RIM Avoids Indian Block

It'll be interesting to see the end game in the various fights BlackBerry (News - Alert) has going with various repressive governments around the world.

The device's maker, Research In Motion, is trying to placate the Indian government, among others, over its security policies, and according to industry observer James Middleton, it "has proposed a solution it says will satisfy its customers and the Indian security services."

As The Wall Street Journal reports, "India said Monday that it will put off blocking BlackBerry services in the country for two months after Research In Motion Ltd. agreed to allow more government access to its encrypted e-mail and messaging services."

The Canadian vendor is trying to do a delicate dance here, as they don't want to let subscribers know that their security's been compromised, while also not getting blocked from operating in certain countries. Middleton reports that RIM is denying claims that "it provides special configurations of its platform for certain countries."

Yet the Journal reports that "The Canadian company has agreed to provide 'some technical solutions' for local security agencies to monitor the company's encrypted e-mail service, a senior Indian government official said, without outlining what the solutions were."

RIM's last-ditch proposal was to sit down with the Indian government and lead an industry forum “focused on supporting the lawful access needs of law enforcement agencies while preserving the legitimate information security needs of corporations and other organizations,” Middleton says:

"This forum would work closely with the Indian government to develop recommendations for policies and processes aimed at preventing the misuse of strong encryption technologies while preserving its benefits."

The Indian government wanted “lawful interception” of e-mail and instant messaging services in India, Middleton says, noting that the company has similar problems with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

RIM says it has a “consistent global standard” for lawful government access to its services, saying that its strong encryption "is not unique to the BlackBerry platform and is indeed a mandatory requirement for all enterprise-class email services," according to Middleton.