India May Put Restrictions on Skype and Google

John Ribeiro writes on ComputerWorld:

India may ask Google, Skype and other online service providers to allow the country's law enforcement agencies to access communications on their networks, the head of an Internet association said on Friday.

On Thursday the government said it will ask service providers in the country to ensure that some BlackBerry services should be made accessible to its law enforcement agencies by Aug. 31, or face a block of these services.

Rajesh Chharia, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI), said that at a meeting he attended about a month ago of the country's Department of Telecommunications, it was discussed that other online services besides BlackBerry would also be asked to provide access to India's security agencies.

The Indian government's public threat against BlackBerry is running in parallel with an as yet unannounced decision to pursue similar concerns with Google, Skype and other communications services, The Financial Times said in a report on Friday, citing a government report.

More here.