Roll up the Rim to Win

Research In Motion’s (RIMM) stock has been under heavy fire despite the company releasing brand new products and services recently into the market. With an easy to grasp “fresh but familiar” operating system, redesigned web browsing experience, and a full QWERTY slide out keyboard, the new Torch has everything users want and more. Though the talk of other countries threatening to ban the BlackBerry has pressured the stock price.




In India there are building pressures that the government would like to monitor all encrypted data including BBM, emails, and web browsing on the BlackBerry. Many other countries have jumped aboard, including Lebanon and the UAE. Research In Motion in fact does not even know the so-desired security codes that these countries want to monitor and watch over their people. The codes are generated and are different for each phone, making it extremely difficult and nearly impossible in today’s day and age to decrypt; hence why it is used for secure transfer of data. “If they can’t deal with the Internet, they should shut it off,” said Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of RIM. The internet uses many secure protocols similar to the BlackBerry, than anyone with a computer can use to transfer secure data.

The government in Dubai has agreed that there will be no such ban on Blackberry devices. “There are other ways to communicate in other ways,” minister Aboul-nah Yahassva Bin Abdul said, “so there no point to banning the BlackBerry.”

“We love our Blackberry. We don’t want the government to ban them,” said Vazalanaman Katanapabatha, a spokeswomen in India.

There are various ways to transfer encrypted information over cell phones and using common but secure internet protocols. When asked why only BlackBerry was targeted, a Saudi spokesperson declined to comment.

RIM may have reached an agreement in Saudi Arabia to help them monitor emails, but the tech giant said there was no way they would compromise the security of their products – the key selling point of the BlackBerry in the United States. Even president Obama insisted on using a BlackBerry as they are the most secure device in the world.

Before the deal was reached, residents of Saudi Arabia were frantically trying to sell their BlackBerrys. “We usually sell 2 BlackBerry’s a day, but now we sell none,” said Mouhammad Wahhma Abdoullah, owner of a local business store in Saudi Arabia. “What have we done to deserve this?”

One resident of Saudi Arabia pulled out a small piece of paper, wrote some gibberish on it, and showed reporters. “No one knows what this means except me. Only I know what it means,” he pranced, “It is encrypted. And I do not even need a BlackBerry to pass this around. The government should ban paper!” He shouted in the streets. The resident was later arrested within the same hour.

Some government officials are happy with a ban, as they believe BlackBerry can be used to spread pornography among teenagers and young adults. “The BlackBerry is also addictive!” said Yassuhm-Nasrhan Jaffar Bin Seida Bin Wahkhad Nafralah, a government spokesman in the capital Riyadh. Saudi Arabia does however allow the drinking of coffee, but only in small doses.

In related news, Tim Horton’s (THI) reported a surge in profit. The coffee and donut maker reported strong numbers from all of its various menu items. The stock jumped over 6% on the news.