141–150 of 381 posts
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The US isn't based on majority rule. No one wants that.
Exactly -- because the US isn't a democracy (majority rule), it's a democratic republic.
If you redefine democracy to be the narrowest possible interpretation, you eliminate every government in the world. You also make the word pretty much useless.
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To which it would be reasonable to ask, "so why did you hold this whole case in public, against Apple's wishes, if it is now so secret you can't even comment on it?"
To which they will reply, "we would not have commented on what we found on the device if Apple had been compelled to help us break in to it, and we will not be commenting on what found on the device now" Holding the case in public, and publishing the contents of the phone in public are very different things
And saying they "can't comment" as the GP suggested is different to publishing contents of the phone. They could easily comment on whether they found anything or not, whether it had any importance to the case, the nature of what they might have found without revealing specifics.
If they do simply say they "can't comment" then we will know they are lying, because because they already did comment, quite voluntarily: they just held a whole court case in public about it which revealed all kinds of gory details. A court case which Apple asked to seal and the FBI said "no, we want this to be public".
I'm seeing a lot of comments to the effect that the government will just try again at some point. Well, welcome to life in a democracy. Nothing is ever settled with finality because there are plenty of ways for future generations to change the laws we cherish today--for good or ill. We could revoke the 13th and 14th Amendments and have slavery again--there is no legal impediment to that. That we don't do that is a re…
>We could revoke the 13th and 14th Amendments and have slavery again--there is no legal impediment to that. Actually, I think this is the genius of the amendment system. You are correct that it could happen. But unlike laws that can be passed or revoked by Congress by political whim, the barrier to creating or overturning Constitutional amendments is much higher and more difficult to pass.
I feel like cases shouldn't be droppable unless both parties mutually agree, and the courts also must first agree.the courts should not agree if it's a case that could set a precedent that can have far reaching implications. What if next time, a smaller player than Apple was caught in this sort of case, and they can't fight back as easily? Then it'd be easier to setup a precedent favourable to one party. This seems l…
There are at least a dozen other cases where the FBI has issued All Writs Act orders to Apple.
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Well, welcome to life in a democracy. Nothing is ever settled with finality because there are plenty of ways for future generations to change the laws we cherish today--for good or ill. Some thing seem to be permanent. High priority lobbying goals for big corporations. (Examples: Disney & copyright extensions. Corn & corn subsidies. Car dealerships.)
That stuff is not going to change over night, and lobbyists aren't inherently bad. It takes other lobbyists to educate Congress and the public about the flip side of the debate. Tesla is working on that now. If you yourself feel passionately about any issue, nothing is stopping you from launching your own website and campaign. You don't even need to be registered as a non profit. You can say whatever you like. Many c…
Nothing except the fact that we don't have a multi-billion-dollar interest group paying us to do so ;). I agree with you that things can sometimes be done at the grassroots level, but there is simply no comparison to the tenacity and endurance of influence available to the big players. Any grassroots effort must find a way to surmount that obstacle, not ignore it.
I'm seeing a lot of comments to the effect that the government will just try again at some point. Well, welcome to life in a democracy. Nothing is ever settled with finality because there are plenty of ways for future generations to change the laws we cherish today--for good or ill. We could revoke the 13th and 14th Amendments and have slavery again--there is no legal impediment to that. That we don't do that is a re…
One of the problems that many people have with what the federal government has done in the course of the 20th and 21st centuries is how they have completely ignored the 10th Amendment. I am not sure that the Constitution is an effective protection for civil liberties (or other rights), and I do not know what recourse the citizenry has when the government does ot abide by its own rules.
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I think I know what you mean but don't forget there is a specific and horrible case here too. Many people died and now the FBI has access to the phone. I don't know what the odds are that they will find anything useful in way of easing the pain of the victims or preventing an occurrence, but certainly it seems highly plausible. And at the very least a lot of resources going into this part of the investigation can now…
Most people believe the chances of the phone containing anything of value are very slim.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/28/news/companies/fbi-apple-iph...