No mediating between Blackberry maker, India: US
August 14th, 2010 - 4:14 pm ICT by ANIWashington, Aug 14 (ANI): The United States will not mediate between Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM) and the Indian Government, which has asked the smartphone vendor to provide access to some of mobile messaging services or face a ban due to security threats after August 31.
The State Department said in a statement: ” While we have been in touch with our foreign partners, this is a matter for RIM to work out directly with Indian officials.”India has threatened to shut down Blackberry e-mail and instant messaging services by August 31, unless RIM granted security agencies the technology to decrypt Blackberry communications, citing national security concerns.
India’s ultimatum was issued hours after senior officials from government, intelligence and state-run telecom operators met to discuss how to gain access to BlackBerry content. “If a technical solution is not provided by 31st August, 2010, the Government will review the position and take steps to block these two services from the network,” a government spokesperson had said.
India wants access in a readable format to encrypted BlackBerry communication, on grounds it could be used by militants. There are an estimated one million BlackBerry subscribers in the country.
A three-member delegation of RIM led by Vice-President Robert E Crowe on Friday met Home Secretary G K Pillai to discuss the government’s notice.
RIM is believed to be on the verge of reaching an agreement with authorities in Saudi Arabia - with the help of the Canadian government - to keep BlackBerry services running in the country, in exchange for giving Saudi authorities greater access to communication data. (ANI)
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