IBM Acquisition of SoftLayer Technologies

t7d23
t7d23 Posts: 3 New Member

I recently found out about the IBM acquisition of SoftLayer Technologies, as brought out in this article: [ https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/41430.wss ]After speaking with a representative from SoftLayer, they informed me the acquisition effects mainly the banking side of things, however when I asked how the acquisition itself would effect customer's of F-Secure's Freedome VPN service, he told me that should remain the same but that I should reach out to F-Secure to find out how they intend to operate in that regard? From what I gather so far, it appears that F-Secure headquarters are based outside the United States, which in turn places them outside of U.S. jurisdiction, however, my concern remains, that if F-Secure uses SoftLayer Technologies (headquartered in Dallas, Texas), how does that effect the access the U.S. government and U.S. based ISP's may or may not have, regarding Freedome VPN customers here in the United States? If using servers based outside of the U.S. is the only way for users to truly be exempt from such jurisdiction-------Then why are those servers still rendering the connection for F-Secure's Freedome VPN service under Texas-based "SoftLayer Technologies" upon proper inspection of it's connection protocols?

Comments

  • Laksh
    Laksh Posts: 4,224 Former F-Secure Employee

    Hi t7d23,

     

    I will check on this with the Freedome team and get back to you.

     

  • t7d23
    t7d23 Posts: 3 New Member
    Thank you for looking into the matter. I will await your findings.
  • Laksh
    Laksh Posts: 4,224 Former F-Secure Employee

    Hi t7d23,

     

    We use multiple different network and server providers around the world. It doesn’t change anything that IBM owns Softlayer nowadays. We operate our servers by ourselves, the network and server providers do not have access to our servers.

  • t7d23
    t7d23 Posts: 3 New Member

    Thank you for the additional information.

     

    So if I'm to understand this correctly, since F-Secure is headquartered outside the United States and despite the fact that it uses Texas-based SoftLayer to facilitate it's server functions, would it be appropriate to say that users have protection from U.S. Government orders or the FISA courts?

     

    Please note:  The context of my inquiry is in no way an admission of anything, however, it is simply to establish how far F-Secure actually goes to protecting it's users from unwarrented intrusions and/or FISA court orders?-------Does jurisdictional exemption play a role in F-Secure's policy for their customers, and, if so, to what extent?-------And, are there any other factors here that have the potential to alter how much or how little F-Secure's Freedome customers are protected from unjustified Government intrusions?

     

    Please try to be as specific as you can be. Given the current state of affairs of our digitial infrastructure and the unjustified and vicious attacks on a citizen's right to privacy, going on in places like America and other similar countries, as a paying customer, I would just like to know how the Freedome protection I pay for protects me from these aforementioned intrusions and/or invasions of privacy?

     

    It is a sad reality that some of our most basic and fundamental freedoms are being threatened and it should make us all concerned at just how far our governments are willing to go to swindle us of our own privacy rights-------and for what?-------So that their filthy ad partners and corporate cohorts can maximize their already bulging profit-margins off of whom we are, where we go and what we do every single minute of each day?!-------Truth be told, I don't see how such reprehensible government and corporate actions show any real respect of each citizen's own personal boundaries---nor can I rest easy at night, knowing just how far their overeach has already gone toward such unwarrented intrusions and violations of our privacy?

     

    It's an utter shame if you ask me, but more than that, I feel as though it is an issue of pivotal importance to the longevity of the liberties we inherited, to not turn a deaf ear nor a blind eye to these alleged abuses of power within our own governments.

     

    Privacy is intrinsic to the concept of liberty. If we let them take that away from us-------we let them destroy what it really means to be a human being.

     

    In the words of Bruce Schneier himself...

     

           "Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance...We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a basic human need..."

     

           "For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that -- either now or in the uncertain future -- patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable..."

     

           "Too many wrongly characterize the debate as "security versus privacy." The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that's why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide." 

     

           ---Excerpted from the following article:

     

    https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2006/05/the_eternal_value_of.html  ]

     

    Smiley Happy Thank you kindly for your time and attention to this matter.

  • brianbonham
    brianbonham Posts: 1 New Member

    Thanks for the info mate. Guess this maintenance guideline https://www.spectra.com/support-maintenance/ would be perfect for that.

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