UAE BlackBerrys Causing “National Security” Issues & “Operating Outside the Law”

I really get a kick out of all these countries trying to snoop on BlackBerry email. First we had India sending RIM public ultimatums every few months for the last two years or so. Now the UAE and their Telecommunications Regulator Authority wants in on the fun. They claim that:

certain BlackBerry applications allow people to misuse the service, causing serious social, judicial and national security repercussions.

They are “certain” they will find “a solution that operates within the boundaries of UAE law” which probably means they hope RIM will crack and give them access to all traffic.

So what exactly are these misuses that are causing repercussions? People are using BlackBerry Messenger to share local news. They are also sending emails that the UAE cannot read and censor. On top of that I am sure they are connecting to social networks through RIM’s BIS-B service through BlackBerry apps that the UAE officials cannot proxy and view.

All of this has caused the TCA of the UAE to state that BlackBerry’s are operating "beyond the jurisdiction of national legislation"

Anybody out in the UAE enjoying breaking the law?

via WSJ