Asked on India,BlackBerry CEO walks out of TV show

A visibly upset Lazaridis said the question was unfair and the company was facing no security problems

Research in Motion (RIM),the Canada-based wireless technology company that makes BlackBerry phones,has desisted from confirming the unofficial bits of information streaming out of the government corridors that it has given the government access to monitor its enterprise services in India. The company yet again refused to clear the air on the issue when confronted by British broadcaster BBC News.

Mike Lazaridis,the man who co-founded RIM in 1984 while still a student and is currently the president and co-CEO,walked out of the technology show BBC Click after correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones asked him about the problems the company was facing in India and the Middle East. A visibly upset Lazaridis said the question was unfair and the company was facing no security problems.

Cellan-Jones,however,asked Lazaridis if he could confidently tell his listeners and viewers across India and the Middle East that they were going to have no problems using BlackBerry services and if he could give them an assurance that the services were safe. But Lazaridis cut him short and announced that the interview was over. The interview is over. You cant use that…This is a national security issue, Lazaridis told the correspondent and asked the camera to be turned off.

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In his blog,Cellan-Jones wrote that Lazaridis was initially bubbly and enthusiastic but suddenly after the question the atmosphere in the room chilled,Mr Lazaridis told me my question was unfair,and his PR executive informed us that the interview was over.

A spokesperson for Blackberry India,however,tried to play down the development by saying that there was nothing new to say on the issue. Lawful access issues are now recognised as normal industry-wide issues and like others in the industry,we will continue to work with (the) law enforcement and regulatory officials around the world as appropriate, he said.

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