India lifts its Blackberry ban

IT APPEARS that both sides are backing down in the row between the Indian government and Research in Motion (RIM) over Blackberry encryption.

India's government told the AP that it will withdraw a threat to ban Blackberry services for at least two months. The stand down came after RIM agreed to give "lawful access" to encrypted data.

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, which wants real-time access to encrypted corporate emails and instant messaging, said in a statement that it would review RIM's security proposals over the next 60 days.

The thought apparently is that if the Department of Telecommunications finds that it is feasible to get the snooping ability it wants by routing Blackberry services through a server in India, rather than Canada, then RIM will be allowed to continue operating. µ