The UAE has banned using a BlackBerry for emails, with Saudi Arabia set to follow suit. Photograph: AP
The United Arab Emirates is banning users of BlackBerry mobile phones from using email, instant-messaging and web-browsing services in a long-running spat over security with the device’s Canadian maker, RIM.
Saudi Arabia is expected to follow suit according to an official from the state-controlled Saudi Telecom, who told the Financial Times that the kingdom would ban BlackBerry messenger services.
The Gulf states have become increasingly concerned that encryption technology used by BlackBerry devices makes it difficult to monitor them, and that, because of the way the BlackBerry network functions, data is exported offshore. India has also expressed concerns about the way that BlackBerry devices operate.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said on Sunday that services in the UAE will be suspended as of 11 October because of the failure of attempts, dating back to 2007, to bring BlackBerry services in-line with UAE telecoms regulations. UAE’s two telecoms operators – Etisalat and du – informed their BlackBerry customers of the decision by text. There are roughly half a million BlackBerry users in the emirate.
Rim, makers of the Blackberry
The regulator stressed that the decision was not about censorship but about regulatory compliance, producing a detailed comparison of telecoms regulation in the UAE, UK and US in an attempt to make its case.
“We are not asking for RIM to do anything that is not apparently being done in developed nations or so-called open countries around the world,” said Mohammed al-Ghanim, director-general of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
BlackBerry phones have a strong following in the region, not only among foreign professionals in commercial centers such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but also among youth who see their relatively secure communication channels as a way to avoid unwanted government attention.
“The authorities have used a variety of arguments, like it can be used by terrorists” to justify the crackdown, said Christopher Davidson, a professor at the University of Durham in Britain, who has written extensively about the region. “Yes that’s true, but it can also be used by civil society campaigners and activists.”
The UAE’s decision will prevent hundreds of thousands of BlackBerry users from accessing e-mail and the Web on their handsets starting in October. It’s unclear whether the ban will extend to foreign visitors with roaming services, including the roughly 100,000 passengers who pass through the region’s busiest airport in Dubai each day.
The ban risks further damaging the UAE’s reputation as a relatively easy place to do business.
Dubai, one of seven hereditary sheikdoms in the federation, in particular has sought to turn itself into a global finance, trade and tourism hub. But its reputation has been tarnished by a credit crisis that has left the emirate more than $100 billion in debt.
Residents say the BlackBerry crackdown will only do more harm, making foreign businesses think twice before setting up shop in the country.
“They’ll think now they’ve banned the BlackBerry, maybe next time it’ll be the Internet,” said Shakir Mahmood, a Dubai-based debt collector and BlackBerry user originally from Iraq.
This isn’t the first time BlackBerry and Emirati officials have had run-ins over security and the popular handsets, a fixture in professionals’ pockets and purses the world over.
Last year, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. criticized a directive by the UAE state-owned mobile operator Etisalat telling the company’s BlackBerry users to install software described as an “upgrade” required for “service enhancements.”
- Similar posts
- Canadians want Nortel to remain in Canadian hands (23.8%)
- Apple iPhone beats BlackBerry as smartphone sales soar (21.6%)
- Uk Broadband lags behind Europe (17.3%)
- Coast (15.9%)
- Health officials on worldwide standby over E.coli (10.6%)
The United Arab Emirates has said it will not go ahead with plans to ban Blackberry services, following talks with maker Research in Motion.
It had threatened to suspend all services from 11 October.
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that it is satisfied services on the devices are now compliant with its security needs.
It had said Blackberries posed a risk because the network was encrypted and data stored abroad.
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement: “All Blackberry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur on October 11, 2010″.
The TRA also acknowledged “the positive engagement and collaboration of Research In Motion (RIM) in reaching this regulatory compliant outcome”.
Research in Motion (RIM) has found itself at the centre of a series of rows with countries unhappy with the way data is stored on the device.
India and Saudi Arabia have threatened similar bans.
The United Arab Emirates has said it will not go ahead with plans to ban Blackberry services, following talks with maker Research in Motion.
It had threatened to suspend all services from 11 October.
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that it is satisfied services on the devices are now compliant with its security needs.
It had said Blackberries posed a risk because the network was encrypted and data stored abroad.
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement: “All Blackberry services in the UAE will continue to operate as normal and no suspension of service will occur on October 11, 2010″.
The TRA also acknowledged “the positive engagement and collaboration of Research In Motion (RIM) in reaching this regulatory compliant outcome”.
Research in Motion (RIM) has found itself at the centre of a series of rows with countries unhappy with the way data is stored on the device.
India and Saudi Arabia have threatened similar bans.
RIM has always made it clear that it would not change the architecture of its service to placate countries wishing to extend their surveillance powers.
“It is unclear what will have changed in the nature of the RIM service,” said Tony Cripps, principal analyst at Ovum.
“As such we can only hypothesise that some kind of workaround has been agreed in terms and conditions between the UAE regulator and local carriers …to gain access to e-mails sent over the Blackberry service,” he said.
RIM said in a statement that it would not discuss the details of the discusisions with the TRA. “RIM confirms that it continues to approach lawful access matters internationally within the framework of core principles that were publicly communicated in August,” it said.
In August RIM sought to reassure customers that it would only allow governments to access services “in the strict context of lawful access and national security” and that no greater access than that given by rival firms would be granted.
It also stated that it would make no changes to the security architecture for Blackberry business customers.
At the time it said: “Contrary to any rumours, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers’ encryption keys.”
Two leading Indian mobile providers have told the government they have upgraded their networks to allow law enforcers to monitor messages sent through BlackBerry smartphones, a report said Thursday.
India last month gave the Canadian makers of the BlackBerry smartphone a 60-day reprieve on a threat to ban its messaging services after the firm agreed to give security forces “lawful access” to data.
Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Tata Teleservices Ltd. have both sent compliance reports to India’s Department of Telecommunications confirming they carried out the upgrading work, Dow Jones Newswires reported, quoting unnamed sources.
“The networks were tested by a joint team” consisting of the operator, security agencies and the manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM), one source was quoted as saying.
The sources said the testing reports were considered compliance reports, Dow Jones said.
Under Indian law telecom operators must ensure security agencies can access all services carried on their networks.
The Department of Telecommunications had told mobile operators to give a “compliance report” by Wednesday that their networks had been “upgraded” to allow monitoring of data.
RIM offers its popular BlackBerry services in India through the networks of local mobile phone operators such as Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/indian-phone-networks-compliant-on-blackberry-report-2090047.html
India has threatened to block BlackBerry services, including instant messaging and email, unless “security concerns” with the features are addressed.
Government officials met with the makers of the BlackBerry – Research In Motion (RIM) – to address fears that the handsets could be used by insurgents for terror attacks like the 2008 Mumbai bombings.
They have given RIM until the end of August to address the security issues before they impose the country-wide ban.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/blackberry/7940964/India-threatens-to-ban-BlackBerry-services.html
Research in Motion, the creator of the widely used enterprise-come-consumer BlackBerry device, has an uncertain position in India.
The Indian government’s internal security and intelligence services cannot break the encryption of the device, which makes countering terror threats and national security matters difficult – especially for a region which faces constant threats and attacks from domestic Maoist insurgents and extremist Islamic groups.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/blackberry-encryption-too-secure-national-security-vs-consumer-privacy/5732?