Saudi Reaches Deal on BlackBerry, Avoiding Ban

[YankeeFan]

I find it disturbing when Western companies -- Google, Yahoo, Cisco, etc. -- assist oppressive governments in monitoring their people:

Add RIM to the list.

Saudi Arabia and the makers of the BlackBerry have reached a preliminary deal on granting access to users' data that will avert a ban on the phone's messenger service in the kingdom, Saudi officials said Saturday.

The agreement would likely involve placing a BlackBerry server inside Saudi Arabia to allow the government to monitor messages and allay official fears the service could be used for criminal purposes, the telecom regulatory officials said.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/07/world/middleeast/AP-BlackBerry-Crackdown.html?hp