Paul Marks, senior technology correspondent
Twitter's been blamed/praised for its ability to catalyse all sorts of popular uprisings of late. But another communications medium entirely may have helped kick off the ongoing riots and looting in London: the long-forgotten, youth-centric BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) network.
If you don't have a BlackBerry smartphone you could be excused for never having heard of it. BBM is an instant messaging network that lets users communicate for free with other BlackBerry users over the 3G cellphone network. Forget network-imposed limits on your text messages: just swap your BBM ID code (a PIN, basically) with your contacts and phone-to-phone instant messaging chat over-the-air is free.
It's in the BlackBerry because Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the phone, has its roots in the paging and wireless email industry - so BBM was was a natural progression for the firm - as RIM co-CEO and founder Mike Lazaridis told me in this 2008 interview.
When Twitter was used by thugs in Tottenham or Brixton it was often to read tweets telling them to check their BBM messages for info on where the next ruck was taking place. "The media are pointing blame to Twitter for the London riots. Closed Blackberry BBM has been more influential," said one Twitter user, pointing to this TechCrunch post.
But BBM's appearance of being a closed, private network is an illusion. The same goes for Sony's internet-based Playstation Network, which at presstime this evening was also said to be carrying messages about looting plans for Peckham and Lewisham, two boroughs in south-east London.
BBM uses internet packet transmission protocols over the 3G network; internet traffic and messages sent over it are eminently traceable. In an ominous message that looters won't want to read on their new stolen laptops - at least one branch of PC World was completely emptied along with mobile phone shops - RIM issued a statement saying it will comply with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, "and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces".
RIPA is a much-criticised piece of legislation that allows for the surveillance and investigation of communications data and user accounts if a senior police officer deems it necessary for crime fighting purposes. It's often been slated as a snooper's charter. But I think even hardened privacy advocates might, this time, be happy to see it harnessed to bring the violent looters who have sullied London to heel.
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