BlackBerry ban prompts Saudi sell-off

Some Saudi BlackBerry users were trying to sell their Canadian-made BlackBerrys Friday ahead of a ban on the smartphone's messenger service in the country.

But with few buyers and — by local media estimates — 750,000 users, they were having to slash prices.

At Riyadh's main mobile phone market, dozens of young men on the street were trying to sell the devices, some in their original packaging.

"Nobody buys it now," said Nour al-Zaman, a storeowner in the market. Al-Zaman said his shop had cut prices for a new BlackBerry from around $300 to around $100.

"Our lives have been wrecked. We are sitting in our shops doing nothing. We have done nothing to get into such [a] difficult financial situation," said shop owner Abdul-Ghani al-Owaydi.

The Saudi telecoms regulatory agency announced earlier this week the service would be halted Friday. By mid-afternoon — seven hours ahead of Eastern Time — it was still operating. One Saudi newspaper, Okaz, said the halt would begin at midnight.

Saudi officials were not available Friday, the Muslim day of communal worship, to confirm that.

Security concerns

Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries expressing concern that the device, made by Waterloo, Ont.-based Research in Motion,  is a security threat because encrypted information sent on the phones is routed through overseas computers, making it impossible for local governments to monitor traffic by terrorists and criminals.

The United Arab Emirates has announced it will ban BlackBerry email, messaging and web browsing starting in October. Indonesia and India are also demanding greater control over the data, and Lebanon and Algeria are also looking into security concerns.

RIM said it does offer help to governments, but said its technology does not allow it, or any third party, to read encrypted emails sent by corporate BlackBerry users.

Some local media in Saudi Arabia accuse the government of trying to limit freedom of expression.

"The real reason behind the ban is the freedom granted by BlackBerry messenger to its users to criticize, object and mock," columnist Adhwan al-Ahmari wrote in the Al-Watan daily.

"Do authorities think that all security breaches will end with the ban of BlackBerry messenger?" he asked, pointing out extremist groups have other ways to communicate.