UAE, Other Nations Target BlackBerry for Access

From the creator

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish BlackBerry service is facing limits or bans in some countries over the issue of government access to information on its network. Research in Motion, or RIM, makes BlackBerry communications devices. They run on the company's network and secure software. The company is based in Waterloo, Canada. BlackBerry has forty-six million users worldwide. In August, the United Arab Emirates announced it would block BlackBerry e-mail, web browsing and instant messenger services on October eleventh. The UAE says the services are a threat to national security because government officials cannot access or monitor users' information. Then, Saudi Arabia threatened to block BlackBerry service in August. But later, a telecommunications official reportedly said it would allow service to continue in the country because of "positive developments."These moves renew concern among some people about efforts by the UAE and Saudi Arabia to control the flow of information. Both countries have banned some forms of media seen as harming national security. The ban in the UAE could affect half a million BlackBerry users. Saudi Arabia has about seven hundred thousand users. Kuwait and Lebanon are also said to be considering restrictions. But Middle Eastern countries are not the only ones seeking greater access to BlackBerry information. India and China are among other countrie

Published 2010-09-07 · Watch on YouTube ↗
Availability and playback restrictions are controlled by the original channel.