&gt; Doesn&#x27;t your argument imply nobody should ever obey the law?<p>No..<p>&gt; And Apple has the option to do everything on their own facilities, so no trade secrets need to be revealed.<p>Serving DOJ requests within Apple&#x27;s facility does not mean the newly created software will not get out into the wild.  We know the DOJ wants to unlock hundreds or thousands of phones.  Apple will need to hire more staff to handle such requests, come up with a procedure for doing it securely, etc.  None of this is without risk, and it is much more risky than not doing it at all.<p>There are bad actors, foreign entities, who would love a copy of the software that the DOJ is asking Apple to produce.  They will try their hardest to get their hands on it.  Furthermore, if the US successfully forces Apple to unlock iPhones, China will ask for the unlock feature as well.  We do not want this tool in the hands of oppressive regimes.  We do not want to internationally set a precedent that it is okay to install backdoors on phones or computers.