It appears that the French are just a wee paranoid about the security liabilities of the BlackBerry — and the nosiness of those pesky Americans. You see, they think that the US National Security Agency could (would?) intercept e-mails sent over the BlackBerry server. For what purposes, we did not hear. But that’s the reason the French government is giving for banning the BlackBerry.
The beef from the French: e-mail sent from a BlackBerry passes through no fewer than three countries — the US, UK, and Canada. Apparently, that means that someone is trying to intercept messages.
Research in Motion, the company that developed and manufactures the BlackBerry, thinks the French are out of their minds. Okay, maybe we’re taking liberties with that interpretation. But the overall message stands. RIM says that all e-mails are “heavily encrypted by 256-bit strength AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).” This means the message and both addresses — sender and receiver.
We don’t know how long this ban will last, but we’re fairly certain it won’t be permanent. BlackBerry is too neat a toy to leave behind — and too many people are addicted to it.
[TG Daily]
