RIM offers Indian government forum on data access

RIM argues that singling out one device is illogical

Research in Motion (RIM) has offered to set up an official forum to sort out concerns over the rights of the Indian government to monitor its mobile traffic.

The Indian government has said that it wants the ability to track and access messages sent via the company’s handsets, and gave a deadline for compliance of 31 August or else it would have to shut down operations in the country.

In response, RIM has now offered “an industry forum focused on supporting the lawful access needs of law enforcement agencies while preserving the legitimate information security needs of corporations and other organisations in India”.

“In particular, the industry forum would work closely with the Indian government and focus on developing recommendations for policies and processes aimed at preventing the misuse of strong encryption technologies while preserving its many societal benefits in India,” the company said in a statement.

RIM stressed that this is not a problem unique to its handsets and it urged the Indian government to sit down and discuss the policy structure it needed to put in place if it was to deal with all companies fairly.

“Singling out and banning one solution, such as the BlackBerry solution, would be ineffective and counter-productive. It would be ineffective because anyone perpetrating the misuse of the technology would continue to have easy access to other wireless and wireline services that utilise strong encryption and are readily available in the market today,” it said.

The Indian government has reportedly said that it can access the information it wants using its own means, but today’s announcement shows RIM is serious about finding a solution rather than withdrawing from the Indian market altogether.