Citing Security Threats, Arab Countries to Block BlackBerry


FoxNews.com

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The United Arab Emirates' plan to blackball some of Blackberry's most popular services will be extended to the use of roaming services by foreign visitors, the nation's telecom regulators said Monday.

That would put BlackBerry

service out of reach for business travelers and others passing through the Mideast's busiest airport in the international business hub of Dubai, which averages about 100,000 passengers a day. The ban is scheduled to start in October.

The government cited a potential security threat because encrypted data sent on the devices is moved abroad, where it cannot be monitored for illegal activity. But the decision -- quickly followed by a similar move in Saudi Arabia -- raises questions about whether the conservative Gulf nations are trying to further control content they deem politically or morally objectionable.

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