RIM says state security demands are normal

RIM says state security demands are normal

Balsillie says access demands part of normal business.

February 14, 2011 2:35 by Reuters

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is not alone in facing demands from governments for access to its data services, and it is just a normal part of the business, co-chief executive Jim Balsillie said.

RIM has attracted attention over the past year for disputes with a number of countries in the Gulf Arab region and most recently in India, as governments seek to monitor its encrypted email and messaging services for security reasons.

“This is just part of the business,” Balsillie told Reuters Insider in an interview at the Mobile World Congress fair in Barcelona on Monday.

“Every carrier in the world is subject to their domestic laws of local access, and you have to make sure you comply with those,” he said. “Quite frankly, every other tech and telecom company does it around the world.”

RIM has increasingly focused on growing its business in emerging economies as its grip on corporate customers loosens in the face of challenges from more consumer-oriented device makers such as Apple .

“Our performance in those markets continues to grow, and grow very, very fast,” he said.

(Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Will Waterman)