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French Government Develops BlackBerry Allergy

Security concerns prompt ban for top-level officials

By M. Morris,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 20, 2007 11:37 AM CDT
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(Newser) – BlackBerrys may feel like tools of high-tech spycraft, but they're not—or so the manufacturer is attempting to convince the French government. Worried that American intelligence could intercept transmissions from the addictive devices, the government has renewed an apparently futile 18-month-old ban on high-level officials' use, according to the Times of London.

France has not officially OK'd government BlackBerry use, at least in part because of concerns that messages pass through servers in the US and UK. Cracking the encryption would take as long "as it would for the sun to burn out," manufacturer Research in Motion said today; the company hopes to get the government's go-ahead next month.

A Blackberry devise is used on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
A Blackberry devise is used on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)   (Associated Press)
A BlackBerry user checks his screen in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. BlackBerry service was being restored Wednesday morning after an overnight outage that left millions of users without mobile access to their e-mail on the popular device. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A BlackBerry user checks his screen in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. BlackBerry service was being restored Wednesday morning after an overnight outage that left millions of users without mobile...   (Associated Press)
vices and e-mail service, said the service interruption began Tuesday night, affecting users in North America. (AP Photo/CP, Adrian Wyld, file)
vices and e-mail service, said the service interruption began Tuesday night, affecting users in North America. (AP Photo/CP, Adrian Wyld, file)   (Associated Press)
A Research in Motion Blackberry acquires a webpage on its browser function in Ottawa,Canada Wednesday, April 18, 2007. E-mail began to trickle in to North American BlackBerry users Wednesday morning after an outage the night before brought traffic to many of the portable devices to a screeching halt (AP...
A Research in Motion Blackberry acquires a webpage on its browser function in Ottawa,Canada Wednesday, April 18, 2007. E-mail began to trickle in to North American BlackBerry users Wednesday morning...   (Associated Press)
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A blackBerry user checks his screen in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A blackBerry user checks his screen in Washington, Wednesday, April 18, 2007. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (Associated Press)
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More on the government edict
Associated Press

A blogger translates the Le Monde report
CNET

The source, in French
Le Monde

 
Research In Motion • France • BlackBerry • French government • encryption

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