介绍:
Code to ruin?
The rights and wrongs of Apple’s fight with the FBI
CITIZENS have a right to both security and privacy. The difficulties arise when these two rights are in conflict, as they now are in the battle between the world’s most valuable company and its most famous law-enforcement agency. Apple has refused to comply with a court order to help the FBI unlock an iPhone used by Syed Farook, one of the terrorists involved in the San Bernardino shootings in December. The company says the government’s request fundamentally compromises the privacy of its users; the feds say that Apple’s defiance jeopardises the safety of Americans (see article).
1 arise 发生；出现 2 law-enforcement agency 执法机构 3 n. (F-)（美国）联邦政府执法官员，（尤指）联邦调查局调查员 4 Jeopardises 危及，损害 5defiance [dɪˈfaɪəns] 蔑视; 挑战; 反抗; 6 compromises 使（自己）声誉受损;违背(信念)
注：据英国《每日邮报》12月3日报道，美国加州圣贝纳迪诺市（San Bernardino）枪击事件的枪手凶手赛义德·法鲁克（Syed Farook）与妻子塔什芬妮·马利克（Tashfeen Malik）的作案动机日前曝光：此前他们曾与一名犹太同事就宗教问题发生激烈争吵，后者在枪击事件中被这对夫妇用枪射杀。在枪击事件发生后，法鲁克与马利克与警方进行枪战，双双被警方击毙。
Some frame the stand-off in terms of the rule of law: Apple cannot pick and choose which rules it will obey, they say. That is both true and beside the point. The firm has the right to appeal against a court order; if it eventually loses the legal battle, it will have to comply. The real question is whether Apple’s substantive arguments are right. That hinges on two issues.
1 frame to express sth in a particular way （以某种方式）表达 2 stand-off 僵持局面 3 in terms of 谈及；就…而言；在…方面 4pick and choose挑三拣四，挑肥拣瘦 5 beside the point.无关紧要的，不重要的。6 apeal (against sth) 上诉，申诉 7 eventually 最后；终于 8 substantive 本质上的;重大的;实质性的 9 hinge on 有赖于；取决于
The first is whether the FBI’s request sets a precedent. The law-enforcers say not. This is not an attempt to build a generic flaw in Apple’s encryption, through which government can walk as needed. It is a request to unlock a specific device, akin to wiretapping a single phone line. The phone belonged to a government department, not Farook. Apple and other tech firms regularly co-operate with the authorities on criminal cases; this is no different. Yet Apple is being asked to do something new: to write a piece of software that does not currently exist in order to sidestep an iPhone feature that erases data after ten unsuccessful password attempts. Later models of the iPhone than the one Farook used are harder to compromise in this way. But if the court’s ruling is upheld, it signals that companies can be compelled by the state to write new operating instructions for their devices. That breaks new ground.
1 Precedent 前例；先例 2 generic 一般的；普通的；通用的3 flaw 瑕疵;缺陷 4 encryption 加密 5 akin to 类似于 6wiretapping 搭线窃听(电话) 7sidestep 回避，规避(问题等) 8 compel强迫；迫使；使必须 9 upheld 支持，赞成
The second issue is whether that precedent is justified. And that entails a judgment on whether security would be enhanced or weakened by Apple’s compliance. In the short term, the answer is that security will be enhanced. Farook was a terrorist; his phone is the only one being unlocked; and the device might give up the identity of other malefactors. But in the longer term, things are much fuzzier.
1 entail 讲过 使…必然发生;势必造成；使…成为必需 2 compliance 遵守;服从;听从（合规）3 malefactor罪犯;坏人 4fuzzy 糊涂的；含混不清的
security 公共安全
Security does not just mean protecting people from terrorism, but also warding off the threat of rogue espionage agencies, cybercriminals and enemy governments. If Apple writes a new piece of software that could circumvent its password systems on one phone, that software could fall into the hands of hackers and be modified to unlock other devices. If the capability to unlock iPhones exists, so will the temptation for the authorities to use it repeatedly. And if tech firms are forced to comply with this sort of request in America, it is harder for anyone to argue against similar demands from more repressive governments, such as China’s. This newspaper has long argued against cryptographic backdoors and skeleton keys on these grounds. It is possible to imagine a scenario that might override such concerns: if information is needed to avert a specific and imminent threat to many lives, for example. But in this instance, Apple’s case is the stronger.
1 ward off 防止，避免，使防止（危险、疾病、攻击等）2 rogue [rəʊg] adj不寻常的，破坏性的none 无赖；捣蛋鬼 ,骗子；恶棍；流氓 3 espionage [ˈespiənɑ:ʒ] 间谍行为;谍报活动 4 circumvent[ˌsɜ:kəmˈvent] 规避，逃避(规则或限制) 5 repressive
[rɪˈpresɪv] (政府)压制的，专制的，高压的 6 cryptographic [&`&krɪptəʊ&`&græfɪk] 关于暗号的，用密码写的; 7 skeleton key万能钥匙 skeleton 骨骼;骸骨;(员工)最基本的，基干的;轮廓;框架;构架;梗概 8 override 推翻 9 avert 防止，避免（危险、坏事）10 imminent [ˈɪmɪnənt] 即将发生的；临近的
Core arguments
This battle presages others. If the courts rule against Apple, it will work to make its devices so secure that they cannot be overridden by any updates. In that event (or, indeed, if the tech firm wins the Farook case), legislators will be tempted to mandate backdoor access via the statute book. If Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, is not to hasten the outcome he wishes to avoid, he must lay out the safeguards that would have persuaded the firm to accede to the FBI’s request. Tech firms are at the centre of a vital policy debate。Apple has rejected the authorities’ solution. Now it must propose its own.
1 presages [ˈpresɪdʒ] 预兆警示 2 mandate 强制执行；委托办理 3 state book 法典；法令全书；法规汇编4 hasten促进；使加快 5 lay out 铺开；摆开；展开 6 safegurads 全设施；保护措施 7 accede 同意 8 vital 必要的;至关重要的;必不可少的
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