Why Forcing Apple to Write and Sign Code Violates the First Amendment
Note that the focus of the EFF's argument is not on writing the code, but on expressive act of signing the code. Part I of its argument establishes that the government cannot compel a company to <i>convey a message</i> it disagrees with. Part II argues that the act of conveying trust in code by signing it is still expression <i>even though it involves code</i>.<p>The EFF's framing has the advantage that it doesn't require the unworkable corollary that the government cannot dictate the content of code--and so operation of digital products--because "code is speech" in all circumstances.