[tptacek]

That's the nature of the AWA; it's a catch-all. Every new technology or social institution that appears is going to create a new "unprecedented" use of the AWA. But the underlying principle of the AWA is so simple that it was one of the first things that came before Congress: the people are entitled to every person's evidence, and if a third party stands in the way of that, the courts have the right to compel their assistance.

[aniro]

And there are limits to the assistance the court may request.

Creation of new works is just such a limit.

If there is not a limit, then what the courts may compel as "assistance" becomes absurd.

This is the argument Apple is making and it is the foundation of the opinion of at least one Judge that has ruled against use of the AWA to compel the unlocking of a phone.