Friday, September 3, 2010

RIM Shot... and you're next Skype

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) secretary-general Hamadoun Toure said BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) should supply customer data to law enforcement agencies around the world, characterizing the governments’ needs as “genuine” concerns that cannot be ignored.

The ITU is primarily concerned with regulating global radio spectrum usage, supervising telecommunications standards processes, and helping regulate communication satellite orbits and transmission... the agency has no formal regulatory.. however, Toure’s comments certainly reflect the general sentiments of the ITU’s 192 members.

Canada’s RIM has recently faced regulatory issues in a number of countries over encrypted communications handled by its BlackBerry services, with governments like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia, and Lebanon all insisting that their governments be permitted access to BlackBerry users’ communications. (more)