By Indian law, mobile devices in that country have to be capable of being monitored and their transmissions intercepted by the government. So it was kind of a awkward situation when the megacorp Tata applied for a license to set up a BlackBerry network. Why? Because the BlackBerry services are encrypted, and at least some are based in Canada, where RIM is the law, and will not submit to interception.

The gov’t refused Tata the license at first, but it is quickly turning into a can of worms type situation as once again privacy and security butt heads. Good thing that’s not a problem in the USA! If they can’t tap your phone they’ll just throw you into a black van and electrify you until you reveal the content of your suspicious IMs.

India gov says no plans to squeeze out BlackBerries [The Register]