UAE crackdown on BlackBerrys also to affect visitors

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The United Arab Emirates' looming crackdown on BlackBerry services will extend to foreign visitors using roaming, putting the government's concerns over the smartphones in direct conflict with the country's ambitions to be a business and tourism haven.

The Emirates' telecoms regulator said Monday travelers to the city-state of Dubai and the important oil industry center of Abu Dhabi will, like the 500,000 local subscribers, have to do without BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web services starting Oct. 11. The handsets themselves will still be allowed for phone calls.

Emirati authorities say the move is based on security concerns because BlackBerry data are automatically shipped to company computers abroad, where it is difficult for local authorities to monitor for illegal activity or abuse.

Critics of the crackdown say it is also a way for the country's conservative government to control content it deems politically or morally objectionable.

About 100,000 travelers pass through Dubai's airport every day, making it the busiest in the Middle East. The new restrictions could leave time-pressed business travelers hurrying through without access to their e-mail or the Web.

"I think it's a very big step back. All developed countries in the world have it. Why should we not?" said Emirati BlackBerry user Maisoon al-Iskandarani, 24, who works at an international bank in Dubai. "How are you going to stay in touch with your clients and colleagues?"

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called such technological restrictions "a move in the wrong direction" and said the U.S. is disappointed with the UAE decision.

"We're going to clarify with the UAE what's behind this announcement, but we think it sets a dangerous precedent," Crowley told reporters. "It is our view that you should be opening up societies to these new technologies that have the opportunity to empower people."

Crowley told the Associated Press, however, that diplomats and other officials needing to travel to the region will continue to do so, even if they need to use regular cell phones rather than BlackBerry messaging services.

The Paris-based press-freedom group Reporters Without Borders urged the government to lift its ban and reach a compromise "that does not limit the freedom of the Emirati population."

At the heart of the controversy is the way the BlackBerry handles data, which get encrypted and routed through manufacturer Research in Motion Ltd.'s servers overseas. The automatic encryption makes BlackBerry data far more difficult, if not impossible, for authorities to monitor.