Slashdot Mirror
Indian Government Threatens RIM, Skype With Ban
gauharjk writes "India's Department of Telecommunications has been asked by the government to serve a notice to Skype and Research In Motion to ensure that their email and other data services comply with formats that can be read by security and intelligence agencies, or face a ban in India if they do not comply within 15 days. A similar notice is also being sent to Google, asking it to provide access to content on Gmail in a readable format."
The problem is that RIM can't comply - their system is designed so that only the customer has the decryption key. The customer creates the key, not RIM. If India wants the key, they have to sue the customer, not RIM.
The whole thing that makes Blackberry's so popular in the US is their security features. Not just with the public either, the US Government loves them some Blackberrys. They are a major customer and threatened to intercede in the patent case (patents are an explicit right of the federal government, and the law allows them to take them away for various reasons). There are several reasons they like them so much, but the security is a big one. If you look at the BB lineup you find they nearly all are FIPS 140 complaint. Now most people wouldn't give a shit. You can have superb crypto without that extensive verification process. Well, the feds care, it is their standard after all.
So I can't imagine RIM is at all interested in weakening their security as it is a major selling point to their major customer.
Oblig: Australia does not have a web filter.
It only had an (unpopular) proposal to do so courtesy of a couple of retarded senators. Which has now basically been scrapped. The legislation never even made it to being drafted, let alone introduced into Parliament and debated.
Problem with Slashdot is that people read a few hyped up, overly dramatic headlines and think they know what's going on ;)