The Most Important Passages From Apple's Challenge to the FBI

GovtOS. That's what Apple Inc. calls the newest product in its pipeline. It's not the brainchild of the gadget masters in Cupertino but rather an iPhone operating system conceived by some buttoned-down folks in Washington, D.C. Unlike the latest iPhone or iPad, it wasn't revealed on a stage before thousands of the faithful. Instead, it was unveiled in a stark response to the Obama administration's attempt to force the computer maker to assist in a terrorism probe. And, Apple has warned, it may someday lead to every American being made an unwilling assistant to law enforcement.

In a 65-page federal court filing on Thursday in Riverside, Calif., Apple said making it override the encryption of an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters was wild overreach. As a legal matter, Apple's lawyers swiftly disassembled the government's use of an 18th century law (the All Writs Act) to justify its demand and described in minute detail how forced compliance would play out, both for Apple's technicians and whoever else is next.

Although Apple has a growing number of lawyers in this fight, it may have telegraphed its intent to make a First Amendment argument a pillar of the case. Forcing someone to write code is like forcing them to speak, Apple suggested, and that's usually a constitutional no-no. The brief's main author, Ted Boutrous of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, is one of the nation's premier media lawyers. Here are some highlights: