RIM alleges misinformation campaign by competitors

Mumbai: Research In Motion's competitors have tried to profit from regulatory scrutiny the BlackBerry maker faces in India by suggesting that it is the only target of government pressure, the company said.

The Indian government has assured RIM it will "not be singled out" by any policy on how products and services that use encryption are regulated, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said.

Telecommunications regulators in several countries have threatened to shut down BlackBerry services over concerns its secure messaging could be used to foment social unrest or coordinate terrorist attacks.

"Some of RIM's competitors have attempted to compound and profit from the confusion by suggesting or implying that RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server software will be singled out by Indian regulators," the company said in the e-mailed statement. The other companies suggested their own enterprise products and services "will somehow escape scrutiny by the government of India, even though they also utilise end-to-end encryption."

Peers named

RIM's statement yesterday named several companies that use encryption software in their products and services in India, including Apple, Cisco Systems, Good Technology and Google. The company did not name any company it said tried to profit from regulatory pressure.

Indian authorities last year pressured RIM to allow the country's security agencies to monitor BlackBerry Messenger service and Internet-based e-mail on the devices or face a possible shutdown. On January 14, RIM said it had offered a solution to the Indian government to provide access.

Robert Crow, RIM's vice president of industry, government and university relations, told reporters in New Delhi last month that doubts about RIM's ability to operate in the world's second-most-populous nation have hurt India's reputation "as a safe place to do investment" and made corporate customers "nervous".

The company's stock fell $2.44, or 3.5 per cent, to $67.42 in New York in Nasdaq Stock Market trading on Thursday. The shares have climbed 16 per cent this year.