India has sent formal notices to the country’s mobile operators informing that they must have equipment to monitor Blackberry services by 31 August. Surely it will increase pressure on Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) to allow Indian security agencies access to encrypted messages.

The United Arab Emirates was the first country to present proposals for a block on the devices, followed by a raft of others including Lebanon, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

This should act as an eye-opener for RIM and all other smartphone operators. Do they think about national security?  Or when they decide to take on apps like Grindr, the open ended GPRS invite, allowing dangerous people not only to make contact with kids.. but to locate them too, do they pause for reflection?  Again.. Food for thought.