The French government outlawed the use of Blackberry devices used to send and receive emails earlier this year because of fears that other countries’ security agencies will pick up the transmissions, French newspaper Le Monde reported.

The ban is based on concerns brought up by France’s General Secretariat for National Defense over two years ago after a study, released by France’s head of economic intelligence, claimed that Blackberries cause a security threat.

Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the Blackberry devices, believes their products are secure as “no one, including RIM, has the ability to view the content of any data communication sent using the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution,” the company said. Additionally, the device has been approved for official use by the UK, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Canada and NATO.

Commentary: Despite the ban, there have been reports of French government officials using the device in secret. Vive la resistance.