Dubai – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has backed away from
its threat to block RIM’s (NASD: RIMM) BlackBerry services in the country, days before it
was set to take effect, the Associated Press reported.
The UAE had complained
— as have several other countries recently — that RIM’s use of North
American-based, encrypted servers inhibited law enforcement’s ability to monitor
communications.
RIM would not disclose the terms of the arrangement it reached
with the UAE, and it’s unclear what concessions were made — although IHS
Global Insight telecoms analyst Shardul Shrimani told AP it’s likely the UAE
was granted "limited" access to encrypted BlackBerry data.
Saudi
Arabia and India have both threatened to block BlackBerry services, but the
former reached an agreement with RIM and the latter has delayed its plan to
allow for further discussions.
The AP also noted that Lebanon and Indonesia
have voiced concerns over access to BlackBerry data.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2uos6nw
(N.Y. Post)
http://tinyurl.com/2766yco
(DMW previous coverage)
