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Located along the San Bernadino County-Riverside County borders, the sprawling park encompasses more than 1,235 square miles and approximately 790,636 total acres – an area that is larger than the State of Rhode Island – with 429,690 acres designated specifically as a wilderness area.
Split between parts of the Mojave Desert and the lower section of the Colorado Desert, the Joshua Tree National Park offers a wealth of visual desert landscapes, including various rock formations formed more than 100 million years ago, hiking trails, rocking climbing formations and various wildlife that includes over 250 species of bird.
Areas of the park in the elevated and slightly cooler Mojave Desert region are littered with ocotillo and the cholla cactus (also known as the 'jumping cactus), while parts of the park that reside in the Colorado Desert are filled with the monument's namesake, the Joshua tree. Also cutting through a portion of the Joshua Tree National Park is the Little San Bernardino Mountains that include beautiful California juniper and pinyon pine trees.
In honor of the Joshua Tree National Park's 75th anniversary, an inspirational campaign has been created to highlight and pay tribute to national monument named for the many native trees that grow in the area, the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia).
According to a release, the R&W Creative Group has partnered with the national park to create, “Wander in Wonder – 75 Years of Inspiration campaign is designed to highlight the natural beauty of the Park and the inspiration it provides its visitors.
The “Wander in Wonder” campaign for the Joshua Tree National Park will include a variety of different events and announcements that will offer “a new brand identity, out of home billboards, an online photography contest, print advertising, a concert series, a limited edition guitar collaboration with Fender Guitars, and 75th Anniversary merchandise available in park visitor centers.”
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — There are battlefields, and then there's Belle Boyd, teenage temptress and Confederate spy.
The Appalachian Regional Commission is betting Boyd is the sexier Civil War story and that tourists will want to visit the Martinsburg, W.Va., home of the notorious "siren of the South" who used her feminine charms to spy on Union soldiers for the Confederacy.
The Belle Boyd House in the Eastern Panhandle is one of 150 lesser-known Civil War destinations the commission is highlighting on a new 13-state map to be released Thursday, pointing the way to that footnote on history and plenty more.
Timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the war, the guide is aimed at helping states cash in on the growing popularity of cultural heritage tourism and to get those tourists beyond such well-trod battlefields as Gettysburg, Pa., and Antietam, Md.
"Our story here is that there are a lot of jewels in Appalachia, and a lot of great stories about families and communities that we should stop and take a look at," said the co-chair of the federal agency, Earl F. Gohl.
The map and guide are being released at Independence Hall in Wheeling, where some Virginians were so horrified by talk of secession when the war erupted in 1861 that they held their own constitutional convention and formed the breakaway state of West Virginia two years later.
Boyd, who once boasted in a letter to a cousin of her 106-pound "beautiful" form, supplied Union secrets to Stonewall Jackson, who made her a captain and honorary aide-de-camp.
She was arrested and imprisoned twice, then released while suffering from typhoid. The Confederacy sent her to England as a courier, but she was captured before she could complete the mission. Historians say she eventually married a Union naval officer and lived in England until 1866.
Boyd published a memoir and worked as an actress, then became a lecturer. She died in Wisconsin in 1900, on a tour touting her adventures.
Her story is one of many that are often missed, says Gohl. The new guide hopes to draw back the curtain on her house and other locales.
Those include Mississippi's Corinth Contraband Camp, where slaves fleeing Southern plantations sought refuge with federal troops. Union Gen. Grenville Dodge took them on as teamsters, cooks, laborers and eventually, security officers. That led to the creation of the 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment of African Descent.
Then, Gohl says, there is Altoona, Pa., where President Abraham Lincoln convened the states' governors and consulted on the Emancipation Proclamation.
The guide will be a free insert in the spring issue of American Heritage magazine, and copies have been distributed to tourism agencies in West Virginia and the 12 other Appalachian states — Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Although there is enough Civil War history to fill a library, Gohl said relatively little focuses on the lives and lifestyles of noncombatants between 1861 and 1865. The commission and the states opted to focus on farms and factories, railroads and restored houses, even a sprawling cave where soldiers hid out for three years.
"There's another story here — how people lived, how culture developed," Gohl said.
Kentucky's Mountain Life Museum in London features seven pioneer settlement buildings filled with relics from that agricultural era.
At the Gordon-Roberts House in Cumberland, Md., visitors can learn from Priscilla McKaig's journals about her son's enlistment in the Confederate army.
In Ripley, Ohio, tourists can see where ardent anti-slavery activist John Rankin — a Presbyterian minister — sheltered 2,000 slaves escaping to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
And in South Carolina, they can learn how James Clement Furman opened his Greenville college to women when the men went off to war. They paid their tuition with bacon, sugar and lard.
This is the third tourism map the ARC has created, with others focused on thematic driving tours.
Surveys done after those projects suggest the value of a relatively small investment in the latest map — $9,000 to develop and 12 cents apiece to print. After the previous projects, Gohl said, surveyed destinations reported a 15 percent to 50 percent jump in visitation.
"This is an approach that works," he said.
The U.S. Travel Association estimates tourism is a $704 billion industry, and the cultural heritage sector is growing at twice the rate of the overall market. Appalachia is home to six of the 10 most-visited states in that sector.
Although West Virginia's Civil War offerings are relatively well known and within a day's drive of much of the East Coast, Tourism Commissioner Betty Carver said most people still visit for outdoor recreation. But she said a shifting dynamic means even whitewater rafting companies are branching out and finding new business partners to offer a broader experience.
"They're becoming more savvy, doing their homework and finding out who the travelers are," she said. And outdoor adventurers themselves are looking for historic sites, restaurants and music venues to complement the thrill of rock climbing and rafting.
The new map, Carver said, "raises the profile of West Virginia by putting our sites right there alongside the other states."
It also supports places the states are already marketing, like the 10-room Belle Boyd house, already part of West Virginia's Washington Heritage Trail. Inside, visitors will find tea pots, cookie jars and tales of intrigue..
"Our hope," said Gohl, "is that by laying out this story about Appalachia's role in the Civil War and what it's contributed, it's a story that all Americans will want to learn."
The Appalachian Regional Commission is betting Boyd is the sexier Civil War story and that tourists will want to visit the Martinsburg, W.Va., home of the notorious "siren of the South" who used her feminine charms to spy on Union soldiers for the Confederacy.
The Belle Boyd House in the Eastern Panhandle is one of 150 lesser-known Civil War destinations the commission is highlighting on a new 13-state map to be released Thursday, pointing the way to that footnote on history and plenty more.
Timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the war, the guide is aimed at helping states cash in on the growing popularity of cultural heritage tourism and to get those tourists beyond such well-trod battlefields as Gettysburg, Pa., and Antietam, Md.
"Our story here is that there are a lot of jewels in Appalachia, and a lot of great stories about families and communities that we should stop and take a look at," said the co-chair of the federal agency, Earl F. Gohl.
The map and guide are being released at Independence Hall in Wheeling, where some Virginians were so horrified by talk of secession when the war erupted in 1861 that they held their own constitutional convention and formed the breakaway state of West Virginia two years later.
Boyd, who once boasted in a letter to a cousin of her 106-pound "beautiful" form, supplied Union secrets to Stonewall Jackson, who made her a captain and honorary aide-de-camp.
She was arrested and imprisoned twice, then released while suffering from typhoid. The Confederacy sent her to England as a courier, but she was captured before she could complete the mission. Historians say she eventually married a Union naval officer and lived in England until 1866.
Boyd published a memoir and worked as an actress, then became a lecturer. She died in Wisconsin in 1900, on a tour touting her adventures.
Her story is one of many that are often missed, says Gohl. The new guide hopes to draw back the curtain on her house and other locales.
Those include Mississippi's Corinth Contraband Camp, where slaves fleeing Southern plantations sought refuge with federal troops. Union Gen. Grenville Dodge took them on as teamsters, cooks, laborers and eventually, security officers. That led to the creation of the 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment of African Descent.
Then, Gohl says, there is Altoona, Pa., where President Abraham Lincoln convened the states' governors and consulted on the Emancipation Proclamation.
The guide will be a free insert in the spring issue of American Heritage magazine, and copies have been distributed to tourism agencies in West Virginia and the 12 other Appalachian states — Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Although there is enough Civil War history to fill a library, Gohl said relatively little focuses on the lives and lifestyles of noncombatants between 1861 and 1865. The commission and the states opted to focus on farms and factories, railroads and restored houses, even a sprawling cave where soldiers hid out for three years.
"There's another story here — how people lived, how culture developed," Gohl said.
Kentucky's Mountain Life Museum in London features seven pioneer settlement buildings filled with relics from that agricultural era.
At the Gordon-Roberts House in Cumberland, Md., visitors can learn from Priscilla McKaig's journals about her son's enlistment in the Confederate army.
In Ripley, Ohio, tourists can see where ardent anti-slavery activist John Rankin — a Presbyterian minister — sheltered 2,000 slaves escaping to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
And in South Carolina, they can learn how James Clement Furman opened his Greenville college to women when the men went off to war. They paid their tuition with bacon, sugar and lard.
This is the third tourism map the ARC has created, with others focused on thematic driving tours.
Surveys done after those projects suggest the value of a relatively small investment in the latest map — $9,000 to develop and 12 cents apiece to print. After the previous projects, Gohl said, surveyed destinations reported a 15 percent to 50 percent jump in visitation.
"This is an approach that works," he said.
The U.S. Travel Association estimates tourism is a $704 billion industry, and the cultural heritage sector is growing at twice the rate of the overall market. Appalachia is home to six of the 10 most-visited states in that sector.
Although West Virginia's Civil War offerings are relatively well known and within a day's drive of much of the East Coast, Tourism Commissioner Betty Carver said most people still visit for outdoor recreation. But she said a shifting dynamic means even whitewater rafting companies are branching out and finding new business partners to offer a broader experience.
"They're becoming more savvy, doing their homework and finding out who the travelers are," she said. And outdoor adventurers themselves are looking for historic sites, restaurants and music venues to complement the thrill of rock climbing and rafting.
The new map, Carver said, "raises the profile of West Virginia by putting our sites right there alongside the other states."
It also supports places the states are already marketing, like the 10-room Belle Boyd house, already part of West Virginia's Washington Heritage Trail. Inside, visitors will find tea pots, cookie jars and tales of intrigue..
"Our hope," said Gohl, "is that by laying out this story about Appalachia's role in the Civil War and what it's contributed, it's a story that all Americans will want to learn."
Kevin started his career with Hilton Worldwide in 2000 through the Hilton Elevator Training Program. He has since worked in various management positions within the operations and business development areas in a number of Hilton Worldwide properties including the Hilton Montreal Airport, Hilton Toronto, Hilton Saint John in Canada, and Caribe Hilton San Juan in Puerto Rico.
In his new role, Kevin will oversee the entire business development department which includes sales, marketing, public relations, reservations, and revenue management.
Michael Burchett, General Manager of Conrad Bali commented, “With Kevin’s wealth of international experience and extensive Hilton Worldwide network, we are looking forward to expanding Conrad Bali’s market share while maintaining the fine balance between families, couples, and business established since our opening in March 2004.”
A Canadian national, Kevin moves to Bali with his wife and two children. In his spare time, he enjoys spending quality time with his family and entertaining with good food and wine.
The move towards organic farming has taken off worldwide, but although it is well established in most western countries it has been slow in evolving in most parts of South East Asia.
This has been due to a number of factors including the hard work needed to control pests naturally, without the ease of using chemicals, plus other farming issues, such as the food industry not being able to deal with small farmers because of a long distribution chain and the fact that most of the profits go to the wholesaler and retailer and not the farmer.
Also, the health benefits for both farmers producing the food and the consumer from eating organic are not well known in most areas.
In Bali, where you would imagine organic farming was already well established due to the way the Balinese have preserved their culture and traditions, farmers, as so many others around the world, are still using chemical fetilisers on their rice fields and other crops despite the yearly costs and the fact that they need more chemicals to produce a certain amount of harvest each year.
It has to be said, in recent years with help and education from local NGO’s, farmers have been reducing the amount of agro-chemicals they use and instead have been using more organic fertislisers and natural pest control agents to increase their yields.
Slowly farmers are getting the message that organic farming is the way forward and many are returning to traditional farming methods that are not reliant on man made chemicals.
As farmers move towards organic systems they have come to realise the need to organize themselves and that working together to share the burden and profits is more beneficial to them than before when they worked alone.
However, whilst many farmers have switched to organic farming, marketing their produce has been a problem for most of them.
As a way of addressing this problem, one group of eleven small organic farmers got together and decided to set up an organic farmers' cooperative and a weekly farmers' market.
The farmers' market is in Ubud where they sell their produce direct to buyers and educate people about the health benefits of eating organic and supporting small local businesses, which they see as benefiting the whole community.
The market is held every Saturday morning in Pengasekan, just outside Ubud on a terrace provided free of charge by Pizza Bagus, who support the goals of Bali’s chemical-free farmers.
The small cost to farmers of the equivalent of 2 US Dollars a week covers the group’s overheads and provides a much needed outlet to sell their produce.
From 9:30 to 2pm you will see an abundance of fresh organic produce to buy, which includes vegetables, salads, herbs, local fruits, rice, soy milk, eggs, jams, virgin coconut oil, honey, bread and other homemade baked goods, essential oils and natural skin creams.
The market is so popular that locals, ex-pats and tourists queue to buy the fresh organic produce and even people from places such as Kuta, an hours drive away, travel to buy from this market.
While farmers and customers have been “going organic” the Indonesian government has no national policy, so farmers have been developing their own local policies, which include having a strict policy on the quality of foods sold at these markets.
Meanwhile, the government is taking a pragmatic approach by setting up standards and a certification board. However, small farmers are unable to afford such certification, so farmers’ markets are a way forward for most and consumers can go and see for themselves whether what they are selling is organic or not.
The U.S.Geological Survey said the 6.5-magnitude quake struck at 1:08 a.m. Friday (1708 GMT Thursday) and was centered 315 miles (508 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor.
It hit waters some 160 miles (259 kilometers) northeast of Denpasar, the main city on Bali; about 612 miles (986 kilometers) west of Dili, the capital of East Timor; and 686 miles (1,105 kilometers) east of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital.
Beni Hendrawanto, of the country's geological and meteorology department, said that while it could be felt on Bali, there were no initial reports of damage or injuries.
Indonesia :
Magnitude-6.5 gempa dekat Indonesia
BALI, Indonesia (AP) - Sebuah gempa kuat mengguncang lepas pantai Indonesia pulau resor populer dari Bali Jumat pagi, namun tidak ada laporan segera kerusakan atau cedera, kata para pejabat.
Survei USGeological mengatakan gempa 6,5 skala Richter terjadi pada pukul 01:08 Jumat (1708 GMT Kamis) dan berpusat 315 mil (508 kilometer) di bawah dasar laut.
Ia memukul air sekitar 160 mil (259 kilometer) timur laut Denpasar, kota utama di Bali, sekitar 612 mil (986 kilometer) barat Dili, ibukota Timor Timur, dan 686 mil (1.105 kilometer) sebelah timur Jakarta, ibukota Indonesia .
Beni Hendrawanto, departemen negara geologi dan meteorologi, mengatakan bahwa sementara bisa dirasakan di Bali, tidak ada laporan awal kerusakan atau cedera.
Mount Bromo is one of two volcanoes that were created following a massive eruption which created an enormous caldera in which are the active Mount Bromo and the non-active Mount Batok.The caldera has seen been filled with grey sands, and is called Laut Pasir or Sand Sea. Trekkers walk through this expanse on their way to Mount Bromo.
The major access point is Cemoro Lawang at the northeastern edge of the caldera, but there are also trails from Tosari (northwest) and Ngadas (southwest). The village of Ngadisari, on the road from Probolinggo about 5.5 km before Cemoro Lawang, marks the entrance to the national park. Both Cemoro Lawang and Ngadisari are rather picturesque, with brightly-painted houses and flower beds outside. The nearest airport to Mount Bromo is Surabaya, about 3 hours away by bus. Most visitors to Mount Bromo access it from Cemoro Lawang, at the foot of the mountain.
How to go there ?
From Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport, take the Damri shuttle bus to the Bungurasih Bus Terminal. From there, take the Patas air-conditioned bus to Probolinggo. At Probolinggo, it is another one hour to Ngadisari, a town about 6km northeast of Mount Bromo and the base camp for Mount Bromo trips. Another base camp is Cemoro Lawang, about half an hour from Ngadisari. The foot of Mount Bromo is a 3-km hike from Cemoro Lawang.
“Even so, we still optimist with the existence of art and cultural performance facilities that in its initial phase raising sendratari – Balinese drama and dance – ‘Bali Agung’ will able to attract world tourist attention,” said General Manager Bali Safari & Marine Park (BSMP) Hans Manansang, on Wednesday.
He delivered that thing when explained the existence of Bali Theatre has capacity for 1.200 seats competed with air-conditioned. The explanation also delivered by the famous creative director, Peter J. Wilson, famous Balinese wayang puppeteer, I Made Sidia, performance technical team as well as Sales & Marketing Director for Bali Theater, John Sumampau.
in this occasion also will be introduced short episode for ‘Bali Agung’ performance involving 150 artisans, some animals such as elephant, tiger, cow, camel, snake and group of duck with Chinese sailing ship modification, almost all perform together on stage.
According to Hands Manansang, his party needs to introduce the short performance before Bali Theatre launching on Sunday (August 29th) and start to open for public viewers on Tuesday (August 31) with US$45 ticket tariff or 500 thousand Rupiah per person. Ticket order can be done through www.balitheatre.com or email it to info@balitheatre.com.
The performance also stand as an experiment to see the performance of all support device, dancer, traditional and modern music instrument players, harmony between the performance art with the artistic point of view.
Even though the big investment is not straightly calculated based on profit and losses as well as with capital return, but he feels with the existence of Bali Theatre and Bali Agung sendratari will give big part in the development of culture, art and tourism in Bali.
“At least we try to participate in preserving and developing art, culture and tourismin Bali, forget about profit or losses we would gain from here, we hope for facilities in this BSMP could support it. If we gains loss from it we would counted it as cross subsidy. I just could only hope that we could move forward,” he said.
Concerning the huge number of investment, Hans give one small example of lamp price on stage that worth 1.5 million Rupiah in regard to its number that reached 500 of lamps with limited useable time, actively used for three months only. “Experimental usable time almost three months already, make we have to re-new them before opened Bali Theatre for public,” he said whilst accompanied by Bali Theatre Marketing Manager, Ratna Soebrata.
Modern theatre of “Bali Agung” performing historical and legendary story of Sri Jaya Pangus from Balingkang Kingdom in 12th century who had romantic relationship with a woman until get her as his beloved wife, Kang Ching Wie, daughter of a noble from China.
The presence of that Chine noble daughter appeared with her riding a unique red sailboat on stage together with snake, tiger, camel and more. Meanwhile, at the background of the gigantic stage 80 meter x 40 meter performed group of male and female children, life full of activities of people fishing, carrying their ducks and lots that reflecting old Balinese way of life.
News by Antara Bali
Those 12 handicap people were accompanied by tens divers as their companions. They succeeded flagged merah-putih at a depth around 7 meter in Tulamben Sea of Karangasem.
Although they have physical obstacle, those handicap people could give independent gift through showing their spirit and physical fighting spirit.
The team consists of four flag officers, Gusti Lanang Wirawan, Komang Astawa, Aris and Wayan Sugianto. Then are 2 flag carriers, Dayu Wiadnyani and Wayan Parwati.
The remaining members are Sang Ayu Nyoman Puspa, Kadek Candrawasih, Keutu Sudianti, Nyoman Rudiawan and Nyoman Budiarsa.
“Merdeka” screamed Aris – freedom – one of the member who looks so happy after conducted that ceremony underwater.
For several weeks they were trained under the guidance of Afandi Junaedi, dive master who helped them trained for the last three years.
Underwater flagged on the independent day was the second time conducted by Senang Hati. The first one was in 2008 at Sanur Beach, Denpasar.
News by Berita Bali
Head of Jakarta Transportation Office Udar Pristono urged Jakartans not to travel by motorcycles to their hometowns for Idul Fitri celebration because it endangers their lives.
“Please go by public transportation means,” Pristono said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Sunday.
Even though there is no written prohibition on the use of motorcycles, Pristono said that his office will cooperate with the police in maintaining order during the annual exodus in which most Jakartans usually return to their hometowns to ask for forgiveness from their parents and other elder relatives.
Many motorists have fatally fallen victims to traffic accidents during the exodus.
Pristono further said that in order to anticipate a surge in the number of passengers during the Ramadan fasting month and Idul Fitri, his office has prepared 6,114 inter-city/province buses.
“We have prepared all, including railway trains and airplanes,” he added.
“Please go by public transportation means,” Pristono said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Sunday.
Even though there is no written prohibition on the use of motorcycles, Pristono said that his office will cooperate with the police in maintaining order during the annual exodus in which most Jakartans usually return to their hometowns to ask for forgiveness from their parents and other elder relatives.
Many motorists have fatally fallen victims to traffic accidents during the exodus.
Pristono further said that in order to anticipate a surge in the number of passengers during the Ramadan fasting month and Idul Fitri, his office has prepared 6,114 inter-city/province buses.
“We have prepared all, including railway trains and airplanes,” he added.
Gatot Dewabroto, spokesman for the Ministry of Communication and Information, wants RIM to set up a server locally so encrypted information sent by the phones will not have to be routed through the Canadian company's overseas computers.
"We don't know whether data being sent through BlackBerrys can be intercepted or read by third parties outside the country," he said, expressing concern that information could be used by criminals or spies.
The announcement came hours after Saudi Arabia said its telecom regulator had ordered mobile operators across the kingdom to halt BlackBerry services as of Friday.
The United Arab Emirates, too, plans to shut down e-mail, messaging and Web browsing on BlackBerrys starting in October.
India is in talks with RIM over how information is managed on the devices.
Analysts say RIM's expansion into fast-growing emerging markets is threatening to set off a wave of regulatory challenges, as the device maker's commitment to keep corporate e-mails secure rubs up against the desires of local law enforcement.
RIM has said discussions with the more than 175 countries where it operates are private. It does offer help to governments, but says its technology does not allow it, or any third party, to read encrypted e-mails sent by corporate BlackBerry users. (The consumer version has a lower level of security.)
The e-mails are, however, unencrypted on the servers of corporate clients, and can be obtained from the companies.
Satchit Gayakwad, an RIM spokesman in India, denied there were plans to give the government greater control over surveillance of its corporate clients.
"We won't compromise on the security architecture of our corporate e-mails," he said. "We respect the requirements of regulatory bodies in terms of security, but we also look at the customer's need for privacy."
Dewabroto said Indonesia, one of the largest providers of Blackberry services in Southeast Asia with more than 1 million users, is still just mulling a ban.
But it wouldn't be the first time it has taken on the device maker: Service was blocked in 2008 until RIM agreed to set up sales service centers for users inside the country.
A Saudi security official told AP that security authorities are concerned about being unable to track down the exchange of messages using BlackBerry messenger.
"This service might be used to serve terrorism," the official said.
BlackBerry phones are known to be popular both among businesspeople and youth in the kingdom who see the phones' relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities.
Several other countries have expressed desire for more control over BlackBerry messaging, including Bahrain, which has threatened to crack down on news dissemination using the devices.
The U.S. State Department criticized the UAE's move earlier this week, saying BlackBerry services were an important part of the free flow of information in a modern society. On Wednesday, spokesman P.J. Crowley said the department is reaching out to countries that are concerned about BlackBerry services to better understand what their issues are.
"We don't know whether data being sent through BlackBerrys can be intercepted or read by third parties outside the country," he said, expressing concern that information could be used by criminals or spies.
The announcement came hours after Saudi Arabia said its telecom regulator had ordered mobile operators across the kingdom to halt BlackBerry services as of Friday.
The United Arab Emirates, too, plans to shut down e-mail, messaging and Web browsing on BlackBerrys starting in October.
India is in talks with RIM over how information is managed on the devices.
Analysts say RIM's expansion into fast-growing emerging markets is threatening to set off a wave of regulatory challenges, as the device maker's commitment to keep corporate e-mails secure rubs up against the desires of local law enforcement.
RIM has said discussions with the more than 175 countries where it operates are private. It does offer help to governments, but says its technology does not allow it, or any third party, to read encrypted e-mails sent by corporate BlackBerry users. (The consumer version has a lower level of security.)
The e-mails are, however, unencrypted on the servers of corporate clients, and can be obtained from the companies.
Satchit Gayakwad, an RIM spokesman in India, denied there were plans to give the government greater control over surveillance of its corporate clients.
"We won't compromise on the security architecture of our corporate e-mails," he said. "We respect the requirements of regulatory bodies in terms of security, but we also look at the customer's need for privacy."
Dewabroto said Indonesia, one of the largest providers of Blackberry services in Southeast Asia with more than 1 million users, is still just mulling a ban.
But it wouldn't be the first time it has taken on the device maker: Service was blocked in 2008 until RIM agreed to set up sales service centers for users inside the country.
A Saudi security official told AP that security authorities are concerned about being unable to track down the exchange of messages using BlackBerry messenger.
"This service might be used to serve terrorism," the official said.
BlackBerry phones are known to be popular both among businesspeople and youth in the kingdom who see the phones' relatively secure communication features as a way to avoid attention from the authorities.
Several other countries have expressed desire for more control over BlackBerry messaging, including Bahrain, which has threatened to crack down on news dissemination using the devices.
The U.S. State Department criticized the UAE's move earlier this week, saying BlackBerry services were an important part of the free flow of information in a modern society. On Wednesday, spokesman P.J. Crowley said the department is reaching out to countries that are concerned about BlackBerry services to better understand what their issues are.
