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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Mac News > Congressman proposes bill to ban sales of Apple products to government

Congressman proposes bill to ban sales of Apple products to government
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Mar 4, 2016, 10:14 AM
 
A lawmaker in Florida has waded into the encryption debate, by introducing legislation that aims to prevent federal agencies from purchasing Apple products. The No Taxpayer Support for Apple Act (H.R. 4663), floated by Congressman David Jolly (R-FL), is a not-so-subtle attack against the company for its stance on privacy and encryption, that seeks to force Apple into changing its mind by slightly lowering its sales to government agencies.

The bill "would forbid federal agencies from buying Apple products until Apple provides law enforcement with the technical support necessary to access encrypted information sought by a warrant that may be materially relevant to the commission of terrorist acts," according to a statement from the congressman. The text of the act specifies that no federal government branch would be allowed to buy products manufactured or sold under an Apple trademark until a federal court "certifies that Apple has provided the Federal Government with the technical support necessary" to access encrypted data after being presented by a warrant.

"Taxpayers should not be subsidizing a company that refuses to cooperate in a terror investigation that left 14 Americans dead on American soil," insists Jolly. "This is an order to cooperate in preventing the deletion of evidence on a single phone of a terrorist murderer who pledged allegiance to ISIS – nothing more." Jolly goes on to talk about claims by the FBI Director that the data could include potential calls and messages with other terrorists, and piece together information that could "prevent a future attack on US soil."

"Following the horrific events of September 11, 2001, every citizen and every company was willing to do whatever it took to side with law enforcement and defeat terror. It's time Apple shows that same conviction to further protect our nation today," writes Jolly.

The new act comes after lawmakers proposed state-level bills to ban sales of smartphones that lack bypassable security in New York and California. A few weeks ago, a cross-party bill was introduced to Congress that aimed to keep state-level encryption bills such as these from becoming a problem.
     
sidewaysdesign
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Mar 4, 2016, 10:24 AM
 
So to play this out logically, the U.S. government would be deliberately choosing to purchase tech that is less secure by design.

A prime example of cutting off the nose to spite the face.
     
PolyEx
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Mar 4, 2016, 11:02 AM
 
Jolly is a scumbag. He is the one who divorced his wife of 15 years for a 27 year old co-worker he was having an affair with. A former professional lobbyist who is in the back pocket of the church of scientology. Christ only knows who else bribes this crook to do stupid stuff like this (Samsung? LOL).
     
William W. Onka
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Mar 4, 2016, 11:37 AM
 
Pretty sad attempt trying to tie this to this issue. And there are very simple controls related to mobile device management (MDM) for example: http://www.jamfsoftware.com/solutions/business/ios-management/ that had the government supplied phone been properly and thoroughly configured with - they would have had enough control over the device in question, and would have been able to get everything they needed without needing any assistance from Apple, and without having to weaken any security on the phone, it just would have given the true owners control instead of the employee using it.
     
jdonahoe
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Mar 4, 2016, 12:19 PM
 
Why would the government want it's employees using phones that can be hacked? They've already had enough problems with laptops lost or stolen with sensitive data that should have been strongly encrypted.
     
prl99
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Mar 4, 2016, 12:23 PM
 
This statement is a direct contradiction to what the director of the DoD demands. The DoD will win this one and the blowhard from the criminal state of Florida will fade into the swamp.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
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Mar 4, 2016, 12:24 PM
 
This guy should be flogged for wasting taxpayer time when he could have just issues a public statement we could all ignore.
     
iphonerulez
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Mar 4, 2016, 12:42 PM
 
It's a shame Apple has to be used by some politician to get their few minutes of fame. If they want to boycott some companies, they can go after all the gun companies selling weapons to consumers in the U.S.
     
bgmac39
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Mar 4, 2016, 01:05 PM
 
This guy is clueless about the situation. He's just demonstrating what an idiot he is. I hope the voters are paying attention!
     
davisadm
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Mar 4, 2016, 02:42 PM
 
A congressman looking for 15 minutes of fame.
     
caveman664
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Mar 4, 2016, 03:19 PM
 
"And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course [toward totalitarianism]."Ronald Reagan, 1964
     
James Katt
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Mar 4, 2016, 04:59 PM
 
Why isn't this Rufus addressing terrorism directly? As Donald Trump said: kill the terrorists' children and families. This includes nuking Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan. That is a lot simpler that letting hackers have the freedom to steal Government data from their now insecure phones.
     
just a poster
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Mar 7, 2016, 12:43 PM
 
This bill is worth proposing, despite the reality it will go nowhere.
     
macmediausa
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Mar 7, 2016, 02:08 PM
 
Which translates to: the US should actively buy from and support a foreign phone corporation. We get it congressman Jolly.
It'll be nice for him to buy a Android phone and him succumbing to a virus or malware that would allow his phone contents be leaked online.
     
thinkman
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Mar 11, 2016, 09:32 PM
 
This is a classic case of calling an aϟϟhole an aϟϟhole! One can only hope that his despicable past comes to the forefront to discredit anything he says or does.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 12, 2016, 12:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by James Katt View Post
Why isn't this Rufus addressing terrorism directly? As Donald Trump said: kill the terrorists' children and families. This includes nuking Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan. That is a lot simpler that letting hackers have the freedom to steal Government data from their now insecure phones.
You don't do basic human rights, do you.
     
   
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