&gt; Isn&#x27;t the All Writs Act just a red herring in this whole debate?<p>No, since it is the actual legal authority that the government is actually seeking to use.<p>&gt; What&#x27;s preventing the Federal Government from issuing Apple a National Security Letter and forcing them to comply in secrecy?<p>There are legal bounds on NSLs, and NSLs are judicially reviewable and may be altered or voided by the courts if they are &quot;unreasonable, oppressive, or otherwise unlawful&quot;.<p>Further, the <i>nondisclosure orders</i> that can be tied to NSLs (the &quot;comply in secrecy&quot; part) are limited (by Congressional action after the earlier broad use was struck down as unconstitutional) and are themselves judicially reviewable, so NSLs aren&#x27;t a &quot;get out of judicial review free&quot; card, nor are they a &quot;get secrecy without review free&quot; card.