Two Arabian Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone. They are claiming that they have security concerns and will restrict the use of the best selling phones.
Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging service and the United Arab Emirates is to block sending e-mails, accessing the Internet and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.
Both nations are unhappy that they are unable to monitor these communications via the handsets. This is because the Blackberry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside of these two countries. The Saudi ban will begin later this month and the UAE ban is to start early October.
Saudi officials have admitted that the decision is intended to put pressure on Blackberry’s owners to release data from the user’s communications when needed. The UEA’s telecom’s regulator, TRA, said the lack of compliance with local laws raised “judicial, social and national security concerns”
Blackberry’s Canadian owner, Research In Motion (RIM) has yet to comment on either case. There are almost 1,000,000 Blackberry users in the two countries.
TRA has stated “Censorship has got nothing to do with this. What we are talking about is a suspension due to the lack of compliance with UAE telecommunications regulations close”.
In 2007 RIM refused TRA access to the code for RIMs encrypted networks so that it could monitor e-mail and other data. TRA allegedly attempted to install spyware on Blackberry handsets. last year.
It seems that the two governments concerned with their repressive laws and a trend towards increased surveillance are not happy that they cannot monitor information sent and received via Blackberry users.
Given the popularity of the Blackberry in the two states an outright ban will be controversial.. This is seen as a power-play from the authorities, especially the UAE, to force RIM to hand over security codes or face losing a lucrative market. Whilst indeed this area is a lucrative and wealthy market it is also a small one compared to Blackberry’s global sales.
What will the government do next? Block TrulyMail, PGP, and all other tools for encrypting email?
People have the natural right to communicate without someone spying on them. Perhaps the government feels people have this right only as long as they are at computer and not using a mobile phone.
We may live in countries where we are free to do and say as we want, at the moment, but so many people in the world are not. This is just another example of unelected leaders denying their citizens rights.