Apple on Thursday urged a California court to vacate an order that calls on Apple to create an operating system that can thwart iPhone encryption.
"No court has ever authorized what the government now seeks, no law supports such unlimited and sweeping use of the judicial process, and the Constitution forbids it," Apple says in its filing (below).
The company reiterated what CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with ABC this week: the request is unprecedented, puts iPhone users at risk, and will inevitably lead to similar requests from law enforcement agencies around the country.
While the government says the order applies only to the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters, Apple isn't buying that.
"The government says: 'Just this once' and 'Just this phone.' But the government knows those statements are not true; indeed the government has filed multiple other applications for similar orders, some of which are pending in other courts," Apple said. "And as news of this Court's order broke last week, state and local officials publicly declared their intent to use the proposed operating system to open hundreds of other seized devices—in cases having nothing to do with terrorism."
The Justice Department and FBI are "seeking through the courts a dangerous power," Apple argues.
If compelled to create this alternative, encryption-busting OS, Apple would need to assign six to 10 employees to work on it for two to four weeks, at minimum. If similar requests are made by other agencies, Apple would effectively become "a permanent arm of the government's forensics lab," Apple contends.
Logistical issues aside, Apple also says the order "violates Apple's First Amendment rights against compelled speech" by forcing it to write code it finds offensive.
"The demand violates Apple's First Amendment rights against compelled speech and viewpoint discrimination. Apple wrote code for its operating system that reflects Apple's strong view about consumer security and privacy. By forcing Apple to write software that would undermine those values, the government seeks to compel Apple's speech and to force Apple to express the government's viewpoint on security and privacy instead of its own.
"The government's demand also violates Apple's Fifth Amendment right to be free from arbitrary deprivation of its liberties in that it would conscript Apple to develop software that undermines the security mechanisms of its own products."
Cook told ABC that Apple is required to follow the law, but said Cupertino is willing to take this case to the Supreme Court if necessary.
Motion to Vacate Brief and Supporting Declarations
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.