本文音频及原文摘自杂志The Economist《经济学人》2016年第8期，Business版块。

Apple’s encryption battle

The firm’s boss may have to choose between his principles and his liberty

Feb 20th 2016 | SAN FRANCISCO

MARTIN LUTHER[1] pinned his treatise to[2] a church door. Tim Cook posted his on Apple’s website. On February 16th Mr Cook published a harsh critique[批评;评论文章] of the government, which has clashed with[3] his firm repeatedly over providing information on suspected criminals[4]—most recently in the case of Syed Rizwan Farook, who, with his wife, murdered 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino[5] last year. This week a federal court[6] sided with[7] the FBI, which had requested Apple’s help in accessing the contents of Mr Farook’s iPhone, and ordered the tech firm to comply[遵守;顺从,遵从;答应]. Mr Cook says the “chilling[使人恐惧的;令人寒心的]” situation represents “overreach by the US government” that calls for a “public discussion”. 

······

[1]马丁·路德，是一名出生于美国新泽西州的一名政治家、美国开国元勋。

[2](用针)把…固定在…上

[3]与…冲突,不调和

[4]嫌疑犯

[5]圣贝纳迪诺(美国加利福尼亚州南部一座城市)

[6]联邦法院

[7]支持;站在…的一边

▷treatise ['triːtɪs; -ɪz]

a   of writing that  and  a 

专题论文；专着a six-volume treatise on  六卷本商标法专着

······

A debate started immediately, with Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner[竞争中的领先者；赛跑中跑在前头的人], asking why Apple should consider itself above the law. It is a sentiment[感情,情绪] others may share, but Apple has legitimate reasons[1] for not wanting to comply with[2] the court’s order. The court is trying to force Apple to create a way to deactivate the password-protection feature[3] (which erases the device’s contents after ten failed attempts at guessing the password) on this one iPhone. However, Mr Cook warns that designing this tool, even for one particular case, could put other users at risk, because the federal government would always have the key and could use it in future instances. Other governments will watch the outcome of the case, and might compel[强迫,迫使] Apple to build them a similar tool.

······

[1]正当理由/合理的理由

[2]照做，遵守

[3]关闭密码保护功能

······

This is not the first time that Mr Cook and American law enforcers[1] have clashed, but the case may become “the epicentre of the debate over privacy and encryption,” says Alan Cohn, a lawyer at Steptoe & Johnson who previously worked at the Department of Homeland Security[2]. Past requests for data have focused on lower-level criminals; Mr Farook is being investigated for terrorism, which heightens the urgency of the government’s request.

······

[1]执法人员

[2]国土安全部

▷epicentre ['ɛpɪ'sɛntɚ]

 the  on the Earth's   above an  or 

（地震）震中；（原子弹爆炸的）中心，爆炸点

······

Mr Cook has cast himself as a reformer on the side of justice. Might he be held in contempt of[1] court and go to jail? It seems unlikely in the near term, especially since Apple will probably appeal against[2] the ruling. But putting Mr Cook or another Apple executive behind bars[3] for a few days would be no bad thing for the firm’s image. It has gone to great lengths[4] to persuade its users that it respects their privacy and is doing what it can to protect them. So have other tech firms, such as Microsoft, which are fighting lawsuits demanding[5] that they turn over customer data. In its stand-off[疏远;对峙;孤立;敌对] with the government Apple and other tech firms have a lot to prove[6], as well as much to lose[7].

······

[1]不顾;不把…放在眼里;藐视

[2]提出上诉

[3]在监狱服刑

[4]尽最大的努力

[5]诉讼要求

[6]have something to prove

(to need to show that you can succeed when people expect you to fail)

After two dismal seasons, the players on thisteam feel they have something to prove.

Usage notes: also used in the negative form have nothing to prove or not have anything to prove (to have no reason to persuade others you can succeed, because you have already succeeded): 

He was as famous as he wanted to be, and felt he no longer had anything to prove

[7]have a lot/too much to lose

(to be in a position where something bad might happen if you are not successful)

They are reluctant to get involved in this, they’ve got a lot to lose.

······

以上言论不代表本人立场。

摘自《经济学人》杂志，仅外语学习之用。

回复“eco”查看《经济学人》系列学习笔记。

查看文章来源请点击下方的“阅读原文”。