BlackBerry Bows to India Pressure

Not even the most inane, late-night BBMs will be safe in India now. Bowing to pressure from the Indian government, Research in Motion has agreed to provide a technical solution for decoding encrypted BlackBerry data. This will allow authorities to monitor email and instant messages sent over any BlackBerry smartphone and, RIM hopes, prevent a system shutdown like the one it briefly experienced in Saudi Arabia this month. Indian authorities are reportedly seeking similar arrangements with Skype and Google over their messaging services, all in the name of national security—they’re worried that Internet telephone and encrypted messaging services make it easier for terrorist networks to plan attacks. "Wherever there is a concern on grounds of national security, the government will want access and every country has a right to lawful interference," an Indian security official said.