US in touch with India and others over Blackberry issue
The US is in touch with India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia to understand their concerns over the security features of Blackberry with these countries seeking greater access to messaging data. "There are issues attached to freedom of information, the flow of information, the use of technology. We are in touch with these governments," the state department spokesman, Mr P.J. Crowley, told reporters at his daily news briefing. "We're going to try to understand what their concerns are, the nature of the ongoing negotiations that they have with this particular company. And then you've touched on that there are number of countries that are in the midst of these negotiations and we'll see what the implications are," Crowley said in response to a question. His comments came as the Indian government asked Canada-based firm Research in Motion Ltd to allow it to monitor Blackberry services in the country, citing security concerns. It also comes close on the heels of Saudi Arabia ordering local cellphone providers to halt BlackBerry service, saying it failed to meet regulatory requirements. On Sunday, the United Arab Emirates decided to suspend some of the BlackBerry services like messenger, e-mail and web-browsing from October 11, accusing the smartphone service provider of failing to bring its operations in the UAE in line with local telecommunications regulations. Mr Crowley said there are legitimate security concerns attached to certain technologies and the flow of information around the world. "We understand those concerns. We want to best understand what's behind those concerns." "At the same time, we do support the flow of information, the available technology which does empower people. We are in touch, given that this issue has come up in a variety of countries, we are reaching out to those countries – have a discussion to understand the nature of their concerns and see if we can find solutions," he said. Noting that it is about not only the free flow of information, but it's the availability of technology, he said the cell phone in its various iterations has, in fact, opened up a new world of information to people around the world. Devices like a cell phone can be empowering in terms of providing market information, details on crops – disease-resistant crops, and how people in small communities in the middle of Africa can benefit from the information that’s now widely available around the world, Mr Crowley said.
"So it is not about any one device. It's not about any one network. We're trying to see how we can make these technologies more broadly available and they can be utilised in a variety of different ways to help build institutions, accountability, and other trends in key countries," he said.
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