Woflbyte

Slippery slope fallacy is mainly invalid if the claim involves a significant number of steps/gradations. It is not necessarily fallacious if there is a reasonable expectation that the pattern will occur. As we see very often with law enforcement, they will fight for a new tool or technique and then utilize it as much as they are allowed. For example, USA Patriot act authorized certain investigative actions when a terrorist is involved, so we sudden;y saw law enforcement start labeling domestic drug dealers as terrorists. Need I mention the NSA? I would say slippery slope is not a sufficient counter to the concerns of the greater tech community. You might also want to research the use of expert opinions when you start seeing the big tech giants and a huge portion of the tech community start weighing in on Apple's side. Public opinion polls are generally worthless because of the way the results can be manipulated to the satisfaction of the pollster. Did you notice the gigantic caviat the writer used 2/3 of the way down the article if reference to 51% poll. Also, what is the margin of error? Is it really a fair claim to say the public is on the FBI's side when the poll is so close to 50%?

Slippery slope fallacy is mainly invalid if the claim involves a significant number of steps/gradations. It is not necessarily fallacious if there is a reasonable expectation that the pattern will occur. As we see very often with law enforcement, they will fight for a new tool or technique and then utilize it as much as they are allowed. For example, USA Patriot act authorized certain investigative actions when a terrorist is involved, so we sudden;y saw law enforcement start labeling domestic drug dealers as terrorists. Need I mention the NSA? I would say slippery slope is not a sufficient counter to the concerns of the greater tech community. You might also want to research the use of expert opinions when you start seeing the big tech giants and a huge portion of the tech community start weighing in on Apple's side. Public opinion polls are generally worthless because of the way the results can be manipulated to the satisfaction of the pollster. Did you notice the gigantic caviat the writer used 2/3 of the way down the article if reference to 51% poll. Also, what is the margin of error? Is it really a fair claim to say the public is on the FBI's side when the poll is so close to 50%?