RIM FIRES BACK "MONITORING WOULD KILL WEB"

"RIM is being pressured by authorities in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India and other countries to provide greater access to the encrypted information sent by its devices. Saudi Arabia has ordered its cellphone providers to halt BlackBerry service beginning Friday. The U.A.E. has set a ban starting in October, though the government said it is open to discussions."

RIM’s co-CEO Mike Lazaridis commented on the recent multiple bans on their BlackBerry smartphones. Lazaridis said that “this is about the Internet,” and that “everything on the Internet is encrypted. This not a BlackBerry-only issue,” before adding that if “they can’t deal with the Internet, they should shut it off.” But that’s not all. Lazaridis further went on to saying that “we’re going to continue to work with them to make sure they understand the reality of the Internet,” noting that “a lot of these people don’t have Ph.Ds, and they don’t have a degree in computer science.” Despite those statements, however, Lazaridis seems confident that the situation will get sorted out, saying that it “will get resolved if there is a chance for rational discussion.”

Hmm… sounds to me like he’s not very happy and doesn’t wish to collaborate with them. Actually, that is very true. If the Middle East powerhouse wants to ban the BlackBerry, they might as well ban all the smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and HTC’s Android phones too. Who would in his sane mind allow a breach in their customers’ content privacy?

"Officials in the U.A.E. also held out the possibility of a negotiated solution. "We remain open to discussions in order that an acceptable, regulatory-compliant solution might be developed and applied," Mohammed Al Ghanem, director general of the U.A.E.'s telecom regulator said in a statement carried by the state news agency WAM. But the decision "to suspend certain BlackBerry services from October 11 is final," said Mr. Ghanem."

via Wall Street Journal

CITROEN UK TREASURE HUNT IN UK ON FACEBOOK

Social networkers are winning all kinds of rides. Citroën UK has just released a game called DS3 StreetSeekers, and will warmly dish out three of its latest ‘bloody hell sexy’ superminis, gratis! During each five-day round of the treasure hunt, participants can go to the marque’s fan page to get the club, and then with the clue, a little bit of snooping around the Google Street View map, will yield a piece of a DS3 photo. Every day there’s a new clue about where another piece can be found, and when someone collected all four pieces they get the clue to where the complete car is. Track that one down, and you could be driving around England with your spanking new hot mini! You can give that DS3 to me if you don’t want it anyway, if you win the contest that is.

There are three rounds to the competition and the first one ended last week. The second round runs from August 17-21, and the third from September 7-11. Happy hunting...

NAOMI CAMPBELL TESTIFIES SHE RECEIVED "DIRTY-LOOKING STONES" FROM CHARLES TAYLOR WAR CRIMES TRIAL

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is back in court but this time it's not for her own defense. She took the stand against Liberian President Charles Taylor Thursday at a special tribunal in the Netherlands. Taylor is being tried for war crimes and Campbell was questioned over the issue of whether or not Taylor gave her rough diamonds/ "dirty-looking stones" that are believed to be "blood diamonds," conflict stones mined in Sierra Leone. Liberia is next to Sierra Leone, which in the 1990s was involved in a bloody civil war partly fueled by the money earned by selling diamonds.

Taylor has been accused of taking possession of Sierra Leone diamonds and using them both for his own profit and to buy arms which would be sent back to the war-torn country. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to charges of crimes against humanity including murder and enslavement and war crimes including acts of terrorism and torture. The civil war in Sierra Leone killed approximately 500,000 people and many others were mutilated, having arms and hands cut off. The rebels were infamous for their use of drugged child soldiers who were taken from their homes and sent off to commit horrible crimes. In 2003, the Kimberley Process certification program was established to prevent rough diamonds from being used to finance these types of conflicts and to stop these stones from making their way into the global market.

Taylor has publicly said that he never handled blood diamonds. Prosecutors had rested their case in February of 2009 but later reopened it after hearing that Campbell may have received diamonds from Taylor. Campbell was called to testify to tell her story of meeting Taylor and receiving a gift of "dirty-looking stones" later the same evening. The hand-off occurred after a dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in 1997 that was attended by Campbell, Taylor, Mia Farrow and others. After the dinner Campbell says she was asleep in her hotel room when there was a knock at the door. She opened the door and two men handed her a small pouch that they said was a gift. The next morning she opened the pouch to see a few small dirty-looking stones. At breakfast she told the story to her agent at the time, Carole White and Mia Farrow. Campbell says she passed the stones on to a friend and asked him to use them in a charity auction to raise money for underprivileged children. The episode could prove as a vital link showing that Taylor at least had possession of rough diamonds.

viaCNN