India hopes for resolution of BlackBerry issue

India hopes its concerns about security issues related to BlackBerry services will be resolved, the telecoms minister said on Sept 14, giving the government access to electronic messages.

Governments in other countries, mostly in the Middle East, also fear consumers might use Research In Motion's BlackBerry services to aid terrorism or peddle pornography. India had threatened to shut off RIM's encrypted email and instant messaging services unless it gained access to them. After a deal with RIM, India began accessing earlier this month some of the traffic carried on BlackBerry smartphone devices in a campaign driven by fears that unmonitored email and messaging puts the country's security at risk. "I do hope it will be resolved," Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja said.