Days after reports emerged that President-elect Barack Obama likely would be forced to surrender his beloved BlackBerry (News - Alert) after taking office, Verizon Wireless reportedly said that some employees gained unauthorized access to the Illinois Democrat’s cell phone account.

 

According to Reuters (News - Alert), the Obama account is now inactive and the president-elect’s aide said voicemail and e-mail messages were not breached.

 

“We were notified yesterday that employees had accessed the records of an old cell phone no longer in use,” the Obama aide reportedly said. “No voice or e-mails were listened to or read.”

 

Verizon (News - Alert) reportedly said the device in question was a simple voice phone, not a Blackberry or other device designed for data services such as e-mail.

 

Yet Obama does use such devices, as the picture on the right, from New York Times photograph Ozier Muhammad shows.

 

Muhammad’s colleague at the paper, Jeff Zeleny, reported last weekend that security concerns and a law that makes the president’s correspondence available for public review likely will force Obama to surrender his BlackBerry – a tall order for a politician who, as TMC President Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) points out in a video interview here, used technology in entirely new ways.

 

Obama faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, “but aides said that seemed doubtful,” Zeleny reports.

 

“For all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on to survive and to thrive,” Zeleny reports.

 

Obama’s use of technology – and policies on technology and IT in general – are making headlines as the Democrat’s late-January inauguration approaches.

 

As TMCnet reported, at least one expert said that the VoIP market stands to gain a greater appreciation from the federal agency that regulates communications in the United States under Obama’s administration.

 

According to Andrew D. Lipman of Bingham McCutchen LLP, an attorney who’s worked in telecommunications, media and technology for more than 25 years, VoIP also stands to get better carrier interconnection rights and recognition among policy-makers that the telecommunications world is evolving toward Internet telephony.

 

As for accessing Obama’s account, all employees involved, whether authorized or not, were put on immediate leave with pay, Verizon Wireless said.

 

Verizon Wireless President and Chief Executive Lowell McAdam reportedly apologized to Obama.

 

“Verizon said it will soon impose disciplinary action against those who accessed Obama’s account improperly,” Reuters reports.