RIM makes offer to end BlackBerry crisis in India

Posted by admin on Aug 26th, 2010 | Comments Off

Research in Motion offered on Thursday to lead an industry forum to look at India’s need to have “lawful access” to BlackBerry’s encrypted mail and messenger in the latest effort to stave off the blocking of the popular service in the world’s fastest growing telecoms market. Executives of the Canadian firm have been meeting government officials in last-ditch negotiations aimed at finding a solution to India’s desire to access the encrypted data that security agencies fear could be misused to launch attacks or create political instability. India has set a Tuesday deadline for RIM to give access to the e-mails, or the service would be shut down in the country. There are about 1 million BlackBerry users in India, and travelers would probably be affected as well.

RIM is battling similar concerns in other countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In its statement Thursday, RIM said the forum would work closely with the Indian government to develop recommendations aimed at preventing the “misuse of strong encryption technologies while preserving its many societal benefits in India.”

“Strong,” or practically unbreakable, encryption is a cornerstone Internet technology that enables online shopping and corporate communications that’s impervious to spying by competitors. It’s used to secure e-mails not just on BlackBerrys, but on other smart phones as well, at least for corporate users.

Encryption also is used to secure Skype SA’s Internet-based calls and Google Inc.’s Gmail e-mail service. According to an Indian government document obtained by The Associated Press, it may shift its focus to these services once it deals with RIM. RIM’s offer came well after business hours in India. Earlier Thursday, the Sachin Pilot, the minister for communications and information technology, reiterated that Indian phone companies have to make BlackBerry e-mails available in a readable format by Tuesday.

RIM says it doesn’t have the encryption keys for BlackBerry e-mails — only the phones do — so it can’t give any government access to the content of the messages.