RIM offers India compromise

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion offered Thursday to work with the Indian government to come up with ways to address its concerns about tracking encrypted communication among insurgents and criminals.

Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM said in a news release it had offered to lead discussions among firms in its industry and government.

The aim, it said, would be to balance the needs of state security forces with companies' needs for corporate data security.

"In particular, the industry forum would work closely with the Indian government and focus on developing recommendations for policies and processes aimed at preventing the misuse of strong encryption technologies while preserving its many societal benefits in India."

India has set a deadline of Aug. 31 for RIM to provide access to its messaging service.

The company has repeatedly insisted it does not have the ability to provide governments with a master key that would allow decrypting of corporate communications.

The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Lebanon and Algeria have all raised security concerns about BlackBerry use within their borders. 

Domestic critics of the Indian government's move have said the issue is really about freedom of speech and privacy, and that the government just wants to spy on the communications of political dissidents.

In its release, RIM said the government risks undermining the international competitiveness of its companies by compromising their secure communications.

"Banning such strong encryption-based information and communications services would severely limit the effectiveness and productivity of India's corporations," it said.