New Delhi: The standoff between the Research in Motion (RIM) and the government is over with the former agreeing to provide Indian security agencies lawful access to BlackBerry messenger services, sources tell CNN-IBN.
The breakthrough comes hours after the government set the August 31 deadline for RIM and mobile service providers to come up with a technical solution to assuage India's security concerns over BlackBerry services.
According to sources, the company has given security agencies an existing tool which enables them to access plain text on encrypted BlackBerry messenger. A tool is also being developed to give easier and lawful access to security agencies across the world.
However, BlackBerry has no plans to set up a server in India, sources tell CNN-IBN.
Earlier, BlackBerry makers skipped a crucial meeting with the government. Vodafone and Airtel were also absent at the meeting saying that they were not invited.
The meeting, called to discuss India's security concerns over BlackBerry's encrypted messaging service, was supposed to last for 45 minutes, but ended in only 15 minutes.
Officials from the Intelligence Bureau, National Technical Research Organisation, BSNL and Department of Telecommunications and the Home Ministry attended the meeting. Home Ministry officials said the meeting remained inconclusive.
While RIM was not present at the meeting, RIM Vice President Robert E Crow met Home Minister P Chidambaram to discuss the BlackBerry deadlock.
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are the largest providers of BlackBerry services in India.
India, recently a growing market for RIM, fears the BlackBerry could provide cover for subversive activities. In 2008, a Pakistani-based terrorist group used mobile and satellite phones to coordinate attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
While national security is India's main concern, Middle Eastern countries are concerned that BlackBerry users may spread pornography or violate restrictions on contact between unrelated men and women.
Comments
0 comment