BlackBerry's Ride Down the Slippery Slope

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It looks like Saudi Arabia won its battle to force Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; Toronto: RIM) to open its BlackBerry data services to government snooping. It's an alleged "security" measure that won't make anyone more secure and will hurt far more people than it helps.

And for RIM, it's the beginning of a one-way trip down a very slippery slope.

By now, you probably know the backstory here: A number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and India, have pressured RIM to give them access to BlackBerry user data that normally stays encrypted. The Saudis had planned to suspend BlackBerry service in the country on Friday; a similar October deadline in the UAE is still pending.

What makes this surprising is that just last week, RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis took a very defiant public stand against pressure from the Saudis or any other government looking for access to BlackBerry user messages. Worse yet, in a Time.com article published just today, an India-based RIM public relations manager insisted that rumors of a deal between the company and the Chinese government were unfounded.

"Any claims that we provide, or have ever provided, something unique to the government of one country that we have not offered to the governments of all countries, are unfounded," the RIM spokesperson said.

Well, so much for that. RIM is now playing by a different set of rules: It will roll over for any government that makes sufficiently threatening noises.

The Saudis are the first to get such a deal, but they won't be the last. The UAE is probably next, and India is also sure to get its way -- if RIM won't stand up to the Saudis, why would they dare tell the world's second-most-populous nation to take a hike? Those rumors of a data-sniffing deal with the Chinese don't seem so outlandish any longer, and any other country with "security concerns" over encrypted messaging will sit up and take notice.

And for what? Fighting terrorism? Give me a break.

Today's terrorists are tech-savvy enough to know that a service like BlackBerry is a lousy way to keep your dirty deeds a secret. Everyone knows there are plenty of more secure options, like an SSL-encrypted online service, or even good old-fashioned desktop public-key encryption software.

Lazaridis had one thing right: These governments targeted RIM not because it's the biggest threat, but because it's an easy target. They don't have a snowball's chance in hell of decrypting most types of secure online traffic, so they'll at least look busy picking on RIM.

Let's not forget also that some of these governments have abysmal human-rights records. The Chinese and the Saudis seem far more enthusiastic about hunting down political dissidents than catching criminals. Do Lazaridis and his colleagues at RIM really want that on their consciences?

But there's another threat here that isn't getting enough attention. Governments aren't just interested in what the bad guys are doing. They're also interested in what the good guys are doing -- if those "good guys" work for enterprises with intellectual property, product plans, contract negotiations, or other business data to protect.

So when RIM coughs up its users' messages to government snoops, it's doing nothing to fight terrorism. But it's certainly making government-sponsored, large-scale industrial espionage a much easier job to pull off.

That should worry any global enterprise that relies upon the BlackBerry to protect sensitive corporate communications. And it should definitely worry RIM that one of its biggest selling points -- its security -- is rapidly losing any credibility.