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RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« on: 2010-08-07 17:23:33 » |
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With all the noise over RIM and the Saudi government's desire to access RIM's client's data; for security reasons. I found this a useful review.
Cheers
Fritz
The UAE’s threat to ban some of RIM’s BlackBerry services is a wake-up call to reconcile profits and principles
Source: Saturday's Globe and Mail
Author: Ron Deibert
Date: Aug. 06, 2010 9:14PM EDT
There’s a story about a 1960s British intelligence chief who was so frustrated and confused by the proliferation of meaningless acronyms and code names for spying missions that he turned to an assistant and asked in exasperation: “Now, just what on earth does this KUWAIT refer to?”
Listening to stories about BlackBerry and the United Arab Emirates, Canadians must be feeling the same way. UAE? RIM? Kuwait? BES? Public Key Encryption? What’s all the fuss about?
Well, Canadians had better pay attention, because the stakes are high and issues such as these are only going to become more common, as much for users as for companies such as Research In Motion.
All of us have become accustomed to the convenience of smart phones, the connectivity of social networking and the ubiquitous presence of digital media. We twitter about the geolocation of our favourite coffee shop, bank online with financial services apps, post our family snaps to photo-sharing sites, and check our e-mail and store our documents on cloud computing services.
We have immersed ourselves in a technological environment of our own making, called cyberspace, which we take for granted as our communications and media ecosystem. We leave electronic traces of ourselves scattered across the servers of this vast geographically extended domain like granules of sand on an endlessly mutating, ever-expanding beach.
But who controls this domain and what are they doing with our data? What happens to our e-mail once we hear that familiar “woosh” sound as it leaves our screen? Is it shared with anyone without our consent? Under what circumstances?
The first place you might look is the policies of the providers themselves. Many of them reassure us that their services are highly secure and that your data is confidential, but the devil is always in the details. In this case, he resides among those lengthy end-user licence agreements we agree to before proceeding to use our BlackBerry, iPhone or Gmail accounts.
Ever read and understood one? Not likely, unless you have an advanced legal degree. They also tend to be frustratingly vague on some key issues.
Take, for example, the Rogers Yahoo Internet Services Privacy Policy, which has an interesting clause: “Personal information collected for the Internet Service may be stored and processed in Canada, the United States or other countries and may be subject to the legal jurisdiction of these countries.” Other countries? Really? My data can be processed in another country and subject to the laws of those countries? Which countries? Whose laws?
Questions such as these are not obscure legalese that amount to nothing in practice. They become critically important as companies extend their services into emerging markets where profits can be made but often at the expense of principles we take for granted in Canada.
“ There are, of course, legitimate reasons for companies to comply with local laws, and with law enforcement and intelligence.”
The key to understanding this dynamic is the sea change that has occurred as governments assert themselves in cyberspace, primarily for national security reasons. Fearful of cyber espionage, eager to manoeuvre in this domain, determined to block access to a range of content, governments are strategically exercising their power in cyberspace. To do so effectively, however, they need to enlist the co-operation of the companies that own and operate cyberspace. And that means companies such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and now RIM.
For their part, companies are eager to capitalize on emerging markets but often have to engage in complex negotiations to satisfy their hosts and to comply with local law. Part of that negotiation process can involve local companies with whom they must partner. This can create some vexing ethical issues for those companies, and some dubious associations.
Consider the case of Skype, the very popular VoIP and chat service. Much like RIM, Skype advertises its product as offering unbreakable “end-to-end encryption” and, for that reason, is used widely among businesses, human-rights activists and other persons at risk. In 2008, however, Citizen Lab researcher Nart Villeneuve determined that the Chinese partner of Skype, TOM-Skype, was secretly monitoring private chats of Skype users and uploading the data to the servers in mainland China, presumably to share with Chinese security services. The monitoring affected not only users of the Chinese version but also regular users of Skype with whom they communicated. Skype said it had no prior knowledge of the modification to the code made by TOM-Skype and “deeply apologize[d] for the breach of privacy.”
There are, of course, legitimate reasons for companies to comply with local laws, and with law enforcement and intelligence. Bad guys can use their products, and security services may need access to their data to be able to do their job. But it’s one thing for a company such as RIM to make provisions for access to its encrypted data for law enforcement and intelligence in a country such as Canada, the U.S. or Britain and quite another to do so with Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, China or the United Arab Emirates.
These are countries that do not have the same legal checks and balances over security services, or anywhere near the same degree of judicial oversight and public accountability. More important, they also have a much broader notion of what constitutes a security threat, which can include human-rights activists, political opposition groups and free-speech advocates. Complying with “local law” in this case could mean collusion with some nasty regimes.
The issues around the RIM-UAE controversy go beyond interception of data to include access to information and freedom of speech. A BlackBerry is also used to surf the Web and, in many of the countries swirling around the latest controversy, Internet filtering is de rigueur.
A Kuwaiti newspaper has reported that RIM has agreed to filter access to 3,000 pornographic websites at the request of the Persian Gulf emirate’s government. (Some users say it’s already filtering access to Web content in the UAE and Pakistan). Research undertaken by the OpenNet Initiative over the past seven years shows that governments rarely admit to filtering anything other than “pornography,” even when they block non-pornographic websites. The UAE, for example, requires its ISPS to block access to political opposition groups, religious sites and sites related to gay and lesbian issues, although it doesn’t admit it.
“ If that’s the case, why are there confidential negotiations at all?”
Will RIM comply with those requirements? Will it inform its users that it’s doing so? Will it publicize the block lists that it’s given by the governments? Or will it take a stand against those requirements in ways that it has about interception of private data?
Part of the reason the RIM issue is so confusing is RIM itself. On one hand, it’s claiming its services are so secure even it can’t decrypt its own encrypted data streams. “RIM cannot accommodate any request for a copy of a customer’s encryption key, since at no time does RIM, or any wireless network operator or any third party, ever possess a copy of the key,” the company said in a statement this week.
On the other hand, the company said it respects “both the regulatory requirements of government and the security and privacy needs of corporations and consumers.” But how are these two principles resolved when governments require access to data for law enforcement and intelligence purposes?
RIM considers its negotiations with governments about access to be “confidential,” yet says it doesn’t make special arrangements with one country that aren’t “offered to the governments of all countries.” If that’s the case, why are there confidential negotiations at all?
There’s also confusion about which of the many RIM services and products are secure, and which aren’t. RIM says “customers of the BlackBerry enterprise solution can maintain confidence in the integrity of the security architecture without fear of compromise.” Does that mean its much more widely distributed consumer-level product is less secure and can be easily monitored?
Clarification about all of these issues would help.
RIM may be banking on the success of quiet diplomacy, and the hope that the controversy will quietly slip away. That would be an unfortunate mistake. As RIM expands its reach and its customer base into emerging markets, so will these problems.
What should RIM do? It could take a page from its peers who’ve gone through these experiences before. Google, for example, now has a page listing all of the requests it receives from governments for filtering or the sharing of user data, and is openly supporting advocacy groups, bloggers and researchers who are pushing for access to information, freedom of speech and privacy online. RIM could do the same.
It could join the Global Network Initiative, a self-governance forum set up by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, where issues around data sharing, retention and filtering are discussed in an open, principled way. A growing support network of like-minded companies that resist such pressures is certainly more powerful than each of them being picked off by the UAEs and Indonesias of the world alone.
Ultimately, though, any company, acting together or alone, can’t solve the problems that RIM is encountering. These are global public policy – not just business – issues, and they require global public policy solutions that come from the concerted actions of governments, human-rights advocates and citizens.
It’s in this respect that the absence of a comprehensive Canadian strategy for cyberspace is painfully clear. Instead of acting like the British intelligence chief who mistook KUWAIT for a code name, we need to start treating cyberspace for what it is: the global communications space in which we are collectively immersed, and which is now under threat.
Latest reports are that International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan is now openly supporting RIM. This is encouraging, but incomplete. The engagement on this file needs to be seen as part of a broader vision that, so far, we haven’t articulated as a country. We need to be a strong voice internationally for a vision of cyberspace in which freedom of speech, access to information, and privacy are constitutive principles for this domain, and begin nurturing networks of actors that support this vision.
If the pressures on such a major Canadian business as RIM are not a wake-up call in this regard, nothing else will be.
Ron Deibert is director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. He is a founder and principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative and Information Warfare Monitor projects, and was one of the authors of the Tracking GhostNet and Shadows in the Cloud reports detailing global cyber-espionage networks.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #1 on: 2010-09-03 12:33:29 » |
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Why do I suspect this is really dirty business tricks to beat up a successful company, Just like the big 3 did to Toyota. But I don't believe it 'DOG', so what could I know ... "just pass me another one".
Also check out:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rim-looks-for-allies-in-spats-with-foreign-governments/article1686170/
Cheers
Fritz
UN says RIM should share data
Tech chief says governments have legitimate security concerns that should not be ignored
Source: The Globe and Mail
Author: Raphael G. Satter - London — The Associated Press
Date: Thursday, Sep. 02, 2010 11:20AM EDT
 An Indian man checks his handset at a shop in Hyderabad, India
BlackBerry's Canadian manufacturer should give law enforcement agencies around the world access to its customer data, the U.N. technology chief said, adding that governments have legitimate security concerns that should not be ignored.
Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, said officials fighting terrorism had the right to demand access to users' information from the maker of the BlackBerry – Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM-T46.660.160.34%)
“Those are genuine requests,” he told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. “There is a need for co-operation between governments and the private sector on security issues.”
RIM is embroiled in parallel disputes with at least five countries – India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – over concerns that the smart phone's powerful encryption technology could be used as a cover for terrorism or criminal activity.
Civil libertarians have argued that the controversy is fuelled by authoritarian governments' frustration over their inability to eavesdrop on BlackBerry-using citizens.
Blackberry service is designed from the ground up for secure communications. RIM says it complies with all legal requests for data – such as phone logs – even it is unable to provide anyone with the text of e-mails sent by people using its corporate service.
Governments in the U.S. and Europe have largely made their peace with encryption technology, but officials in Asia and the Middle East have demanded that RIM modify its practices to allow them wholesale access to BlackBerry e-mails as they're being transmitted.
On Thursday, Indian officials widened their security crackdown, asking all companies that provide encrypted communications – not just RIM – to install servers in the country to make it easier for the government to obtain users' data. That could potentially draw companies such as Skype and Google into the flap.
RIM has effectively thrown up its hands, saying the way the Blackberry system is designed prevents anyone except its clients from decrypting communications. The impasse has sent the company's share price plummeting.
A company representative in London did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment on Mr. Toure's remarks.
Mr. Toure's organization is responsible for co-ordinating the use of the global radio spectrum, promoting international co-operation in assigning satellite orbits, and establishing standards for the telecommunications industry. The little-known body also serves as a global forum for discussion of cutting-edge communications issues.
The agency has no independent regulatory power, but Mr. Toure's comments are a barometer of sentiment among the agency's 192 member states, which are expected to re-elect him to a second term later this year.
Mr. Toure was in the British capital to drum up private investment for an effort to spread broadband coverage across the globe. He has argued that hooking developing countries up with high-speed Internet access can have huge additional benefits, boosting education, business, health care and other issues.
Mr. Toure has gathered business and political leaders to form a Broadband Commission for Digital Development, a high-profile group devoted to lobbying governments for broadband-friendly regulations. The commission delivers its report to the United Nations later this month.
In the interview, Mr. Toure also fielded questions about network neutrality and allegations of Iranian interference with foreign satellite broadcasts.
Mr. Toure declined to explicitly say whether he backed network neutrality, the principle that Internet service providers should treat all Internet traffic equally. Some service providers argue that, having invested billions on their networks, they should be allowed to manage Internet traffic as they see fit – for example by giving priority to their own content, preventing applications such as file-sharing from hogging bandwidth, or creating premium services that charge more for faster access.
Mr. Toure expressed opposition to attempts to create a two-tier Internet with fast and slow lanes, telling companies they should focus on “ensuring that the best quality signal is offered to anyone, including your competitors.”
He also said talks between satellite provider Eutelstat and the Iranian government were ongoing following allegations that Iran had jammed foreign signals following its disputed presidential vote last year.
Western media said Tehran had obstructed their broadcasts to choke off coverage of the unrest that followed President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's re-election to a second term, and the European Union has taken its case to Toure.
Mr. Toure said the parties have been in talks at his office in Geneva as recently as Monday, but would not reveal any details.
“We don't see it as a big crisis,” he said. “It will be resolved.”
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #2 on: 2010-09-05 09:09:57 » |
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I did not see this coming .... thought it would blow over.... 'Big Brother' is back.
Cheers
Fritz
BlackBerry’s nod may land Google and Skype in rough waters
Source: IC Tech News
Author: Swati Mahaseth
Date: 05 September 2010 08:08
Research in Motions, the makers of BlackBerry mobile phones has finally agreed to handling over the access to its encrypted network to Indian Telecom ministry. RIM finally has given its nod to give an access to the data transmitted over its encrypted network. The decision gives a breather to BlackBerry and its 1.1 million users in the country, but at the same time has landed Google Inc. and Skype in rough waters as similar demands were made from these two.
RIM has been resisting government’s demand to allow security agencies an access to heavily encrypted email sent on a BlackBerry mobile phone. But recently the government has been threatening the Canadian mobile maker to wind up their operations in the country in the event it fails to provide system to monitor emails sent through the phone.
RIM was given a deadline of August 31, which was further extended to another 60 days. Indian security agencies have been asking for an access to highly secured data transmitted over RIM’s network for national security reasons. RIM’s high level encrypted technology does not allow anybody to access the information and data transmitted over the phone and that gives all the reasons to security agency to worry about national security given the fact that the device is popular among terrorist and militants for the simple reason that they can easily escape detection.
Earlier RIM argued that BlackBerry’s security architecture is designed in such a way that it purposefully excludes any third party and even RIM to read encrypted information. But with the fear of nationwide ban, RIM had no option but to provide the government with technical solutions which enables security agencies to monitor data transmitted via their devices. Indian security agency’s prime concern was penetrating RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry Enterprise Service.
Both are dangerous to national security because BlackBerry Messenger gives secure chat facility to its users while its Enterprise Service allows corporate to create their unique master keys to communicate among themselves which can not accessed even by RIM.
RIM’s nod is seen as threat to Google and Skype as now security agencies are demanding similar action from the two companies. Home Ministry has summoned notices to Google and Skype demanding them to set up servers in the country and provide an access to the internet data and information the way provided by RIM.
Security is top priority especially in a country like India where terrorist attacks are more frequent and widespread and in no case Indian government is in a mood to tolerate security glitches offered by big mobile players given the fact that country is gearing to host a large world event; the Commonwealth games in few days.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #3 on: 2010-09-06 22:58:32 » |
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hmmm .... Fritz
UAE claims BlackBerry devices being used for spying
Police chief says RIM is co-operating with US, UK and Israeli spooks
Source: V3.co.uk
Author: Dan Worth
Date: 06 Sep 2010
Dubai's chief of police has claimed that the UK, Israel and the US are using BlackBerry devices to spy on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and that Research in Motion (RIM) provides the authorities with the relevant encryption codes to do so.
Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told local news site Khaleej Times that spying is taking place, and that the UAE is demanding concessions from RIM, according to a report from Reuters.
"The US is the primary beneficiary of having no controls over the BlackBerry, as it has an interest to spy on the UAE," he said.
"The West has accused us of curbing the liberties of BlackBerry users, while America, Israel, Britain and other countries are allowed access to all transferred data."
V3.co.uk contacted RIM for comment but had yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.
RIM has always strenuously denied that governments can access its data, claiming that it is unable to provide the necessary encryption keys.
Nevertheless, the UAE has said that email and web browser services on BlackBerry devices will be banned from 11 October unless the government is given access to encrypted messages.
RIM was given a 60-day reprieve by the Indian government last week after convincing the authorities not to ban its services. Other nations have also threatened to ban certain BlackBerry services, including Kuwait, Lebanon and Sa udi Arabia.
Read more:http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2269273/dubai-outlines-reasons-move#ixzz0yoBizhQ8
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #4 on: 2010-09-27 20:23:00 » |
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Let the games begin 
Cheers
Fritz
RIM unveils The BlackPad BlackBerry PlayBook
Source: The Register
Author: Cade Metz
Date: 2010.09.27
Hey, Steve. It runs Flash
BlackBerry Devcon Update: This story has been updated with additional information from RIM's DevCon keynote.
Research in Motion — maker of the BlackBerry — has unveiled an Apple-battling tablet version of its email-friendly handheld.
They call it the BlackPad BlackBerry PlayBook. And as rumors indicated, it's based on a new operating system from QNX, a RIM-owned outfit whose embedded OSes are used in everything from Cisco routers to automobiles. The OS is known, appropriately enough, as BlackBerry Tablet OS.
RIM president and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis lifted the curtain on the "multi-touch" PlayBook this afternoon at RIM's annual developer conference in downtown San Francisco. Measuring 5.1 by 7.6 by 0.4 inches and weighing about 0.9 pounds, it includes a 7-inch display, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, HDMI and USB connectors, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and front- and rear-facing HD cameras. And in a clear answer to Steve Jobs, it offers Adobe Flash 10.1.
Yes, the PlayBook connects to existing BlackBerry Enterprise Servers, which, according to Lazaridis, now number 250 million worldwide. And RIM will offer a full native SDK when the device arrives to market. QNX founder Dan Dodge also said that the company is working on a Java VM. The SDK will handle OpenGL. And it will include Adobe AIR.
Dodge indicated that QNX has been developing the PlayBook for over a year — i.e., since before it was acquired by RIM.
Before revealing the PlayBook, Lazaridis unveiled a web-based development platform for the BlackBerry and the BlackBerry PlayBook known as WebWorks, a means of building apps in HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. It allows for in-app payments, and it provides in-app advertising via RIM's new BlackBerry Advertising Services. It has been open sourced on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license.
Lazaridis did not say how much the PlayBook will cost, when it will be available, or how it will connect to the interwebs. But a press release on RIM's website says that the device won't arrive until "early" 2011 in the US, with international markets to follow in the second quarter. The release also indicates that, at least initially, the device will not include cellular wireless connectivity. "RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future," the release says.
The device will connect to existing BlackBerries via Bluetooth, letting you display BlackBerry data through the tablet. Content from the BlackBerry will be cached on the tablet, but not stored there.
The BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK will be available "in the coming weeks." Developers can register here.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #5 on: 2010-10-29 13:34:57 » |
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Apple iPhone sales outstrip BlackBerry, according to report
Source: The Telegraph
Author: Claudine Beaumont
Date: 2010.10.28
The success of Apple’s hugely popular iPhone range has seen it overtake Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, as one of the world's biggest mobile phone companies.
Apple shipped 14.1 million handsets during the most recent financial quarter, up 91 per cent on the same quarter last year, according to analysts at Strategy Analytics.
Bumper sales of Apple’s flagship iPhone 4 has seen the company outperform Research in Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry range of smartphone devices. RIM shipped 12.4 million units during that period, an increase of 46 per cent on the same quarter last year.
The reversal of fortunes has prompted some industry experts to question whether the popularity of the BlackBerry could be on the wane, as other devices match the mobile emailer for efficiency and usability.
A total of 327 million mobile phones were shipped worldwide during the third financial quarter of this year, up from 291 million on the same period last year. Strategy Analytics said that growth had been less than expected and slightly down on the first six months of the year, but blamed this on component shortages and ongoing economic volatility which “slightly constrained volumes”.
Nokia remained the biggest mobile phone maker in the world, shipping 110.4 million handsets worldwide during the third financial quarter. The company has undergone a shake-up in recent months, with several key executives, including chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, announcing their departure.
Strategy Analytics said this figure represented just a two per cent annual growth on the same figure last year, but was the ninth consecutive quarter in which the troubled Finnish company had grown volumes above the market average.
“Component constraints aside, much of Nokia’s growth during the next quarter will depend on the success of its four high-profile new models, the Nokia N8, C7, C6-01 and E7,” said Strategy Analytics in its report. “The first three handsets will be attacking Sony Ericsson, LG and Samsung, while the E7 will set is sights on RIM, HTC and others.”
Samsung, which shipped 71 million handsets in the third quarter, and LG, which shipped 24.8 million devices, made up the rest of the top five handset makers.
Strategy Analytics warned that LG’s apparent inability to capitalise on the premium smartphone boom was “causing financial pain”, and also said that Samsung was experiencing a “healthy demand” for Android-based devices which was helping to drive its success.
It is anticipated that around 1.3 billion handsets will have been shipped by the end of this year, the biggest every annual total. However, Strategy Analytics warned that the “volatile supply” of some key components could prevent some vendors from delivering the full range of phones they had hoped to provide.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #6 on: 2010-10-31 17:37:02 » |
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I have to wonder if all his drama helped push the Apple numbers; So we are Full Circle.
Cheers
Fritz
India backs off on Blackberry ban threat
Source: Metro
Author: ERIKA KINETZ, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Date: 2010.10.30
MUMBAI, India - India has followed the United Arab Emirates in backing off from a threat to ban popular services on Blackberry devices, amid growing global concern over access to encrypted information.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said Friday that Research in Motion Ltd., the Canadian maker of the smartphones, has agreed to an interim arrangement for lawful interception of Blackberry Messenger services _ an instant messaging application _ and pledged to provide a final solution by the end of January.
"Accordingly, the ... services will continue to be available," the ministry said in a statement.
Citing national security concerns, India had threatened to ban corporate email and messenger services by August if Research in Motion (TSX:RIM) didn't come up with a way for the government to monitor them. It then extended the deadline to October. It remains unclear what solution the parties may have reached over encrypted corporate emails.
RIM, whose competitive edge rests on ensuring security to its global users, has given no details of the possible concessions that led the UAE and India to back off from their October deadlines for access.
The company said in a statement that it is optimistic about reaching a final solution with Indian regulators. RIM said it had not changed the security architecture for corporate email and that it does not make special deals on access with individual countries.
India is now asking all companies that provide encrypted communications — not just RIM — to install servers in the country to make it easier for the government to obtain users' data. That would likely affect Gmail provider Google Inc. and Internet phone company Skype SA.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #7 on: 2011-01-01 18:04:02 » |
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I still think the India's Cell Phone Companies are lobbying behind the scenes to make this a story.
Cheers
Fritz
RIM says India won't have access to encrypted data
Source: The Globe and Mail
Author: CP
Date: 2010.12.30
Unscrambling encrypted email on devices used by BlackBerry business customers isn't technically feasible, says Research In Motion (RIM-T58.07-0.07-0.12%), disputing a report that authorities in India will have access to such content.
The Canadian smartphone company said Thursday that a report by the Economic Times of India about allowing access to the encrypted data sent by corporate users is “inaccurate and misleading.”
RIM said the story implies that it is “somehow enabling access to data” transmitted through its business server system.
“This is both false and technologically infeasible,” the Waterloo, Ont., company said in a statement.
Indian officials have said they want real-time access to encrypted data to fend off possible terrorist attacks. BlackBerry smartphones were used by the terrorists to monitor online news about the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
Research In Motion has repeatedly said that it doesn't possess a “master key” to allow it or any third party to gain access to encrypted corporate data under any circumstances.
RIM has also said that locating servers in India wouldn't make any difference since all data remain encrypted at all times through all points of transfer between the BlackBerry enterprise server and the customer's device.
The Indian newspaper has reported that RIM has offered to install a “network data analysis system” in that country to allow government security agencies to intercept BlackBerry data.
The business paper's report was based on an internal note from the government's home ministry.
But RIM said it was already co-operating with Indian authorities on access to its consumer services, like the real-time BlackBerry messenger service.
RIM said the so-called network data analysis system is a tool required to allow carriers in India to provide lawful access to the Canadian company's consumer services, including the BlackBerry instant messaging service, which have a lower level of security.
RIM said this type of lawful access is also required by the Indian government for consumer services provided by RIM's competitors in that country.
“This is not new information as RIM has repeatedly confirmed that it is co-operating with the government of India and enabling carriers to lawfully access consumer services to the same degree imposed on RIM's competitors in India.
Deloitte Canada analyst Duncan Stewart said RIM is being targeted because it's a high-profile company even though other encryption technologies are in use globally and would be impossible to ban.
“So, in picking on RIM, on some level you're picking on what is the easiest and most visible target to stop,” said Stewart, Deloitte's director of Canadian research in technology, media and telecommunications.
“You can actually put pressure on individual companies like Research In Motion,” he said from Toronto. “Governments around the world do this to various companies.”
But despite multiple threats to shut down RIM in various countries, nobody has done it yet, Stewart noted.
“I don't expect anybody to shut them down. It's a back and forth and it's a process and it's politics.”
Research In Motion also said it's not facing a Jan. 31 deadline by the Indian government to resolve the matter and that work on security concerns continues.
India has more than one million BlackBerry users. It's a fast-growing market for RIM as it expands in regions such as Asia, the Middle East and South America, regions outside increasingly competitive North America where it is fighting Apple's iPhone and Google-powered Android smartphones for dominance.
RIM has faced similar pressure over security concerns from governments in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Analyst Tero Kuittinen of MKM Partners research and investment firm said he expects the matter to be resolved with the Indian government.
“I think the way it was solved in the Middle East is an encouraging sign because I am assuming the terrorist threat is more substantial in the Middle East than it is in India,” Kuittinen said from New York.
Next year will be an important year for RIM as it launches the PlayBook computer tablet and new phones.
There have already been reports that early units of the PlayBook had a short battery life compared with Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy tablet.
“RIM is on track with its schedule to optimize the BlackBerry PlayBook's battery life and looks forward to providing customers with a professional grade tablet that offers superior performance with comparable battery life,” the company said.
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #8 on: 2011-02-15 11:44:41 » |
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Nice to see good engineering and functionality still makes it self heard.
Cheers
Fritz
BlackBerry OS 6 – Red Star Rising
Source: The Register
Author: Simon Rockman
Date: 2011.02.15
Looky-touchy-feely
It would be both right and wrong to describe the new BlackBerry Operating System as just eye-candy on the existing java based system.
Correct in that what it does is make the OS look very much better. Incorrect in that in making it look better it also works better and is easier to use.
The most significant change is the addition of a decent browser - the previous browser was a bugbear of both RIM and users. RIM bought the company Torch for its webkit based Iris browser and then named the device after them. There is pinch to zoom and tabbed browsing. Not only that but the pages in the unviewed tabs are active, not simple screen shots as in Safari.
The iPhones’ browser is no longer a reason for buying an iPhone over a BlackBerry. This will stop BlackBerry users defecting and maybe lead some who’ve used a BlackBerry before to return.
Not to belittle the whizzy sliding stuff and customisable home screen, but it is what goes on behind that provides great foundations.
Since the Nokia communicator and the first Windows Mobile phones there has been a rift between those devices which are a computer with a modem, and those that are a phone with computing functions. The BlackBerry sits between the two. It’s a messaging device which also does computing and voice.
Those messages provide the foundation for what RIM calls “Super Apps", that is applications that are always connected. BlackBerry users are used to the flashing LED, which says that there is some new information, and the red star notification on icons to show what’s been updated.
This can just as easily be Sky Sports tracking goals as a Bloomberg stock-market update. The speed and reliability of BlackBerry push makes it ideal for people who always want to be up to date. Ironically that’s much more the older teens than the grey men in grey suits who form the traditional BlackBerry target market.
An iPhone, even with iOS4, isn’t there because it just doesn’t have the APIs. While Apple may say “there’s an app for that", very often there isn’t. You can’t for instance record a phone call on an iPhone, or read a text message directly into an application.
While the excellent SmrtGuard will let you access your lost BlackBerry to get it to dial you back so that you can hear conversations where you’ve left it, or make it ping loudly, or track the device by GPS, the Apple version does none of that because it doesn’t have the APIs.
So consumers know they like their BlackBerry, but often can’t put a finger on why. IT people might be able to point to the significantly lower bandwidth of the messaging system, or the end to end security that means even some spooks are happy to use it, but that’s not cool like having hysteresis as a menu scrolls or album artwork in the music player. You don’t hear BlackBerry developers moaning "if only" in quite the same way as iPhone developers do. All users know is that while another phone might be connected, a BlackBerry feels more connected.
With OS 6, RIM has fixed the browser and look and feel, but the future looks to be in good hands too. There will be a migration from the current underpinnings to QNX, the OS in the Playbook, and the acquisition of TAT, The Astonishing Tribe, who are UI designers with gaming roots puts BlackBerry in a very good place for the future.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #9 on: 2011-03-09 21:17:42 » |
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oops .....
You Win, RIM! (An Open Letter To RIM's Developer Relations)
Source: http://blog.jamiemurai.com/2011/02/you-win-rim/
Author: The Weblog of Jamie Murai
Date: February 25, 2011
You win. I concede defeat. I no longer want to attempt developing an app for the Playbook. Are you happy now? Surely you must be. Considering how terribly designed the entire process is, from the registration right through to loading an app into the simulator, I can only assume that you are trying to drive developers away by inconveniencing them as much as humanly possible. Just in case you’ve forgotten, let me give you a little recap of the process you’ve put together.
Living in Waterloo, it’s hard not to be reminded of you. I walk by your campus every day, most of my friends have worked for you at some point, and you are the largest supporter of the university I attend. So it seemed like a rather good idea to at least attempt to write an app for the Playbook, your shiny new tablet that you hope will be able to compete with the extremely popular iPad and the up and coming Honeycomb tablets. Having already developed apps for the iPhone and iPad, I had a little experience with the process of signing up for developer programs, and naturally I assumed that yours would be different, but fairly straight forward none the less. Well, you know what they say about making assumptions!
First, I had to fill out a form with my personal information. No big deal, pretty standard. I do, however, notice that although it is currently free to register with App World, in the future there will be a $200 USD charge. Now just in case you’ve never looked in to competing developer programs, Apple charges $99, and Google charges $25. Considering you are by far the underdog in this game, how do you justify charging double the price of the market leader? Also, with the $99 or $25 charge, Apple and Google let you publish and unlimited number of apps on their stores. You, on the other hand, have decided that for $200, a developer should only get to publish 10 apps, and it will cost $200 for every additional 10 apps. On Twitter, I believe that would colloquially be referred to as a fail.
After getting all my personal information in, and being thoroughly disgusted with your ignorant pricing scheme, I’m now ready to start the actual process of developing. With the iPad, all I need to do is download a single installer that contains the IDE, the SDK, and the simulator. You’ve decided that it’s better to make me download the Adobe AIR SDK, the Playbook SDK, and the Playbook simulator in three separate downloads. It’s not optimal, but I’m sure you have your reasons, right? RIM? Bueller? So I go ahead and download the Adobe AIR SDK. Of course, I’m a little confused when it doesn’t come with an installer, but is simply a collection of libraries and binaries. It reminds me of the good old days of command line Linux installs, but it’s about as far from user friendly as you can get. Just in case you forgot, RIM, developers are users too. Next up, is the Playbook SDK. For some reason, you want me to fill in an entire form of personal information. That’s odd, considering I did already when I first signed up. I guess I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your database crashed in the interim. So I fill out the form, and start the SDK download. Now I need to download the Playbook simulator. Again, you ask me to fill out a form of personal information identical to the one I just filled out to download the SDK. At this point, RIM, I seriously think you should get checked for some type of anterograde amnesia. Onward I go!
As I stated before, the Adobe AIR SDK didn’t come with an installer, but being a developer I obviously have a lib folder hanging around, so I just drop it in there. Next, I go to install the Playbook SDK. For some reason, it thinks that the optimal place to install software on a Mac is my home directory. Not /Developer, not even /Applications, where 99.99% of software is supposed to be installed. But whatever, I guess you have your reasons, right? RIM? Bueller? So I just manually change the default install folder, as any user friendly installer should require. Then I move on to the Playbook simulator. Oh, I forgot to mention that you also told me I had to download VMWare Fusion to run the simulator. Nothing says user friendly like making me buy an additional piece of $80 third party software to run YOUR simulator. Luckily, VMWare offers a free trial, which by the way, comes in a single installer (see what I did there?). I’m kinda of confused at this point though. The docs say that I need to install the .iso image into VMWare, but the file I downloaded from you was an installer? I decide that maybe the docs are outdated, and you’ve come up with a nice installer for the simulator that wouldn’t make me use VMWare. So I go ahead an optimistically run the installer. Turns out, you’ve decided to put the .iso image in an installer, and just have the installer copy the .iso into a folder on my sytem. Cause you know, that’s so much simpler than just letting me download the .iso directly. The next part turns out to be pretty simple, having to just create a new VM in the usual way. VMWare gets the credit for that though.
Ok, so to recap, I now have the Adobe AIR SDK sitting in a lib folder, the Playbook SDK is installed, and the Playbook simulator VM is installed into VMWare. Obviously the first thing I want to do is to boot up the simulator and play with it. So I click the nice little Play button inside VMWare, and am greeted by what I perceived to be a 1000000000 page license agreement in a DOS-like console window. So after having scrolled through the whole thing page by page with the spacebar, I am now greeted by the actual Playbook UI! My reaction is similar to that of Kristen Wiig when she plays the Target cashier on SNL. Since there’s only a web browser available, I launch it so I can see if the browser lives up to your claims, RIM. However, it seems that I can only get to about two pages before it stops responding all together. Oh well. I figured, at this point, I should try to get an actual app loaded on to the simulator. So I head back to the docs to learn how. First up, I have to put the simulator into development mode, which makes total sense because of those times when you don’t want to use the simulator for development. For instance, sometimes you’re obviously gonna want to load up the simulator on your laptop and use it like a Playbook, right? RIM? Bueller? But before I can do that, you tell me that I need to set a password, which is obviously very important, because if someone steals my laptop, that last thing I would want them to do is be able to put my Playbook simulator into development mode without my permission. Good thinking RIM! Next, I need to get the IP address of the simulator, because it’s running in a VM, and as far as my OS is concerned it’s an entirely separate device. Good design RIM! Making things easy and integrated (like Apple and Google have) only encourages those “artsy” types to try to develop software, which clearly should be left only to unix loving neck beards (I use that term endearingly).
Now I get down to the real work. Compiling and sending an application to the simulator. As your documentation suggests, I go ahead and download the sample app from your website. Your docs now tell me that before I can create the application package, I need to first create an application archive. Ok, that sounds alright with me, because obviously you’re going to tell me how to do that. Wait, you’re not going to tell me how to do that? Ok, well let’s just assume I figured out how to do that on my own. Now I need to go back to the command line, and type in a big command with lots of non-descriptive command line options that will transform my archive into the application package which can then be loaded on to the device. With package in hand (hehehe, I’m here all week folks!), I now need to type in another long command which will send the application to the simulator running in the VM at the IP address I had to get earlier.
At this point, I feel the need to compare and contrast to the Apple and Google way of doing things. If you are developing for iOS or Android, you can replace the entire preceding two paragraphs with one sentence: Press the button that says Build and Run (or the equivalent button within Eclipse for Android). Sarcasm aside, as it stands, the Playbook SDK is complete crap.
So it was at this point that I decided to surrender. Knowing what a pleasure it is to use Apple and Google’s tools, there was no way I could justify continuing with Playbook development. I thought this story would end there. Unfortunately, there was one more little jab you were still able to get in, RIM. This afternoon, Google Notifier informs me that I’ve received an email from you. Naturally, I assumed that it was just a confirmation that my App World account had been approved, considering I had filled out your forms truthfully and completely, just as you had asked. However, I was surprised to find that it was, in fact, a request for more personal information. You wanted me to print off a notarized statement of identification form, fill it out, take it to notary with government issue ID to have it notarized, and then return it to you so that you could be absolutely sure with 100% accuracy that I was who I said I was. I think it goes without saying at this point, but neither Apple nor Google require you to do anything even close to that.
So, my dear RIM, primary supporter of my local economy, I bid you adieu. You have succeeded in your quest of driving away a perfectly willing developer from your platform. On a more serious note, being the underdog, you need to make your process AT LEAST as simple as Apple’s or Google’s, if not more so. You need to make your tools AT LEAST as good as Apple’s or Google’s, if not more so. You have failed at both.
Update 1: It should be noted that I was using the WebWorks SDK and not the AIR SDK. A commenter on HN mentioned that if you’re using Adobe Builder, it will eventually get you to a Build and Run button, but that they experienced similar problems as well.
Update 2: RIM has posted a response on their Inside Blackberry Developer’s Blog.
Update 3: I’ve now posted a follow-up.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Fritz
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #10 on: 2011-05-30 19:00:44 » |
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I have struggled and held on to my little quadband Samsung phone texting with the tiny little keyboard staying away from a contract, just paying my bill each month. Finally my carrier started 3g and reasonable cell service in my area and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
So I can now post on this thread with a clear conscience from my BB 9780. I tried to like the iPhone (I use Apples in my video and photography hobby with nothing but praise) but they are not my cup of tea for many many reasons not least of which include typing text messages on glass and especially reception or lack off.
So if the Playbook is in keeping with the BB phones, then I suspect it truly worth evaluating before plunging into and Jobsonian universe.
Cheers
Fritz
RIM PlayBook strikes back at Jobsian internet dream
Source: The Register
Author: Gavin Clarke
Date: 2011.05.26
Professional grade? No. Flash? Ah-ah!
Review "Amateur hour is over," reads the RIM PlayBook ad inside the Office Max shop around the corner from The Register's San Francisco bureau. As I walk by, looking for a printer cartridge, RIM tells me that its new PlayBook is the world's first "professional-grade" tablet.
That's not the most original line in US advertising history, but it says something about the PlayBook and what RIM is trying to achieve with its first tablet, a device with its sights locked on Apple's iPad.
Truck-maker GMC claims its vehicles are "professional grade", too. But that's meaningless – GMC is capitalizing on the public's misguided belief that its trucks are somehow tougher, when in reality there's little in terms of build, technology, or finish to differentiate GMC from rival pickups. A big truck is a big truck is a big truck.
Released in April, the PlayBook is slightly thicker than the iPad – 0.4 of an inch versus .34 of an inch. It also feels denser, possibly thanks to its more compressed form factor: it's about two inches smaller than the iPad in height and width, and lighter by 0.4 pounds. My review unit was the 16GB model, which like its 32GB and 64GB brethren features a seven-inch, 1024-by-600 display, is powered by a 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor, and runs RIM's Tablet OS.
But this isn't a competition in which the winner is judged just by thinness, size, or tech specs. That Office Max ad precisely defined the terms of RIM's challenge to the iPad: "multi-tasking, app-rocking, Flash-loving and ultra-portable."
RIM has been building smartphones for the working classes – albeit pencil-necks instead of GMC's leathernecks – for 12 years. It is now promising something founded on the tough and reliable heritage of the machine that made RIM's name: the BlackBerry. Like that smartphone, the PlayBook is designed for business – which might explain why the polished black frame surrounding the PlayBook's touch screen says "BlackBerry" instead of "PlayBook": RIM wants to remind you of the connection and the brand.
But there's more. RIM is going up against Apple in an area where the iPad is both at its weakest and its strongest. Yes, we mean Adobe's Flash. RIM promises to work with the internet as it is today, a place where Flash is pervasive.
People have been charmed by Apple's whimsical "there's an app for that" approach to using the web and plenty of ordinary users probably haven't even heard of Flash Player. But they will wonder why sites they loved when they surfed on their Mac or PC and that are built on Flash suddenly don't work on their iPad. The answer is simple: Apple chief executive Steve Jobs doesn't allow Flash on the iPad.
RIM makes a big point of this in the US TV ads running for the PlayBook, where the company loops the infectious chorus to Queen's Flash (sing it with me) "ah-ah, savior of the Universe!"
By following the Flash road, RIM's PlayBook does something unintentionally ideological, too. It serves you a version of the internet as it was probably imagined by Tim Berners-Lee instead of as it's being reinvented by the CEO of a Silicon Valley computer manufacturer: Jobs.
One believes the internet is a place of architectural diversity and where data should roam free. The other is building a fenced-off society that keeps data in and whose rules state that apps must be built "this way". And that way means no Flash. While Flash may not be open, its ubiquity does make it one of the forces for the open movement of data online.
Using the PlayBook, you get the Jobs-free edition of the internet.
Browsing is through a WebKit-based browser that is simple, fast, and easy to grasp. The browser gulps down HTML5. You can open tabs by clicking a "new tab" icon. And it worked with most sites I hit during my test – although not all.
Hulu.com said it didn't support the browser I was using, a troubling sign. Otherwise Flash content played just fine, while the PlayBook comes with a version of YouTube tailored to the tablet's limited screen and that can handle finger-based input.
Early reviewers have pounded the PlayBook for not having enough applications to download or use. The gold standard is – of course – Apple's App Store with 350,000 apps, about 100,000 of which claim to be iPad-optimized. While RIM's existing App World holds 20,000, it's back to the beginning for the PlayBook, I'm afraid. At present, none of these work on RIM's tablet.
RIM reckons this will soon change: 3,000 apps have been submitted to App World, and the PlayBook will run Android apps – although you'll have to download them from App World not Google's Android market – and also existing Blackberry Apps will run on the tablet using a special player.
Today, however, the PlayBook comes up short on numbers and brands. In RIM's App World, there's no Shazam or Pandora for music junkies, New York Times or The Economist for current-affairs buffs, and no Angry Birds for – well – whoever is its target market.
There's also no PlayBook-version of Facebook or Twitter, but this isn't a real problem: you can use the existing mobile versions - another win for the idea of using the web as is and not as one company's CEO wants you to.
And while there's no Kindle from Amazon, there is Kobo. While RIM probably would love to have the Kindle on the PlayBook, Kobo's presence means as a consumer you're actually getting a real choice in terms of the ebook supplier and reader instead of simply getting served the industry default. This is another point to the open-web team of Berners-Lee and Co because – unlike the Kindle, which keeps its books prisoner behind a proprietary Amazonian fence – Kobo employs the open Electronic Book Publication Standard (EPUB) used on other readers, such as the Barnes & Noble Nook and Sony's Reader.
The PlayBook also has a music player and a music store, from 7Digial.
Early reviewers who pounded the PlayBook for missing apps have overlooked an important fact, and it's something that speaks volumes about how much Jobs has succeeded in shaping our expectations of tablets.
One reason that the iPad needs apps is because Flash isn't allowed and because Flash is so pervasive online. With the PlayBook supporting Flash, there is reduced pressure for those with existing Flash apps to rewrite or for RIM to bulk out App World; the actual pressure is coming from industry expectations that you must be like Apple in order to succeed and the associated perception that not having an bulging app store means you're toast.
[Fritz]much more to read on the site; all good stuffhttp://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/26/playbook_professional_grade/
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #11 on: 2011-08-09 11:04:38 » |
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Well that closes yet another realm of privacy. I wonder how long before my telepathic messages will be intercepted .... sigh.
Cheers
Fritz
BlackBerry Messenger archives open for inspection RIPA, DPA, ICO –
Source: THe Register
Author: Bill Ray
Date: 2011.08.09
- none of them will prevent police fishing
Messages passing through the BlackBerry Messenger system are almost certainly already under examination by the police, who need neither warrants nor ministerial permission to search them for evidence.
While the Regulatory Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) is necessary for interception of live communications. once the messages have been sent the archives (if archives there are) come under the Data Protection Act. The DPA is a much more flexible bit of legislation, which could permit the police to trawl all the messages sent over the network for evidence identifying individuals.
That's the opinion of Kathryn Wynn of Pinsent Masons, who told us that RIM could, potentially, hand over the entire archive of messages sent over the last few days. That would allow the police to search for keywords and discard those messages in which they weren't interested, though the police could equally ask RIM to do the searching for them.
BlackBerry Messenger is a closed system, messages are only sent between previously identified parties and aren't normally readable by anyone else. Unlike the public forum of Twitter, BBM messages generally remain private, more like SMS with group-send than a social network.
Also like SMS, but unlike most instant messaging systems, all BBM messages go through RIM's UK servers, providing an ideal opportunity for archiving and intercepting such communications.
We don't know, for certain, that RIM has an archive of instant messages sent, but there's good reason to think it does. UK mobile network operators store the historical location of every mobile phone for a year, along with text messages and call records, in order to comply with RIPA requests from the authorities, so it seems probable RIM is bound by the same legislation.
When we asked RIM about this, the company provided the following statement: "Similar to other technology providers we comply with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces" – so one can be reasonably certain that even if it wasn't logging everything before, it is now.
Once logged that data comes under the Data Protection Act, rather than the RIPA, so police can use "proportionate" steps for the detection of a crime. RIM could, for example, provide the entire archive to the police to search without the identities of the users attached, allowing the police to check for interesting messages and then ask the identities of the senders. But it would probably be easier for the police to just ask RIM to carry out the same search and provide the results.
We asked the Information Commissioner's Office, custodians of the DPA, about this and were told that the police have a raft of powers to access the archived information and that the ICO probably won't be involved.
That won't help the police know what's happening now: real time interception would still come under the RIPA, but it will help the police to track down anyone they think is inciting to riot, and the Metropolitan force has made it clear it will be pursuing convictions for such things.
The role of BBM in the riots is still contested, with some pointing out that the sound of police overhead, rushing fire engines, and streaming news from Sky, will help lost looters more than instant messaging, but that's not stopped calls for the service to be shut down for a couple of days in the hope of preventing more coordinated gatherings.
That's unlikely to happen, despite a Twitter campaign backed by BSkyB, but anyone imagining that BBM traffic is in some way beyond the law enforcement community is badly mistaken. ®
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #12 on: 2011-08-09 17:10:06 » |
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Seems the power mongers are circling the wagons and looking for yet another excuse, except for the obvious ...GREED resulting in civil unrest ... seems hi tech communication was heralded as the great western equalizer for democracy when used in the middle east, now at home its bad ! .... all a bunch of "San Fransisco C@$k S@ckers"; Wo called it.
Really dismayed
Fritz
British Parliament member calls for BBM suspension following London riots
Source: BGR
Author: Todd Haselton
Date: 2011.08.09
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has agreed to work with London authorities as they begin their investigation into recent riots. According to some Londoners, rioters were using RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger service, along with social networks such as Twitter, to organize the attacks. “It is clear that technology is being used, including in demonstrations, to direct people and undermine the police,” London’s deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh told Bloomberg. “It is not for us to to moan about this, but to adapt policing style and deal with it.” RIM typically prides itself on the security of its BBM service and has denied access to governments worried the chat platform could be used for planning terrorist attacks. “We feel for those impacted by the riots in London,” RIM wrote in a recent tweet. “We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.” Read on for more.
Despite RIM’s efforts, one Member of Parliament, David Lammy, has called on the Canadian company to suspend BlackBerry Messenger services while the riots continue, Reuters said. “This is one of the reasons why unsophisticated criminals are outfoxing an otherwise sophisticated police force,” Lamme tweeted. “BBM is different as it is encrypted and police can’t access it.” Twitter isn’t giving up information as quickly. A spokesperson for the social network told Bloomberg that it would require a “subpoena or court order” before giving the police access to private user information. Read on for more on how one group of hackers is reacting to RIM’s cooperation.
A hacker group who calls themselves “Teampoison,” recently broke into RIM’s official BlackBerry blog and warned the company to stay out of the riots. In a letter, the group said:
If you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we_WILL_make this information public and pass it onto rioters.
Teampoison said it was afraid that “innocent members of the public” carrying BlackBerry smartphones “at the wrong place at the wrong time,” could be “charged for no reason at all.”
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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Blunderov
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"We think in generalities, we live in details"
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #13 on: 2011-08-11 14:06:40 » |
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[Blunderov] Oh internet! How the authorities hate you when you look in their direction.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4956871
David Cameron considers banning suspected rioters from social media
Source: Guardian UK
David Cameron has told parliament that in the wake of this week's riots the government is looking at banning people from using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook if they are thought to be plotting criminal activity.
The prime minister said the government will review whether it is possible to stop suspected rioters spreading online messages, in his opening statement during a Commons debate on Thursday on the widespread civil disorder for which MPs were recalled from their summer recess.
Answering questions after his statement, the prime minister added that the home secretary, Theresa May, will hold meetings with Facebook, Twitter and Research In Motion within weeks to discuss their responsibilities in this area.
Cameron also said that broadcasters – including the BBC and Sky News – have a responsibility to hand over unused footage of the riots to police.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/11/david-camer...
[Bl.] But sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander apparently.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08dbe398-2abb-11e0-a2f3-00144feab49a.html#axzz1UkAL44Dc
Condemnation over Egypt’s internet shutdown
By Tim Bradshaw in London
Published: January 28 2011 09:29 | Last updated: January 28 2011 13:06
Egypt’s near total internet and mobile phone blackout on Friday has drawn international condemnation, putting pressure on the European operators whose local business units were forced to comply with the government’s orders.
Overnight on Friday, Egyptian authorities told telecommunications companies to cut off broadband and mobile networks. Local broadcasts by Al-Jazeera were disrupted, while Egyptian state television tried to play down the scale of the protests.
Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, said: “We urge the Egyptian authorities to allow peaceful protests and to reverse the unprecedented steps it has taken to cut off communications.”
Young people had been using mobile phones and social networking sites such as Twitter, which had faced restrictions earlier in the week, to mobilise support and organise their protests.
[Bl.] So come on Hildog. Lets see you berate the poms for interfering with freedom of speech.
More seriously, in the UK it is increasingly easy to be found guilty of being suspicious. In these austere times I suppose it saves lot's of money not having to go to the trouble of proving actual offences in an actual court of law.
More comedically, Cameron, amongst many others, still does not "get" the internet. The internet is a Hydra. Cut off one head and another two will grow.
Even more comedically, it is apparent that our own leaders hate us for our freedoms almost as much as the Islamunistofacists do. Maybe more.
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Fritz
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Re:RIM & Cyberspace confidential
« Reply #14 on: 2011-11-23 18:07:37 » |
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[Fritz]I still think it is the greedy shareholders that strong armed RIM out of it's core business and into the 'fondle glass' toys (aka consumer market) rather then giving us a new and improved business tool.
https://secure.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20111028/ROBMAG_NOV2011_P26
Author: DEREK DeCLOET
Date: 2011.10.28
News from globeandmail.com: Withering heights
Friday, October 28, 2011Yes, Research In Motion's fortunes are sagging badly, but Techland is full of waning stars right now
For Jim Balsillie, this has been a bitter year. Research In Motion's share price has been sawed into bits; he was knocked off Forbes's billionaires ranking; some shareholders have called for him to give up a portion of his power to new management; he's been forced into the biggest reduction in RIM's workforce in its history, some 2,000 people, after a series of profit warnings; the PlayBook tablet looks like an expensive flop. To add insult, the National Hockey League finally added a seventh Canadian team this fall - and he had nothing to do with it.Some Balsillie-haters draw a link between the first set of woes and the last one. RIM's co-CEO, they argue, lost his focus when he spent three years trying to buy and move foundering U.S. hockey teams. While Steve Jobs and the Apple crew were polishing their plans for the iPhone in 2006 and 2007, Balsillie was flitting between Pittsburgh and Nashville in his futile quest to Make It Seven. If only he'd been paying better attention, RIM wouldn't be in these straits. That's the theory, anyway, and it's an entertaining one.But it's rubbish. Sure, the RIM boys messed up. They allowed competitors (not just Apple, but Google, Samsung and HTC) to make products that surpass the BlackBerry in cool factor. The consequences of that mistake - declining market share, weak earnings and legions of discontented investors - are humbling, but they merely place RIM in a not-very-exclusive club.Techland is full of wrecks right now. In fact, when it comes to value destruction, Balsillie & Co. look like amateurs. RIM's share price was down about 40% over the five years ended Sept. 30. Nokia shares declined by 71% over the same period, and it will likely seek shelter in a larger company (just as ailing Motorola Mobility sold out to Google this year).Who might buy Nokia? Probably Microsoft, whose annualized five-year return to shareholders, all dividends included, is 0.09%. Point-zero-nine. No wonder gazillionaire hedge fund manager David Einhorn and other investors are calling for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's head. But just think how much worse Microsoft's performance would have been had Yahoo's board not been so stupid as to turn down Ballmer's $45-billion (U.S.) takeover bid in 2008.Yahoo, at press time, was worth about $20 billion (U.S.) and the subject of new takeover rumours. It can't blame its troubles on the Apple monster. Neither can Dell Computer. Then there's Hewlett-Packard, now on its fourth CEO since the tech crash a decade ago - one Meg Whitman, who presided over amazing growth at eBay before resigning in 2008. EBay, too, has stalled. Total annualized return to shareholders over the past five years: 0.78%.Why are so many big tech firms such poor investments? Several years ago, Jeremy Siegel, the Wharton finance professor who wrote Stocks for the Long Run, published a long-term study of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index of U.S. stocks. Siegel went back to 1957, the year the index was established, and tracked the returns for each company, including all spinoffs, mergers and bankruptcies. The best investments? Consumer products makers like Philip Morris, Coca-Cola, H.J. Heinz and Wrigley, and big-name health care or drug companies. No technology companies cracked the top 20.Siegel concluded that the biggest returns come from buying the shares of good companies at reasonable prices, and from dividends. Fast-growing technology firms miss on both counts. They usually trade at high price multiples and rarely pay dividends, even when they can afford it. The money earned from advances in technology, he said, is made primarily by "innovators and founders, the venture capitalists who fund the projects, the investment bankers who sell shares, and ultimately the consumer, who buys better products at lower prices." Investors who buy in later don't benefit as much. Siegel called this phenomenon the "growth trap."Add to that the nature of technological innovation itself, which is often quick, disruptive and surprising. This process causes the most upheaval in long-standing, lower-tech businesses - think of what the digital camera did to Kodak. But it also happens to relative newcomers. Two guys from Stanford University invented Yahoo in 1994 as a way to organize the Internet. The company took off, then - boom! - along came two other guys from Stanford with something called Google. That was in 1998. The must-own gadget at the time was the PalmPilot. Whatever happened to Palm? Oh, yeah, it was careening toward bankruptcy - until it was bought by HP.RIM's problems are nothing like Palm's. They're nothing like Nortel's, either. RIM is just another tech company that made something unique, amazing and profitable, then discovered that others could emulate it and improve on it. So, pin it all on Jim Balsillie and his hockey obsession if you want. But investors who've lost a bundle on RIM should mostly blame themselves, for believing that a great thing could last forever.
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Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains -anon-
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