Apple takes its case to Capitol Hill - CNET

Mr. Cook isn't going to Washington, but his top lawyer is.

Apple's General Counsel Bruce Sewell will speak on behalf of the iPhone maker and CEO Tim Cook on Tuesday at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the balance between national security and individual privacy.

At the same time, Apple issued a new filing with the courts saying a judge's Feb. 16 order to help the FBI access a terrorist's iPhone violates the company's constitutional rights.

It's the latest move as both Apple and law enforcement escalate their respective agendas. The FBI wants Apple to create a special version of its mobile software to help access an iPhone used by a terrorist who, along with his wife, killed 14 people and wounded 20 others last December in San Beardino, Califoia. The FBI wants to use multiple attempts to unlock the phone, without worrying it would trip security settings that would erase it after 10 unsuccessful tries. Apple, which said it has already given the FBI copies of the phone's backups, says the court doesn't have the authority to force them to write a special version of the software.

No court has granted the govement power to force people to weaken protections of their computers, an Apple executive said on a conference call Thursday. In addition, the govement has been hesitant to force citizens to decrypt their devices, disabling security protections. Apple's executives now argue that this issue should be decided by lawmakers.