蘋果CEO庫克指責美國政府稅法過時

Tim Cook blamed the US government’s outdated tax code for controversy over Apple’s huge offshore cash pile and defended its use of encryption technology, in a wide-ranging interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday night.

蘋果(Apple)首席執行官蒂姆錠克(Tim Cook)在上週日晚間播出的CBS新聞(CBS News)“60分鐘”節目中接受了話題廣泛的採訪。他在談到圍繞蘋果在海外囤積鉅額現金的爭議時指責美國政府稅法過時，並對其使用加密技術進行了辯護。

Apple’s chief executive said accusations the company was avoiding paying taxes by holding more than $180bn of its cash balances outside the US were “total political crap. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe”.

庫克表示，對該公司將逾1800億美元囤積在海外以避稅的指責“純屬政治廢話。蘋果交足了該交的稅款”。

The European Commission recently extended its probe into Apple’s alleged sweetheart tax deal with the Irish government. A final decision over whether Dublin offered the US group illegal preferential tax terms is expected early next year.

歐盟委員會(European Commission)最近延長了對蘋果與愛爾蘭政府之間據稱達成優惠稅收協議的調查。就都柏林是否爲蘋果提供了非法的稅收優惠條款的問題，預計最終決定將於明年年初做出。

Mr Cook said the real problem was with the high US taxes applied to repatriation of corporate profits. “It would cost me 40 per cent to bring it home and I don’t think that’s a reasonable thing to do,” he said, adding that the US tax code was “made for the industrial age, not the digital age”.

庫克表示，真正的問題是將企業利潤匯回美國國內需要繳納鉅額稅款。他說：“將這些現金帶回美國，我們就需要多交40%的稅款。我認爲這樣做是不合理的。”他補充稱，美國現行稅法是“爲工業時代、而非數字時代制定的”。

“It’s awful for America. It should have been fixed many years ago. It’s past time to get it done.”

“這對美國來說非常糟糕。這種錯誤在很多年以前就應該被糾正了。早就應該修訂稅法。”

While the interview was filmed before the recent shootings in Paris and San Bernardino, Apple has since those events faced renewed criticism over its use of encryption technology, which US officials say can inhibit the ability of law enforcement to track terrorists.

儘管此次採訪是在巴黎和聖貝納迪諾最近槍殺事件之前錄製的，但自那些事件以來蘋果再次面臨關於其使用加密技術的批評——美國官員表示，加密技術阻礙了執法部門追蹤恐怖分子的能力。

Earlier this month, FBI director James Comey stepped up the pressure on tech companies such as Apple and Google, saying the issue was a “business model question”, not a technical problem.

本月早些時候，美國聯邦調查局(FBI)局長詹姆斯科米(James Comey)加大了對蘋果和谷歌(Google)等科技公司的壓力，他表示，這個問題是“商業模式問題”，而非技術問題。

Mr Cook insisted that Apple should maintain its commitment to protecting its customers’ privacy.

庫克堅稱，蘋果應該堅持其保護客戶隱私的承諾。

“On your iPhone, there is likely health information, there’s financial information, there are intimate conversations with your family and your co-workers, there’s probably business secrets. You should have the ability to protect it,” he said. “The only way we know how to do that is to encrypt it.”

他說：“在你的iPhone上可能有健康信息，有金融信息，有你與家人和同事的親密交流，可能還有商業祕密。你應該有能力保護它。我們知道唯一保護的方式就是給它加密。”

Apple does not have access to iMessages sent by its customers and so cannot hand them over to law enforcement officials, even if the company receives a valid warrant, Mr Cook explained.

庫克解釋稱，蘋果無法讀取其客戶發送的iMessage，因此不可能將它們交給執法官員，即便該公司收到了有效法庭命令。

“I don’t believe that the trade-off here is privacy versus national security,” he said. “We’re America. We should have both.”

他說：“我認爲隱私與國家安全之間不存在取捨。我們是美國，我們應該兩者兼備。”