BlackBerry email ban opposed by Canada, U.S.

Both Canada and the United States plan talks with governments that have proposed banning email services on the Canadian-made BlackBerry.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she will hold technical talks with the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

"We are taking time to consult and analyze the full array of interests and issues at stake, because we know that there is a legitimate security concern, but there is also a legitimate right of free use and access," Clinton told reporters in Washington.

Canadian International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying Ottawa, too, will intervene.

"Our government will be standing up for RIM as a Canadian company and the BlackBerry, as we always do stand up for Canadian companies doing business abroad when they run into these kind of challenges," Van Loan was quoted as telling Dow Jones in an interview.

Toward the end of trading, RIM shares were down for a second day, losing 94 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to trade at $53.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The United Arab Emirates announced over the weekend that it would block email, messaging and web browsing services provided by Research in Motion's BlackBerry starting in October because authorities don't have enough access to communications from the devices.

India is also pressuring the company for more access, but isn't explicitly threatening a shutdown.

On Tuesday, the Saudi state news agency SPA said in a report that the country's telecom regulator has informed mobile service providers that they must halt some BlackBerry services starting Friday.

Americans sending a message

The U.S. may be moving to defend its strategic interest, Joseph D'Cruz, professor of strategic management with the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, told CBC News.

Given that the U.S. military uses RIM's technology, and depends on it being secure, the Americans may be sending a message not to interfere with those security measures, he said.

"Once you start giving in to demands from different countries," he said, "you might end up compromising security."

D'Cruz doubts Canada will have much of a role in any negotiations, saying it "doesn't have much clout ... and it isn't seen in the Middle East as a significant foreign government."

"I think a Canadian minister talking on the subject wouldn't get much attention there," he said.

Clinton's comments came as RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis lashed out at governments in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday.

He said their demands to monitor private communications risk undermining the growth of electronic commerce.

'If they can't deal with the internet, they should shut it off.' —Michael Lazaridis, RIM co-CEO

"This is about the internet," Lazaridis was quoted as saying.

"Everything on the internet is encrypted. This is not a BlackBerry-only issue. If they can't deal with the internet, they should shut it off."

D'Cruz said RIM needs to take a hard line on the issue of security.

"They need to be intractable on this one and they need to show they are willing to give up their business in a country like Dubai, if it means giving in to demands to eliminate their security provisions because the security provisions are so important to RIM's financial success."

Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM issued a statement Wednesday that said the encryption system it uses on the BlackBerry smartphone does not allow access to encrypted data to anyone, not even the company itself.

"RIM cannot accommodate any request for a copy of a customer's encryption key, since at no time does RIM, or any wireless operator or any third party, ever possess a copy of the key," the statement said.

"Any claims that we provide, or have ever provided, something unique to the government of one country that we have not offered to the governments of all countries, are unfounded."