Gulf Blackberry Blackout to Begin Today, Maybe

Blackberries will go black either today or tomorrow in Saudi Arabia. (I can't explzain the discrepancy, but most sources make it today.) It doesn't sound as if Research im Motion (RIM) is willing to negotiate, at least in their Western public statements emphasizing everyone on the Internet uses encryption, but perhaps there's still room for a deal, since Saudi Gazette was expecting one as of Thursday night, and other Saudi sources seem optimistic.

Elsewhere, the UAE is still planning its cutoff in October. Lebsnon is now talking about joining the rush. Kuwait has already looked at the issue.

Bahrain is resisting: not only are they saying they won't ban the Blackberry, but the Crown Prince himself is Tweeting that "Decision to stop it is ignorant,short sighted and unenforceable."

I somehow can't see the key business centers of the Gulf — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia — simply shutting down one of the region's key networks, and one that is quite popular in the Gulf. I'm guessing it's a negotiating ploy, a game of "chicken," where both cars drive at each other head on to see who flinches. But it's an intriguing debate.