While BlackBerry is trying to create new operating system features and launch the new BlackBerry Torch 9800, foreign countries are giving RIM flack for keeping the BlackBerry data out of the hands of foreign governments. First, the UAE said they would black-out BlackBerry use and then Saudi Arabia said it was going to ban their devices immediately. BlackBerry service was out and then restored after four hours of black-out.
RIM has not resolved the security issues with Saudia Arabia or the UAE who want access to BlackBerry users encrypted data. U.S. and Canadian officials stepped up efforts to negotiate and still offer net freedom.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is reported to have said that the U.S. government is working to resolve the dispute with the U.A.E. She, however, noted that the Obama administration supports uninhibited access to the Internet.
"We are taking time to consult and analyze the full range of interests and issues at stake because we know that there is a legitimate security concern, but there's also a legitimate right of free use and access," Clinton said at a D.C. news conference, yesterday. "So I think we will be pursuing both technical and expert discussions as we go."
The Canadian government said it is also in talks with the U.A.E. BlackBerry devices are banned in Saudi Arabia but users were still able to use the service. Then Lebanon voiced concerns.
Mike Lazaridis, RIM co-CEO, earlier this week told the Wall Street Journal, igniting controversy, “This is about the Internet. Everything on the Internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can’t deal with the Internet, they should shut it off.”
Comment from Wireless and Mobile News: Maybe he should have shut-up before the shut-it off comment….
Tech reviewers of the new BlackBerry Torch 9800 have
noticed that BlackBerry OS 6 is a great improvement and some present
BlackBerry owners will be able to update to the new BlackBerry OS.
The U.A.E. ambassador to the U.S., said
in a statement Aug. 2 that his country “is asking for exactly
the same regulatory compliance, and with the same principles of
judicial and regulatory oversight, that BlackBerry grants the
U.S. and other governments, and nothing more,” and “for the
very same reasons: to protect national security and to assist in
law enforcement.”