14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian company BlackBerry announced in late November that it would exit Pakistani market following government requests for access to BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) email and messaging content.
Since the Pakistani Government wants to monitor all the BES traffic in the country, including every BES email and BES BBM message, BlackBerry has decided that it can no longer protect customers' privacy; hence, it will stop its operations in this country.
According to BlackBerry's Chief Operating System, Marty Beard, Pakistani government was basically demanding “unfettered access” to all the company's BES customers' information, not just those under investigations for their criminal activity.
Pakistan is one of the markets where BlackBerry still has lots of fans, but that didn't stop the Canadian company to deny the government access to its servers even if that would mean shutting down its operations in this country.
BlackBerry wins another battle with a government that wants access to its services
The good news is BlackBerry fans in Pakistan will be able to continue to use the company's services and smartphones after today.
Marty Beard, BlackBerry's Chief Operating Officer, has just announced that the Pakistani government rescinded its shutdown order and dropped its request for access to BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) content.
“We are grateful to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the Pakistani government for accepting BlackBerry’s position that we cannot provide the content of our customers’ BES traffic, nor will we provide access to our BES servers.
“We look forward to serving the Pakistani market for years to come, including introducing new products and services, and thank our valued customers in Pakistan for their patience and loyalty,” said Beard.
It appears that the Pakistani government backtracked on its initial decision after productive discussions with BlackBerry officials. Thumbs up for BlackBerry, as the company stood up for its privacy policy.