforcement's ability and need to access evidence on devices
pursuant to lawful court orders and search warrants."
 An Apple spokesman declined comment. Previously, the company had
argued in court that prosecutors had not provided any evidence to
bolster their claim that they had exhausted other methods to get
data from the phone. Apple said it was not even clear that they had
asked the suspect and his associates.
Though officials said the passcode had just come to light, the
development marks the second time the federal government has dropped
a contentious fight over the extent of its power over private
companies after Apple pressed it to say what methods it had tried.
Prosecutors had been challenging a Feb. 29 ruling by U.S. Magistrate
Judge James Orenstein holding he did not have the authority to order
Apple to disable the security of an iPhone seized in a drug probe.
The case predated the government effort to force Apple to help
access the phone of Rizwan Farook, one of the two killers in the San
Bernardino massacre, which left 14 people dead and 22 wounded.
While the Justice Department dropped that bid after a third party
provided a way to access the San Bernardino phone - apparently for
more than $1 million - it continued appealing Orenstein's ruling.
FBI Director James Comey has said that the method used on the San
Bernardino iPhone 5c would not work on other models, including the
iPhone 5s, the type in the Brooklyn case.
The phone belonged to Jun Feng, who has pleaded guilty to
participation in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, which
prosecutors are continuing to investigate.
[to top of second column] |
Unlike the phone used in San Bernardino, Feng's phone had an older
operating system, iOS 7, which is not protected under the same
encryption technology, which is why Apple could access it.
Apple has some 70 times before the Brooklyn case emerged helped
authorities access data on iPhones, according to court filings.
The company changed its stance last year after the New York
magistrate invited them to argue whether the Justice Department was
stretching the more than 200-year-old and very general All Writs
Act, which compels help executing warrants, to include more active
assistance.
Apple said prosecutors were going too far, especially since Congress
had more recently limited what communications providers could be
compelled to do.
Magistrate Orenstein agreed. Though prosecutors have continued to
push for mandated cooperation, in many cases under seal, Apple has
been objecting and appealing.
The New York case has drawn less attention than the one in
California, but the fact that a ruling favorable to Apple has been
allowed to stand gives it more significance going forward.
While the FBI is continuing to fight in other courts, more attention
has turned to a draft bill by leaders of the Senate Intelligence
Committee that would force all manner of companies to turn over
unencrypted data when served with a court order.
The majority of the technology industry bitterly opposes the
measure, arguing that requiring back doors would make all
communication more vulnerable to hackers and that U.S. citizens and
companies would simply get their encryption from providers in other
countries.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York and Joseph Menn in San
Francisco; additional reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington;
Editing by Sandra Maler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
