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France Bans BlackBerries In Govt. On Fears of Spying
DesertBlade writes "French government officials are no longer allowed to use BlackBerries for official correspondence. The reason? Fear that the US government will snoop out French national secrets via RIM's network. From the article: '"The risks of interception are real. It is economic war," daily Le Monde quoted Alain Juillet, in charge of economic intelligence for the government, as saying. With BlackBerries, there is "a problem with the protection of information," he said. Juillet's office confirmed that he spoke to Le Monde but said he would not talk to other reporters. Officials at the presidential Elysee Palace and the prime minister's office were not immediately available for comment. Le Monde said information sent from BlackBerries goes through servers in the United States and Britain, and that France fears that the U.S. National Security Agency can snoop.'"
They don't want us to know of any surrenders in advance!
Of course we'll spy, but are their recipies for cheese and wine really something that we care enough about for them to go out of their way to hide it?
What could an economic powerhouse like France possibly fear from the US? That they'll find the secret to their outrageous accent?
You're afraid of Inspector Clouseau?
in other news Steve Jobs just announced the latest French Flag theme for the iPhone.
After having tasted the American delicacies Cheez Whiz and Thunderbird Wine, I would have to answer emphatically YES!
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Why would the US want to do this? To engage in "economic war" the opponent needs a vibrant economy. Would the US spy on them to try to determine if they're going to loosen up the 35 hour work week?
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country did to you
They just want to get an iPhone and need a reason to expense it.
Half of writing history is hiding the truth.
Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I'm not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
More Twoson than Cupertino
Truly, you have a dizzying intellect
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Don't be cra)$(&*@#$
NO CARRIER
Don't you mean Ehchelon?
I will have a sig when the market demands it.
Geesh. Your blind hatred makes you look silly.
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---- Booth was a patriot ----
Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know anything about blind hatred.
You just gave the answer yourself. Do you think the French would trust anything based in Waterloo?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The French were the first to be widely known to commit economic espionage against U.S. firms, I remember. Then IIRC the U.S. decided to get back at them.
In this case the French threw away a nice intel weapon in that they could have coordinated disinformation via their blackberries in an attempt to either disseminate fake information to the U.S. intentionally, or to detect the routes taken by info gleaned from the RIM network much as people make extra email addresses to track spammers.
The problem is, the politicians are only human, and these gadgets are just too darned cute to keep your fingers off 'em.
I wonder why RIM wouldn't be willing to offer the French government their own locally hosted servers.
does it really matter which of the 51 states it comes from?
Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
"your know-nothing French socialist bashing."
Bashing the French is like masturbating:
1) It doesn't really have a point, but
2) It feels quite good
3) Everybody does it, and
4) The ones that say they don't are either lying or have been neutered.
Just remember, it's not the US that hates the French - EVERYBODY hates the French, except those who the French have bribed.
(And much to my chagrin, that last statement can apply now to the US)
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Mexico is part of it to, there it's called Enchelada.
NO CARRIER
I think i've figured it out - there's clearly a correlation between people typing directly into the request body of a HTTP POST request via a dial-up modem and those who are taken away from the government.
I use a browser and a real internet connection, so I'm not at risk.
We've secretly replaced Slashdot with new Folgers Crystals - let's see if it notices.