I can't believe that the government would blackmail Tim Cook into writing such a strongly worded rebuttal and then, weeks later when the story is not making the front pages anymore, have him write a call for retraction which brings this story back in the news cycle. That makes zero practical sense. That's the problem with many conspiracy theories: they make it seem like the people pulling the strings are incredibly clever and powerful while at the same time completely clueless and coming up with extremely complex plans to achieve mundane goals.
I could believe it if the denials so far felt incomplete or ambiguously worded as if they were tiptoeing around something that they were not allowed to disclose. I could believe it if all we had coming from Apple and Amazon was the usual lawyer-speak "I won't confirm of deny" bullshit. Instead we've had completely unambiguous "this is completely false and never happened". If it turns out to be a lie it's going to be devastating for the trust in Apple or Amazon.
I mean think about it, if for some reason the US or Chinese agencies wanted to downplay or shift the blame they had so many easier ways to do it that would put them in an awkward position if somebody manages to prove the existence of these backdoored mobos. If the best spin they could come up with was "just deny everything and make sure to do so at a regular interval so people are constantly aware of our denial" they really need better PR people.
> I could believe it if the denials so far felt incomplete or ambiguously worded as if they were tiptoeing around something that they were not allowed to disclose. I could believe it if all we had coming from Apple and Amazon was the usual lawyer-speak "I won't confirm of deny" bullshit. Instead we've had completely unambiguous "this is completely false and never happened".
Well, at this point everybody is watching for weasel words, so a categorical denial is the only thing the government can demand that wouldn't provoke suspicion.
> If it turns out to be a lie it's going to be devastating for the trust in Apple or Amazon.
Oh, please. Companies have had millions of credit card numbers stolen, and nothing happens.
Apple and Amazon would get a bit of bad press. The tech folks wouldn't trust them any less than they already do. And it would blow over in a couple weeks at worst.
At this point, my Bayesian priors are lowering on Bloomberg, but they are not necessarily going up on Amazon or Apple.
I could believe it if the denials so far felt incomplete or ambiguously worded as if they were tiptoeing around something that they were not allowed to disclose. I could believe it if all we had coming from Apple and Amazon was the usual lawyer-speak "I won't confirm of deny" bullshit. Instead we've had completely unambiguous "this is completely false and never happened". If it turns out to be a lie it's going to be devastating for the trust in Apple or Amazon.
I mean think about it, if for some reason the US or Chinese agencies wanted to downplay or shift the blame they had so many easier ways to do it that would put them in an awkward position if somebody manages to prove the existence of these backdoored mobos. If the best spin they could come up with was "just deny everything and make sure to do so at a regular interval so people are constantly aware of our denial" they really need better PR people.