iPhone judge focused on 'burden' on Apple

The federal magistrate handling the government's demand that Apple help the FBI hack into an iPhone used by a dead terrorist is focused on the burden the request will place on the company, as well as the details of what's technically required to carry it out. During a telephone conference in Feb with Apple lawyers and federal prosecutors, US Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym identified those issues as her primary concerns as the two sides and outside groups file a flurry of legal briefs in the high-profile legal fight. "I am looking for full briefing on this and particularly with respect to, among other things...what technically is involved here, obviously going to the burden and some other issues," Judge Pym declared during the Feb 18 call. "I would like really as full a record as possible on this." Most of the call was devoted to scheduling issues, but the exchange does shed some new light on the early maneuvering in the dispute over the phone used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino (CA) terrorist attack last December.