RIM CEO Angrily Halts Interview When Pressed On India

RIM CEO Angrily Halts Interview When Pressed On India

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis indignantly broke off an interview with the BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones when asked a few questions about RIM's recent problems regarding security issues in India, where the country has asked for backdoor access to email and messaging networks.

The offending question is not exactly a doozy: "Can I move onto the problems you've had in terms of security, and there's arguments with the Indian government, and a number of governments in the Middle East, is that anywhere near being sorted out?"

The PR handler in the background immediately jumped in, as did Lazaridis, who insisted that "We have no security problems, we have the most secure platform," before going on to claim that RIM had "just been singled out" because they are "so successful around the world."

"It's an iconic product," Lazaridis goes on.

"It's used by business, it's used by leaders, it's used by celebrities, it's used by consumers, it's used by teenagers, I mean, we're just singled out, you know, just because of our success."

When pressed, he admits that they are "dealing with a lot of issues," before a renewed question into the specific issues in the regions in question sends him off.

"Alright, so, it's over, the interview's over," he said. "Please. You can't use that, Rory, that's just not fair. It's not fair. Sorry, it's not fair: we've dealt with. Come on, it's a national security issue, turn that off."

Then the camera turns off.

Watch the video here.

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