We have been talking about this issue for quite some time now. A couple of weeks back, RIM, the makers of Blackberry, were given a warning by the Department of Telecomm (DoT) to disclose all Blackberry email and traffic. Then, after Saudi Arabia asked RIM to set up servers in Saudi itself, DoT followed suit and asked the BB makers to set up servers in India. And the last update we gave was that RIM got some breathing space in Saudi as it agreed to share unique pin number and code with the Saudi Arabia Government. So will India follow suit again? Apparently not. India have given a final warning to the company for sharing encryption details with the government.
According to an Indian official, unless the Blackberry makers provide a solution to give the government complete access to certain services, the government will ask RIM to stop these services. These “services” include messaging and email. Why would users want to use a Blackberry if those services were not allowed? This is a major cause of concern for Blackberry as competitors are breathing down their necks.
While I am writing this blog, several of my colleagues believe that I am wasting my time with this as in the end RIM will find some way out of it by “satisfying” the government. Not to mention that all of them have a BB. But, is this true? Will there be some sort of “compromise” between Research In Motion and DoT? My belief is that the Indian Government will take a firm stand on this issue. We are flirting with national security here and there can be no compromises. RIM, and other mobile operators, should understand the gravity of the issue and should also understand that they are responsible for the Indian security requirements. Which side do you think will win this fight?
I believe there’ll be a compromise…
I think country should not compromise with any security issues instead the companies should compromise with the Government.