New York Times-Blackberry Wont Bow To Pressure From Saudi Arabia

Photo of Blackberry founder Matt Lazaridis courtesy of Yana Paskova/NY Times

(Story reported by Jenna Wortham)

A top executive of Research In Motion, the Canadian company that makes BlackBerry smartphones, said on Tuesday that his company would not give in to pressure from foreign governments to provide access to its customers’ messages. 

That pressure increased on Tuesday as Saudi Arabia ordered local cellphone providers to halt BlackBerry service, saying it failed to meet the country’s regulatory requirements.  

Mike Lazaridis, founder and co-chief executive of R.I.M, said in an interview that allowing governments to monitor messages shuttling across the BlackBerry network could endanger the company’s relationships with its customers, which include major companies and law enforcement agencies.

(click here to read the full story in the New York Times)