"Moreover, Apple’s position on privacy seems at odds with its own strategy of encouraging customers to pay to store personal data on iCloud, which is also vulnerable to hackers."

I am not sure what he means by "hacking". But for his information, Apple is taking similar steps to make the iCloud encryption stronger, and if those steps go uninterrupted, iCloud backups decryption will be impossible in the near future, making the data in the cloud immune to FBI requests. It's not a matter of hypocrisy, it's just that "progression" takes time...

And everyone seems to conveniently ignore the fact that even if Apple do what the FBI wants, terrorism will not stop. As I said before, Terrorists don't even have to find alternative means of communications to carry out their plans. Concealing hidden messages in plain unecrypted readable English text can do the job just fine. Let alone other more complicated languages.

"But when you are the two companies whose operating systems handle more than 90 percent of mobile communications worldwide, you should be accountable for more than just sales."

But they are accountable for more than just sales...

Maybe the FBI and the gov. need to be more accountable for more than just carrying out investigations, like you know, presenting false evidence of WMD. Being allies with countries with clear atrocious human rights records, what is ISIS without the Wahhabi version of Islam that they push with the US ,indirect, help.

In more recent news, Google, Twitter, Facebook, & Microsoft to file court motions officially supporting Apple in FBI fight.

You responded to nothing I said, simply questioned the author.  I gave the link, ask them the questions.  Again, it's the county's phone, and a decedent has no right to privacy.  

Apple should have and has had, in the past ways to access this information.  As was pointed out in the article, that access was never leaked to nefarious entities, Apple was able to maintain control.  There's no reason to suggest this would be any different unless Apple went leaving the keys laying around.

I responded to some points in the article. You said nothing that needed negating. The case isn't just about this phone, Comey has already said so. And I asked, what would happen when less progressive countries start making similar requests to take down activists. 

Which was answered in the article.  Such requests are made through the State Department which are approved or denied based upon their merits.  This is something Apple is familiar with.  Try reading the article.

So what you're saying is that the Government should do nothing, because once, the Government did something bad?  Is that really where you're going with this?

No, I am saying consumers, Apple, and other tech giants have the right to not trust the government, FBI, CIA or whatever intelligence community with anything. 

And consumers are morons if they trust any company more or less than they trust the Government.  Especially a company such as Apple, or Google, or Microsoft, who've absolutely been guilty of tax evasion, mining their own private data from their customers (and selling it), and so on.  And not making a distinction between intelligence agencies, and making them all equally responsible for transgressions where one entity may not in any way have any involvement whatsoever is a very poor way of debate.

 And again, I'm not sure where you're getting your information from, but neither the Police or FBI were involved in WMD's in Iraq.  Why you'd be tieing them into this, is an absolute lie, and a farcical stretch.  Especially considering the FBI has enough of it's own blunders in the past to account for.  Ruby Ridge, and  Waco, are certainly relevant (albeit dated at this point) topics w/ regards to the FBI, but WMD Iraq?  Yeah, that's CIA and White House, learn how these entities are separated, and learn that they aren't exactly buddy buddy with each other.

You are right about me not being accurate at all, although, I was not trying to tie the FBI to WMD's in Iraq, and definitely I wasn't trying to lie. I was just mentioning examples of decisions that were made in the past by organizations that people are told to trust. Iraq probably being the worst foregin policy blunder in the American history. No worries though, FBI blunders are many, you already some of them. 

And yet, how many Congressmen in the House and Senate who voted to go to War in Iraq, are still in the Congress and Senate?  How many remained after it was revealed that it was bullshit?  Didn't the President remain the same?  Yeah, people really seem to care.   It's right to be paranoid and skeptical about the Government, but absolutely moronic to listen to tech companies like their shit doesn't reek.  But, given how many in the House and Senate remained past the discovery of a complete failure at all levels...it tells me the people are no better, they just don't have a microscope on every one of their blunders (other than, repeatedly electing the same people, of course).

Also, you know, if the Government is this bad, then maybe Apple, Microsoft, Google, Twitter and Facebook should consider just how easy it would be for their families to disappear, piece by piece.

What does this mean?

If the Government is as crazy about getting their hands on this stuff as these tech giants would have you believe, then a few members of Apple/Twitter/Facebook etc..  having an 'accident' wouldn't phase them in the slightest.  Hell, fucking Snowden is still alive for christ sakes.  Furthermore, in the face of such a lunatic Government, doesn't it stand to reason that you create this tool which is then sheltered by layer upon layer of law/precedent from being used except in cases such as this where a very very narrow set of criteria have been met?

You may wanna read what I said earlier in this very thread: "On the other hand, Google, Facebook, Windows 10 are legally obtaining more personal data than anyone else, and worse, it's their business model, but few people care. People are quick to scream "PRIVACY" on facebook while using Chrome. So is it really a big deal? Will Apple join the crowd and reverse their policies and make more money off their iPhones than they are making now?

Maybe the public actually trust those companies a lot more than the government, and that's justified, or maybe they just don't know what they are talking about."

Trump got morons supporting him left and right, but hey, that's their choice, we can't deny them their freedom of choice just because they are "morons". If consumers are morons, let them be? Isn't this what the discussion is really about after all?

And it seems to me that you think I am with Apple no question, which isn't true, read my earlier posts. I do believe that when the FBI wins this, nothing will really change. Terrorists will find a new way to do things and we are back to squar one. and Apple may just throw their principles out of the window, because who gives a fuck, and start mining their users data, like the rest of their competitors, and make some extra cash.