RIM buckles down; will let govt access services

New Delhi: After days of uncertainty, there's finally some good news for over one million BlackBerry users in India.

According to reports, BlackBerry’s controversial e-mail and messenger service will now continue beyond Tuesday after Research In Motion (RIM) finally agreed to lift the veil of user confidentiality from September 1.

The government managed to force the BlackBerry maker to agree to setting up a proxy server in the country to monitor encrypted corporate e-mails, reports stated.

This came after it became clear to the Canadian company that its services would be suspended from August 31 if it did not come up with a solution to intercept and monitor BlackBerry's messenger and enterprise services on a real-time basis.

RIM has agreed to set up a proxy server in India, like it had done in the US, China, Russia, the UK and Saudi Arabia.

The announcement came after home secretary G.K. Pillai and other senior officials met the representatives of RIM in New Delhi on Friday.

The government agreed to review issues related to BlackBerry security within 60 days.

"The home ministry will review the security issue relating to BlackBerry services within 60 days, by which time the DoT (department of telecommunications) will submit its report," a government statement said.

The government wants to monitor secure e-mails and instant messaging services provided by the firm over fears that terrorists could misuse them.

When RIM sets up the server, it would be easier for the government to intercept e-mails on BlackBerry used by corporates.

RIM agreed to give in barely hours after Nokia agreed to the government’s demands. Afraid of losing a huge market in India, the BlackBerry maker had no other option.