Re: We are the government
I strongly suspect the government (the FBI in this case) are already in possession of the information, but are after a legal cover in which to use this in a court of law. So the "ticking bomb" scenario of Gates and others imagination isn't even pertinent, never mind that Shami Chakrabart debunked it not so long ago.
"The law cannot always make it easy to do the right thing, but should never make it easy to do the wrong thing."
Biting the hand that feeds IT
