Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed to customers in a open letter that the FBI has requested what Cook calls “backdoor” access to encrypted information of iPhone users.

A federal magistrate-judge ruled Tuesday (Feb. 16) that Apple must aid the FBI in breaking into the phone of Syed Farook, one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, California, shooting in December.

However, the only way to break through an iPhone’s encryption is with a passcode, which Apple does not store on its servers. The judge ruled Apple must provide “reasonable technical assistance” to help it unlock the phone, including developing software that would let investigators guess a passcode as many times as needed in order to break into the phone.

Cook criticized the ruling, stating it would undermine encryption. He compared the concept of such software to a “master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks.”

“In the wrong hands, this software — which does not exist today — would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession,” Cook says in the open letter. “The FBI may use different words to describe this tool, but make no mistake: Building a version of iOS that bypasses security in this way would undeniably create a backdoor. And while the government may argue that its use would be limited to this case, there is no way to guarantee such control.”

In 2014, Apple updated its iPhone operating system to require that the phone be locked by a passcode that only the user knows. Previously, the company could use an extraction tool that would plug into the phone and allow it to respond to search warrant requests from the government.

Read Tim Cook’s open letter on Apple.com.

T Bone Burnett

Berklee will present American Master Awards to T Bone Burnett, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at Music City Roots, the weekly music broadcast from the Factory in Franklin, Tennessee. The special Tuesday night edition of the show will take place on March 15.

Rawlings and Welch met as students at the college of music in Boston and graduated in the Class of 1992. Among many other projects, Burnett produced Welch and Rawlings’ first album and the O Brother Where Are Thou? soundtrack, which featured Rawlings and Welch’s music.

The Music City Roots show will also feature performances from Berklee alumni Sierra Hull (’11), Liz Longley (’10), and Maureen Murphy (’99). Welch and Rawlings will perform as well, closing the show following award presentations.

The American Master Award honors industry leaders who have made a positive impact on young musicians, offering them opportunities to grow as artists and leaders. Past recipients include Grand Ole Opry manager Pete Fisher, music industry executive Jim Ed Norman, and drummer Eddie Bayers.

Pictured (L-R): Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch

“We’ve enjoyed the music of quite a few Berklee graduates and students on Music City Roots over the years, and we know what an important role the college has played in supporting roots and Americana artists to develop fresh and original takes on tradition, so this special show means a lot to us,” says journalist and interviewer Craig Havighurst, who co-hosts the show.

“This feels like a homecoming and a new beginning at the same time,” said Berklee President Roger Brown. “We’re thrilled to recognize T Bone, Gillian and David for their immeasurable contributions to music here in Nashville where so many Berklee alumni have become integral to the music community, and to forge a partnership with Music City Roots, a show that is so important to the tradition of live radio.”

The March 15 show and award ceremony coincides with and celebrates Berklee’s Nashville trip, now an honored annual tradition. For 31 years, a group of Berklee students has spent its spring break in Nashville, getting deep music industry insight through clinics and workshops with accomplished alumni artists, songwriters, producers and engineers. The trip, which began with five students, has grown to more than 100 students per year and is led by Pat Pattison, professor of songwriting, and Stephen Webber, program director for the Music Production, Technology and Innovation Program at Berklee’s campus in Valencia, Spain. More than 3,000 students have attended the program since its inception. Longley and Hull participated in the Nashville trip as Berklee students. Welch and Rawlings first connected and started playing together as a result of the trip.

The show will be webcast free via Livestream at 7 p.m. CT at musiccityroots.com. The show is also open to the public, with tickets available at musiccityroots.com.

Pictured (L-R): Jim Nantz, CBS Sportscaster; Clint Eastwood, Chairman of the Board, Monterey Peninsula Foundation; Joe Don Rooney; Doug Mackenzie, Vice Chairman of the Board, Monterey Peninsula Foundation; Dan Rose, Vice President, Partnerships, Facebook; Gray Briggs, Chief Marketing Officer, Facebook; Steve John, Chief Executive Officer, Monterey Peninsula Foundation

Rascal Flatts’ Joe Don Rooney accepted a $50,000 check for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt after winning the inaugural Facebook Hole-In-One Challenge at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament near Carmel, California, on Feb. 10.

The charitable event gave 32 celebrities two shots on the par-3 seventh hole. Rooney, actor Andy Garcia, and hockey great Wayne Gretsky advanced to the finals after coming closest to the hole. With each of the three golfers getting only one shot, a hole-in-one would have earned a million dollars. Even though none of the finalists made the shot, Rooney came closest and received the generous check for the hospital.

Clint Eastwood, who posed with Rooney after the competition, is Chairman of the Board of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation, the 501 (c)(3) that stages the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. The organization disperses the proceeds from these two tournaments to charity.

The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held annually. Jake Owen was partnered with Jordan Spieth at the event. Other notable guests included Bill Murray, Justin Timberlake, and Mark Wahlberg.