RIM's Encryption 'Too Secure' For Indian Government's Taste

climenole writes "Research in Motion, the creator of the widely used enterprise-cum-consumer BlackBerry device, has an uncertain position in India. The Indian government's internal security and intelligence services cannot break the encryption of the device, which makes countering terror threats and national security matters difficult — especially for a region which faces constant threats and attacks from domestic Maoist insurgents and extremist Islamic groups." Does it make you wonder how much safer everyone would be if parkas, mailing envelopes, cash, and superglue were all evaluated on the same basis?

And GnuPG?

[ciaran_o_riordan]

What about sending email with GnuPG?

dupe

[phantomfive]

Wow, I haven't seen a dupe this bad [slashdot.org] in a long time. The story is still on the front page. Add to it the story of being detained at the border, Verizon changing router passwords, and the hacker tapping phones for $1500, and today is privacy Sunday, eh guys?

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[Michael Kristopeit]

not rely on a corporation to provide the service for you

Re:dupe

[phantomfive]

Heh, so you are one of those guys who only reads the title and not the summary, I see. Sign up to be a Slashdot editor, they need more people like you.

Re:/. fails again

[phantomfive]

What's the matter, are you an Indian-government apologist, or something? The title summarizes exactly what the Indian government wants.

It's not left-wing, either: neither the right nor the left in America wants the government to control communications (I'm not talking about congress people, of course).

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[MysteriousPreacher]

By that logic no-one should complain if wiretaps were to be installed in restaurants. It's not reasonable to expect that no-one will overhear a conversation in a public place but quite reasonable to expect that there won't be microphones in your beef satay - at least not without proper judicial oversight.

Just the beginning

[joeszilagyi]

Any communications product, vendor, or service that can't be backdoored by government(s) will be banned.

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[countertrolling]

Ya takes yer chances... Life's a gamble... No guarantees... I make the effort, hope for the best.. and expect the worst.. That way I'm never disappointed. I derive no benefit from simply lying down and living the lie. Yours may be a different story... Whatever makes you confortable

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[countertrolling]

you're an idiot.

From you, I'll take that as a complement...

Now please, go take some reading lessons.

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[countertrolling]

you are NOTHING

Ahhh, excellent :-) That's what I've been waiting for. What took you so long?

Re:Easy to talk...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually the US would just bomb Mexico back to the stone age. India is missing one, possibly two testicles. Most Indians are weakass pussies. The British steamrolled them and plundered them while they sat down and took it. Sad to see that things haven't changed much.

Re:Government can't crack the encryption?

[bhagwad]

The privacy of Indian citizens is much more important than saving a few lives

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[LaRainette]

I just I didn't made myself very clear.
What i'm saying is the following : it's not because you use a public network (internet) that your communications are not private.
Indeed Most of the companies and NGO, government agencies and such USE internet with encrypted protocols and they DI intend they telecommunications to stay private (i.e. not decrypted by people who shouldn't)

Now the thing is if private corporations are allowed to encrypt their communications on a public network (and indeed they are) WHY THE FUCK would individuals not be entitled to the same right ?

This is why in most democracies, it's illegal to decrypt encrypted data, wherever it might be from (being your neighbour, Microsoft, or the NSA)

SO yes it is practical to expect privacy while using a public network, because you are entitled to it and protected by the laws of your country.

Re:When governments attack, only one thing matters

[madddddddddd]

anyone can still utilize any encryption they are capable of... they just won't be able to buy it through services from the RIM corporation, because RIM decided to do what the government asked of them and not offer such services any longer.

you have no right or reason to expect to be guaranteed any service that the law does not specifically guarantee. there is no "right to be able to purchase encrypted communication services from the RIM corporation" in the constitution.