DoT’s approach to BlackBerry imbroglio questioned

Amid controversy about a threat to national security from BlackBerry services, Canada has questioned the Department of Telecommunication’s approach to resolving the issue and also expressed doubt whether those involved on the Indian side are actually empowered to settle the matter. In a letter to communication and IT minister A Raja, Canadian high commissioner David M Malone said, “We and Research in Motion (the Canada-based Blackberry vendor) need to understand who in the government of India is empowered to resolve this issue.

“The discussion managed by DoT to date have inspired little confidence that those involved on the Indian side are actually empowered to settle the matter as the Indian government’s demands of RIM keep expanding while media leaks proliferate some of them very damaging from a security perspective…Potential terrorists are now aware, because of these leaks, of technical issues unknown to most of us previously,” he said in the latter dated April 17.

“While we wholeheartedly acknowledge the importance of security measures to combat terrorism, as well as the need for effective telecommunication regulations, there needs to be a balance between such measures and maintaining a supportive business environment for both foreign and domestic companies,” he said.