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Dubai's Police Chief Calls BlackBerry a Spy Tool
crimeandpunishment writes "Does the battle over the Blackberry ban in the United Arab Emirates have its roots in a spy story? Dubai's police chief says concern over espionage (specifically, by the US and Israel) led to the decision to limit BlackBerry services. The UAE says it will block BlackBerry email, messaging, and web services on October 11th unless it gets access to encrypted data. Comments by Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim are often seen as reflecting the views of Dubai's leadership, and would appear to indicate a very hard line in talks with Research in Motion."
the blackberry connects to RIM and RIM connects to your email, or if you are corporate the blackberry points to the corporate BES server, the link between the handset and RIM or between the handset and your company's BES server is heavilly encrypted, and in the case of BES servers even RIM cannot access the data, only your company's security staff and other authorized users, making it suitable for communicating confidential and trade secret information that a regular smartphone should not be handling. BES is also able to remotely control security settings and initiate a secure wipe.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Dubai's police chief says concern over espionage (specifically, by the US and Israel) led to the decision to limit BlackBerry services.
Well of course he would say that. Despotic Arab regimes have always used the US and Israel as an excuse for their own totalitarianism and oppression of minorities.
The article details the real reason, as if it wasn't obvious:
Tamim told a conference on information technology that the proposed BlackBerry curbs are also "meant to control false rumors and defamation of public figures due to the absence of surveillance,"
Translation: It promotes freedom of expression, and limits the government's ability to control its people, which frightens the shit out of Arab dictators.
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As the GP pointed out, Israeli intelligence actually murdered people in Dubai. Given that, they do have a reason to be a bit wary of the risks posed.
OF course it is a nasty feudal dictatorship, with a modern gloss to hide its underlying backwardness, but it still has genuine enimies.
http://www.planetrulers.com/current-dictators/
authoritarian regimes/dictatorships
Algeria - Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of Algeria
Angola - Mr. Jose Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola
Azerbaijan - Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan
Belarus - Aleksandr Lukashenko, President of Belarus
Bhutan - Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, King of Bhutan
Brunei - Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah
Cambodia - His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
Cameroon - Paul Biya, President of Cameroon
Chad - Idriss Deby, President of Chad
China - Hu Jintao, President of China
Congo, Dem. Rep. of - Isidore Mvouba, Prime Minister of Congo
Côte d'Ivoire - Laurent Gbagbo, President of Cote d'Ivoire
Cuba - Raul Castro, President of Cuba
Egypt - Hosny Mubarak, President of Egypt
Equatorial Guinea - OBIANG NGUEMA MBASOGO, President
Eritrea - Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea
Guinea - Lansana Conte, President of Guinea
Iran - Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad, President of Iran
Iraq - Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq
Kazakhstan - Nursultan Nazarbaev, President of Kazakhstan
Laos - Lieutenant General Choummaly Sayasone, President
Libya - Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, Leader of Libya
Myanmar (Burma) - Soe Win, Prime Minister of Myanmar (Burma)
North Korea - Kim Jong-il, President of North Korea
Oman - Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, Prime Minister of Oman
Pakistan - Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan
Qatar - Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani
Russia - Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, President of Russia
Rwanda - Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
Saudi Arabia - King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia
Somalia - Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, President of Somalia
Sudan - Omar H.A. Al-Bashier, President of Sudan
Swaziland - Mswati III, King of Swaziland
Syria - Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria
Tajikistan - Emomalii Rahmon, President of Tadjikistan
Thailand - Surayut Chulanon, Royal Prime Minister of Thailand
Togo - Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, President of Togo
Tunisia - Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, President of Tunisia
Turkmenistan - Gurbanguly BERDIMUHAMEDOW, President of Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates - Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
Uzbekistan - Islam Abdughanievich Karimov, President of Uzbekistan
Vietnam - Nong Duc Manh, President of Vietnam
Zimbabwe - Robert (Gabriel) Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe