Unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait does not yet have a ban or looming ban in place for BlackBerry smartphones and associated services. But it could, as Kuwaiti officials have today expressed “moral and security” concerns about the devices.
This again? Yes, this again, though slightly different in Kuwait’s case. This time it’s pornographic websites – Kuwait wants them blocked.
For now, Research In Motion has been granted a four-month stay by the Kuwaiti government, so that it can deal with the issue and not be blocked by yet another Middle Eastern country.
Also lining up to protest and/or block RIM’s BlackBerry services are India, Lebanon and Algeria, all of which protest the company’s encrypted network due to security concerns. [Reuters]
Joe
Monday, August 9, 2010 at 4:17 PMThe thing that I don’t get is why countries as large as the United States and Canada as well as Europe, Australia and New Zealand!! aren’t worried about their security, because for some reason that’s what the middle east say. It’s really ridiculous to hear that the countries are afraids terrorists are going to contact each other via Blackberry Messenger!! What are the odds of that happening?? I say a 0.1 % chance. Another thing is Blackberries are a big part of the economy in the middle east so why ban the services?? everyone thinks that the UAE is so diverse with the selling of alcohol and the many europeans living there, but I guess it’s not if it’s banning the blackberry service. As for Kuwait, this issue has been going on for quite a while I mean at first they said they were security issues but then it turns out that they just want the pornography blocked. They should’ve said that in the beginning instead of going round in circles. The government of Kuwait said they won’t ban the service so what I’m guessing is that it’s just going to be the conservative Saudi Arabia and the UAE. A disadvantage to this is that people traveling to the UAE whilst roaming won’t be able to use their devices to get in touch with their friends and family which I think is propostrous. In the end it’s up to the countries to do whatever they want to do and no one can stop them. Which is a shame.