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TMCNet: BlackBerry dials yes to India; next call UAE

[August 31, 2010]

BlackBerry dials yes to India; next call UAE

NEW DELHI, Aug 31, 2010 (Khaleej Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- In a significant development, BlackBerry mobile phone maker Research in Motion (RIM) decided to give India legal access to encrypted data of its messenger and enterprise services. The access for Indian security agencies is with immediate effect.

Top government officials with the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Monday that RIM will allow its BlackBerry Enterprise Services and BlackBerry Messenger Services to be accessed by the law enforcement agencies in India.

The ministry had been having discussions with RIM over the last few days on the issue of lawful access by the security agencies to all its encrypted communications passing through RIM systems.

"RIM have made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and these would be operationalised immediately," a Ministry for Home Affairs statement said.

The request for access has also been reiterated by the UAE's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, which claims that the high level of encryption of the device makes it a threat to national security.

Now that RIM has bowed to India's demand, the UAE would be the BlackBerry maker's next priority as the country has set an October 11 deadline.

"BlackBerry appears to be compliant in similar regulatory environments of other countries, which makes non-compliance in the UAE both disappointing and of great concern," Mohammed Al Ghanim, director-general of the TRA said in a statement at the end of July.

A team of top officials from Indian ministry led by Home Secretary G K Pillai held a meeting with the RIM brass on Monday where both the sides reached an agreement that any BlackBerry communication through the telecom networks should be accessible to Indian security agencies.

The ministry made it clear that all telecom service providers, including third parties, have to comply with this directive from immediate effect. "The ministry will review the situation within 60 days by which time the Department of Telecommunications is expected to submit a report," said the statement.

The use of Blackberry's extensive mobile telephony network is faced with widespread concern over its strong data encryption. Many nations, particularly in the Middle East and the sub-continent, have been left perturbed knowing that the services can be used by militant organisations to avoid detection. RIM had earlier insisted that it will not allow India an access for such monitoring, but soon after government threatened Blackberry to shut down its operations in the country from September 1, the company gave in to the Indian demand saying it would provide the government a legalised right to entry to monitor its messenger services.

It has been decided that the Department of Telecommunications would study the feasibility of all such services being provided through a server now located in India, said officials.

ravi@khaleejtimes.com To see more of the Khaleej Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.khaleejtimes.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Khaleej Times, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail services@mctinfoservices.com, or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544).

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