Blackberry submits; agrees for scrutiny

Faced with 31st August government deadline, BlackBerry mobile phone maker Research In Motion (RIM) on Monday gave in promising access to Indian security agencies to monitor all its services with immediate effect.

Nearly two months after insisting that it does not have the provision to grant access for such monitoring, RIM made certain proposals for lawful access of BlackBerry Enterprise Services (BES) and BlackBerry Messenger Services (BBM) by the law enforcement agencies.

RIM’s response came after the Home Ministry made it clear that Blackberry has to shut down its operations in the country from 1st September if it failed to provide access to monitoring of its messenger services.

“RIM has made certain proposals for lawful access by law enforcement agencies and this would be operationalised immediately. The feasibility of the solutions offered would be assessed thereafter,” a Home Ministry statement said.

The Ministry has made it clear that any communication through the telecom networks should be accessible to the law enforcement agencies and all telecom service providers including third-parties have to comply with this, it said.