U.S. Justice Department files motion to compel Apple to cooperate with FBI
The Department of Justice on Friday filed a motion to compel Apple to help the FBI break into an iPhone used by a gunman in the San Bernardino attack in December.
The motion comes three days after a federal judge ordered Apple to unlock the phone. Apple CEO Tim Cook responded in an open letter opposing the order.
Apple has until Feb. 26 to respond to Tuesday's order from the judge.
A hearing related to the Justice Department's new motion has been scheduled for March 22.
What does this change
Although a new motion from the Department of Justice sounds as if it is adding new information to this case, the truth is, it isn't.
Much of the Department of Justice's filing is a reiteration of its earlier arguments. The substantive arguments are not different.
What is different is that the Department of Justice is directly responding to Apple's open letter. The letter, which is include as evidence with the motion, appears to be the impetus for this filing.
Additional arguments detailed by the Department of Justice that go beyond the facts of the case also appear to answer what it believes Apple's legal objections will be, based on the company's open letter.
In other words, this is a political opportunity for the Department of Justice to reframe the conversation in context with Apple's public statements.
For its part, the Department of Justice has also used this motion to argue that Apple's rationale for objecting to the order "appears to based on its concern for its business model and public brand marketing strategy."