Thread: UN throws it's Dunce Cap into the RIM/India fight

A few days ago I let you know I would keep my eye on this whole RIM/India farce, and today I have more idiocy to report. The UN secretary-general of the International Telecommunications Union, Hamadoun Toure, Rim needs to give law enforcement agencies around the world access to it's customer data, in order to fight terrorism. "Those are genuine requests. There is a need for cooperation between governments and the private sector on security issues," he told the Associated Press.

So, he wants RIM to give security agencies access to encrypted data. Um, hellooo! You can have all the encrypted data you want, but it won't do you a lick of good. You see, it's encrypted. And you can't decrypt it without a key. Now, RIM doesn't have this key. So why pick on a company who doesn't have what you want?

I swear, some governments are just so paranoid about letting their citizens have any kind of privacy or autonomy. The only good I can see coming out of this "security issue", is the worlds population waking up and seeing that open exchange of data is inevitable, and demanding their government stop blocking it. Lets hope it happens soon.

What do you think? Let us know below.

[BerryReview]

Anyone who has read my rants here or elsewhere will be able to tell you I am in favor of "throwing the bums out". Get rid of any and all politicians that support this type of nonsense and keep throwing them out until we regain control of our respective countries.
The world belongs to its people, not to its government leaders.
If you have the right to vote and you don't exercise that right, you still have the right to complain, but I won't listen.
RIM should hold fast against these tyrannical demands, why should they worry about the Indian government? Tell 'em to pound sand. If India wants to control its people with an iron fist, don't hand them a mace...

Wow, itleast they're NOT asking for the KEYS yet... That's where I would be concerned!
I agree RIM should tell everyone to get bent.
Security is the only reason I stick with the BB devices,
We all get excited when a new one is released/spec'd out beacause RIM's devices aren't exactly WOW material! We are excited that we might be a step closer to the industrystandards...
When have you seen a true WORLD FIRST from RIM in there hardware?
The camera's aren't anything great, I still want a XENON flash like SONY/ERICSSON does, trackpad-trackball-thumbwheel good stuff, processing power and onboard memory for the money just sucks, the OS works, where is my wireless N and WIMAX, or a front camera for video calls
I'm a father to 4 and a husband, working as much as I do it would be nice to SEE my kids when we are talking, show them where I'm at, what I'm doing etc.

Nokia-great hardware- horrible OS
Sony- great cameras- decent OS
Samsung- great screens- fast os
LG- see samsung
Motorola- they get it right once in a while
HTC- always cutting edge- microsoft n google
RIM- solid hardware - solid OS

See I got all worked up off this and went on a tangent
Posted via mobile device

There are a few issues I did not vote on this last election, the choices were bad. The one i hated the most was the Presidential candidates, none of the candidates were good enough for the job. So I wrote in Beavis for prez. And I'll complain all I want, I didn't vote the schmuck in.

WTH! its America and WE THE PEOPLE MEAN privacy Its on The bill of rights in USA only. RIM pull out already, its a big mistake. Terrorism! are you freaking serious what a LAME excuse. MOST NATIONS WITH GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS IS CORRUPT ANY HOW!

Exactly my point, the term "terrorism" replaced the term "commies" which replaced the term "Germans" which "injuns" which replaced "British"...... and so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
world leaders think they can cloud our judgment of them as long as we are kept in fear of the boogeyman.
Sure, there are terrorists out there. Sure, they are a minor threat. Question: If the terrorists were really that dangerous, why are we not being told to arm ourselves for protection? In fact, the opposite is true, we're being told our personal weapons need to be locked away, or better yet, sold to the government "for our own good".
Back on subject, India is trying to convince RIM to give them more info to "fight terrorism", when in fact, those government officials (like all others) are the real threat.

Originally Posted by adperdue

There are a few issues I did not vote on this last election, the choices were bad. The one i hated the most was the Presidential candidates, none of the candidates were good enough for the job. So I wrote in Beavis for prez. And I'll complain all I want, I didn't vote the schmuck in.

So, let me get this straight... you're saying that out of the 17 candidates that paid to be on the official ballot, you couldn't find one better than Beavis? That's pretty funny, for sure!

and I didn't say you couldn't complain, in fact complain all you want...it is your god-given Constitutionally guaranteed right to do so. I only said I wouldn't listen if you did....

Originally Posted by Bugly

So, let me get this straight... you're saying that out of the 17 candidates that paid to be on the official ballot, you couldn't find one better than Beavis? That's pretty funny, for sure!

That's right, not one candidate who made it onto the West Virginia ballot was more than a lobbyist-backed career politician. Those are the people we need to stop voting for. So I did not vote for them. If someone who does not want the job of president, but would take it to make this union a better place, made it onto the ballot in WV, that's who I would give my vote to.

First off, I'm not condoning the actions of foriegn governments, and really think RIM should just say whatever and walk away...but that will not happen.

That said, after reading the posts above, I think we're missing the mark by trying to draw paralells with our own way of living, and the freedoms we enjoy. I have to say Bugly, very nice breakdown for the word of the decade and how it frequently changes. Yes, the term terrorism has replaced commie for us here in North America. However, terrorism is a very real part of everyday life in places like India, UAE, Iran and Iraq. We read about it everyday and see it on the news. Also, the respective governments, in a bid to hold on to the power they barely have a grasp on, do run a police state, and controlling speech and communication is a very large part of that.

Businesses like RIM, Google, Nokia...the list goes on, knew this long before they broke into these markets. And as such, they new there was a price to pay. Giving these governments the access they demand to emails and chat clients is that price. If they want the money associated with thses markets, they will comply, and they do as we have seen. This is just another example of the god almighty dollar taking precident.

If it were not for the fact that foriegn governments are using this as a platform for them to flex they're muscle, we would have not had heard a word about it. RIM would have quietly complied in some fasion, and as I have mentioned before in the forums on this subject, a contigency plan was already in place with RIM for this very problem...long before they cracked into market.

Morally, the likes of RIM, Google and everyone else is concerned, should just walk away when these demands were first put forward. However, living in the real world and not the utopian society that some like to believe, no company is going to willingly walk away from that kind of money...regardless of what it costs them, or any values they need to comprimise as a result.

Ok, I now pass my soapbox off to the next speaker.

Well said, Josh! Good points indeed. (This is not my sarcastic voice, BTW..)
Terrorism in one form or another has existed and will continue to exist until the end of time. The key to vanquishing the beast is to stop feeding him. Giving in and cowtowing to their demands and remaining in a state of fear will only serve to make them stronger, and will give those who would try their hand at it even more reason to try.
If local police and governmental agencies would stop their "war on the citizens" long enough to properly prosecute those in terrorist activities, we could all get on with our lives and move forward as a species. Problem is; there is no money in it. The detection, capture and prosecution (including incarceration when necessary) costs millions, perhaps billions of those un-backed dollars. It strikes me funny that the governments of the world can print money at a frantic rate to wage war on one another, but can't seem to find a dime to stop the real threats to our society.
(stepping temporarily off soap-box and handing it to the next...)