The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will hold talks with the UAE over the ongoing BlackBerry dispute. The UAE has said it intends to prevent the phones sending e-mails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages, from 11 October. Clinton said authorities had to balance "legitimate security concerns" with "right of free use and access". The UAE Telecoms Regulatory Authority said in a statement to BBC News that Blackberry services were "currently the only data services operating in the UAE where data is immediately exported off-shore, where it is managed by a foreign, commercial organisation". This raises judicial, social and national security concerns for the UAE. A Research In Motion spokesman said the company cannot accommodate any request for a copy of a customer's encryption key, "since at no time does RIM, or any wireless network operator or any third party, ever possess a copy of the key". Clinton made no mention of other countries which have voiced concerns over the devices. Saudi Arabia has said it intends to place a ban on a Blackberry-to-Blackberry instant messaging service from 6 August, whilst Lebanon has said it will assess the device. Canada's trade minister Peter van Loan also issued a statement saying his government is working on the issue. He said the Canadian government is in contact with RIM about the issue and has been working with government officials in the UAE to help RIM identify their concerns and find solutions. RIM is headquartered in Canada.
