Updated: RIM Cannot Give the Indian Government Enterprise E-mail Access

Canadian manufacturers Research in Motion have categorically stated that the Indian Government cannot be getting access to their customers’ Enterprise e-mails. Though RIM complied with the Government’s demands to grant them access to Blackberry Messenger, this seems to be one stance they can’t budge from.

Big brother can’t read your work e-mails

According to Reuters, RIM seem to have two reasons for rejecting the possibility. One is the line they have continued to use ever since India asked for access, which is the claim that it is technically impossible for them to decrypt the information being beamed from the devices to their servers and back because they do not have a Master Key. The other being the fact that any security issue via Corporate e-mail is not exclusive to their Enterprise service and is a industry-wide problem that needs to be solved.

RIM certainly are no strangers to this situation, with similar demands being issued by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and more. They even had porn filtered for their consumers in Indonesia following strong Government pressure and a threat of closure of their browsing service. However, as RIM VP Robert Crow told reporters, “There is no possibility of us providing any kind of a solution. There is no solution, there are no keys to be handed…It’s not possible to do so because the keys of the service are in possession of the corporate enterprises. Certainly my perception is that there is a broader recognition and appreciation that this is not an issue unique to BlackBerry,” so India’s demand for access cannot be met.