Jan 31: new deadline for BlackBerry

The government on Friday gave Canadian firm Research in Motion another reprieve - until end-January 2011 - to allow security agencies to intercept the BlackBerry messenger service. The earlier deadline was October end. Aloke Tikku reports.

The government on Friday gave Canadian firm Research in Motion another reprieve - until end-January 2011 - to allow security agencies to intercept the BlackBerry messenger service. The earlier deadline was October end.

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The government's decision on the other service it had sought access to, BlackBerry Enterprise, was not immediately clear. BlackBerry has made it clear it cannot decrypt emails sent over its enterprise service.

RIM approached lawful access matters internationally within the framework of four core principles, a statement said.

The principles required interception requirement to be technology and vendor neutral, be governed by judicial oversight and rule of law, not require a change in the security architecture and not include special deals for specific countries.