Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates to ban BlackBerry features

Two Mideast countries plan to block key features of Research In Motion's BlackBerry, citing national security concerns.

Regulators in the United Arab Emirates announced plans on Sunday to block e-mail, instant messaging, and Web browsing on the devices beginning October 11 in a dispute over how they store and transmit data. Meanwhile, neighboring Saudi Arabia has directed two mobile operators in that country to disable the BlackBerry's instant message function, according to a Reuters report.

The UAE's decision was the result of "failure of ongoing attempts, dating back to 2007, to bring BlackBerry services in the UAE in line with UAE telecommunications regulations," the country's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in a statement Sunday. Some BlackBerry services "operate beyond the enforcement" of current telecommunications regulations in the country, the government said.

For more on this story, read Two Mideast countries to ban BlackBerry functions on CNET News.