&gt; Can a court force a company or an individual to create something that does not exist?<p>This is the most interesting part of the question here. They aren&#x27;t forcing Apple to give up something they have, or divulge information they already know. They&#x27;re basically commandeering the services a private company for the purpose of the state. It makes me wonder where it would end - could the judge - judging it useful to help a court case, just pull a citizen off the street and tell them to go and get him &#x2F; her a coffee? Is there any limit to what they can ask a private citizen to do, once they decide it is in some way useful for solving a crime? Could they even demand someone commit a crime and then prosecute them for the crime?