VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - UAE, Other Nations

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

BlackBerry service is facing limits or bans in some countries over the issue of government access to information on its network. Research in Motion, or RIM¹, based in Waterloo, Canada, makes BlackBerry communications devices. They run on the company’s network and secure software. BlackBerry has forty-six million users worldwide.

This week, the United Arab Emirates announced it would block BlackBerry e-mail, web browsing² and instant messenger services on October eleventh. The UAE says the services are a threat to national security because government officials cannot access or monitor users’ information.

Then, Saudi Arabia said it would block BlackBerry service this week. The Saudi government told the country’s three mobile phone operators to stop BlackBerry service for businesses and individuals this Friday. The Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission did not say what services would be blocked. These moves renew concern among some people about efforts by the UAE and Saudi Arabia to control the flow of information. Both countries have banned some forms of media seen as harming national security.

A file photo of a man talking on his smart phone at the Dubai Financial Market in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The ban in the UAE could affect half a million BlackBerry users while Saudi Arabia has about seven hundred thousand users. Kuwait and Lebanon are also said to be considering restrictions³. But Middle Eastern countries are not the only ones seeking greater access to BlackBerry information. India and China are among other countries also doing so.

Governments, big corporations and individuals use BlackBerry devices because they are highly secure. Users’ communications are sent to servers overseas, mostly in Canada, using powerful security measures.

RIM says its system is set up in a way that no one, including RIM, can access user information. The company also says it does not matter where their servers are based. Communications are made secure the moment they leave the BlackBerry device through encryption.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will hold talks with the UAE and other countries about possible bans on BlackBerry services. She said the United States knows there are reasonable security concerns about the service. But she added that there is also a right of free use and access.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

 

1 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

2 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制