Saudi Blackberry ban to take effect

Banned in Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decision to ban the use of Blackberry phones for the sending and receiving of messages is due to come into effect today.

The Kingdom has become concerned in recent months that the Canadian-produced devices allow messages to be encrypted, meaning monitoring is made impossible. Saudi Arabia is not the only one to implement a ban - Lebanon, India and Algeria have also announced similar measures or are contemplating them.

Research in Motion, the company behind the Blackberry, are of course dismayed with the decision and are reportedly in talking with the Saudi government to halt the ban. However it is doubtful that the Kingdom's security services will agree. There is massive concern about the encryption of message, and in the Kingdom the government have stated that they want access to these messages and the keys to decrypt them to counter terrorism and criminal activity.

However Research in Motion have said that the Blackberrys were "designed to preclude RIM, or any third party, from reading encrypted information under any circumstances since RIM does not store or have access to the encrypted data".

"RIM cannot accommodate any request for a copy of a customer's encryption key, since at no time does RIM, or any wireless network operator or any third party, ever possess a copy of the key."

US mediation

Despite the obvious security concerns, the BBC has reported that Canada is worried about "the broader implications of the potential interruptions of services that are being contemplated by these countries... in terms of the importance of the free flow of communications and information."

The Canadian Trade Minister Peter Van Loan has said he is worried about what the ban will do to business and trade in the region.

"Canada has been working closely with the officials at Research In Motion as well as with governments on the ground to assist them in dealing with these challenges."

The US has also expressed concerned with Secretary of State Hilary Clinton wading into the argument. "We are taking time to consult and analyse the full the range of interests and issues at stake, because we know that there is a legitimate security concern," Mrs Clinton said. "But there is also a legitimate right of free use and access."

However, despite the US mediating the dispute, it looks like the Kingdom is holding firm and now it appears the UAE is also have second thoughts about the technology. In a statement the United Arab Emirates Telecoms Regulatory Authority said that Blackberry services were "currently the only data services operating in the UAE where data is immediately exported off-shore, where it is managed by a foreign, commercial organisation".

"In their current form, certain Blackberry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns for the UAE."

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