Research in Motion (RIM) has released a statement with regards to the situation in India and concerns the Government there has with encryptions technology in BlackBerry smartphones.

The Government of India, as well as that of several other Middle Eastern countries, has issues with the airtight encryption technologies available to BlackBerries, arguing that because it is so secure, residents may be able to use the devices for malicious purposes, such as terrorist activities.

The Waterloo, ON-based company and India officials remain in talks to come to a resolution. RIM is proposing an industry forum focused on developing recommendations for "policies and processes aimed at preventing the misuse of strong encryption technologies while preserving its many societal benefits in India."

One of the main draws to the BlackBerry service among business users has long been the security features available through the company's Enterprise Servers. Businesses with sensitive information can ensure that their private files and correspondence are securely protected through heavy encryption technologies.

"Banning such strong encryption-based information and communications services would severely limit the effectiveness and productivity of India's corporations," argues RIM.

What's more, RIM points out that it isn't the only company that employs such stringent encryption technology. Rather, says the firm, encryption has become mandatory for all enterprise-class wireless e-mail services.

"[It] is also a fundamental commercial requirement for any country to attract and maintain international business," RIM advises.

"Singling out and banning one solution, such as the BlackBerry solution, would be ineffective and counter-productive," RIM adds in its prepared statement. "It would be ineffective because anyone perpetrating the misuse of the technology would continue to have easy access to other wireless and wireline services that utilize strong encryption and are readily available in the market today. It would also be counter-productive since it would unnecessarily disrupt the business operations of many customers without ever achieving the stated objective."

RIM goes on to dispel some of the most common misconceptions surrounding this issue. First, RIM confirms that it does not have a "master key" or any sort that can afford access to encrypted corporate information. "In order to provide corporate customers with the necessary confidence that the transmission of their valuable and confidential data is completely secure, the BlackBerry security architecture for enterprise customers was purposely designed to exclude the capability for RIM or any third party to read encrypted information."

Second, RIM says that it is not true that the BlackBerry infrastructure can be located within India (or anywhere else, for that matter) and used to aid the Government in accessing encrypted information.

"The BlackBerry Enterprise Server security architecture," explains RIM, "was purposefully designed to perform as a global system independent of geography. The location of infrastructure and the customer's choice of wireless network are irrelevant factors from a security perspective where end-to-end encryption is employed. The transmission of encrypted data is no more decipherable or less secure based on the location of RIM's BlackBerry Infrastructure or the customer's selection of a wireless network. All data remains encrypted at all times and through all points of transfer between the customer's BlackBerry Enterprise Server and the customer's device (at no point in the transfer is data decrypted and re-encrypted)."

Finally, RIM confirms that it has not offered options for accessing encrypted data to certain Governments while denying it for others.

"RIM assures both its customers in India and the Government of India that RIM maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries."

The saga continues. "Finding the right balance to address both regulatory and commercial needs in this matter is an ongoing process," RIM declares, "and RIM has assured the Government of India of its continued support and respect for India's legal and national security requirements."

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