Apple CEO Tim Cook thanked employees for their support in a mass email sent out early Monday amid the company’s ongoing fight against an order to help the government hack into an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters.
Cook also repeated his call for the FBI order to be dropped and proposed that the government instead form a commission to discuss the implications of such information-gathering methods going forward, TechCrunch reports.
“This case is about much more than a single phone or a single investigation, so when we received the government’s order we knew we had to speak out,” Cook wrote in the email. “At stake is the data security of hundreds of millions of law-abiding people, and setting a dangerous precedent that threatens everyone’s civil liberties.”
A U.S. magistrate last week ordered Apple to help unlock California gunman Syed Farook’s county-owned work phone, an order Apple has said it will resist. FBI Director James Comey said in a statement Sunday that the agency “simply” wants the chance to guess the terrorist’s passcode in a timely matter without the phone destroying its data from too many failed attempts.
“The San Bernardino litigation isn’t about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message. It is about the victims and justice,” he said in the statement. “Fourteen people were slaughtered and many more had their lives and bodies ruined. We owe them a thorough and professional investigation under law. That’s what this is.”
“I hope folks will take a deep breath and stop saying the world is ending, but instead use that breath to talk to each other,” he added.
PHOTOS: The Rise of Mobile Phones from 1916 to Today
![German Field Phone A German field telephone station in the Aisne department of northern France during World War I.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Point De Chute French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday in a scene from the film 'Point de Chute' (aka 'Falling Point').](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Early Mobile Phone An early mobile phone during the Iranian Embassy siege at Princes Gate in South Kensington, London.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history3.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![SEP 16 1983, SEP 18 1983; Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colora Bob Maxwell, general manager of Englewood-based Mobile Telephone of Colorado, places a call on FCC-approved radio frequency while driving to work.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history4.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![The A-Team THE A-TEAM -- "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" Episode 5. (l-r) Eddie Velez as Frankie Santana, Robert Vaughn as General Hunt Stockwell, George Peppard as John 'Hannibal' Smith.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history5.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Bill Clinton, Ray Flynn Bill Clinton, Ray Flynn](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history6.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![1993 ShoWest Whoopi Goldberg during ShoWest in Las Vegas.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history8.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Villager ( farmer ) with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and Talking on Mobile Phone, in Delhi, India A farmer with his family sitting on a Bullock Cart and talking on a mobile Phone, in Delhi.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history91.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![World Trade Center Terrorist Attack. World Trade Center Terrorist Attack.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Opposition Rebels Battle Gaddafi Forces In Eastern Libya A rebel militiaman speaks on his mobile phone after capturing territory from government troops on March 25 2 in Ben Jawat, Libya.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history11.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Protesters Gather For Tahrir Square Rally A youth films the aftermath of tear gas police fired at protestors in Muhammed Mahmoud Street near Tahrir Square on November 23 in Cairo.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history12.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Obama Discusses The Economy And The Buffett Rule At Florida Atlantic Univ. Audience members take pictures of President Barack Obama at Florida Atlantic University on April 10 in Boca Raton, Florida.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history13.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Queen on selfies A teenager takes a selfie in front of Queen Elizabeth II during a walk around St. Georges Market in Belfast.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/mobile-phones-history14.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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