It’s been said, one rotten apple ruins the rest.
Yes indeed. And that apple would be in Apple the company. You know the one…the most profitable company in the entire world. This week in the US, the FBI wants Apple to assist them in unlocking the phone which belonged to the San Bernardino shooters. Just to refresh your memory of this attack, the following brief is as noted by Wikipedia:
On December 2, 2015, 14 people were killed and 22 were seriously injured in a terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, which consisted of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing. The perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple… targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and holiday party, of about 80 employees, in a rented banquet room. Farook was an American-born U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, who worked as a health department employee. Malik was a Pakistani-born lawful permanent resident of the United States…the FBI’s investigation revealed that the perpetrators were “homegrown violent extremists” inspired by foreign terrorist groups. ..[they] had become radicalized over several years prior to the attack, consuming “poison on the internet” and expressing a commitment to jihadism and martyrdom in private messages to each other. Farook and Malik had traveled to Saudi Arabia in the years before the attack…The attack was the second-deadliest mass shooting in California… and the worst terrorist attack to occur in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks.
It completely perplexes me as to any reasoning for resisting cooperation with the investigation. Aside from the attack itself, the heart of the legal controversy is whether or not people are entitled to their “privacy” via their mobile phones. I suppose if Apple and their advocates had their way, then phone records would constitute as a safe haven for any activity including criminal. If someone is aiding and abetting someone else with a criminal deed, doesn’t that make him/her a co-conspirator to the crime? Perhaps Apple should also be charged with murder and be forced to pay restitution to the family of all the victims. Can you imagine a couple of gunmen charging into your home and/or place of employment and killing your spouse, children, neighbors and friends and then be allowed a designated safe place to park, hide, dispose any evidence, which would be off limits to police? Tim Cook, CEO of Apple and all of his supporters must be insane.
I find it ironic the late founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, had a biological Muslim father from Syria. Although, Mr. Jobs never pursued a relationship with his father nor demonstrated any interest in the Middle East, he had a sister who traveled to Lebanon and Syria and had an appreciation for their Arab heritage. Princess Diana was dubbed “the people’s Princess” upon her death by Tony Blair, as an expression that she belonged to the hearts of all people of the earth. Clearly, the inference being she was an international citizen and transcended geographical, demographic, political and religious boundaries/confines. I think of Mr. Jobs in the same way. His products live on in the entire world…and beyond in cyberspace.
Who defines where cyberspace exist or doesn’t? Is it intended to be an uncontrolled, undocumented, lawless “place”? Even Bill Gates, who needs no introduction, has publicly sided with the FBI. So Apple do you really want to be known for “breaking bad”? Don’t be a rotten Apple! 
