Blackberry 2012 Annual Report Download - page 71

There can be no assurance the policies and procedures implemented by the Company to address or mitigate these risks will be
successful, that Company personnel will comply with them or that the Company will not experience these factors in the future or that
they will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.
The Company is subject to government laws, regulations, orders, policies and restrictions, including on the sale of
products and services that use encryption technology.
Various countries have enacted laws and regulations, adopted controls, license or permit requirements, and restrictions on the export,
import, and use of products or services that contain encryption technology. In addition, from time to time, governmental agencies
have proposed additional requirements for encryption technology, such as requiring the escrow and governmental recovery of private
encryption keys. Restrictions on the sale or distribution of products or services containing encryption technology may prevent the
Company from selling or distributing the BlackBerry wireless solution in certain markets or may require the Company to make
changes to the encryption technology that is embedded in its products or services to comply with such restrictions. Government
restrictions, or changes to the Company’s products or services to comply with such restrictions, could delay or prevent the acceptance
and use of the Company’s products and services. Likewise, restrictions or perceived restrictions may adversely affect the marketing
and sales resources that network carriers and distributors may dedicate to the Company’s products and services.
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• complications in compliance with, and unexpected changes in foreign regulatory requirements, including requirements relating
to content filterin
g
and re
q
uests from law enforcement authorities;
• tradin
g
and investment
p
olicies;
• consumer protection laws that impose additional obligations on the Company or restrict the Company’s ability to provide limited
warrant
y
p
rotection;
• instability in economic or political conditions, including inflation, recession and actual or anticipated military conflicts, social
u
p
heaval or
p
olitical uncertaint
y
;
• forei
g
n currenc
y
fluctuations;
• forei
g
n exchan
g
e controls and cash re
p
atriation restrictions;
• tariffs and other trade barriers;
• difficulties in collectin
g
accounts receivable;
•
p
otential adverse tax conse
q
uences;
• uncertainties of laws and enforcement relatin
g
to the
p
rotection of intellectual
p
ro
p
ert
y
or secured technolo
gy
;
• liti
g
ation in forei
g
n court s
y
stems;
• unauthorized co
py
in
g
or use of the Com
p
an
y
’s intellectual
p
ro
p
ert
y
, includin
g
software, know-how or trade secrets;
• cultural and lan
g
ua
g
e differences;
• difficulty in managing a geographically dispersed workforce in compliance with local laws and customs that vary from country
to countr
y
; and
• other factors, de
p
endin
g
u
p
on the countr
y
involved.