Recent Posts

3376

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 04:53 PM »

After a bit of trial-and-error, I managed to get the feed from itsecurityguru.org into my bazqux.com feed reader by subscribing to http://www.itsecurityguru.org/node/
This was after reading this interesting post which I originally saw in the Hacker News feed.

CertiVox confirms it withdrew PrivateSky after GCHQ issued warrant | IT Security Guru
CertiVox has admitted that it chose to take its secure email encryption service PrivateSky offline after a warrant was issued by a division of GCHQ.
 
CEO Brian Spector told IT Security Guru that despite having "tens of thousands of heavily active users", it was served with an ultimatum from the National Technical Assistance Centre (NTAC), a division of GCHQ and a liaison with the Home Office, who were seeking the keys to decrypt the customer data.
 
He said that this was at the end of 2012, ahead of the same action by Lavabit and Silent Circle and it was before Snowden happened. “So they had persons of interest they wanted to track and came with this signed by the Home Secretary. You have to comply or you go to jail,” he said.
 
"It is the same in the USA with FISMA, and it is essentially a national security warrant. So in late 2012 we had the choice to make - either architect the world's most secure encryption system on the planet, so secure that CertiVox cannot see your data, or spend £500,000 building a backdoor into the system to mainline data to GCHQ so they can mainline it over to the NSA.”
 
Spector said that complying with the warrant would have been a "catastrophic invasion of privacy" of its users, so instead it chose to withdraw the product from public use and run it internally. "Whether or not you agree or disagree with the UK and US government, this is how it is and you have to comply with it," he said.
 
However some of the technology has been implemented into its M-Pin authentication options, where rather than hold the data, it is split in two so CertiVox has one half and the user has the other, and law enforcement would need both to access the data.
 
“So as far as I know we are the first to do that so if the NSA or GCHQ says 'hand it over' we can comply as they cannot do anything with it until they have the other half, where the customer has control of it,” he said.

3377

Living Room / Re: Migrating from Google Gmail.com to Microsoft Outlook.com

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 02:40 PM »

...I didn't appreciate how complicated it was to migrate a Gmail account to another Gmail account until I had to change my email address ...

-daddydave (December 12, 2013, 12:39 PM)

I'm curious - why did you "have to" change your email address?   
(I don't see why one would ever have to abandon an email address, unless it wasn't your personal one in the first place - e.g., under a corporate email domain name.)

You are spot on about the difficulty of migrating one Gmail account to another though. Ages back, I set up a duplicate "[name][email protected]" email account to mirror my usual Gmail account. It was far from satisfactory. I ended up using a Google Group as a backup. That worked rather well and also meant that when I wanted to access or reply to my Gmail from within a corporate domain that blocked personal Gmail usage, I could always get at my Gmail as it was via the medium of a discussion group (which aren't usually blocked by network security access control).

3378

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 07:00 AM »

Looks like the Kiwis are starting to build a strong opposition to TPP:

From: http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/
If the TPPA goes ahead, we risk:
    medicines costing more
    GM labelling being scrapped
    internet access being criminalised
    copyright law being expanded
    parallel importing being banned
    te Tiriti o Waitangi being overridden

We would also be committing to special new rights for foreign investors, and to giving those investors the power to sue our government for making laws which they oppose.

3379

General Software Discussion / Re: Outlook.com

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 06:52 AM »

@tomos: I have only been using Outlook.com/SkyDrive a bit, as I could not see an easy way of migrating fully from Gmail - until today (which was why I made that separate post about migrating from Google Gmail.com to Microsoft Outlook.com).

Given my increased reliance/use of OneNote and its integration in MS Office Professional Plus 2013 (cost $10.00), my intention is to move to the better integration (and fuller-featured functionality) of MS Office + SkyDrive + Win8.1 + Contacts.

3380

Living Room / Re: Migrating from Google Gmail.com to Microsoft Outlook.com

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 06:29 AM »

@techidave: There may well be a migration path from Office 365 for education(Outlook) to Google apps for education (gmail), but I wouldn't know, sorry.
I was specifically looking just at the the migration from Google Gmail.com to Microsoft Outlook.com.

3381

Mini-Reviews by Members / IsoBuster Pro - Mini-Review

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 05:51 AM »

Originally posted:	2013-12-12
Last updated	2015-06-28

Basic Info

App/Service Name	IsoBuster PRO
What it does	Rescue/recover corrupted/"unreadable" files from CD, DVD, HD DVD or Blu Ray disc. Recover data from Hard Drive, Floppy, USB, Flash Drive, Media Card, SD, SSD, MMC and more.
Thumbs-Up Rating
App URL	http://www.isobuster.com/
App Version Reviewed	Current version: 3.6 PRO
Test System Specs	MS Win7-64 Home Premium, Win8.1-64 PRO
Supported OSes	PC Windows (various)
Support Methods	Support website: http://www.isobuster.com/support.php Online HELP: http://www.isobuster.com/help/
Reference links	IsoBuster Testimionals - A CD, DVD, BD, HD DVD, HDD, USB Recovery Tool IsoBuster Reviews - Recover Data from Hard Drive, CD, DVD, BD, USB, SD, etc.
Upgrade Policy	Free upgrades.
Trial Version Available?	Yes.
Pricing Scheme	Personal Licence US$ 39.95 Professional Licence US$ 59.95

Intro and Overview:
In the discussion thread: Re: IsoBuster on offer, 2012-11-28: Recover Files From Damaged Media, I wrote:

I read the specs and its range of functionality looked pretty good. I have just bought a licence

-IainB (November 29, 2012, 06:10 PM)

I see an IainB mini-review approaching  

-rjbull (November 30, 2012, 03:15 PM)

Very probably.    
(Always assuming that it turns out to be worth reviewing.)

-IainB (November 30, 2012, 05:17 PM)

That was for IsoBuster v3.1 beta. Since that time, there have been several upgrades to the current version, and I have had the opportunity to use IsoBuster to test/check/recover files on a faulty/failing hard drive, though I have so far not needed to rescue/recover data from corrupted optical discs or from files burned to optical disc but with incomplete session termination (makes the files "unreadable").

From the IsoBuster website:

The Ultimate data recovery software!
Supporting ALL types of media, including CD/DVD, BD/HD DVD, Hard Drives, SSM, USB flash drives, Zip drives, Jaz drives, floppies etc.

• Rescue lost files from a bad or trashed CD, DVD or a Blu Ray disc.
• Recover deleted files from a Hard Drive, Memory card or of from flash media that Windows says needs to be formatted!
• Save important documents, precious pictures or video from the family, your only system backup,...

- IsoBuster can do it all!

One tool, supporting all formats, for only one very democratic price.

No accumulated cost if you need more than one type media or file system supported. IsoBuster is a highly specialized yet easy to use media data recovery tool. It supports all disc formats and all common file systems. Insert a disc, USB stick or memory card, Start up IsoBuster and select the drive or media (if not selected already) and let IsoBuster mount the media. IsoBuster immediately shows you all the partitions or tracks and sessions located on the media, combined with all file systems that are present. This way you get easy access, just like explorer, to all the files and folders per file system. Instead of being limited to one file system that the OS picks for you, you have access to "the complete picture". Access data from older sessions or hidden partitions, access data that your OS (e.g. Windows) does not see or hides from you etc.
_____________________________

Note: Installation of current versions no longer has Candyware (Toolbar).

The About window: (image to be updated)




The Main GUI window: (image to be updated)




The drive selector pop-down menu: (image to be updated)




View of Readyboost drive: (image to be updated)




Who this software is designed for:
Any PC user who requires a flexible multimedia data recovery/backup tool.

The Good:
IsoBuster is relatively simple to use, though it is nonetheless quite a sophisticated tool.
There is an impressive range of features: (from http://www.isobuster.com/isobuster.php)
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks.)

Spoiler

Code: Text [Select]

1. IsoBuster full feature list:
2.     Data recovery from all possible CD, DVD and Blu Ray (BD & HD DVD) formats:
3.     CD-i, VCD, SVCD, SACD, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-MRW, DVD-ROM, DVCD, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+MRW, DVD+R Dual Layer, DVD-R Dual Layer, DVD+RW Dual Layer, DVD+VR, DVD+VRW, DVD-VR, DVD-VRW, DVD-VM, DVD-VFR, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-R DL, BD-RE, BD-RE DL, BD-R SRM, BD-R RRM, BD-R SRM+POW, BD-R SRM-POW, BDAV, BDMV HD DVD-ROM, HD DVD-R, HD DVD-R DL, HD DVD-RW, HD DVD-RW DL, HD DVD-RAM, HD DVD-Video,... And the list continues.
4.     Data Recovery from Hard Drives, USB flash / thumb sticks, Memory stick, compact media cards, MMC media cards, SD, Micro SD, Mini SD, xD, GSM, CF, SDHC, SDSC, SDXC, SDIO, mobile phone memory card, memory cards that are used in digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones, MP3 players and any other type media cards, Floppy, Zip and Jaz drives etc.
5.     All device access, media access, data gathering and interpretation is done exclusively by the software. It does not rely on Windows to provide or interpret the data and so can work completely independent from Windows' limitations.
6.     Better error handling and several retry-mechanisms to aid you in getting the data anyway.
7.     The use of both generic and alternative ways to get to the data, get the best out of your CD/DVD-ROM drive.
8.     The use of primary and secondary file systems to get to the data and/or make use of file system data that might be ignored or 'forgotten' by popular OS. Explore the alternatives.
9.     CDs stay 'readable' after problems (such as Buffer Under-run,...).
10.     Read / Extraction from open sessions.
11.     All sessions, including older ones, are accessible and can be recovered.
12.     Supports mounting several virtual sessions inside a single DVD+RW or DVD-RW track.
13.     Read and Extraction of files, CD/DVD images, tracks and sessions from all optical media.
14.     Scanning for lost UDF files and folders. More on UDF recovery.
15.     Scanning for lost ISO9660 / Joliet sessions.
16.     Scanning for files based on their file-signature.
17.     Scanning for IFO / BUP / VOB file systems on VIDEO and AUDIO DVDs.
18.     Scanning for lost, deleted and orphaned FAT files and folders.
19.     Find lost data on CDs, DVDs, BDs or HD DVDs, created with integrated drag and drop applications, otherwise also known as packet writing software. Optimized, but not exclusive, for:
20.         Roxio Direct CD, Roxio Drag-to-Disc
21.         Ahead / Nero InCD
22.         Prassi / Veritas / Sonic DLA
23.         VOB / Pinnacle Instant-Write
24.         CeQuadrat Packet CD
25.         NTI FileCD
26.         BHA B's CLiP
27.         Microsoft Windows XP, VISTA, 7, 8
28.         Sony abCD,...
29.     Support for Direct CD compressed files. Decompression on the fly.
30.     Support for Microsoft's Live File system.
31.     Built in UDF Reader, UDF 1.02 (e.g DVDs), UDF 1.5 (e.g. Packet writing on CD-R, DVDR, CD-RW and DVDRW), UDF 2.01, 2.50, 2.60 (e.g. BD-R SRM+POW),...
32.     Find lost pictures created and saved to CD or DVD with Sony Mavica, other digital cameras or other devices with embedded UDF write functionality.
33.     Find lost movies created and saved to CD,DVD, BD or HD DVD with Hitachi, other digital cameras or other devices with embedded UDF write functionality.
34.     Auto find extensions based on file content to try and give an appropriate name to an orphaned file. This built in file identifier assigns the proper extension to the file so that Windows applications can open the file. Only needed for orphaned files without a name.
35.     Support for Mount Rainier CD-RW and DVD+RW discs in MRW compatible and non-MRW compatible drives. Auto detection and automatic remapping which can be switched off or forced at all times. Built in MRW remapper / reader. (Built in Method 3 remapper).
36.     Support for formatted CD-RW discs mounted in very old drives that do not know the CD-RW fixed packet format yet. Auto detection and automatic remapping which can be switched of or forced at all times. Built in Method 2 remapper.
37.     Built in HFS Reader supporting HFS and HFS+, the Apple Mac file systems.
38.     Transparent built in support for Mac Resource Fork extensions in the ISO9660 file system.
39.     Transparent built in support for Mac Resource Fork extensions in the UDF file system.
40.     Supports multiple Mac Partitions on one medium (e.g. multiple partitions on a CD or in a dmg file).
41.     Includes a vast range of features for Mac files support on PC (HFS, ISO9660, UDF), including Mac Binary extraction of files.
42.     Recover data from blanked or quick formatted DVD+RW media.
43.     Mpg (*.dat) Extraction and dat2mpg 'in one' from SVCD and VCD.
44.     Ability to create managed image files (*.IBP / *.IBQ).
45.     Enormous file system coverage and different ways to use them all (find the one suited best for your needs). CDs and DVDs often have different file systems pointing to the same files. This offers possibilities.
46.     Rock Ridge (e.g. for Commodore users, Server use, etc.).
47.     HP SimpleSave support.
48.     Full FAT: FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, ExFAT and FATX support (for instance on DVD-RAM, BD-RE, HDD, Flash media etc.).
49.     NTFS on all types of media.
50.     FAT Undelete
51.     NTFS Undelete
52.     DOS / Windows Partitions
53.     EFI / GUID Partitions (GPT)
54.     HFS / Mac Partitions
55.     Extended Master Boot Record (EMBR) Partitions
56.     Finds VIDEO and AUDIO IFO / BUP / VOB file systems independently from other file systems.
57.     Transparent support for (open) DVD+VR(W) discs, remapping of the content etc. Open +VR discs' files can be seen and extracted right away.
58.     Show (and allow to extract) the Nero project file if available on the optical disc.
59.     Support for the CD-i file system and the different behavior from drives trying to mount a CD-i disc.
60.     Information and file system properties (a must for FS developers).
61.     CD/DVD/HD DVD/BD Surface scan to see if there are physical read errors.
62.     Opens checksum files (*.md5) and automatically verifies the image with the checksum file.
63.     Check if all files and folders are readable without having to extract all data to HD.
64.     Single sector extraction. Extraction of CD/DVD/BD/HD DVD blocks (e.g. for engineering purposes).
65.     Sector Viewer. Check a sector's content in IsoBuster's editor and print or save to HD. Engineers and computer savvy people find missing data making use of Sector View.
66.     Compile (and edit, save, print) lists of all files that contain physical read errors.
67.     Compile lists of all files, including their Logical block address (ideal to find the logical play order for mp3 CDs).
68.     CD-Text support from CD and various image files (*.PXI, *.CCD, *.B5T and *.CUE image files).
69.     Creation of image files (*.ibp and *.ibq,*.iso, *.bin, *.tao.)
70.     Creation of checksum files (*.md5).
71.     Creation of cue sheet files (*.cue).
72.     Conversion of all supported image files to iso/tao/bin/cue/ibp/ibq files.
73.     Support for Plugins so that various other images files can be opened and/or created.
74.     Handles opening of multi-file image files.
75.     Extraction of Audio tracks to wave files.
76.     Support for the Expert Witness compressed Format (EWF).
77.     Play audio analogue. Instruct the drive to play the audio through the analogue output.
78.     Ability to pause a number of seconds between retries to allow the drive to "recover" (useful for older drives in combination with marginally readable media).
79.     Creation of multi-file image files or disc spanning to specified size.
80.     Support for bootable CDs and DVDs. Support for the El Torito standard. Perfect aid to slipstream Windows installation CDs.
81.     Add, Edit, Delete files found based on their signatures.
82.     Show file extents. (Show the different parts of a file, when it is fragmented on disc).
83.     Ability to add/edit extents on custom created files (e.g. Lost and Found and Customizable file system).
84.     Ability to add a customizable file system (where you can add, edit files, for engineering purposes).
85.     Support for command line parameters.
86.     Comprehensive help file (also available online).
87.  
88. On top of this, IsoBuster interprets image files, such as:
89.     *.DAO (Duplicator)
90.     *.TAO (Duplicator)
91.     *.ISO (Nero, BlindRead, Creator)
92.     *.BIN (CDRWin)
93.     *.IMG (CloneCD)
94.     *.CCD (CloneCD)
95.     *.CIF (Creator)
96.     *.FCD (Uncompressed)
97.     *.NRG (Nero)
98.     *.GCD (Prassi)
99.     *.P01 (Toast)
100.     *.C2D (WinOnCD)
101.     *.CUE (CDRWin)
102.     *.CDI (DiscJuggler)
103.     *.CD (CD-i OptImage)
104.     *.GI (Prassi PrimoDVD)
105.     *.PXI (PlexTools)
106.     *.MDS (Alcohol)
107.     *.MDF (Alcohol)
108.     *.VC4 (Virtual CD)
109.     *.000 (Virtual CD)
110.     *.B5T (BlindWrite)
111.     *.B5I (BlindWrite)
112.     *.DMG (Apple Macintosh)
113.     *.IBP (IsoBuster)
114.     *.IBQ (IsoBuster)
115.     *.NCD (NTI)
116.     *.FLP (Floppy image)
117.     *.E01
118.     *.S01
119.     *.L01 (Expert Witness Format)
120.     *.RMG (Rimage)
121.     *.DSK (Generic Disk Image)
122.     *.VMDK (virtual Machine Disk)
123.     *.UDF (UDF Image)
124.     *.DD
125.     *.XISO
126.     *.XBX
127.  
128. IsoBuster also features Language support for over forty languages.

Needs Improvement:
No notes on this as at this stage (nothing to fault).

Why I think you should use this product:
If you are a PC user who requires a flexible multimedia data recovery/backup tool then this could be the tool for you.
IsoBuster is also very useful for inspecting, analysing, diagnosing problems on and reconstructing various formats of data volumes/disks.

How it compares to similar products:
I have no direct knowledge/experience of similar tools, however http://alternativeto.../software/isobuster/ lists these:

• PowerISO
• Stellar Phoenix CD DVD Data Recovery
• CD Recovery Toolbox
• Recover Disc 2.0
• Recovery Toolbox for CD
• Greenfish DataMiner

Conclusions:
Does what it says on the box, including:

...functionality to clean up MPEG in MPEG based files (for instance *.VOB files). When you extract recovered video from Video DVDs (for instance *.VOB files) you can choose to "Extract but filter only MPEG frames". When you choose this extraction option you will end up with pure mpeg-2 *.MPG files that can be played by all software, including embedded software in TVs etc. No more problems converting VOB files first to play, or to be able to master new DVDs from etc.

(This only works if the .VOB has been decrypted from any region encoding first, using something such as DVD Shrink, for example.)

3382

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Malwarebytes FREE and PRO - Mini-Review.

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 03:47 AM »

Update 2013-12-12: licensing scheme re the free and PRO version are only available for non-commercial use - licence is indefinite/lifetime.

3383

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 01:27 AM »

Camilla's new shoes.

Princess Camilla bought a pair of new shoes for her wedding day, but the shoes got increasingly tighter and tighter as the day wore on.

That night, when the festivities were finally over and the couple retired to their bedroom, Camilla flopped onto the bed and said, "Charles, darling. Please remove my shoes, my feet are killing me!"

The ever-obedient Prince of Wales attacked her right shoe with vigour, but it would not budge.

"Harder!" yelled Camilla.

"Harder!" Charles yelled back, "I'm trying, darling! But it's just so bloody tight!"

"Come on! Give it all you've got!" Camilla cried.

Finally, when it released, Charles let out a big groan and Camilla exclaimed, "There! Oh, God, that feels so good!"

In their bedroom next door, the Queen said to Prince Phillip, "See? I told you, with a face like that, she had to be a virgin!"

Meanwhile, as Charles tried to remove Camilla's left shoe, he cried, "Oh, God, darling! This one's even tighter!"

At which Prince Phillip said to the Queen, "That's my boy! Once a Navy man, always a Navy man!"

3384

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 01:06 AM »

Prince Charles and the prostitute.

Prince Charles decided to take up an evening walk each day, along the streets of London. He decided on a fixed route, so his security guards would always be able to keep tabs on him, walking a respectful distance in front and behind.
On one particular street corner, he would always pass the same prostitute standing there touting for business.

He learned to brace himself as he approached her for what was almost certain to follow.
"One hundred and fifty pounds!" she'd shout.
"No! Five pounds!" he'd shout back at her, just to shut her up.

This exchange between him and the prostitute became a daily ritual.
She'd yell, "One hundred and fifty pounds!"
He'd yell back, "No! Five pounds!"

One evening, Camilla decided to accompany her husband on his walk.
As the couple walked in the direction of the prostitute's corner, Prince Charles realised she'd probably bark her £150 offer and Camilla would wonder what he'd been doing on all his previous outings.
He figured he'd better have a good explanation for his wife.
As they neared the prostitute’s corner he became apprehensive - sure enough, there she stood. He tried to avoid eye contact as the prostitute watched the pair pass, and he sighed inwardly with relief - she said nothing as they passed by.

Then, just as he thought he was safe, the prostitute suddenly yelled after his receding back, "See what you get for five pounds, you tight bastard!"

3385

Living Room / Re: Caveat emptor ("let the buyer beware") in Internet online purchasing

« Last post by IainB on December 12, 2013, 12:39 AM »

@J-Mac: Thanks for the Wayback link. Good find.
If I saw Ts&Cs like that in a company, I'd never do business with them in the first place.
In the UK, under the Unfair Contracts Act, that would probably be an unfair contract, by definition, and therefore illegal/unenforceable.

Amazing that they can even think they could get away with it in the US.
To draw up Ts&Cs like that - even without the "Non-Disparagement Clause" - they presumably would have to have had a lot of trouble from unsatisfied customers.
I wonder why that could be?   

3386

Living Room / Migrating from Google Gmail.com to Microsoft Outlook.com

« Last post by IainB on December 11, 2013, 11:55 PM »

Looks like this is now finally feasible, non-problematic and easy, thanks to a migration tool provided by Microsoft.   
The post (link below) from the Microsoft Outlook Blog explains it in detail. The other two posts are relevant for background for those of us who may feel themselves to be reluctant or locked-in captives of Gmail.   

• Outlook Blog - Outlook.com makes it even easier to switch from Gmail
  

  by Naoto Sunagawa, December 11 2013
  Today, we are announcing a new service that makes it easier than ever to import your Gmail account to Outlook.com. This will be rolling out to everyone over the coming weeks, so if you don't have access to it yet, check back soon.
  (Read the rest at the link.)
  ___________________
  

  
  
• The case against Gmail | ZDNet
  

  By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report | October 29, 2013
  Summary: Gmail was a breath of fresh air when it debuted. But this onetime alternative is showing signs that it's past its prime, especially if you want to use the service with a third-party client. That's the way Google wants it, which is why I've given up on Gmail after almost a decade.
  (Read the rest at the link.)
  ___________________
  
• How I switched from Gmail to Outlook.com (and how you can too)
  

  By Ed Bott for The Ed Bott Report | October 31, 2013
  Summary: So long, Gmail, it was nice knowing you. After nearly a decade, I've finally moved my personal email away from Google's service. If you're considering doing the same, here's a step-by-step guide to help you set things up the right way.
  (Read the rest at the link.)
  ___________________
  

  
  
  

3387

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« Last post by IainB on December 11, 2013, 03:57 PM »

The US government/corporate lobbies really do seem most determined about forcing an agreement on TPP. I wonder why?   
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)

US Fails To Close TPP Deal As Wikileaks Exposes Discord - Forbes
12/10/2013 @ 9:28AM
Emma Woollacott, Contributor - I cover the control of content on the internet.

The latest round of talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have failed to lead to a resolution, with ministers confirming that debate is likely to continue into next year.

The announcement comes as Wikileaks releases an internal memo and spreadsheet, revealing that the US is putting heavy pressure on other nations to conform with its demands.
Cropped picture of Joseph Stiglitz, U.S. econo...

Joseph Stiglitz, U.S. economist. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Following four days of talks in Singapore, the heads of the various delegations have today released a statement saying that while they’ve identified what they call “potential landing zones” for the areas that remain contentious, they have failed to reach a resolution as hoped.

“Therefore, we have decided to continue our intensive work in the coming weeks toward such an agreement,” they say. “We will also further our consultations with stakeholders and engage in our respective political processes. Following additional work by negotiators, we intend to meet again next month.”

The statement coincides with the release of two more documents from Wikileaks which reveal just how far apart the US is from the other nations involved in the treaty, with 19 points of disagreement in the area of intellectual property alone. One of the documents speaks of “great pressure” being applied by the US.

Australia in particular is standing firm, objecting to the US’ proposals for copyright protection, parallel importation proposals and criminalization of copyright infringement. It’s also opposed to a measure supported by all the other nations involved to limit the liability of ISPs for copyright infringement by their users. Japan, too – which only joined the talks in March – has vowed to protect its agricultural markets, which the US wishes to see opened up.

But the TPP is causing increasing disquiet in the US, as well as around the world. Over the weekend, campaign group Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) revealed that Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz of the Columbia University School of Business has written to the negotiators, calling on them to resist a tranche of measures that he says would weaken the 2001 Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health.

These include extending patent terms and lowering the threshold for patentability of medicines, making surgical procedures patentable and mandating monopolies of 12 years on test data for biologic drugs. He also objects to the granting of compulsory licenses on patents, increasing damages for patent and copyright infringement, placing lower limits on injunctions, narrowing copyright exceptions and extending copyright protection to life plus 70 years.

“The TPP proposes to freeze into a binding trade agreement many of the worst features of the worst laws in the TPP countries, making needed reforms extremely difficult if not impossible,” he writes.

His sentiments are echoed by 29 organizations and more than 70 other individuals in a separate letter.

“The primary harm from the life + 70 copyright term is the loss of access to countless books, newspapers, pamphlets, photographs, films, sound recordings and other works that are ‘owned’ but largely not commercialized, forgotten, and lost,” they say. “The extended terms are also costly to consumers and performers, while benefiting persons and corporate owners that had nothing to do with the creation of the work.”

The failure of the talks to reach agreement is a major blow for the US, which hoped to see the deal largely wrapped up by now. The ministers say they’ll meet again next month, but haven’t set any new timeline for completion. And with many of the outstanding issues having been aired for months, it’s hard to see how full agreement will be reached any time soon.

3388

Living Room / Re: Reader's Corner - The Library of Utopia

« Last post by IainB on December 11, 2013, 03:22 PM »

Just when you think there is evidence of real progress on the freedom of knowledge front and some growth in the Libray of Utopia, you find evidence that some psychopathic corporation wants to own that knowledge by proxy, and tithe you for it - it's Elsevier, of course.
From VentureBeat - Business:
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)

Academia.edu slammed with takedown notices from journal publisher Elsevier
December 6, 2013 4:51 PM
Jordan Novet

Image: Kang Xu, a scientist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

Academia.edu wants to help researchers share their scientific papers freely. But at least one publisher of academic journals has more, well, nuanced thoughts on access to the research — and it’s issued requests for thousands of papers to be dropped from the site.

The news surfaced in a post on Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week, a blog about open access.

In response to Elsevier’s requests, Academia.edu has sent messages to several academics on the site to let them know their papers have been removed. And that’s gotten a lot of people talking on Twitter.

In an email to VentureBeat, Richard Price, Academia.edu’s chief executive, told a bit of the backstory.

“In the past, Elsevier has sent out one or two DMCAs a week,” Price wrote. “Then, a few weeks ago, Elsevier started sending Academia.edu DMCA take-down notices in batches of a thousand for papers that academics had uploaded to the site. This is what has caused the recent outcry in the blogosphere and Twitter.”

The message Academia.edu sent out casts Elsevier as getting in the way of Academia.edu’s very mission:

Academia.edu is committed to enabling the transition to a world where there is open access to academic literature. Elsevier takes a different view, and is currently upping the ante in its opposition to academics sharing their own papers online.
_________________________

The Chronicle of Higher Education has a statement from an Elsevier executive. “We aim to ensure that the final published version of an article is readily discoverable and citable via the journal itself in order to maximize the usage metrics and credit for our authors, and to protect the quality and integrity of the scientific record,” the executive, Tom Reller, told the Chronicle in an email.

Still, Elsevier’s ramping up of take-down requests is reminiscent of the shake-up happening as a result of the rise of massively open online courses, which have enabled millions to learn at a high level — for free. It could be that the basic premise of Academia.edu will throw things off kilter for publishers and cause them to react. And it even has a bit of the flavor of Aaron Swartz’s efforts to liberate academic papers from the premium site JSTOR.

Price thinks things could be changing on the openness front.

“Perhaps the most interesting point here is that the tides are shifting in the academic community’s overall attitude toward open science, and that increasingly scientists and researchers want to be able to share their papers online,” he wrote in his email.

Academia.edu, a five-year-old site, claims nearly six million academics have signed up on it. It recently took on $11.1 million in funding to grow, the its community has a shot at growing further, which could raise the stakes for publishers.

3389

Living Room / Re: Peer Review and the Scientific Process

« Last post by IainB on December 11, 2013, 12:48 PM »

I just checked and realised I had omitted to mention the date of the quote re Judith Curry's article, above, so have updated it.
The reason I was interested in its date is that, apparently quite by coincidence, the recent Nobel science prizewinner Randy Schekman has, a few days later, said something similar to Curry. In fact, he has gone even further and put his money where his mouth is by declaring a boycott of a few publishers (Nature, Cell, and Science) who seem to form an oligopoly of published "peer-reviewed" science research, deliberately encouraging/publishing many bad/fraudulent science papers and distorting the scientific process in order to boost their circulation figures.

The Guardian article below has it: (my emphasis)
(Copied below, with some embedded hyperlinks, but no images.)

Nobel winner declares boycott of top science journals | Science | The Guardian
Randy Schekman says his lab will no longer send papers to Nature, Cell and Science as they distort scientific process

    Ian Sample, science correspondent
    The Guardian, Monday 9 December 2013 19.42 GMT   

Image: Randy Schekman, centre, at a Nobel prize ceremony in Stockholm.

Leading academic journals are distorting the scientific process and represent a "tyranny" that must be broken, according to a Nobel prize winner who has declared a boycott on the publications.

Randy Schekman, a US biologist who won the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine this year and receives his prize in Stockholm on Tuesday, said his lab would no longer send research papers to the top-tier journals, Nature, Cell and Science.

Schekman said pressure to publish in "luxury" journals encouraged researchers to cut corners and pursue trendy fields of science instead of doing more important work. The problem was exacerbated, he said, by editors who were not active scientists but professionals who favoured studies that were likely to make a splash.

The prestige of appearing in the major journals has led the Chinese Academy of Sciences to pay successful authors the equivalent of $30,000 (£18,000). Some researchers made half of their income through such "bribes", Schekman said in an interview.

Writing in the Guardian, Schekman raises serious concerns over the journals' practices and calls on others in the scientific community to take action.

"I have published in the big brands, including papers that won me a Nobel prize. But no longer," he writes. "Just as Wall Street needs to break the hold of bonus culture, so science must break the tyranny of the luxury journals."

Schekman is the editor of eLife, an online journal set up by the Wellcome Trust. Articles submitted to the journal – a competitor to Nature, Cell and Science – are discussed by reviewers who are working scientists and accepted if all agree. The papers are free for anyone to read.

Schekman criticises Nature, Cell and Science for artificially restricting the number of papers they accept, a policy he says stokes demand "like fashion designers who create limited-edition handbags." He also attacks a widespread metric called an "impact factor", used by many top-tier journals in their marketing.

A journal's impact factor is a measure of how often its papers are cited, and is used as a proxy for quality. But Schekman said it was "toxic influence" on science that "introduced a distortion". He writes: "A paper can become highly cited because it is good science - or because it is eye-catching, provocative, or wrong."

Daniel Sirkis, a postdoc in Schekman's lab, said many scientists wasted a lot of time trying to get their work into Cell, Science and Nature. "It's true I could have a harder time getting my foot in the door of certain elite institutions without papers in these journals during my postdoc, but I don't think I'd want to do science at a place that had this as one of their most important criteria for hiring anyway," he told the Guardian.

Sebastian Springer, a biochemist at Jacobs University in Bremen, who worked with Schekman at the University of California, Berkeley, said he agreed there were major problems in scientific publishing, but no better model yet existed. "The system is not meritocratic. You don't necessarily see the best papers published in those journals. The editors are not professional scientists, they are journalists which isn't necessarily the greatest problem, but they emphasise novelty over solid work," he said.

Springer said it was not enough for individual scientists to take a stand. Scientists are hired and awarded grants and fellowships on the basis of which journals they publish in. "The hiring committees all around the world need to acknowledge this issue," he said.

Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief at Nature, said the journal had worked with the scientific community for more than 140 years and the support it had from authors and reviewers was validation that it served their needs.

"We select research for publication in Nature on the basis of scientific significance. That in turn may lead to citation impact and media coverage, but Nature editors aren't driven by those considerations, and couldn't predict them even if they wished to do so," he said.

"The research community tends towards an over-reliance in assessing research by the journal in which it appears, or the impact factor of that journal. In a survey Nature Publishing Group conducted this year of over 20,000 scientists, the three most important factors in choosing a journal to submit to were: the reputation of the journal; the relevance of the journal content to their discipline; and the journal's impact factor. My colleagues and I have expressed concerns about over-reliance on impact factors many times over the years, both in the pages of Nature and elsewhere."

Monica Bradford, executive editor at Science, said: "We have a large circulation and printing additional papers has a real economic cost … Our editorial staff is dedicated to ensuring a thorough and professional peer review upon which they determine which papers to select for inclusion in our journal. There is nothing artificial about the acceptance rate. It reflects the scope and mission of our journal."

Emilie Marcus, editor of Cell, said: "Since its launch nearly 40 years ago, Cell has focused on providing strong editorial vision, best-in-class author service with informed and responsive professional editors, rapid and rigorous peer-review from leading academic researchers, and sophisticated production quality. Cell's raison d'etre is to serve science and scientists and if we fail to offer value for both our authors and readers, the journal will not flourish; for us doing so is a founding principle, not a luxury."

• This article was amended on 10 December 2013 to include a response from Cell editor Emilie Marcus, which arrived after the initial publication deadline.

3390

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by IainB on December 11, 2013, 05:52 AM »

Engineers and mathematicians. (an old favourite of mine)

Three engineers and three mathematicians are travelling by train to a conference.

At the station, the three mathematicians each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.

"How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?" asks a mathematician.

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

They all board the train. The mathematicians take their respective seats, but all three engineers cram into a toilet and close the door behind them.

Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the toilet door and says, "Ticket, please." The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

The mathematicians see this and agree it is quite a clever idea, so after the conference, they decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money (being clever with money, and all that).

When they get to the station, they buy a single ticket for the return trip. To their astonishment, the engineers don't buy a ticket at all.

"How are you going to travel without a ticket?" asks one perplexed mathematician.

"Watch and you'll see," answers an engineer.

When they board the train, the three mathematicians cram into one toilet and the three engineers cram into another one nearby.

The train departs. Shortly afterwards, one of the engineers leaves the toilet where the three were hiding and walks over to the toilet where the mathematicians are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, "Ticket, please."

3391

Living Room / Re: Let's Make a List: How to Live Life to the Fullest

« Last post by IainB on December 11, 2013, 05:23 AM »

2. Because it's the last day (of one's life or whatever) don't waste time in frivolous pursuits that don't matter to anyone or have no real meaning/use - e.g., making lists of "things to do on the last day".   

3392

Mini-Reviews by Members / Re: Tresorit - Secure, end-to-end encrypted Cloud storage service (FREE)

« Last post by IainB on December 10, 2013, 10:37 PM »

so too did the US government when it gifted The Internet to planet earth..

and GPS...developed originally for the military

-cmpm (December 09, 2013, 12:10 PM)

Oops! Encryption came out of the US military too...

3393

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by IainB on December 09, 2013, 11:24 PM »

This is funny:
http://www.bbc.co.uk.../technology-25297044
"Eight firms, Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, AOL, Microsoft, LinkedIn, and Yahoo, have formed an alliance called Reform Government Surveillance group."

-TaoPhoenix (December 09, 2013, 11:52 AM)

Yes, it is funny - more panto. So, anyway, it looks as though you don't need to worry your little heads about it. You can trust these corporations to override democratic process and "reform" government surveillance for you.

...Yeah, right.

3394

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on December 08, 2013, 04:37 AM »

Yes, of course I am exaggerating.
And I think you are quite right where you say:

..But at the end of the day, all that really matters is what was - or wasn't - done. ...

-40hz (December 07, 2013, 11:09 PM)

From an NZ perspective, in the Dotcom case, the judgement was clear that there has been illegal action by the State - the police/SAS and GCSB - and it certainly looks like the police committed perjury. Oops.
We are all interested to know when and how  these matters will be properly addressed by the judiciary.
(Sounds of crickets chirping.)

3395

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on December 07, 2013, 08:39 PM »

Yes, you are quite right, I feel sure. But there is a difference between a politician caving in and reneging on his election promises because it is politically expedient to do so, and confronting a bully who is about to punch your lights out and do you some serious injury.
Something done out of fear is generally likely to be corrosive and destructive of the self and of one's self-respect - but there's a lot of it about. Like RC churchgoers, for example, who go to confessional because - well, if they don't, they believe they will be damned, because God loves you and is your friend and wants you to confess and pray for forgiveness, or something.
But there's a difference between a fear of a threat of something imagined like that and a threat of something more existential and that is really very likely to happen. Lange knew from New Zealand's economic history (e.g., why it even has a role in the EU CM in the first place) that the economic excommunication threatened by the French was not an empty threat but something that they could and probably would pull off if they lost patience with him, and he couldn't take that risk. It would have been politically reckless and could have led to economic suicide. So he caved in. No option really.
Similarly, for example, where you live under Islamic Sharia law, apostasy is a sin against Allah and is punishable by death. You know it's going to happen, so you don't do it. You stay in the Islamic faith. Allah is your friend.

So, imagine having this friend in the shape of the US, who is a bit like Allah in that you had better do as he wants, or else.
We would all be wise to be very, very afraid of such a friend.

I don't suppose that those police/SAS/GCSB personnel who screwed up or committed perjury in the Dotcom case did so because they were basically stupid or dishonest. I suspect they more than likely had high professional standards and integrity and were likely very good at their jobs. But you can really act out of character and make all kinds of professional mistakes if you come under unbearable pressure from a powerful friend to do something that you know is intrinsically wrong.

3396

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on December 07, 2013, 04:15 PM »

...Otherwise NZ never ever ever ever ever would have gone along with any of this...
...Hopefully the people of New Zealand will be smart enough not to allow their government to employ the US as a justification for its own breaches of public faith and constitutional law. ...

-40hz (December 07, 2013, 07:33 AM)

Well, "if I see something that ain't right, I gotta' say it" - sorry if it offends you.
And apologies, I didn't mean to whinge or suggest that NZ wouldn't necessarily have "gone along" with any of it, but that is only because I am well aware that the arm-twisting is there - and has been there for years.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to meet and work with people who were senior members of the NZ DPMC (Office of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet), the NZDF (Defence Force) - including the Chief - NZ GCSB and NZ Police, and they were the ones to educate me on the issue of NZ's relative powerlessness in world affairs - especially when it came to the US.
However, even without such education, it must have become blatantly obvious to anyone with eyes to see it that NZ had little room to establish its "sovereignty" if a larger economic power wished otherwise.
For example, including:

• France: I recall watching a televised interview of the then retired NZ Prime Minister David Lange, where he vouchsafed the information that he had little option but to frustrate the execution of proper NZ justice on the French government terrorists found guilty of blowing up the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior as it lay docked in Auckland harbour (which also killed a crew member who was on board at the time), as the French government told him categorically that if he didn't, then NZ's access to sales of dairy and meat produce to the EU Common Market would be permanently blocked. This would have been a crippling economic sanction, as the NZ economy is primarily reliant on pastoral produce and the EU CM was/is a major market for them.
  
  
• USA: It also mentions, in the Wikipedia entry for Lange (above) that:
  

  Lange made his name on the international stage with a long-running campaign against nuclear weapons. His government refused to allow nuclear-armed ships into New Zealand waters, a policy that New Zealand continues to this day. The policy, developing in 1985, had the effect of prohibiting United States Navy ships from visiting New Zealand. This displeased the United States and Australia: they regarded the policy as a breach of treaty obligations under ANZUS and as an abrogation of responsibility in the context of the Cold War against the Soviet bloc. After consultations with Australia and after negotiations with New Zealand broke down, the United States announced that it would suspend its treaty obligations to New Zealand until the re-admission of United States Navy ships to New Zealand ports, characterising New Zealand as "a friend, but not an ally".
  Erroneous claims sometimes suggest that David Lange withdrew New Zealand from ANZUS. His government's policy may have prompted the US's decision to suspend its ANZUS Treaty obligations to New Zealand, but that decision rested with the U.S. government, not with the New Zealand government.
  _______________________
  

  
  .. and also:
  

  In January 2006, Archives New Zealand released to The Sunday Star-Times newspaper a box of David Lange's previously classified documents. They revealed New Zealand's ongoing involvement in Western alliance espionage, and a threat by the United States to spy on New Zealand if it did not back down from its ban on nuclear ships.
  

  
  ...and anyone reading this Dotcom discussion thread and the Snowden thread will be able to see how NZ is inextricably a bit player in the global spy/surveillance network operated with the US NSA/CIA/FBI, UK GCHQ and their Australian counterparts.
  _______________________
  

In general, in any relationships that NZ has with the US on the world stage, the NZ actors know that it is an unequal relationship - that they are in bed with an elephant that could roll over them and squash them flat in the night without even noticing, and that the elephant could also turn very nasty if not appeased when roused/contradicted.
The US seems to be a world defender and a bully/oppressor of humungus proportions - arguably far worse than the British Empire ever was, and a good deal less subtle to boot. (Even the US President seems to think so too.)
For example:

• including the U.S. Occupation of the Philippines (1898-1946), and its subsequent economic and military colonisation from then until September 16, 1991, when the RP-US Military Bases Agreement was junked (but the last vestiges of US occupation apparently didn't fully depart until finally booted out by President Fidel Ramos around 1996).
  
  

• ...
  From: http://21stcenturywi...mon-ground-ideology/
  

  "The entire history of America is towards concentration of power and oppression."
  - Barrack Obama (Strassman interview August of 1995)
  

  So, one valid question would seem to be: Is he intending continuing that history, or doing something about correcting it?
  _______________________
  

  -IainB (November 06, 2013, 07:22 AM)

NZ, on the other hand, with its tiny population of about 4.4 million people (and far more sheep) spread over a land area slightly larger than the UK, is a politically and economically insignificant wart on the arse-end of the planet, and it generally gets treated as such.
Small wonder then, that NZ Defence/GCSD/Police seem to love playing with their American counterparts - they at least get the opportunity to feel significant and to play with the big boys' toys and join in international SWAT-fests from time to time.
It's probably not very stimulating for them being an arse-wart otherwise. One has to get a sense of fulfilment from one's vocation as best one can.

3397

Living Room / Re: DOTCOM saga - updates

« Last post by IainB on December 07, 2013, 03:20 AM »

No news on the Dotcom fiasco from NZ at present, but I was gobsmacked by this in TechDirt:
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)

US Court Secretly Lets Government Share Megaupload Evidence With Copyright Industry
from the government-copyright-industrial-complex dept
by Mike Masnick Fri, Dec 6th 2013 7:39pm.

In the latest in a long list of travesties carried out by the US government in the Megaupload case, apparently it went to the US court handling the case, and without letting Megaupload know, got an ex parte order allowing the government to share evidence from the case with various copyright holders and then to issue press releases about the case. As Megaupload's lawyers point out, the whole thing is a clear due process violation.

    The defendants have been indicted, their assets have been frozen, their business has been destroyed, and their liberty has been restrained. Given these constraints, it is unclear what evils the Government fears defendants will inflict if provided notice of the Government’s submission, beyond having Defendants’ counsel come into court to make opposing arguments.

Basically, Megaupload's lawyers are asking to be a part of this process, since it appears that the government wanted (and the court allowed) to cut them out. As Megaupload's lawyers note, allowing the government to sort through and cherry-pick evidence to share, without any context or potential additional exonerating information, is a clear due process violation.

    “The Government’s request also substantially prejudices the defendants in the case. Permitting the Government to widely disseminate a one-sided, cherry-picked set of facts threatens to improperly infect the jury pool before defendants are afforded any opportunity to present their side of the story.”

Apparently part of the issue for the original filing to reveal this information was that some copyright holders are getting antsy that as the case drags on, they won't also be able to file civil cases against Megaupload before the three-year statute of limitations expires. However, as Megaupload's lawyers point out, there is no urgency here since the government itself made no move to share this information over the past two years. If it really wanted to share the information it had ample time to make the request and allow Megaupload's lawyers to review and take part in the process, rather than trying to route around them entirely.

I'm guessing the recent successes against IsoHunt and Hotfile may have contributed to the timing as well. The MPAA pretty clearly thinks it can use those two cases to go after Megaupload as well, outside of the criminal case which will continue.

Call me old-fashioned if you want, but I really have had a gutsfull of the American so-called "ethics" and "law" over this case, and of the arm-twisting it has subjected the NZ government, police and judiciary to. The country doesn't seem to deserve its Constitution.

3398

Mini-Reviews by Members / Tresorit - Cloud storage service (FREE) - Mini-Review. (WARNING!)

« Last post by IainB on December 06, 2013, 08:16 PM »

Originally posted:	2013-12-07
Last updated	2015-06-04

Basic Info

App/Service Name	"Secure" (caveat), end-to-end encrypted Cloud storage service (FREE) (From the German noun "tresor" - a lockable, armoured cabinet.)
Thumbs-Up Rating	WARNING! was previously 5 x , but currently  A "secure" (but may not meet your definition of such) encrypted Cloud storage service that meets 2 essential security criteria: (a) not US-based and not subject to US laws, and (b) is encrypted (post-SnowdenGate) and successfully protects against US NSA legal/illegal surveillance, with the encryption keys being unknown to the Cloud service provider. Note: If you just want this on its own, refer: Pre-encryption makes cloud-based storage safer
App URL	http://tresorit.com/
App Version Reviewed	Current version: v2.0.452.324
Test System Specs	MS Win7-64 HP, Win8-64, Win8.1-64 PRO
Supported OSes	PC Windows (various)
Support Methods	Support website: https://support.tresorit.com/home Descriptive white paper: http://tresorit.com/...esoritwhitepaper.pdf
Upgrade Policy	Free upgrades.
Trial Version Available?	Not applicable - this is FREEware.
Pricing Scheme	FREEware. There are PAID schemes for extra storage.

Definition of Secure: - Concise Oxford Dictionary (10th Ed.)

secure
· adj.

• 1 fixed or fastened so as not to give way, become loose, or be lost.
• 2 certain to remain safe and unthreatened. Ø protected against attack or other criminal activity.
• 3 feeling free from fear or anxiety. Ø (secure of) dated feeling no doubts about attaining.
• 4 (of a place of detention) having provisions against the escape of inmates.

· v.

• 1 make secure; fix or fasten securely.
• 2 protect against threats.
• 3 succeed in obtaining. Ø seek to guarantee repayment of (a loan) by having a right to take possession of an asset in the event of non-payment.
• 4 Surgery compress (a blood vessel) to prevent bleeding.

– PHRASES secure arms Military hold a rifle with the muzzle downward and the lock in the armpit to guard it from rain.
– DERIVATIVES securable adj. securely adv. securement n. secureness n.
– ORIGIN C16 (earlier (ME) as security): from L. securus, from se- ‘without’ + cura ‘care’.
_______________________________

WARNING!:
EDIT 2015-06-04:
This is to let other users who started using Tresorit on my recommendation know that my original review contained a grievous error/omission of fact, or at least overlooked it.
APOLOGY: I sincerely apologise to anyone who might have been discombobulated by this news. I most assuredly would never have recommended Tresorit had I known, or at least not without some major caveats.

I had not known/realised that the FREE Tresorit storage service reviewed here may not necessarily meet your definition/requirements for "secure" storage, insofar as the FREE account and storage can - and apparently will - be unilaterally deleted after 15-days notice, by Tresorit, if the account has not been accessed for at least 120 days previously. This is as per the Terms and Conditions of Use as at 2013-11-11 section XIV Inactive Free Accounts, and which is not mentioned in section [/b][/i]XIX Termination by Tresorit.
The Terms and Conditions of Use as at 2013-11-11 were/are copied into the spoiler button, below.


Intro and Overview:
From the white paper above:

TRESORIT: COMPLETELY SECURE CLOUD COLLABORATION
Tresorit provides a novel approach to secure cloud storage. The software allows you to share
files and collaborate with your friends and colleagues with guaranteed cryptographic end-to-
end security, without sacrificing the ease of use and performance of unsecure cloud storage
services. With Tresorit, you encrypt files on your computer and the only people able to see the
content are the ones you expressly give permission to. Contrary to other solutions, no storage
provider or network administrator, no unauthorized hacker, not even Tresorit can read your files.
_______________________

The usual storage allocation for a new Tresoit seems to be 5 or 6GB, but could be more if there is a special offer.
I originally got a 50GB account as part of the their special offer on product launch:

Could be a great offer via Lifehacker Dealhacker: (I'm signed up anyway.)

Get 50GB of Free, Encrypted Online Storage from Tresorit
Melanie Pinola   

Windows (Mac, Android, iOS coming soon): There are a ton of online syncing and storage services, but not all of them locally encrypt your data for higher security. Just out of limited beta, Tresorit is a new Dropbox alternative with client-side encryption. The company offers 5GB of free space, but for a limited time Lifehacker readers can grab 50GB free for life.

Tresorit's biggest selling point is the strong security. Your files and folders are encrypted before they're uploaded to the cloud. To get technical about it:

Files are encrypted with AES-256 before being uploaded to the cloud. Additional security is provided before upload by HMAC message authentication codes applied on SHA-512 hashes. Encrypted files are uploaded to the cloud using TLS-protected channels.

The company is also putting its money where its mouth is: On April 15, Tresorit is inviting the world's hackers to try to break its encryption and win $10,000. So Tresorit is pretty confident in its security claims.

The Windows software (Mac, Android, and iOS versions coming before June) is also really easy to use. You can select any folder to be synced (as a "Tresor"), share folders with other users, and also adjust permissions of shared folders by user.

On the downside, there's no web-based access for your files, people you share folders with will also need the software installed, and it takes a few seconds longer for your synced files to appear on another computer (probably because of the encryption that has to happen first). Other Dropbox alternatives with client-side encryption, SpiderOak and Wuala, have more features, but Tresorit's interface is a lot more user-friendly. And it's hard to beat 50GB of free encrypted space.

If you want to try it out, you'll need to register via the link below to get the 50 gigs free. This offer is good until May 20.

Update: Some people are reporting only getting 5GB. Tresorit has fixed the glitch, so it should work fine now, but if you were one of these people, email [email protected] and they'll set you up with the 50GB. Also, you can follow @tresorit on Facebook or Twitter to be notified when Mac and mobile apps are available.

Tresorit

EDIT: It seems to work OK:
 

-IainB (April 11, 2013, 08:45 PM)

Who this software is designed for:
Any PC user who wants a secure encrypted Cloud storage service that meets 2 essential security criteria:

• (a) not US-based and not subject to US laws, and
• (b) is encrypted (post-SnowdenGate) and successfully protects against US NSA legal/illegal surveillance, with the encryption keys being unknown to the Cloud service provider.

Per the website, the features are:

• Your safe space in the cloud:
  
  • Store your digital valuables, access them anywhere, and share safely.
  • Highest grade encryption protects every aspect of your content management in the cloud.
  
  
• Turn any folder into a secure tresor:
  
  • Any folder can be turned into a secure tresor. There’s no need to reorganize your data. You can stick to your own workflow!
  • To drag and drop a folder, or simply right clicking and ‘tresoring it!’ takes only a few seconds.
  
  
• Access anywhere:
  
  • Access encrypted content anywhere - Tresorit merges privacy and mobility.
  • Store content on your Windows PC or Mac, then take it with you on Android and iOS.

The Good:
When I first started up with the Tresorit account, I adopted a wait-and-see attitude in the light of the SnowdenGate revelations about US NSA legal and illegal surveillance.
However, in a pop-up screen when Tresorit started up on my laptop on 2013-12-07, I was obliged to agree to the changed Terms and Conditions as from 2013-11-11, if I wished to continue using the Tresorit service: (this is a good move on Tresorit's part.)



These are the Terms and Conditions as from 2013-11-11:

Spoiler

Terms and Conditions of Use
11/11/2013
Thank you for using Tresorit! These terms and conditions of use ("Terms") apply to the use of the Tresorit cloud service ("Service") and any other related content and software ("Software") by you and any third party or entity you are using/purchasing the Service on behalf of (together referred to as "You" or "Your"), so please carefully read them before using the Service or the Software. The Terms and the Service chosen by You are the basis of the agreement between You and Tresorit ("Agreement"). The Service is provided by Tresorit AG, Switzerland. By using the Service or by downloading, installing, registering, copying or otherwise using the Software, You are consenting to be bound by these Terms.
If You do not agree to all of these Terms, any use of the Service is unauthorized and You may not download, install, register, copy or otherwise use the Software, or if You have previously downloaded the Software, You must stop accessing the Service and You must uninstall, remove or destroy the Software and any copies immediately.
If You complete the electronic registration process, by clicking the "Register", or "Sign up" buttons, by using the Service or otherwise indicating acceptance of these Terms, You represent that:
- You have full legal capacity to contractually obligate yourself to these Terms and You are not barred under any applicable laws from to do so.
- You understand English and have read, understood and accepted these Terms stated herein.
- You may only use the Service in compliance with these Terms.

I Access to the Service
1. In order to use our Service, You may need to complete a registration process. When You register to the Service, You must:
1.1. Provide information ("Registration Data") which is true, current, complete and accurate.
1.2. Maintain and promptly update Registration Data to keep it true, current, complete and accurate.
2. Your registration application is evaluated by Tresorit, and if we discover that Your Registration Data is not true, not current, incomplete or inaccurate, Tresorit, at its sole discretion and without prior notice, is entitled to immediately terminate Your rights to continue to use the Service and to terminate the license to use the related Software.
3. In relation to the scope, use, protection, sharing, handling, management and procession of any data that You give to Tresorit, including the Registration Data, or Tresorit obtains from Your use of the Service, the Privacy Policy of Tresorit https://tresorit.com/privacy-policy shall form an integral part of these Terms.
4. The Service is not intended for use by You if You are under 18 years of age. By agreeing to these Terms, You are representing to us that You are over 18.

II Ownership and security of Your Content
5. You retain full ownership to Your files, folders, directories, including their metadata (file name, , thumbnails, etc.) and any information You submit to Tresorit (together "Your Content"). We don’t claim any ownership to any of Your Content. These Terms do not grant us any rights to Your Content or intellectual property except for the following limited rights that are needed to run the Service: we may redundantly store or backup Your respective data as set forth below, and we might use trusted third parties, like Microsoft, to provide the Service. You give us the permission for all and any actions that we need to undertake to provide the Service. In particular, but not limited to, You agree that Tresorit may transfer Your data between its servers, to Your devices or to other people’s devices with whom You share content.
6. Tresorit states that Your Content, encryption key and password (together "Your Encrypted Content") uploaded by You or otherwise submitted to the Service, are stored in an encrypted or non-invertible form. Your Encrypted Content cannot be decrypted or inverted by Tresorit or any third party. Your Encrypted Content can only be decrypted or inverted by You and persons You explicitly share Your Encrypted Content with. However, You agree that Tresorit may collect and store some limited information which is needed to run the Service, like Your contact and billing information, Your email address, messages sent to our support team, etc. in a non-encrypted form. You also agree that some third party provided parts of the Service might need different passwords then Your Tresorit account password, which may not be stored in a less secure form (referred together as "Non-Encrypted Content"). Tresorit transmits Non-Encrypted Content by using encrypted channels with reasonable care and skills. We need to have access to Non-Encrypted Content to provide and administer the Service, for example we need Your email address in a non-encrypted form to send You notifications.
7. You agree that Tresorit may transmit any data to trusted third parties only on a need-to-know basis (e.g. Your email address to the e-mail service provider) to provide the Service. Tresorit transmits Your Encrypted Content only in encrypted form. You agree that Tresorit may also transmit any data stored by You to a third party if Tresorit has a reason to believe that it is required:
7.1. To comply with any law or order issued by any legal authority.
7.2. To avoid infringement of the rights of a third party.
7.3. Protect the property of Tresorit or the personal safety of our users and the public.

III Security and Your responsibility
8. You understand that we use strong cryptography algorithms to protect Your data, and we do not have access to Your Encrypted Content. Due to encryption, Your responsibility might be higher than with regard to other similar services. You expressly take the responsibility, stated in these Terms.
9. Tresorit has no access to Your password and there is no way for Tresorit to recover Your password. You hereby take note and accept that if Your password is lost, Your Encrypted Content is irrevocably lost. Tresorit cannot be held liable if Your password is lost and Your Encrypted Content cannot be decrypted. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU KEEP BACKUPS OF ANY CONTENT ON YOUR OWN SEPARATED SYSTEMS.
10. By using our Service, Your Encrypted Content will be encrypted using an encryption key which is unknown by Tresorit. You can read Your Encrypted Content only with Your password only known to You. Your Encrypted Content can only be read by other persons if You explicitly share Your Encrypted Content with other persons selected by yourself ("Shared User").
11. You are solely responsible and liable for any content You upload, download, share or copy by using our Service or our Software. You hereby agree and undertake:
11.1. To respect data or content of third parties protected by copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property ("Protected Content").
11.2. Not to upload, download, share, or copy Protected Content or to use the Service otherwise with any Protected Content.
11.3. Not to upload a virus, trojan or any malicious code or software.
11.4. Not to use the Service to transmit any unlawful, harassing, libelous, defamatory, racist, indecent, abusive, violent, threatening, intimidating, harmful, vulgar, offensive or otherwise objectionable content or material of any kind or nature.
11.5. To comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations.
11.6. Not to use the Service for any illegal purposes.
12. You agree that You are fully responsible and liable for all actions related to the Service of Your employees, consultants and auxiliaries.
13. You acknowledge that You are responsible and liable if You use the share functions of the Service and share files and any other content with Shared Users. We warn You and You confirm that You know and accept, that the shared content can be decrypted by Shared Users. So always consider what You share and with whom You share before You share confidential information with other persons. Do carefully check the email address of the person You like to share Your content. If You type not the right email address, an unknown and undesired user might get access to Your data.
14. Do not accept share requests, files or any other content from users You do not know or You do not trust. Tresorit has no responsibility for actions of persons You share data with. In particular, but not limited to, Tresorit is not liable for malware You receive from users You chose to share with.
15. Tresorit has no control with regard to the content stored and shared by its users using the Service. We are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, appropriateness, or legality of files, user posts, or any other information You may be able to access using the Service.
16. You must keep Your password confidential, and must not authorize any third party to use the Service on Your behalf. You are responsible for all activities in relation to Your account. Tresorit is not liable for any loss or damage arising from any unauthorized use of Your account. In the event we have a reason to believe that an unauthorized person uses Your account or any other unauthorized use, Tresorit has the right, at its sole discretion and without prior notice, to suspend or disable Your account, or take any action to avoid any unauthorized use .
17. Tresorit NEVER sends emails asking for Your password.
18. You must contact us right away if You suspect misuse of Your account or any security breach in the Service.
19. Tresorit tries, with reasonable care and skill, to protect Your Content stored and synchronized on Your computer by using our Service. You accept that You are solely responsible to maintain, protect, update, secure and backup Your computer and Your locally stored and synchronized content.
20. Parts of encryption keys may be stored on Your computer (memory or persistent storage). You are responsible for Your computer. Tresorit cannot be held liable if You computer is stolen or hacked and an unauthorized hacker gets access to Your Encrypted Data by accessing locally stored copy, or by un-protected passwords or encryption keys on Your computer.

IV Payments and pricing
21. Tresorit offers You upgrades. In order to upgrade, Your account must be bound with one or multiple plan(s) ("User Plan(s)").
21.1. You can create User Plan(s) by creating subscription(s), and adding User Plans to it.
21.2. The subscription is the billing unit ("Subscription(s)"), which means if You have multiple Subscriptions, You will receive multiple invoices. Each Subscription has its own billing period, and can be monthly or yearly paid.
21.3. A Subscription is Your order, and can contain multiple User Plans in one Subscription. You can bind a User Plan to yourself, or to another user, for example to Your colleague, but only to one user. If You bind a User Plan to someone else, You are responsible for the usage of this User Plan by this person. If You accept a User Plan as beneficiary from another user, take note and accept that you are dependent from this person and take the risk that Tresorit may suspend the Service for reasons caused by this person.
21.4. Each User Plan has characteristics ("Feature Quota(s)") included in the User Plan. A Feature Quota can be for example the storage quota, the maximum network bandwidth speed You can use our Service, etc.
21.5. If You are bound to multiple User Plans, we aggregate each User Plan if possible the following way ("Aggregated Feature Quota"): the storage quota included in each User Plan are summed up, and we provide You the Feature Quota, which we think, in our sole discretion, is the most beneficiary for You among the Feature Quotas included in any User Plan bound to You.
22. After You have successfully created a Subscription, and You have bound yourself or another user to User Plan(s), we use reasonable commercial efforts to credit Your new Feature Quota as soon as possible, but in six hours after Your purchase. You agree that Your displayed available storage or other quota may not be current or accurate at any time, but Tresorit uses reasonable efforts to improve the accuracy and actuality.
23. Tresorit may provide You the Service for free of charge, providing a basic Feature Quota. You may also gain additional free service through Tresorit’s referral program or other promotion, as described in the promotions. We reserve the right to, in our sole discretion, discontinue or modify any promotions, credits or other free offers anytime.
24. Payment of the Subscription fee will be by preauthorized credit card charge, and we will automatically charge Your credit card or other agreed payment options monthly or yearly, for each month, partial month or year, depending upon which billing period You have selected for the Subscription. You agree that Your Subscription is automatically renewed for the same period at the end of the billing period ("Renewal date") unless You state otherwise one (1) day before the Renewal date.
25. We will automatically bill Your credit card or other agreed payment options each month or each year on the calendar day when You created Your Subscription. If Your Subscription has started on a calendar day not contained in a given month or year, Tresorit will bill Your credit card on the last day of such month or year.
26. If any fee of a Subscription is not paid in a timely manner, or Tresorit was not able to charge Your credit card with the payable fees, Tresorit has the right to suspend Your entire Subscription and revoke each Feature Quota included any User Plan from You or any user You have bound to. This means, we will decrease Your Aggregated Feature Quota to the aggregation of Your remaining User Plans.
27. You agree and authorize Tresorit to periodically authorize Your credit card in anticipation of account or related charges.
28. You must be authorized to use the credit card of which number You have entered.
29. You agree that if You do not provide Tresorit with a current valid credit card number with sufficient credit upon request during the effective period of this Agreement, You will be in violation of these Terms.
30. Your Subscription may include a time commitment (Committed Period; e.g. one year commitment with monthly payment). If you cancel, terminate or rescind a Subscription or terminate the Agreement during the Committed Period, we are entitled to charge you for the remaining Committed Period according to Your Subscription.
31. All payments by You to Tresorit are final, nonrefundable and there are no refunds or credits for partially used billing periods or partially used Committed Periods, except as stated herein (paragraph 46,73 and 74).
32. Unless specifically provided otherwise herein, payment of all fees are due and payable to Tresorit without demand, invoicing or notice before the commencement of the period to which those fees apply.
33. You agree to be responsible for and to pay any applicable sales, personal property, use, VAT, excise, withholding, or any other taxes that may be imposed, based on this license, use or possession of the Service, or any other product or service provided under these Terms, excluding taxes based on net income payable by Tresorit. If You are exempt from paying any sales, use or other taxes, You must provide Tresorit with appropriate evidence of tax exemption for all relevant jurisdictions.

V Proprietary Rights
34. All contents of the site (www.tresorit.com and any subdomains of tresorit.com), Software and Service and the associated computer programs including but not limited to design, logo, trademarks, domain names, text, software, technical drawings, configurations, graphics, patents, other files, and their selection and arrangement, any other intellectual and industrial property or proprietary rights ("Service Content") are protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws, and owned by Tresorit and/or its suppliers, affiliates, or licensors.
35. Unless we have specifically permitted herein, no portion of the Service Content may be reproduced, modified, distributed, published in any form, or by any means, without prior written permission from Tresorit, and You are not permitted to create any derivative works of Service Content. Tresorit does not give You any license to our intellectual property. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved, and no title to or ownership of any proprietary rights related to the Service is transferred to You pursuant to these Terms.
36. We may use any feedback, ideas, comments, enhancement requests, recommendations or suggestions ("Suggestions") You send us or post in our forums without any obligation to You, and You hereby grant to Tresorit a world-wide, royalty free, irrevocable, perpetual license to use and otherwise incorporate any Suggestions.

VI Software and user license
37. Tresorit grants You a non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable and, except as expressly provided for in these Terms, non-transferable right and license to use the Software related to the Service ("Licensed Software"), solely in accordance with these Terms. Licensed Software is licensed, not sold.
38. On the basis of these Terms, You may download, install, and benefit from using the functionality of the Licensed Software solely in accordance with these Terms and the technical documentation (Documentation).
39. Your license to use the Licensed Software is automatically revoked if You violate these Terms in a manner that implicates our Service Content.
40. The Licensed Software requires You to register prior to its first use. Following the registration, the Licensed Software may be used by You with Your own Registration Data given at the registration on five computer systems it is installed upon, including desktop and mobile systems.
41. You may not:
41.1. Modify or create derivative works based on the Licensed Software or on the Service.
41.2. Remove or modify any Service Content, disclaimer or warning notice included or embedded in any part of the Service or in any part of the Licensed Software or any copy thereof.
41.3. Analyze, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, or otherwise attempt to derive all or any part, particularly the source code of the Licensed Software, except for the scope in which such limitation is explicitly prohibited by law. For any release from these limitations the prior written express consent of Tresorit is required.
41.4. Distribute, rent, lease, sell, sublicense or otherwise transfer all or part of the Licensed Software or the Service to any person.
41.5. Permit the Licensed Software to be accessed through "shareware" distribution process.
42. On the basis of these Terms, the You may allow, permanently or temporarily, another person to use the installed Licensed Software downloaded on and installed to any of Your computer systems ("Third Party User"), on condition that:
42.1. The use of the Service by the Third Party User may not violate any provision of these Terms, and that You remain responsible for the use of the Service by the Third Party User in accordance with these Terms.
42.2. The Third Party User agreed to these Terms, in particular, registered and uses the Service with his/her own Registration Data.
42.3. That You shall not be entitled to charge the Third Party User money or fees for the use of the Service or Licensed Software on whatsoever legal title.
42.4. The use of the Service by the Third Party User will not entitle You to any compensation from Tresorit.
43. The Licensed Software may contain third party, open-source, well-analyzed software components ("Third Party Component"), and each of them are chosen with reasonable care. Tresorit acknowledges the efforts of the open-source developers, and what they have done for the community so far. You find the list of their names and their copyright notice here: https://tresorit.com/third-party-code. Note that those copyright notices do NOT endanger Your ownership or the security of Your data.
44. You can uninstall the Licensed Software any time, using Your mobile or desktop operating system’s standard uninstall method. If You need further assistance for uninstalling the Licensed Software, please visit our support site at https://support.tresorit.com, or write us at [email protected].

VII Updates and changes to the Service
45. As part of the development of the Service, Tresorit has the right, in its sole discretion, anytime (i) to add new features, (ii) add new third party software components or (iii) to modify or discontinue features without prior notice to You.
46. If You have paid to use the Service and we materially downgrade its functionality, we will provide You with an adequate and proportional refund of any pre-payment, as we determine appropriate.
47. You are responsible to keep the Licensed Software up to date. You expressly agree that some parts of or the whole Licensed Software might be updated automatically, with or without prior notice to You. In other cases, You may need to download and install the latest version of the Licensed Software. You agree that if You do not keep the Licensed Software up to date, the Service or certain features may cease to be available or may not properly perform. Any updates provided by Tresorit to You shall be deemed to be subject to these Terms unless Tresorit indicates otherwise.

VIII Compliance with Laws
48. The transactions contemplated hereby may be subject to the customs and export/import control laws and regulations of Your country of residence and the countries where our data storage and recovery facilities are located. You agree to comply with all customs and export laws and all other applicable laws, statues, ordinances and regulations relating to use of the Service. You acknowledge that violations of these Terms could subject You to criminal or civil penalties.
49. There may be restrictions and limitations on the import, possession, use, transfer, export and/or re-export to another country of encryption software under the laws of the country in which You intend to use the Service. It is Your sole obligation and responsibility to check such limitations before using the Service and to comply with such restrictions and limitations.
50. Tresorit respects anyone’s privacy, but we also respect embargo legislations. You cannot download and use the Licensed Software if:
50.1. You are located in, national or resident of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria or any other country to which Switzerland, the European Union or the United States has embargoed goods.
50.2. You are a person or entity which is prohibited from receiving export from Switzerland, the European Union or the United States.
51. By subscribing to the Service or using any of the Licensed Software, You represent and warrant that You are not - and are not controlled by - any such person or entity and are not controlled by a national or resident of any such country.

IX Disclaimer
9.1 Provided as-is
52. If You are paying for the Service, we promise that we will try to operate the Service with reasonable care and skill and will use reasonable commercial efforts to promptly remedy any faults of which we are aware. However, we provide the Service "as is" and "as available", , without express or implied warranty or condition of any kind and You shall use it at Your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we also disclaim any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement or any warranty that the Service are of any particular quality or purpose and correspondence to the Documentation.
9.2 Disclaimer of liability
53. Tresorit’s liability for simple negligence and for auxiliary persons is excluded. To the maximum extent permitted by the applicable law, Tresorit shall in no event be liable for any lost profits, revenues, or business opportunities, loss of use, loss of data, loss of confidential or other information, business interruption and any other direct, indirect, special, incidental, criminal, subsequent or consequential damages whatsoever, whether based on contract, tort, negligence, product liability or otherwise, arising out of or in any way related to the use of or inability to use the Service or the support and maintenance services (if any) by You, regardless whether Tresorit has been advised or should have had knowledge of the possibility of such damages.
9.3 Force major
54. Tresorit will not be liable to You or to any other person for failure to perform or any delay in the performance of the Service due to fire, flood, war, riot, strike, explosion, lock out, injunction, natural disaster, interruption of transportation, acts of war, terrorism, labor disputes, acts of civil or military authority, power blackouts, computer viruses, or any other event beyond Tresorit’s reasonable control.
9.4 Remedy
55. You agree that the sole and exclusive remedy for unsatisfactory Service shall be termination of the Service and a refund of any amount actually paid by You for the current Service term. Aggregate liability, including any negligence on Your part, for all claims relating to the Service is limited to the amounts paid by You to Tresorit for the past six months of the Service in question.
9.5 High Risk Activities
56. The Service is not intended for use in hazardous environment requiring fail-safe performance, such as in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation, air traffic control or aircraft communication systems, direct life support machines or weapon systems in which the failure of the Service could lead directly to death, personal injury or severe physical or environmental damage ("High Risk Activities"). Accordingly, Tresorit and its suppliers specifically disclaim any express or implied warranty of fitness for High Risk Activities.

X Indemnification
57. You shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Tresorit and its employees, affiliates, contractors, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, suits, actions, demands, proceedings (whether legal or administrative), and expenses (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from or related to:
57.1. Any breach of these Terms by You.
57.2. Any infringement of the Protected Content by You.
57.3. Any fraud or manipulation by You.
57.4. Any claims for infringement of any third party rights arising from or related to Your data.
57.5. Any claims of credit card fraud based on any information released by You.
Tresorit will reasonably notify You of any such claim or demand that it is subject to Your indemnification obligation.

XI Infringement of Protected Content
58. Tresorit respects the intellectual property rights of third parties, and Tresorit does not tolerate any infringement of such rights by its users. We will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement if they comply with the applicable law and are properly provided to us. We will take whatever action we deem to be appropriate, in our sole discretion, such as deleting or disabling content alleged to be infringing and to suspend or terminate Services and accounts.
Notices should be sent to:
Copyright Infringement Agent
Tresorit AG, Büelstrasse 7, CH-9052 Niederteufen, Switzerland
[email protected]
59. All infringement notifications must be submitted in writing to the Tresorit Copyright Infringement Agent, and the following information must be included:
59.1. Identification of the Protected Content claimed to be infringed.
59.2. Identification of the material or link allegedly hosting the infringing content, including the URL and the client side decryption key for that.
59.3. The copyright owner’s contact information (including mailing address, telephone number, and email address).
59.4. A statement declaring that
59.4.1. "I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the use of the Protected Content is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,"
59.4.2. "I hereby state that the information in this notice is accurate"
59.4.3. "I hereby state, that I am the owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that is allegedly infringed;"
59.5. The full name and electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or the copyright owner’s agent.

XII Acceptable use
60. You agree not to misuse the Service. You promise that You will not, will not attempt to or will not encourage or assist any third party to or attempt to:
60.1. Access or use the Service in a way intended to improperly avoid incurring fees or exceeding any Feature Quotas. You are not eligible to use or create multiple user accounts for the purpose of gaining additional cloud storage.
60.2. Use the Service to access, change, damage, delete or edit data without authorization.
60.3. Use any unauthorized means to modify, reroute, or gain access to the Service.
60.4. Misrepresent Your identity, including without limitation by representing that You are a Tresorit employee or representative or another user of the Service.
60.5. Try to access the Service with unauthorized software.
60.6. Damage, disable, overburden or impair the Service or any network connected to the Service.
60.7. Use the Service, directly or indirectly, to offer any service that competes with the Service.
60.8. Participate in any group that encourages violation of these Terms.
60.9. Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system or network. Tresorit may, in its sole discretion, make exceptions to this duty and allow hacking activities against and limited to its non-production infrastructure ("Hacker Arena").
60.10. Participate in any activity which interferes or may interfere with the efficiency of the Service.
60.11. Use the Service in a way that infringes Protected Content.
60.12. Use the Service to facilitate any mass mails, spam, chain letters, snowball systems, or similar communications, regardless of whether they are commercial in nature.
60.13. Use the Service to collect, store or transmit personal data of any person without such person’s consent.
60.14. Store or transmit any software or data containing any virus, malware, trojan, spyware or other software or program code that is malicious in nature.
60.15. Send us untruthful abuse reports.
60.16. Abuse Tresorit referrals to get more credit for referrals than deserved.
60.17. Violate the law in any way, or to violate the privacy of others, or to defame others.

XIII Overuse
61. If Your usage is above what is enabled by Your current Aggregated Feature Quota, Tresorit will notify You about Your overuse. If, in 15 days upon the delivery of such notice, You do not upgrade and increase Your Feature Quota to fit in with Your actual usage, or if You do not decrease Your usage, for example, by deleting files, Tresorit may, at its sole discretion and without further notice, block Your access to the Service, curtail and restrict our Service (e.g. restrict the maximum number of tresors or the maximum number of member per tresor) terminate Your account, or delete some or all of Your files, account information, settings or any other data from its systems, so as to reduce Your storage space available according to Your current Aggregated Feature Quota.

XIV Inactive Free Accounts - NB: this could adversely affect users of FREE Tresorits.
62. If You have chosen a plan with no charge ("Free Account") and if Your Free Account was inactive for at least one-hundred and twenty (120) days and no valid User Plan is bound to Your Free Account, Tresorit will send You a notice. Fifteen (15) days after such notice, Tresorit may suspend Your Free Account or delete all of Your Content related to Your Free Account, and/or we may terminate the Agreement between You and Tresorit.

XV Renewal
63. You can use our Services during the agreed time (Subscription period).
64. You agree that Your Subscription is automatically renewed for the same period at the end of the Subscription or Committed Period ("Renewal date") unless You state otherwise one (1) day before the Renewal date.

XVI Suspension
65. Tresorit may monitor the use of our Service.
66. Tresorit may immediately upon notice to You (i) suspend Your or any other user’s right to access or use any portion or all of the Service and/or (ii) suspend Your account(s) and/or (iii) curtail and restrict our Service (e.g. restrict the maximum number of tresors or the maximum number of member per tresor) if:
66.1. We have a reason to believe that You are, or Your account has been used in breach of these Terms or any applicable laws. In such case we may suspend Your account without any prior notice.
66.2. We are unable to verify or authenticate Your provided information to us.
66.3. You are more than 30 days late on any payment (in particular on Your Subscription fees).
66.4. You become the subject of any bankruptcy, dissolution or similar proceeding.
67. Our right to suspend Your or any other user’s right to access or use any portion or all of the Service is in addition to our right to terminate the Agreement.

XVII Effects of Suspension
68. If we suspend Your right to access or use any portion or all of our Service,
68.1. You remain responsible and liable for al fees and charges which have incurred up to the date of suspension;
68.2. You remain responsible and liable for any applicable fees and charges for any Service to which You continue to have access;
68.3. We will not erase and delete any of Your Content as a result of Your suspension, except as specified elsewhere in these Terms.

XVIII Termination by the Customer
69. You may stop using the Service at any time. If You just stop using the Service, this does not terminate the Agreement and Your obligations.
70. Termination for convenience: You may terminate this Agreement in Your sole discretion and for any reason by (i) closing Your account(s) for all Services with an account closing mechanism or (ii) by contacting support at [email protected].
71. There is no refund for any pre-paid service. If You terminate the Subscription, Your Subscription will not be renewed. If Your Subscription included a time commitment (Committed Period) and You terminate the Subscription before the Commitment Period expires, we are entitled to charge You the remaining fees until the end of the commitment.
72. We may ask You for indication of reasons to terminate, but even if we would be quite happy to get feedback, You are not obligated to share such reasons.
73. Termination for cause: You may terminate this Agreement for cause upon 30 day advance notice to Tresorit if there is any material default or breach of the Terms by Tresorit, unless we have cured the material default or breach within the 30 day notice period. In case of termination for cause, we will provide You with a pro-rata refund of any pre-payment.

XIX Termination by Tresorit - Does NOT mention XIV Inactive Free Accounts - NB: this could adversely affect users of FREE Tresorits.
74. Termination for convenience: Tresorit may decide, in its sole discretion and at any time, to discontinue the Service and/or to terminate the Agreement by providing 30 days advance notice. In this case, we will provide You with a pro-rata refund of any pre-payment.
75. Termination for cause: Tresorit may terminate Your account for cause immediately upon notice to You if:
75.1. We have a reason to believe that You are, or Your account has been used in breach of these Terms or any applicable laws. In such case we may terminate the Agreement without any prior notice.
75.2. We are unable to verify or authenticate Your provided information to us.
75.3. You may subject us, our affiliates, or any third party to liability.
75.4. You are more than 60 days late on any payment (in particular on Your Subscription fees).
75.5. In order to comply with the applicable mandatory laws or, to comply with the final court order of a competent judicial body.
75.6. You become the subject of any bankruptcy, dissolution or similar proceeding.

XX Effects of Termination
76. General Effects of termination: upon any termination of this Agreement:
76.1. All Your rights under this Agreement immediately terminate.
76.2. You remain responsible and liable for all fees and charges You have incurred up to the date of termination;
76.3. You agree (i) that You stop any use of the Service or the Licensed Software, (ii) that You erase and delete any Licensed Software You have downloaded on Your Systems or on Your devices and (iii) that You undertake not to access Tresorit’s systems or the Service by whatever way and means; in particular, but not limited to, You undertake not to access the Service via the user account of a third party.
76.4. Sections 3, 9 and 10 of these Terms and in particular all disclaimers, limitations of warranties and damages, and confidential commitments set forth in these Terms or otherwise existing at law survive any termination, expiration or rescission of these Terms.
77. After the termination of the Agreement, Tresorit is entitled to keep or to erase and delete any data and/or Your Content (including, but not limited to, Your Encrypted Content) according to our Privacy Policy.
78. All disclaimers, limitations of warranties and damages, and confidential commitments set forth in these Terms or otherwise existing at law survive any termination, expiration or rescission of these Terms.

XXI Miscellaneous
21.1 Changes in Terms
79. We may revise these Terms from time to time due to changes in our Service and the laws that apply to us and You. If we make any revision, we will notify You to take notice of the "Last Updated" version of these Terms posted on our website and if a revision, in our sole discretion, is material we may provide You additional notice. Any changes will be effective upon posting the revised version of these Terms on the Service. If You do not agree to the new terms, please stop using the Service.
21.2 Governing law and Jurisdiction
80. The Agreement shall be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the substantive laws of Switzerland, excluding the Swiss conflict of law rules. The parties specifically exclude applicability of (i) the United Nations Convention on the Sale of Goods and (ii) any Incoterms.
81. All claims arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service or the Software must be litigated exclusively at the courts of Zurich, Switzerland, and You and we irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Zurich, Switzerland.
82. These Terms and all associated Documentation to which they refer to have been written in the English language and the parties agree that the governing language is English. All communications and any dispute associated with these Terms shall be in the English language.
21.3 Severability
83. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid, illegal or unenforceable, such provision shall be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law and the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby.
21.4 Identifying You as user
84. Tresorit shall have the right to publish and identify You as a user of the Service. You agree that Tresorit may use any logo and/or name associated with You on our website and other marketing materials in order to identify You as a Tresorit user.
85. We respect Your privacy, and You can ask us to stop identifying You anytime. If we receive Your written notice sent to [email protected] on the day You registered, we don’t have the right to identify You. Afterwards, within 30 day after recipient of such notice sent to [email protected], we shall stop identifying You on any new marketing materials or on our website.
21.5 Other agreements
86. These Terms and all associated Documentation to which they refer to constitute the entire and exclusive agreement between You and Tresorit with respect to the Service, and supersede and replace any prior representations, understandings, contract or oral or written statements regarding Your use of the Service or the subject matter of these Terms.
21.6 Notices
87. You accept that we may send You notices or communications to Your email address provided during registration, or otherwise by any means, in our sole discretion, which by it is likely we can reach You. Any notice shall be deemed delivered if was sent to Your email address provided during registration. It is Your responsibility to regularly check Your email account for new emails and to make sure emails from Tresorit can pass Your spam and/or other filters. All notices sent by You to Tresorit in connection with these Terms be in writing and sent by first class mail or certified mail (receipt being deemed 72 hours after postage and return receipt requested) or personally delivered at the address of Tresorit AG, Büelstrasse 7, CH-9052 Niederteufen, Switzerland.
21.7 Expiration of claims
88. Both parties agree that except for claims related to the indemnification obligations above, all claims arising under or related to these Terms must be brought within two years after the date the cause of action arose.
21.8 Prevailing party
89. In the event either party brings an action against the other to enforce any term of these Terms, the prevailing party in such action shall be entitled to recover the court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees at trial and on any appeal.
21.9 Waiver
90. The failure of either party to enforce a provision is not a waiver of its right to do so later. The waiver by Tresorit of any breach shall not be deemed a waiver of any subsequent breach of the same or any other term of these Terms.
21.10 Remedy
91. Any remedy made available to Tresorit by any of the provisions of these Terms is not intended to be exclusive of any other remedy.
21.11 Third party services and content
92. The Service may contain features and functionalities linking You or providing You with certain functionality and access to third party websites and services. Tresorit has no influence on the contents of these linked pages, dissociates itself herewith explicitly from all such contents, and makes no warranty whatsoever with respect to such links, websites, or services.
21.12 Assignment
93. You may not assign Your rights or obligations under these Terms without Tresorit’s express written consent.
21.13 Third party beneficiary
94. Tresorit and You are not legal partners or agents; instead, our relationship is that of independent contractors. No simple partnership is intended. These Terms create no third party beneficiary rights.
From <https://tresorit.com/legal/terms-of-service>

Needs Improvement:
No notes on this as at this stage. I have not seen any drawbacks in the service/software so far, and the User Interface (which was already quite good) has been improved upon in the newer releases.

Why I think you should use this product/service:
If you are a PC user who wants a secure encrypted Cloud storage service that meets 2 essential security criteria:

• (a) not US-based and not subject to US laws, and
• (b) is encrypted (post-SnowdenGate) and successfully protects against US NSA legal/illegal surveillance, with the encryption keys being unknown to the Cloud service provider.

- then Tresorit could be ideal.

How it compares to similar products: (from my direct knowledge and experience, and if I understand correctly)

• Box.net - does not meet the 2 essential security criteria above.
• DropBox -  - does not meet the 2 essential security criteria above.
• GoogleDrive - does not meet the 2 essential security criteria above.
• SkyDrive - does not meet the 2 essential security criteria above.
• Wuala - meets the 2 essential security criteria above.

Conclusions:
If you are a PC user who wants a secure encrypted Cloud storage service that distinguishes itself by meeting the above 2 essential security criteria, then using a service such as Tresorit (on a FREE or PAID basis) could be a no-brainer.

3399

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« Last post by IainB on December 04, 2013, 04:36 PM »

More ripples:

Fearing Government Surveillance, US Journalists Are Self-Censoring
Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday December 04, 2013 @02:42PM
from the except-the-ones-you-wish-would-self-censor dept.

binarstu writes "Suzanne Nossel, writing for CNN, reports that 'a survey of American writers done in October revealed that nearly one in four has self-censored for fear of government surveillance. They fessed up to curbing their research, not accepting certain assignments, even not discussing certain topics on the phone or via e-mail for fear of being targeted. The subjects they are avoiding are no surprise — mostly matters to do with the Middle East, the military and terrorism.' Yet ordinary Americans, for the most part, seem not to care: 'Surveillance so intrusive it is putting certain subjects out of bounds would seem like cause for alarm in a country that prides itself as the world's most free. Americans have long protested the persecution and constraints on journalists and writers living under repressive regimes abroad, yet many seem ready to accept these new encroachments on their freedom at home.'"

3400

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by IainB on December 04, 2013, 09:43 AM »

Letter to Dr Ruth: