1. The banning of all Blackberry smart phones by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic starting in late July 2010.

Because Blackberries use data encryption for transmitting text over the airways, the security forces of those two countries can't "monitor" e-mail traffic from them. Afraid that anti-government forces will use Blackberries for nefarious purposes, they simply banned the devices entirely. Other authoritarian countries are expected to follow suit. Welcome to the 21st century!
Don't bring your new phone to Dubai, man. They just announced a complete Blackberry Ban. You could end up jail -- or worse.
by Peter Kobs August 1, 2010
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