RIM’s official BlackBerry blog Inside Blackberry is currently down, after being hacked by a group going by the name TeaMp0isoN.
The reason? Well, BlackBerry Messenger, was interestingly the communication channel of choice among rioters, apparently, and RIM indicated that it is cooperating with authorities who may wish to check out the related messages and who has been sending them.
The company tweeted:
@UK_BlackBerry
BlackBerry UKWe feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.
1 day ago via CoTweet · powered by @socialditto
The company also said in a statement, “We feel for those impacted by this weekend’s riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can. As in all markets around the world Where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces.”
Given that the riots themselves are in response to the “authorities,” it stands to reason that the rioters and their sympathizers are not too happy with this. Enter TeaMp0isoN.
While the Inside BlackBerry blog is not currently functional, Mashable was able to capture a message that was displayed there before it went offline entirely. It said:
Dear Rim;
You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment…. if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don’t think that the police will protect your employees, the police can’t protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don’t be a puppet..
p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says “the blackberry employees are innocent” no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police
– TriCk – TeaMp0isoN -
Greets To: iN^SaNe – Hex00010 – MLT – BlackHacker
– Knowledge is Power . . . . .
#FuckTheFeds
Twitter: @TeaMp0isoN_
Of course it’s not all been BlackBerry messaging uniting rioters. BBC News reports:
Disturbances in Birmingham started in the early evening when gangs of youths gathered in the city centre.
Police said they had been aware of “Twitter intelligence” during the day suggesting there would be trouble in the city.
In a separate article, BBC News reports:
A massive clean-up operation is getting under way in areas affected by the riots across England.
Twitter and Facebook users are harnessing the power of social networking to co-ordinate operations.
Meanwhile, many more police are working more hours to try and keep some kind of order.