Govt sets BlackBerry a deadline

BlackBerry users in India will not be able to use its ‘messenger’ and ‘enterprise services’ (corporate emails) from next month if its maker—Research In Motion (RIM)—fails to come up with a ‘technical solution’ for lawful interception of these services by August 31. The government laid down the strict deadline before the Canada-based company. The decision, taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Union home secretary G K Pillai, will, however, not affect the other BlackBerry services—voice, SMS and email/internet—as RIM and other telecom operators have adhered to their interception norms, making it possible for Indian agencies to tap them for security reasons. The meeting took note of the fact that BlackBerry services like voice, SMS and BIS have been made available to law enforcement agencies