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Indian official claims BlackBerry eavesdropping standoff is 'heading towards a resolution'
Oh, bureaucracies, the fun in dealing with them is that you're told exactly what they want you to know -- or at least, believe. That's the name of the game in India, where -- as you're surely aware -- the government has been at odds with RIM for years over its insistence that the Waterloo firm provide the means to monitor encrypted emails and BBM messages. In a revelation that may relate to those BlackBerry servers in Mumbai, R. Chandrasekhar of India's Department of Information Technology has asserted, "The issue is heading towards a resolution." While it's difficult to know whether monitoring is already in place, Chandrasekhar added that, "Law enforcement agencies will get what they need." Another unknown is whether RIM played a role in these developments. For its part, the company claims, "RIM maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries." So, if everything is now clear as mud for you, just remember: that's how those in charge like it.
RIM builds BlackBerry server center in Mumbai, right where Indian government wants it
This is the epilogue to a story that started as far back as 2008, when the Indian government first demanded access to encrypted BBM traffic. In 2010, RIM made "certain proposals" that satisfied politicos and averted a ban, and now it's gone one step further -- placing 5,000 BES Enterprise servers directly beneath officials' noses in Mumbai. It's not yet clear if messages will be subject to any more scrutiny than they were before, but N4BB reports that a "team of officers" has already inspected the installation and that "permission for direct monitoring" is "expected to be issued." Looks like those snoops will soon be working double shifts.
