So RIM's CEO (the maker of Blackberry) basically tells off Saudia Arabia and the UAE that if you can't handle the Internet, turn it off.It's quite refreshing to hear some good political banter from our corporate overlords, particularly when it comes to being able to have access to the Internet, and uncensored access at that. I guess that if those countries can't successfully monitor access and what every single one of their citizens are doing, they should just pull the plug and go back to...censored television and radio.
That isn't going to happen.
Just like anything else, once the cat's out of the bag, it isn't going back in. What WILL happen is that individuals will find ways around the situation (just like they do in Turkey to get access to YouTube) and underground methods of enabling your device to do what YOU want it to do will prevail. (See - Jailbreaking your iPhone)
Now, the big deal here is that Blackberrys (Blackberries?) encrypt all of their data going to and from the phone. That's what has these countries in a tizzy. RIM hasn't given in to special security requests from any particular country before, and they shouldn't start now. Isn't it the person's data who owns the device?
But just in case you go visiting, be sure you leave your Blackberry at home until this whole mess is sorted out.
Source, WSJ:
-Nate
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