RIM won't give 'Blackberry' code to government

Blackberry vendor Research-In-Motion (RIM) has rejected the government's demand to hand over the device's message encryption key, saying its security structure does not allow any 'third party', not even the company, to read the information transferred over the network.

"The Blackberry security architecture for enterprise customers is purposefully designed to exclude the capability for RIM or any third party to read encrypted information under any circumstances," the company said in a statement.

''We regret any concern prompted by incorrect speculation or rumours and wish to assure customers that RIM is committed to continue serving security-conscious business in the Indian market," RIM added.

The department of telecommunications (DoT) had asked the Canadian company to provide the encryption code to the Blackberry so that security agencies can access the contents transferred over the handheld device. 

The Blackberry issue came into the open when DoT asked Tata Teleservices to delay its launch till security mechanisms are in place.

DoT had proposed an interim solution in which telcos store all data transferred through Blackberry for a year. It had also suggested the setting up of servers in India by RIM as an alternative.

Talks between the government and RIM have, however, failed to produce any worthwhile solution so far and Blackberry data traffic continues to be inaccessible to Indian security agencies.

The present stance of RIM will further complicate matters and affect negotiations between the government and RIM over the Blackberry security issues.