We already have the Regulation of Interception of Communication Act (Rica), and as the ad hoc committee from Parliament yesterday adopted the controversial Protection of Information Bill after nearly a year of deliberations, we might now also see the decryption of BlackBerry messages become a reality.

The news follows an address by Deputy Communications Minister Obed Bapela, who yesterday said he is looking into new regulations giving police authority to access messages sent via BlackBerry’s encrypted messenger service, BBM.

The move would follow the likes of Britain and Saudi Arabia, and it would only be used “if crimes are committed using the BlackBerry service.”

Mr Bapela was addressing delegates at Telkom’s Southern African Telecommunication Network and Application conference in East London yesterday.

Of course he chose his words wisely and explained it had nothing to do with the state spying on its citizens, but rather a measure that would protect us all because South Africa has a “high threat of crime,” and that needs priority, whichever way the state were to go about dealing with it.

Essentially we can’t really get too pissed off because, as with the recent riots that took place in London and the UK, Twitter and Facebook were used as a tool to mobilise and organise masses of people, and BBM probably was too, although evidence of this is sketchy.

However, Democratic Alliance communications spokeswoman Natasha Michael, who coincidentally served on Parliament’s justice committee before taking up her present post, said Rica should cover this.

The basis of Rica is good, old-fashioned wire tapping — the interception of messages. The type of technology would be irrelevant. Whether it was BBM or SMS, Rica allows for access.

Either way, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion’s help would be needed and Mr Bapela said he has yet to engage with them on the matter.

[Source: BusinessDay]