Indian govt gives 31 August deadline for BlackBerry solution

Research In Motion's encrypted BlackBerry e-mail and instant messaging services will be shut down in India if the company does not address national security concerns by 31 August. The ultimatum was issued after senior officials from government, intelligence and state-run telecom operators met to discuss how to gain access to the content. The Indian government said in a statement that if its demands were not met phone operators would be required by law to close the encrypted BlackBerry Enterprise e-mail and Messenger services running through their networks, Reuters reported. A shutdown would affect around 1 million BlackBerry users in India. "RIM has assured us they will come with some solution. It remains to be seen whether they address our security concerns," a senior internal security official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. India wants access in a readable format to encrypted BlackBerry communication, on grounds it could be used by militants. Indian officials say RIM had proposed tracking emails without sharing encryption details, but that was not enough. RIM officials met India's interior minister separately on 12 August, a government source said. There were no more details.