沙特黑莓手机禁令即将生效

A ban on the use of Blackberry phones to send and receive messages is due to come into effect in Saudi Arabia.

沙特阿拉伯一项禁用黑莓手机发送、接受短信的禁令即将生效。

Blackberry\s encrypted message service has some governments concerned

The country is one of a number concerned that such communications are encrypted（加密） and can not be monitored.

The United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, India and Algeria have all announced or are contemplating¹（沉思，思忖） bans on the popular Canadian-made handsets.

Canadian officials are in talks with the Saudi government to help the makers² of Blackberry avoid the ban.

Blackberry handsets, made by Research in Motion (RIM³), automatically encrypt messages and send them to computer servers in Canada.

Concerned governments have said they want access to these messages and the keys to decrypt them to counter terrorism and criminal activity.

RIM has said the company's products were "designed to preclude⁴（排除，妨碍） RIM, or any third party, from reading encrypted information under any circumstances since RIM does not store or have access to the encrypted data".

"RIM cannot accommodate（适应，调解） any request for a copy of a customer's encryption key, since at no time does RIM, or any wireless⁵ network operator or any third party, ever possess a copy of the key."

'No accountability'

Canada was concerned with "the broader implications of the potential interruptions of services that are being contemplated⁶ by these countries... in terms of the importance of the free flow of communications and information," said Canadian Trade Minister Peter Van Loan.

He said he was also concerned about the impact on business and trade.

"Canada has been working closely with the officials at Research In Motion as well as with governments on the ground to assist（帮助，辅助） them in dealing⁷ with these challenges," said.

The Canada-Saudi Arabia talks were making progress late on Thursday, the Reuters news agency said.

The US, too, has waded⁸ into the dispute, with officials saying they were hoping to broker⁹ a compromise（妥协，折衷） between concerned governments and RIM.

"We are taking time to consult and analyse the full the range of interests and issues at stake, because we know that there is a legitimate¹⁰（合法的，正当的） security concern," Mrs Clinton said.

"But there is also a legitimate right of free use and access."

The United Arab Emirates Telecoms Regulatory Authority said in a statement to BBC News that Blackberry services were "currently the only data services operating in the UAE where data is immediately exported off-shore, where it is managed by a foreign, commercial organisation¹¹".

"In their current form, certain Blackberry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial¹², social and national security concerns for the UAE."

The UAE has said it will block sending e-mails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets from 11 October.