BlackBerry crackdown to affect visitors too: UAE

The United Arab Emirates' looming crackdown on BlackBerry services will extend to foreign visitors, putting the government's concerns over the smart phones in direct conflict with the country's ambitions to be a business and tourism haven.

The Emirates' telecoms regulator said Monday that travelers to the city-state of Dubai and the important oil industry center of Abu Dhabi will - like the 500,000 local subscribers - have to do without BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web services starting Oct. 11, even when they carry phones issued in other countries. The handsets themselves will still be allowed for phone calls.

Emirati authorities say the move is based on security concerns because BlackBerry data are automatically shipped to company computers abroad, where it is difficult for local authorities to monitor for illegal activity or abuse.

About 100,000 travelers pass through Dubai's airport every day, making it the busiest in the Middle East. The new restrictions could leave time-pressed business travelers hurrying through, many of them changing planes for other destinations, without access to their e-mail or the Web.

The United States criticized the decision by the UAE and asked the authorities to clarify the reasons behind it.

"It's about what we think is an important element of democracy, human rights, and freedom of information and the flow of information in the 21st century," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"It's an argument that we make to countries like Iran and China. And it's also an argument that we make to friends and allies of ours like the UAE," Crowley said, calling it a "dangerous precedent.

The State Department’s comments today on the UAE’s announcement to suspend certain Blackberry services from Oct. 11 are disappointing and contradict the U.S. government’s own approach to telecommunications regulation

Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to Washington

"Disappointing" comments

Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to Washington, issued a sharp e-mail response to the news media.

"The State Department’s comments today on the UAE’s announcement to suspend certain Blackberry services from Oct. 11 are disappointing and contradict the U.S. government’s own approach to telecommunications regulation," he said.

"In fact, the UAE is asking for exactly the same regulatory compliance -- and with the same principles of judicial and regulatory oversight -- that Blackberry grants the U.S. and other governments and nothing more."

In a statement, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) admitted it discusses security issues with "certain governments" but said it "respects both the regulatory requirements of government and the security and privacy needs of corporations and consumers."

BlackBerry has more than 500,000 in the UAE.

RIM tried to assure business customers that closely guarded company secrets transmitted by email or messenger would not be at risk.

"BlackBerry security architecture was specifically designed to provide corporate customers with the ability to transmit information wirelessly while also providing them with the necessary confidence that no one, including RIM, could access their data."

In India, the handset sparked a similar controversy after the Indian government warned it would close down RIM's operations in the world's fastest growing mobile market after China if it could not monitor emails and text messages because of security concerns.

RIM gave an assurance that it would soon address concerns on the "issue of monitoring the BlackBerry," an Indian official said last week.