iPhone Backdoor Court Order Likely Unenforceable, Says Judge
When the Department of Justice suddenly backed out of its court hearing with Apple, it claimed that the FBI had found another way to unlock the iPhone connected with the San Bernardino terrorist attack. But Adam Engst may have been right when he said, “…it might be an indication that the FBI feels that its chances of compelling Apple to create the equivalent of a backdoor are dropping, and is looking for a face-saving way out.” Sarah Jeong, writing for Motherboard, reveals that the judge repeatedly told the attorneys in a pre-hearing conference that the original court order demanding an iPhone backdoor was “unenforceable,” and always had been. We aren’t calling the case over just yet, but signs are good that Apple will prevail in the end.
This is good news. I think Adam is correct about DoJ's motivation in cancelling the hearing.
Everyone with any common sense about technology knew this was unenforcable from the get-go. I think the FBI were the only ones who tried to pretend otherwise.