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Saudi Says RIM Deal Reached; BlackBerry OK, If We Can Read the Messages
crimeandpunishment writes "There's a deal on the table to avert a ban on Blackberry's messenger service in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi regulatory official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press the deal involves placing a server in Saudi Arabia ... and letting the government monitor users' messages, easing Saudi concerns over security and criminal usage. The deal could have wide-ranging implications, given how many other countries have expressed similar concerns, or in the case of the United Arab Emirates, have threatened to block Blackberry email and messaging services." Perhaps the governments of UAE and India would be satisfied, too, if only they had access to the messages transmitted.
You give up certain rights when you travel to a foreign country.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
You do realize that the US gov't knows it could not do the same thing without getting a big uproar, but they can just get all of RIM's traffic routed through Saudi Arabia, right... Who am I kidding, the US ALREADY can view everybody's BlackBerry messages.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Aren't you being a little over dramatic? Exactly how did you think the world worked? You really weren't naïve enough tho think that they cared about anything besides profits for the shareholders did you?
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
reached a virtual standstill when the maintainers told Saudi Arabia to "stick it".
what exactly is RIM selling? confidence and trust.
they just threw all that out the door.
yes, I think its a HUGE deal. when their whole stock and trade is privacy and then they turn around and sign a 'smiling deal' with our arch enemies (...), yes, I consider that an about-face in the harshest of ways.
we all suspected the almighty looney was king, here; but I was hoping for a ray of sunlight. hoping; but apparently not getting.
no corporation, today, can continue the 'do no evil' for very long. how very sad for us all.
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"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
I posted on here in another thread a few days back that RIMs refusal to back down in the UAE stood them in very good stead as a company as their users would respect that. Its amazing how quickly one can lose confidence again....
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Who am I kidding, the US ALREADY can view everybody's BlackBerry messages.
Any evidence of that?
I recall my company's legal team doing a search for any instance where intercepted, decrypted messages from a Blackberry Enterprise Server were used in court. The lawyers weren't able to find any cases.
Now, that doesn't prove anything, but it's a good indicator.
Plus, you can use S/MIME and PGP with blackberry for additional encryption.
Architecturally, it looks like this deal will affect only BIS users, the ones that just walk up to the Phones-r-us kiosk and buy a blackberry and service plan. It won't have any effect on corporate customers running BES servers, since those have their own keys, and devices talking to them won't be dealing with the BIS servers being set up in Saudi Arabia.
Thus, the customers most likely to complain, and make their complaints felt in the pocketbook, are unaffected, while the little people are ever more transparent.
Just a word of caution before everyone here denounces RIM: We all remember the news a few days ago that Google made an agreement with Verizon for preferential access to their network. Everyone here was raising hell about how Google threw their "open Internet" stance out the window for profit. And then, after a few hours, we got an update: No such deal!
So, people, wait a few hours and let's see what's the real deal between RIM and the Saudi government. If this is the real deal - then shame on them!
Whenever in an argument, remember this.
I have to agree with you here, even failed attacks cause mass hysteria. Just look at the security theater at airports in the US. (I can only speak for the country I live in.) With every failed attack, they tack on another ridiculous "security procedure" that does nothing but make us think that they're doing something useful. To make things worse, then the US requires airports abroad to have similar procedures and regulations to even be allowed within US airspace.
Though you didn't pose your question to me, I do not find that terrorism requires any competence. Terrorism is simply a desperate way to achieve a political goal. Because they do not have the resources that a government with a standing army has, they choose whatever method that they can get away with, and that's usually hijackings or suicide bombings. Even unsuccessful attacks cause enough of a panic within a general population to change government policy and disrupt everyday life.
Any idiot with homemade bombs can do this. 9/11, on the other hand, did require competence. The plot was hatched around 1996, though some of it was also luck because the FBI, CIA, and local law enforcement did not talk to each other. (I believe at least one of the would-be hijackers was pulled over before 9/11, for example.)
But would we feel any different about groups such as al-Qaeda if they were a real government and had a standing army, and sent battalions and regiments into battle ? Do we hate their tactics, or their goals?
Best "String" Ever!