RIM officially starts the domino effect...

I have seen similar RIM threads but not one about this announcement. I searched so I apologize in advance if I missed it and hopefully I'm in the right forum but if not, please move.

RIM gives India access to BlackBerry messages

After a battle lasting almost two years, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has knuckled under to the Indian government, giving security forces in that country access to private instant messages. Experts say the change, first reported in the newsmagazine India Today, could lead to similar access for other spy agencies and government bodies around the world — if they don’t already have it. “Are they really going to do this for India, but not for Pakistan or China? Are they going to do this for Saudi Arabia, but not for Israel? That puts them in an uncomfortable position,” said David Fraser, a privacy law specialist at Halifax-based firm McInnes Cooper and past president of the Canadian IT Law Association

Source: www.thestar.com...

The article discusses some of the implications of this announcement but I'm more interested in hearing from the ATS community as to what this means to them and the average citizen? Please provide your thoughts/predictions.

if i remember correctly all they are doing is putting a few servers inside the countries national boundaries as it then allows that nation to use its laws on the servers as it see's fit and removes all the hassle of them going after encryption keys etc so all in all its basically saying that RIM will slap a server or two inside your nationallity and let you do whatever you like to it

Not like it matters, the NSA is already building a giant facility in Utah to collect and analyze all information as it zips through various channels of communication:

NSA Spy Lab

reply to post by Maxatoria


You are correct to a degree in that RIM has put servers in India and allowed them to access them to do as they please. The bigger issue is missed if you only look at it in that light. RIM has been the obstacle that prevented government agencies from obtaining personal communications and it was a philosophy of theirs to allow that personal privacy to continue. In light of the recent executive changes of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie stepping down, that philosophy appears to have gone to the way side. Now India can see whatever they want in regards to personal communications on a RIM device ...which countries will be next to ask for this same access and which other companies (Apple etc.) will also do the same? As the title of this thread states, this is the first domino being knocked over....what will be the chain reaction on a global scale now that this has occurred?

reply to post by DestroyDestroyDestroy


I'm aware of the facility being built in Utah to intercept communications but this is bigger than just the United States...this will or could effect everyone. Will similar facilities be common place across the global landscape? Which countries and companies will follow suit? You may be one of those people that feels that "if you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about" but if you think like that then you miss the concern/point altogether and must not value your own right to privacy

these days its probably easier to assume that things such as blackberry messenger are cracked and youir messages are being read real time and once you think that you and your friends will come up with a rather good method of talking about stuff that wont trip any sensors

reply to post by Maxatoria


I agree that it's always best to assume you are being monitored but this is no longer in the area of assumptions...it's fact with RIM devices in India and it is likely this type of access will cascade to other countries and that is when it starts to get a bit scary...I shouldn't have to have a secret decoder ring with me to talk amongst my friends and family..should I?

RIM has a police agreement with most police forces for access but countries like india/saudia arabia didnt like the fact that they had to generate so much paperwork due to the servers being located at RIM's home data centre where as with local servers they could trawl away for free

but if its just a chat between family members just send it plain text as it'll probably never hit the filters due to it being so boring

reply to post by Maxatoria


Isn't that now the issue.. India can now troll away for free and at their leisure as the server is in their possession? If servers are set up for other countries wouldn't that theoretically bypass things like warrants and probable cause there? It's one thing to monitored the populace covertly unbeknownst to them but to me it sounds like they are now providing the access/tools for governments to troll overtly?

reply to post by Ericthenewbie


they're providing access to the servers under that nations laws so you need to check that the data is secured to your satisfaction under that countries law and if you dont like what you see its time to find some other method

Real "Terrorists" would not use the internet anyway.
who would be that stupid?

And all this 'spying on our own citizens', will just take activist groups off the internet,
and back to using underground papers, word-of-mouth, etc.

The methods are slower, but do the job.

Still want to use the net? simple codes. pick a common book (phyiscal book, not online) and a starting page(offset), then send series of numbers with
"page from offset, line number, letter postion" (23,1,27 = 1 letter)

let them try to 1st work out with their computers:
What book did they decide to use?
What page in the book did they decide to start from?
Is the number code 'page,paragraph,word'; "page,line,letter (or word)".

And by the time they work it out, you have picked a new book, or its already happened.

reply to post by Maxatoria


Thanks for your input