RIM caves to Indian government pressure

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BlackBerry users in India will have to share their private data with the Indian government, it has emerged.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has finally succumbed to the Indian government’s pressure to hand over access to users’ data in the name of improved national security.
It is widely believed the move will go some way toward damaging sales of BlackBerry phones in India, which have seen stellar growth during the past two years.
RIM has purportedly now offered to share its technical codes for corporate e-mail services and provide accessibility to all consumer emails within 15 days and also develop chat monitoring tools in about six to eight months.

After the ban imposed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), RIM was in no position to take on the Indian government too, as the Asian market would have come down like a card house had a similar ban been imposed in India.
According to government sources, RIM has agreed to share data related to the IP address of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, Personal Identification Number (PIN) and the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) of any BlackBerry device.  The Indian intelligence can now determine the location of the BlackBerry server and then obtain decrypted message – something which will likely not go down well with BlackBerry users.
RIM has yet to come out with a statement but sources say the BlackBerry maker is planning some initiatives to retain customers and assure smooth services to its users.
As the news emerged, however, proud “BlackBerry Power” users had already begun to show concern over what they believe to be “unwarranted” access to their private data.
A manager at a large mobile-phone retail chain said, “over the past 15-16 days, potential customers have been showing deep concerns over the issue which is indicating a slight drop in BlackBerry sales. I think the sales would drop further down if these concerns go un-addressed.”
Now, the Indian government axe is set to drop on Nokia which also provides push email service in some of its high-end models, especially the E Series.