UAE to Ban BlackBerry Data Services over Too Much Security

The telecommunications providers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will begin blocking RIM-dependant data services for its BlackBerry customers beginning October 11. The move comes after the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) issued an order in this respect yesterday.

TRA's beef with BlackBerry stems from its security model, which makes it impossible for UAE officials to subpoena the emails, IM communications or browsing history of its users. These concerns have been expressed by the authority before, when it said that BlackBerry is operating outside the country's national legislation.

"Etisalat was informed on Sunday by the UAE Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) to suspend BlackBerry services providing email, web browsing, instant messaging and social networking from October 11, 2010 until an acceptable solution can be developed and applied which brings the BlackBerry services in line with the UAE's telecommunications regulations," a statement from the country's largest telecom provider, reads.

According to Gulf News, du, another UAE mobile operator has issued a similar statement. Both providers announced that alternative service options, which are compliant with the country's laws, will be made available to its BlackBerry subscribers.

It's worth noting that the ban will only affect data services and not voice, SMS or MMS. Internet browsing that doesn't use BlackBerry's default Internet service, which has data being sent in encrypted form directly to servers operated by Research in Motion (RIM) outside UAE, will also remain untouched by the suspension.

Other governments are also unhappy with the way BlackBerry operates and there are rumors that a similar ban is being prepared in Saudi Arabia. One possible resolution would be for RIM to operate local servers in each country that would redirect the traffic to its main datacenters in Canada. This would give local courts the possibility to serve the company with warrants in order to obtain the data, but so far the BlackBerry manufacturer has shown no interest in doing this.

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