U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu (CA) Supports Apple in its Fight Against FBI Court Order

It's not a long statement nor deeply technical. But California Congressman Ted Lieu (33rd District) has come out in favor of Apple in the recent high profile tussle with the FBI. That representative Lieu is only one of four in Congress with a computer science degree is at once both comforting and telling.

US. Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA)

The statement, which is on the Congressman's website, says, in part

This FBI court order, by compelling a private sector company to write new software, is essentially making that company an arm of law-enforcement. Private sector companies are not—and should not be—an arm of government or law enforcement.

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The San Bernardino massacre was tragic but weakening our cyber security is not the answer – terrorism succeeds when it gets us to give up our liberties and change our way of life. We can take common sense security measures without trampling on privacy rights."

This statement is clearly not meant to be the complete analysis of the constitutional and legal issues. However, what it does reflect is that when elected representatives are well educated in science and technology, they can make informed decisions about emotional and contentious public arguments.