After RIM, Government to push Google, Skype for data access

Amid growing concerns over the use of BlackBerry and internet by militants to mount attacks, the government is pushing smartphone maker Research in Motion, Google and Skype to offer access to its data for government monitoring.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry users were relieved to know on Monday that the government had given the smartphone's Canadian manufacturers a two-month period to work out a permanent solution to a avert a government ban on its messaging services.

A ban would have hit more than a million users and halted the company's expansion in the second-biggest mobile-phone market in the world.

Also on the government's radar are 'virtual private networks' that allow employees secure access to their company networks when while working out of the office.

Blackberry's Canadian maker Research in Motion (RIM) has suggested setting up a server in India through which BlackBerry messages could be routed, giving security forces access, the home ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has said RIM's proposals for 'lawful access' to its messages would be immediately operationalised and the suggestions' feasibility assessed.