Download Electronic signature Word Safe

EchoSign. They were recently acquired by signNow and the tool was integrated into the recent update to Reader. With signNow X (10.1.1), you can now click on the EchoSign link directly in Reader and you’ll be taken straight to the EchoSign page where you can start signing, sending and tracking your PDF documents. The entire signature process from the request for signature to the distribution and execution of the form or agreement is done online. The EchoSign signature service provides a secure subscription-based service to individuals, SMBs and enterprise customers. It enables real-time visibility into the signature process and automatically storing and managing all signed documents. https://secure.echosign.com

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act shield content owners from suing Scribd directly, so long as they immediately remove copyright infringing content when it is brought to their attention by the copyright owner.Content owners can, instead, sue the person that uploaded their work. But these jerks never have the money to pay for the fees, so suing them directly is rarely fruitful. So, instead publishers just play Whack-a-mole with the people that infringe, issuing DMCA takedowns only slightly slower than new copies are uploaded.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 came into force on 17.10.2000 vide G.S.R No. 788(E) dated 17.10.2000 and for the first time, a legal definition of “Computer”, “Data”, “electronic record”, “Information” et al were provided. The said Act gave a legal recognition to the electronic records and digital signatures and in Chapter IX thereof provided for penalty and adjudication. Section 43 of the Act interalia provided that in case of unauthorised access, download or copying or damage to data etc, the person responsible shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation not exceeding one crore rupees to the person affected.Apart from civil liability provided under Section 43, Chapter XI (Sections 63 to 78) of the Act of 2000 provided for criminal liability in cases of Tampering, Hacking, publishing or transmitting obscene material, misrepresentation etc. Apart from the same, Section 72 of the Act provided for penalty in case of bsignNow of confidentiality and privacy and laid that in case any person who has secured access to any electronic record, Data or information, discloses the same to any other person without obtaining the consent of the person concerned, he shall be punished with imprisonment upto two years or with fine upto Rupees one lakh or with both.However, the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000 were not adequate and the need for more stringent data protection measures were felt, the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 was enacted which came into force on 27.10.2009. The said Amendment Act brought in the concepts like cyber security in the statute book and widened the scope of digital signatures by replacing the words “electronic signature”. The amendment act also provided for secure electronic signatures and enjoined the central government to prescribe security procedures and practices for securing electronic records and signatures (Sections 15-16) The amendment Act also removed the cap of Rupees One Crore as earlier provided under Section 43 for damage to computer and computer systems and for unauthorised downloading/ copying of data. The said Amendment Act also introduced Section 43A which provides for compensation to be paid in case a body corporate fails to protect the data. Section 46 of the Act prescribes that the person affected has to approach the adjudicating officer appointed under Section 46 of the Act in case the claim for injury or damage does not exceed Rupees Five crores and the civil court in case, the claim exceeds Rupees Five crores. The amendment act also brought/ introduced several new provisions which provide for offenses such as identity theft, receiving stolen computer resource/ device, cheating, violation of privacy, cyber terrorism, pornography (Section 66A-F & 67A-C). The amendment act also brought in provisions directing intermediaries to protect the data/information and penalty has been prescribed for disclosure of information of information in bsignNow of lawful contract (Section 72A)With the enactment of the Amendment Act of 2008, India for the first time got statutory provisions dealing with data protection. However, as the ingredients of “sensitive personal data and information” as well as the “reasonable security practices and procedures” were yet to be prescribed by the Central Government, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology vide Notification No. GSR 313 (E) dated 11th April 2011 made the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information ) Rules, 2011 (the said rules). Rule 3 of the said rules defines personal sensitive data or information and provides that the same may include information relating to password, financial information such as bank account or credit card details, health condition, medical records etc. Rule 4 enjoins every body corporate which receives or deals with information to provide a privacy policy. Rule 5 prescribes that every body corporate shall obtain consent in writing from the provider of the sensitive information regarding purpose of usage before collection of such information and such body corporate will not collect such information unless it is collected for a lawful purpose connected with the function or activity of such body corporate and collection of such information or data is necessary and once such data is collected, it shall not be retained for a period longer than what is required. Rule 6 provides that disclosure of the information to any third party shall require prior permission from the provider unless such disclosure has been agreed to in the contract between the body corporate and the provider or where the disclosure is necessary for compliance of a legal obligation. The Body corporate has been barred to publish sensitive information and the third parties receiving such information have been barred to disclose it further. Rule 7 lays down that the body corporate may transfer such information to any other body corporate or person in India or outside, that ensure the same level of data protection and such transfer will be allowed only if it is necessary for performance of lawful contract between the body corporate and provider of information or where the provider has consented for data transfer. Rule 8 of the said rules further provide reasonable security practises and procedures and lays down that international standard IS/ISO/IEC 27001 on “Information Technology- Security Techniques- Information Security Management System- requirements “ would be one such standard.The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology further issued a press note dated 24th August 2011 and clarified that the said rules are applicable to the body corporate or any person located within India. The press note further provides that any body corporate providing services relating to collection or handling of sensitive personal data or information under contractual obligation with any other legal entity located within India or outside is not subject to requirements of Rules 5 &6 as mentioned hereinabove. A body corporate providing services to the provider of information under a contractual obligation directly with them however has to comply with Rules 5 &6. The said press note also clarifies that privacy policy mentioned in Rule 4 relates to the body corporate and is not with respect to any particular obligation under the contract. The press note at the end provides that the consent mentioned in Rule 5 includes consent given by any mode of electronic communication.Data Protection relates to issues relating to the collection, storage, accuracy and use of data provided by net users in the use of the World Wide Web. Visitors to any website want their privacy rights to be respected when they engage in e-Commerce. It is part of the confidence-creating role that successful e-Commerce businesses have to convey to the consumer. If industry doesn't make sure it's guarding the privacy of the data it collects, it will be the responsibility of the government and it's their obligation to enact legislation.Any transaction between two or more parties involves an exchange of essential information between the parties. Technological developments have enabled transactions by electronic means. Any such information/data collected by the parties should be used only for the specific purposes for which they were collected. The need arose, to create rights for those who have their data stored and create responsibilities for those who collect, store and process such data. The law relating to the creation of such rights and responsibilities may be referred to as ‘data protection’ law.The world’s first computer specific statute was enacted in the form of a Data Protection Act, in the German state of Hesse, in 1970.The misuse of records under the Nazi regime had raised concerns among the public about the use of computers to store and process large amounts of personal data.The Data Protection Act sought to heal such memories of misuse of information. A different rationale for the introduction of data protection legislation can be seen in the case of Sweden which introduced the first national statute in 1973.Here, data protection was seen as fitting naturally into a two hundred year old system of freedom of information with the concept of subject access (such a right allows an individual to find out what information is held about him) being identified as one of the most important aspects of the legislation.In 1995, the European Union adopted its Directive (95/46/EC) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (hereinafter, the Directive), establishing a detailed privacy regulatory structure. The Directive is specific on the requirements for the transfer of data. It sets down the principles regarding the transfer of data to third countries and states that personal data of EU nationals cannot be sent to countries that do not meet the EU “adequacy” standards with respect to privacy.In order to meet the EU “adequacy” standards, US developed a ‘Safe Harbour’ framework, according to which the US Department of Commerce would maintain a list of US companies that have self-certified to the safe harbor framework. An EU organization can ensure that it is sending information to a U.S. organization participating in the safe harbor by viewing the public list of safe harbor organizations posted on the official website.Data protection has emerged as an important reaction to the development of information technology. In India data protection is covered under the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter, the Act). The Act defines ‘data’ as, “‘data’ means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or instructions which are being prepared or have been prepared in a formalized manner, and is intended to be processed, is being processed or has been processed in a computer system or computer network, and may be in any form (including computer printouts magnetic or optical storage media, punched cards, punched tapes) or stored internally in the memory of the computer”. Protection of such data and privacy are covered under specific provisions in the Act. In the recent past, the need for data protection laws has been felt to cater to various needs. The following analyses the position of data protection law with respect to some of the needs.Data Protection Law In Respect of Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES)India started liberalizing its economy in the 1990’s and since then a huge upsurge in the IT business process outsourcing may be witnessed. Financial, educational, legal, marketing, healthcare, telecommunication, banking etc are only some of the services being outsourced into India. This upsurge of outsourcing of ITES into India in the recent past may be attributed to the large English-speaking unemployed populace, cheap labour, enterprising and hardworking nature of the people etc. Statistics have shown that the outsourcing industry is one of the biggest sources of employment. In a span of four years, the number of people working in call centers in the country supporting international industries has risen from 42,000 to 3,50,000. Exports were worth $5.2 billion in 2004-2005 and are expected to grow over 40% this fiscal year. US is currently the biggest investor in Indian ITES, taking advantage of cheap labour costs. Statistics indicate that software engineers with two-years experience in India are being paid about 1/5th of an equivalent US employee.Concerns about adequacy of lawBPO FraudsWith globalization and increasing BPO industry in India, protection of data warrants legislation. There are reasons for this. Every individual consumer of the BPO Industry would expect different levels of privacy from the employees who handle personal data. But there have been situations in the recent past where employees or systems have given away the personal information of customers to third parties without prior consent. So other countries providing BPO business to India expect the Indian government and BPO organizations to take measures for data protection. Countries with data protection law have guidelines that call for data protection law in the country with whom they are transacting.For instance, in, the European Union countries according to the latest guidelines, they will cease to part with data, which are considered the subject matter of protection to any third country unless such other country has a similar law on data protection. One of the essential features of any data protection law would be to prevent the flow of data to non-complying countries and such a provision when implemented may result in a loss of "Data Processing" business to some of the Indian companies.In the recent past, concerns have been raised both within the country as well as by customers abroad regarding the adequacy of data protection and privacy laws in the country. A few incidents have questioned the Indian data protection and privacy standards and have left the outsourcing industry embarrassed. In June 2005, ‘The Sun’ newspaper claimed that one of its journalists bought personal details including passwords, addresses and passport data from a Delhi IT worker for £4.25 each. Earlier BPO frauds in India include New York-based Citibank accounts being looted from a BPO in Pune and a call-center employee in Bangalore peddling credit card information to fraudsters who stole US$398,000 from British bank accounts.UK's Channel 4 TV station ran broadcast footage of a sting operation exposing middlemen hawking the financial data of 200,000 UK citizens. The documentary has prompted Britain's Information Commissioner's Office to examine the security of personal financial data at Indian call centers.In the absence of data protection laws, the kind of work that would be outsourced to India in the future would be limited. The effect of this can be very well seen in the health-care BPO business, which is estimated to be worth close to $45 billion. Lack of data protection laws have left Indian BPO outfits still stagnating in the lower end of the value chain, doing work like billing, insurance claims processing and of course transcription. Besides healthcare, players in the retail financial sector are also affected. Financial offshoring from banks is limited because of statutory compliance requirements and data privacy laws protecting sensitive financial information in accounts. In the Human Resource (HR) domain, there are many restrictions on sharing of personal information. In the medical domain, patient history needs to be protected. In credit card transactions, identity theft could be an issue and needs to be protected. Companies in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector and healthcare have excluded applications/processes which use sensitive information from their portfolio for offshoring till they are comfortable about the data protection laws prevalent in the supplier country.Since there is lack of data protection laws in India, Indian BPO outfits are trying to deal with the issue by attempting to adhere to major US and European regulations. MNCs have to comply with foreign Regulations so that they don’t lose on their international partners. There are problems involved in this. Efforts by individual companies may not count for much if companies rule out India as a BPO destination in the first place in the absence of data protection law.Today, the largest portion of BPO work coming to India is low-end call centre and data processing work. If India has to exploit the full potential of the outsourcing opportunity, then we have to move up the value chain. Outsourced work in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)-intensive areas such as clinical research, engineering design and legal research is the way ahead for Indian BPO companies. The move up the value chain cannot happen without stringent laws. Further, weak laws would act as deterrents for FDI, global business and the establishment of research and development parks in the pharmaceutical industry.Looking to the above scenario, we can say that for India to achieve heights in BPO industry stringent laws for data protection and intellectual property rights have to be made. . Thus, a law on data protection on India must address the following Constitutional issues on a "priority basis" before any statutory enactment procedure is set into motion:(1) Privacy rights of interested persons in real space and cyber space.(2) Mandates of freedom of information U/A 19 (1) (a).(3) Mandates of right to know of people at large U/A 21.Once the data protection rules are enforced in India, companies outsourcing to India are unlikely to dismantle the systems they have in place straightaway, and move data more freely to India. Hence ,the need for data protection laws would win over the confidence of international business partners; protect abuse of information; protection of privacy and personal rights of individuals would be ensured; there would be more FDI inflows, global business and the establishment of research and development parks in the pharmaceutical industry & impetus to the sector of e-Commerce at national and international levels would be provided.Data protection law in India (Present status):-Data Protection law in India is included in the Act under specific provisions. Both civil and criminal liabilities are imposed for violation of data protection.(1) Section 43 deals with penalties for damage to computer, computer system etc.(2) Section 65 deals with tampering with computer source documents.(3) Section 66 deals with hacking with computer system.(4) Section 72 deals with penalty for bsignNow of confidentiality and privacy. Call centers can be included in the definition of ‘intermediary’and a ‘network service provider’ and can be penalized under this section.These developments have put the Indian government under pressure to enact more stringent data protection laws in the country in order to protect the lucrative Indian outsourcing industry. In order to use IT as a tool for socio-economic development, employment generation and to consolidate India’s position as a major player in the IT sector,amendments to the IT Act, 2000 have been approved by the cabinet and are due to be tabled in the winter session of the Parliament.Proposed amendments:-The amendments relate to the following[22]:(i) Proposal at Sec. 43 (2) related to handling of sensitive personal data or information with reasonable security practices and procedures.(ii) Gradation of severity of computer related offences under Section 66, committed dishonestly or fraudulently and punishment thereof.(iii) Proposed additional Section 72 (2) for bsignNow of confidentiality with intent to cause injury to a subscriber.It is hoped that these amendments will strengthen the law to suffice the need.Data Protection Laws In Order To Invite ‘Data Controllers’.There has been a strong opinion that if India strengthens its data protection law, it can attract multi-national corporations to India. India can be home to such corporations than a mere supplier of services.In fact, there is an argument that the EU’s data protection law is sufficient to protect the privacy of its people and thus lack of strong protection under Indian law is not a hindrance to the outsourcing industry. To enumerate, consider a company established in EU (called the ‘data controller’) and the supplier of call center services (‘data processor’) in India. If the data processor makes any mistake in the processing of personal data or there are instances of data theft, then the data controller in the EU can be made liable for the consequences. The Indian data processor is not in control of personal data and can only process data under the instructions of the data controller. Thus if a person in EU wants to exercise rights of access and retrieve personal data, the data controller has to retrieve it from the data processor, irrespective of where the data processor is located. Thus a strong data protection law is needed not only to reinforce the image of the Indian outsourcing industry but also to invite multi-national corporations to establish their corporate offices here.Data Protection And TelemarketingIndia is faced with a new phenomenon-telemarketing. This is facilitated, to a large extent, by the widespread use of mobile telephones. Telemarketing executives, now said to be available for as low as US $70 per month, process information about individuals for direct marketing. This interrupts the peace of an individual and conduct of work. There is a violation of privacy caused by such calls who, on behalf of banks, mobile phone companies, financial institutions etc. offer various schemes. The right to privacy has been read into Article 21, Constitution of India, but this has not afforded enough protection. A PIL against several banks and mobile phone service providers is pending before the Supreme Court alleging inter alia that the right to privacy has been infringed.The EC Directive confers certain rights on the people and this includes the right to prevent processing for direct marketing. Thus, a data controller is required not to process information about individuals for direct marketing if an individual asks them not to. So individuals have the right to stop unwanted marketing offers. It would be highly beneficial that data protection law in India also includes such a right to prevent unsolicited marketing offers and protect the privacy of the people.Data Protection With Regard To Governance And PeopleThe Preamble to the Act specifies that, the IT Act 2000, inter alia, will facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies. It seeks to promote efficient delivery of Government services by means of reliable electronic records. Stringent data protection laws will thus help the Government to protect the interests of its people.Data protection law is necessary to provide protection to the privacy rights of people and to hold cyber criminals responsible for their wrongful acts. Data protection law is not about keeping personal information secret. It is about creating a trusted framework for collection, exchange and use of personal data in commercial and governmental contexts. It is to permit and facilitate the commercial and governmental use of personal data.The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Department of Information Technology(DIT) must also rejuvenate its efforts in this regard on the similar lines. However, the best solution can come from good legislative provisions along with suitable public and employee awareness. It is high time that we must pay attention to Data Security in India. Cyber Security in India is missing and the same requires rejuvenation. When even PMO's cyber security is compromised for many months we must at least now wake up. Data bsignNowes and cyber crimes in India cannot be reduced until we make strong cyber laws. We cannot do so by mere declaring a cat as a tiger. Cyber law of India must also be supported by sound cyber security and effective cyber forensics.Indian companies in the IT and BPO sectors handle and have access to all kinds of sensitive and personal data of individuals across the world, including their credit card details, financial information and even their medical history. These Companies store confidential data and information in electronic form and this could be vulnerable in the hands of their employees. It is often misused by unsurplous elements among them. There have been instances of security bsignNowes and data leakages in high profile Indian companies. The recent incidents of data thefts in the BPO industry have raised concerns about data privacy.There is no express legislation in India dealing with data protection. Although the Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Parliament in 2006, it is yet to see the light of day. The bill seems to proceed on the general framework of the European Union Data Privacy Directive, 1996. It follows a comprehensive model with the bill aiming to govern the collection, processing and distribution of personal data. It is important to note that the applicability of the bill is limited to ‘personal data’ as defined in Clause 2 of the bill.The bill applies both to government as well as private enterprises engaged in data functions. There is a provision for the appointment of, “Data Controllers”, who have general superintendence and adjudicatory jurisdiction over subjects covered by the bill. It also provides that penal sanctions may be imposed on offenders in addition to compensation for damages to victims.The stringency of data protection law, whether the prevailing law will suffice such needs, whether the proposed amendments are a welcome measure, whether India needs a separate legislation for data protection etc are questions which require an in-depth analysis of the prevailing circumstances and a comparative study with laws of other countries. There is no consensus among the experts regarding these issues. These issues are not in the purview of this write-up. But there can be no doubt about the importance of data protection law in the contemporary IT scenario and are not disputable.

Edit: I wrote this answer for “must have Android apps” but these are same apps which have changed the way I used to live my life. Each and every App has helped me in one or the other way. I hope you will also find them helpful and a bit life changing. So here is the list: 10. Psiphon For those who use WiFi with proxy settings. So Psiphon bypasses and tunnel the websites or app through a different IP Address. 9. Mirror It's a simple app to record your mobile screen. Based on the concept of CamStudio in PC where you can record your screen, Mirror offers recording of your Mobile screen. 8. NTES- National Train Enquiry System If you are from India and you want to know the running status, cancelled train (partial or fully), Live Station and other features, this App is a must have. 7. VOLT Simple but effective for those who want to learn new vocabulary. That's too obvious, then why not others? Coz here you get the “memory key” which helps you relate the words and easier to remember them. 6. Parchi It a note making app. But here’s a catch. You can view, review, edit and add right from your lockscreen without need to open the app. Isn't that amazing! I personally find this app very useful. 5. edX If you are student or a learner who wants learn something new everyday, and cannot afford to go in the prestigious institutions like MIT, Harvard University, Cambridge, IITM, etc ten it is a must have app. Enroll yourself in any course and Bazinga!! You are ready to learn from the most amazing professors. Similar to edX, we have Coursera. 4. Walnut Manage your expenses on your finger tips. Its easier then that. It shows you your monthly expenditure, ATM locations, bill remainders and many more features. Its a must have app. 3. CamScanner Everyone doesn’t own a scanner but most of us have camera. So click the pic, upload to CamScanner and voila you are done. You have the scanned copy of your documents, notes, Marksheet and upload them on your DigiLocker. 2. inshorts Till now you all must be knowing this app. The tagline is also simple “News in 60 words” and trust me it is worth having. In this “I don't have time” world, you need news to be fast and accurate so here it is. 1. DigiLocker If you have this app then you don’t need to carry your personal documents like driving license, Adhar card, voter ID card, or even your Marksheets. Keep them safe in actual locker and leave the rest to your DigiLocker. And the best part is that it is acceptable as the original ones at every governmental or non governmental institution because it is developed under Digital India initiative. That's it for the day. Thank you and Enjoy !!! Update 1: Today I came across two new apps which I found useful. Hope it would help you all. 1.Forest : Stay focused Features • A self-motivated and interesting way to help you beat phone addiction • Stay focused and get more things done • Share your forest and compete with friends • Track your history in a simple and pleasant way • Earn reward and unlock more tree species • Customize your whitelist : Leaving Forest and using apps in whitelist won’t kill your tree. 2. Swachh Bharat Toilet Locator Swachh Bharat Toilet Locator is specifically useful for Indians who're committed for Swachh Bharat. Update 2: So I am back with yet another interesting app for you all. And trust me it is worth hanving. You are bored just go through it and kaboooom !!! You are into a black hole. Enjoy the ride. 3. Curiosity It is the latest app I installed but got addicted to it. It’s exactly works like its name, generates a curiosity which inturn increases your knowledge. It covers a large field of scope from Humanity to science to faith and many more. This app deserves more snapshots but why to increase the length of my answer. Comment below if you think the list should be updated? Thank you.

For the benefit of people who don’t have a lot of time to read, I’m going to list a short version of my proposals in bullet points after this paragraph. However, if you have the time, I strongly suggest reading this answer in its entirety because it explains the proposals in fairly granular detail. The proposals are nuanced because gun control is a complicated issue when looked at objectively.Standardize on a process which flags individuals in the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database for a delay in the background check process when said individuals try to buy a gun. During the three day delay period, the FBI has the opportunity to investigate and take legal action against the individuals if necessary.Create a secure electronic background check system which is available to the public so individuals selling firearms to residents of the same state can know whether it is safe to proceed with a transaction.Require membership in the Civilian Marksmanship Program for the purchase of semiautomatic centerfire weapons and centerfire magazines with more than ten rounds of capacity.Create a national permitting process for carrying concealed handguns which overrides state laws.The Gun Control Act of 1968 mandated that manufacturers and commercial sellers of firearms had to obtain a Federal Firearms License (FFL). This was done under the guise of regulating interstate commerce, trade which crosses state lines. The federal government is generally not allowed to regulate intrastate commerce, trade which remains entirely within a state. In 1994, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act mandated that FFL holders had to perform a background check on any firearm transferred through the FFL to a individual who does not hold an FFL. In 1998, this process was streamlined into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).With that in mind, we’re going to look at how firearms are legally purchased currently so we can have a perspective on potential improvements to the process.When buying a gun through an FFL, buyers must fill out BAFTE form 4473. I strongly recommend readers view the form. Buyers must submit valid photo identification (usually a driver’s license) to the FFL holder to verify their identity and some of the information on their form 4473. There are three categories of firearm which can be bought through a standard FFL dealer: handguns, long guns (rifles and shotguns), and “other firearms”. Buyers must be 18 years of age to buy long guns and 21 years of age to buy handguns from an FFL. “Other firearms” are a weird category which includes receivers for firearms (which is generally the serialized portion of a firearm) or firearms which do not fit the legal definition of a handgun or long gun but are also not regulated by the National Firearms Act. If the “other firearm” can be made into a pistol, the buyer must be 21 years of age. After a buyer has completed their form 4473, the FFL holder calls NICS and relays the completed information to the FBI.Source: (NICS Process in Motion for the Gun Buyer Video Transcript)The FBI runs the information through the NICS database. If the buyer’s provided information has matches within the NICS database, this will generate a “hit”. At the moment, hits include indictments and convictions for felonies, indictments and convictions for domestic violence, indictments and convictions for other crimes which are punishable by one or more years of imprisonment, known fugitives, dishonorable discharges, adjudications which determined an individual to be mentally defective, restraining orders for children or intimate partners, renouncements of citizenship, unlawful users of controlled substances, illegal aliens, and resident aliens who do not meet very specific criteria.If no hits in the NICS database are generated, the FFL is told to “proceed” and the FFL may complete transferring the firearm at the business’s discretion. If the buyer’s provided information generates a hit, the call will be transferred to an FBI employee who will review the information and determine whether the hit matches the rest of the buyer’s provided information. If the hit is valid and the buyer is a prohibited purchaser, the FFL will be told to “deny” the transfer. If the FBI employee determines the hit is invalid, the FFL will be told to “proceed”. If the FBI employee can not immediately determine the validity of a hit, the FFL will be told to “delay” the transfer and the FBI will do more research to determine the validity of a hit. At this point, the FBI is allotted three business days to tell the FFL to “proceed” or “deny”. If those three business days pass without a final judgement, the FFL may proceed with the transfer at their discretion. The system is set up this way so the FBI can not delay a buyer they can not prove is a prohibited possessor of firearms indefinitely, essentially amounting to a denial without due process of law. Nevertheless, some FFL holders maintain a policy of not proceeding with transfers which have do not receive a definite “proceed”; that is the business’s prerogative.If at any point in this process the FFL holder or its employees believes a buyer is purchasing a firearm on behalf of another person, then the FFL will deny the transfer independent of any judgement made by the FBI. Purchasing a firearm on behalf of another person is illegal.Now what about “internet gun sales”?Websites in the business of selling firearms are legally required to acquire an FFL. Since the website which holds an FFL can not visually verify a buyer’s identity, this means the firearms they sell are legally required to be transferred to an FFL near the buyer. At the FFL which facilitates the transfer, the buyer will be required to complete a form 4473 and go through a background check as described above.On auction sites which deal with firearms, buyers and sellers who do not hold FFLs will submit the information of an FFL near each party and arrange for the firearm to be transferred. The seller’s FFL will ship the firearm to the buyer’s FFL and once again the buyer will complete a form 4473 and go through a background check.The final category would be classified websites which allow firearms to be posted for sale. These are essentially the 21st century equivalent of posting a classified advertisement in a newspaper. In these cases, a buyer contacts the seller who posted the advertisement and the two parties enter negotiations. If the buyer and seller legally reside within the same state and are able to meet face to face to conduct a transfer, the firearm in question may be legally bought under federal law without a background check being conducted provided the seller does not have reason to believe the buyer is a prohibited possessor. If any of those conditions are not met, or if state law prohibits intrastate commerce in this fashion, then FFL holders must once again be involved. These conditions apply to all private person to person sales. One noteworthy quirk, under federal law, persons between the ages of 18 and 21 are not prohibited from purchasing a handgun through a private sale. This is in fact one of the very few ways citizens in this age group can exercise their constitutional right to possess handguns.What about gun shows?If a person buys a firearm from an FFL participating in a gun show (this constitutes the majority of firearm sales at gun shows) then a 4473 is filled out as normal. If a person is buying a firearm from a private party, laws regarding private sales apply. Think of gun shows simply as a way for people who might be interested in buying or selling firearms to all be in the same place at the same time. There’s nothing sneaky or tricky about them, they literally happen in convention centers and on fairgrounds. Local police and BATFE agents are always present at gun shows.Now that we have all that basic information out of the way, we can talk about actual changes to federal law.First let’s take a look at prohibiting suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms. We can all agree we hate terrorists, but they still have due process rights. Fortunately, the FBI is in charge of both the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) and the NICS database. Prospective gun buyers with records that produce a match in the TSDB could generate a hit in the NICS database. The FBI could then investigate the hit and, assuming the hit actually matched the buyer in question, determine whether or not to tell the FFL to delay the transfer. Within the current three day delay window, the FBI could bring the case before a judge. Should the judge find probable cause, the transfer could be legally halted. At this point the buyer should be notified and be interviewed as part of the investigation. If charges are appropriate, the FBI can file charges in a timely manner. Otherwise, the suspect should be allowed to go about their business without further interference. That puts a lot of burden on the FBI, but it isn’t supposed to be easy to legally strip citizens’ rights in the United States. Remember, the burden of proof always lies upon the accuser, not the defendant.One rather common gun control proposal in the United States is that of universal background checks on all firearm sales, including private intrastate sales. On a practical level, compliance and enforcement of a universal background check would be very difficult without some kind of national firearm registry linking specific firearms to their owners. No national firearm registry exists for regular rifles, shotguns, or pistols at the moment and it’s actually illegal to create one because of the Firearm Owners Protection Act passed in 1986. There remains a visceral fear of a firearms registry among many conservatives; the concerned parties believe that all firearm registries are nothing more than a precursor to the total confiscation of all firearms. This belief is objectively refuted because numerous firearm registries in multiple US states and democratic countries as well as a national registry on firearms regulated by the National Firearms Act exist and have not been precursors to a total confiscation of all firearms. However, many conservatives latch onto the words of a select handful of extremist politicians who espouse a desire for confiscation as proof that confiscation is the inevitable result of all registries.With all that being said, what might be feasible as an alternative to a universal background check is creating an online version of form 4473 so the public could voluntarily conduct background checks without going to an FFL. This is actually something most gun owners want because, at the moment, there’s no way of conducting a background check for a private intrastate sale in most states without involving an FFL. Involving an FFL introduces a financial disincentive because FFLs are businesses and usually charge for their services. I’ll propose the best system I’ve thought of so far which allows for minimal fraud and abuse.First, create a secure electronic variant of the 4473. It should include the buyer and seller information along with contact information for both parties. Once the form is completed, a unique confirmation number is sent out to both parties using the provided contact information. Both parties enter their confirmation numbers, then the form is submitted to the FBI and run through the NICS database. A single transaction number is generated for the NICS check and provided to the buyer and seller. The parties then call a phone number for a NICS automated line and enter the transaction number along with their unique confirmation numbers. This transfers the call to a live operator who examines the results of the NICS check performed for the transaction. The operator then tells the seller to “proceed”, “delay”, or “deny” just as they would with an FFL.The idea behind the whole system is that it allows for an effective background check to be done while offering a reasonable measure of privacy for the buyer. Sure, somebody could abuse the system if they wanted to put in enough effort, but they wouldn’t get very much information. It also removes a financial disincentive; it only costs individuals time to do a check like this and the check and be performed virtually anywhere, not just at FFL locations.Now, let’s discuss assault weapons and magazines which hold more than ten rounds. The problem with the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 was that it didn’t do anything except drive up prices on the magazines and weapons described by the ban. There was no measurable impact on crime during the ten years the Assault Weapons Ban was in effect.Here is how assault weapons were defined in 1994:Semi-automatic rifles able to accept detachable magazines and two or more of the following:Folding or telescoping stockPistol gripBayonet mountFlash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate oneGrenade launcher mountSemi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines and two or more of the following:Magazine that attaches outside the pistol gripThreaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or suppressorBarrel shroud safety feature that prevents burns to the operatorUnloaded weight of 50 oz (1.4 kg) or moreA semi-automatic version of a fully automatic firearm.Semi-automatic shotguns with two or more of the following:Folding or telescoping stockPistol gripDetachable magazine.All of those things are cosmetic features that can be designed around. In fact, they frequently were and are designed around. Even today in states with more stringent feature based assault weapon bans, like California, there exist so called “featureless” firearms which are perfectly legal and not objectively worse for killing people than assault weapons. Now we could try an assault weapon ban again and again have no impact on crime… or we could recognize that semiautomatic centerfire weapons are undeniably the arms of choice in a militia. Police and military forces all over the world use semiautomatic (or fully automatic) centerfire weapons almost exclusively. As such, it makes more sense to more stringently regulate all semiautomatic centerfire weapons, not just a certain subset with specific cosmetic features. At the same time, we can breathe new life into the militia concept described by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, even make the militia well regulated.In the United States, we currently have an organization called the Civilian Marksmanship Program, a federally chartered corporation whose purpose is:To instruct citizens of the United States in marksmanship;To promote practice and safety in the use of firearms;To conduct competitions in the use of firearms and to award trophies, prizes, badges, and other insignia to competitors.Among numerous other things, the CMP sells M1 Garand rifles. The Garand is a .30–06 semiautomatic battle rifle roughly twice as powerful as common AR-15 or Kalashnikov rifles. The Garand was the primary infantry rifle of the US military during the Second World War and the Korean War. The CMP literally sells them so people can practice target shooting with a weapon of war.Image by Curiosandrelics - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, File:M1-Garand-Rifle.jpg - Wikimedia CommonsLet’s take a look at eligibility requirements for the CMP:REQUIREMENTS FOR PURCHASEBy law, the CMP can sell surplus military firearms, ammunition, parts and other items only to members of CMP affiliated clubs who are also U.S. citizens, over 18 years of age and who are legally eligible to purchase a firearm.PROOF OF U.S. CITIZENSHIP:You must provide a copy of a U.S. birth certificate, passport, proof of naturalization, or any official government document (When using a military ID to prove citizenship, must be an E5 or above) that shows birth in the U.S. or states citizenship as U.S.PROOF OF AGE:You must provide proof of age. Usually proof of citizenship also provides proof of age. In those cases where it may not, a driver’s license is sufficient.MEMBERSHIP IN CMP AFFILIATED ORGANIZATION:You must provide a copy of your current membership card or other proof of membership. This requirement cannot be waived. The CMP currently has over 2,000 affiliated organizations located in many parts of the country. CMP Club Member Certification Form- If your CMP affiliated club does not issue individual membership cards, please have the club fill out the CMP Club Member Certification Form and return it with your order.Membership in many of these organizations costs $25.00 or less and can be accomplished online. A listing of affiliated organizations can be found by clicking on our Club Search web page at http://ct.thecmp.org/app/v1/inde.... If you have any difficulty in locating a club, please contact the CMP at 256-835-8455 or by emailing CMP Customer Service. We will find one for you. In addition to shooting clubs, the CMP also has several special affiliates. Membership in these organizations satisfies our requirement for purchase. These special affiliates include: Congressionally chartered veterans' organizations such as the VFW, AL, DAV, MCL, etc. U.S. Military services (active or reserves), National Guard, to include retirees. Professional 501(c)3 law enforcement organizations and associations such as the FOP, NAPO, NSA, etc. The Garand Collector's Association is a CMP Affiliated Club. You can download a Garand Collector's Association Application Form.Note: Club membership IS required for purchase of rifles, parts, and ammunition.Club membership is NOT required for instructional publications or videos or CMP memorabilia.MARKSMANSHIP OR OTHER FIREARMS RELATED ACTIVITY:You must provide proof of participation in a marksmanship related activity or otherwise show familiarity with the safe handling of firearms and range procedures. Your marksmanship related activity does not have to be with highpower rifles; it can be with smallbore rifles, pistols, air guns or shotguns. Proof of marksmanship participation can be provided by documenting any of the following:Current or past military service.Current or past law enforcement serviceParticipation in a rifle, pistol, air gun or shotgun competition (provide copy of results bulletin).Completion of a marksmanship clinic that included live fire training (provide a copy of the certificate of completion or a statement from the instructor).Distinguished, Instructor, or Coach status.Concealed Carry License.Firearms Owner Identification Cards that included live fire training. - FFL or C&R license.Completion of a Hunter Safety Course that included live fire training.Certification from range or club official or law enforcement officer witnessing shooting activity. Complete the CMP Marksmanship Form to signNow your range firing and the required marksmanship related activity for an individual to purchase from the CMP.No proof of marksmanship required if over age 60. Proof of club membership and citizenship required for all ages. NOTE: Proof of marksmanship activity is not required for purchase of ammunition, parts, publications or memorabilia.BE LEGALLY ELIGIBLE TO PURCHASE A FIREARM:The information you supply on your application will be submitted by the CMP to the FBI National Instant Criminal Check System (NICS) to verify you are not prohibited by Federal, State or Local law from acquiring or possessing a rifle. Your signature on the Purchaser Certification portion of the purchase application authorizes the CMP to initiate the NICS check and authorizes the FBI to inform CMP of the result. IMPORTANT: If your State or locality requires you to first obtain a license, permit, or Firearms Owner ID card in order to possess or receive a rifle, you must enclose a photocopy of your license, permit, or card with the application for purchase.As you can see, the CMP eligibility process is quite a bit more involved than the background check system we have now. It seems to have worked for keeping the powerful semiautomatic Garand rifles out of the hands of mass murderers. The last mass shooting on US soil that I know of which involved an M1 Garand was the Kent State massacre and that involved the Ohio National Guard shooting anti-war protesters, not civilians who were sold rifles through the CMP. I haven’t been able to find any records of crimes committed with guns sold through the CMP. I’m sure it has happened at one point in time or another, but the occurrence is so rare that there hasn’t been any documentation. My point is that the CMP has a really great track record in the United States for making sure guns don’t go to bad guys.Since the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 didn’t have any measurable impacts on crime and the CMP has great results, I propose we extend the CMP eligibility requirements to all semiautomatic centerfire firearms and centerfire magazines with more than ten rounds of capacity. This means only people who meet the listed criteria will be able to buy the types of weapons most useful in a militia which are also the weapons we primarily see used in mass shootings from an FFL. The proposal also effectively introduces a mandatory training and basic competency requirement before individuals can purchase semiautomatic centerfire weapons from a gun store. The inclusion of CMP eligibility for the purchase of centerfire magazine over ten rounds creates a strong incentive for existing gun owners and individuals who purchase firearms through private intrastate sales to get training and join the CMP if they want easy access to centerfire magazines over ten rounds.The word centerfire is really important because there is another class of firearms which use rimfire cartridges.A collection of rimfire and centerfire cartridges, left to right: .22lr (rimfire), .22WMR (rimfire), .357 magnum (centerfire), .30–06 Springfield (centerfire), 12 gauge shotshell (centerfire)Rimfire cartridges aren’t very powerful; they’re mostly used for small game hunting and target shooting. Most countries allow ownership of semiautomatic rimfire rifles with only basic licensing; countries like Canada and the UK don’t even have restrictions on magazine capacity for rimfire rifles. Could they be used by a mass shooter? Sure, anything could, but semiautomatic rimfire firearms just aren’t a threat compared to semiautomatic centerfire firearms or even non-semiautomatic centerfire firearms. Wounds caused by bullets fired from rimfire cartridges are almost always less severe than wounds caused by bullets fired from centerfire cartridges. Very precise shot placement is required for rimfire weapons to instantly kill a person and mass shooters are unlikely to take the time to precisely place their shots.Seen above are four rimfire rifles made by Marlin.Regulating firearms in this way allows new gun owners to hunt, shoot targets, and defend themselves using semiautomatic rimfire or manually operated firearms. If new gun owners want easy access to semiautomatic centerfire firearms which are useful in a militia context, they can join the CMP, effectively becoming a member of a well regulated militia, after demonstrating themselves to be competent and well trained.I have some final thoughts on the CMP related proposal before moving on to the next topic. CMP eligibility introduces additional layers of human interaction between people and semiautomatic centerfire weapons and centerfire magazines over ten rounds. Barring major advances in mental healthcare and adjudication in the United States, layers of human interaction are the best way for red flags to be raised about somebody who might want to kill large numbers of people with a firearm. Additional layers of human interaction also introduce a larger hurdle for straw purchasers, people who buy firearms for people who can’t pass background checks because they’re ineligible to own firearms. Additional layers of human interaction make law enforcement investigations slightly easier as well.At the moment, laws, standards, and permits for carrying concealed handguns vary wildly. Some states have no requirements while other states functionally don’t allow anybody except police officers to carry handguns in any way. While the percentage of the US population which actually carries handguns regularly, concealed or openly, is relatively small, those who do carry handguns regularly can often face great legal peril for no particularly good reason when crossing state lines. At the same time, it would be good for the public to know that people carrying concealed handguns are actually competent and not a hazard to the public. In essence, a balance would be preferable to the extremes which currently exist.I propose creating an national permit for carrying concealed handguns in any state. Police officers already enjoy something similar to this. The permitting process should include a standardized class which can be taught by police officers or other qualified instructors. Before attending the class, applicants should undergo a background check. Among other things, the class should cover the legal use of deadly force, safe firearms handling practices, and conflict deescalation practices. Then applicants should be given a written test on the subjects. If the applicants pass, they should then undergo a practical handgun handling and shooting competency test. If applicants are able to both handle handguns safely and shoot accurately, they will then be issued a carry permit which is valid for a certain number of years; three to five years seems reasonable. If applicants fail either test then they go home without a permit and can retake the whole class the next time it is offered if they still wish to carry a concealed handgun.

Ethereum.Before I explain why, I need you to understand something. Bitcoin and Ethereum are at two completely different stages within their potential. They also do not share the exact same mission; therefore, you do have to understand their differences to form an opinion about which one has the biggest use.Before we look at the coins in detail, let's start with the potential ROI (100% = 2x Original Investment).Bitcoin’s current market cap is $193,165,354,468 in order for you to make 100% this number would need to double to just under $400 Billion.Ethereum’s current market cap is $44,715,990,083 , roughly 1/5th of Bitcoins. In order for you to make 100%, the price would need to increase to just under $90 Billion. - This is obviously more probable.This will not serve as the only variable in making a decision, we now need to break down their uses and differences.BitcoinWhat is Bitcoin?A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without the burdens of going through a financial institution. Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work. The longest chain not only serves as proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came from the largest pool of CPU power. As long as honest nodes control the most CPU power on the network, they can generate the longest chain and outpace any attackers. The network itself requires minimal structure. Messages are broadcasted on a best effort basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will, accepting the longest proof-of-work chain as proof of what happened while they were gone.Peer-to-Peer (P2P): is a technical way of saying computers (peers) that are connected together via the internet.Timestamps: are a sequence of characters that identify exactly when a certain event occurred, giving the exact time and date.Hashing: is the process of compacting large quantities of data into smaller fixed sizes.Proof-of-work: is the verification that the individual peer created the said hashNodes: are computers that are connected to the blockchainBitcoin is a first generation cryptocurrency, that was created in 2009 with the intention to become the currency of the internet.Its ApplicationsSafe HavenBeing that billions of people are under the control of a broke economy or volatile dictatorship, Bitcoin is beginning to become a medium in which people within underdeveloped countries feel as a more secure place to store their value.RemittancesThe current operation costs roughly $600B annually, all at the expense of separated families. Bitcoin can now serve as a tool that operates the exact same way and only costs 1/10th of the price.A transaction on the Bitcoin network also processes faster therefore giving the people a strong reason to make the switch.CurrencyBitcoin is recognized as an asset, but can also be identified as an efficient currency in which people can buy and exchange with. With this being an application of Bitcoin, as the market continues to decrease in volatility, the use for Bitcoin will increase within businesses and everyday people that transact on a daily basis.These are just a few, but for the sake of answer length, let’s move onto some of the scalability issues with Bitcoin that hinder my decision of choosing Bitcoin over Ethereum.Bothering Issues with BitcoinEnergyA study from Digiconomist found that each transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain uses 236 KWh worth of electricity, this amount is enough to power 8 U.S households for an entire day.ScalabilityEnergy consumption will hinder the scalability issues of Bitcoin, however the other issue that arises with POW mining is that with the increase in cost associated with mining BTC it is less economical to mine Bitcoin. This would limit the distributed nodes (miners) globally and allow a larger percentage of control to the dominant mining pools / farms.This would lead to a more centralized blockchain, where they can change the rules of BTC as they please.The supply of Bitcoin is finite, capped at 21 million. Eventually (currently predicted for 2140) Bitcoin's supply will run out. Once this happens, miners will no longer receive rewards for completing blocks but instead will be given fees. The fees will be drastically high in relative terms, and people will stop using the blockchain.Also, if miners decide that this is uneconomical for them to process the transactions and use their computing power elsewhere the speed of transactions for Bitcoin will drastically slow down, rendering one of the fundamental values of a Bitcoin (speed) useless.Blue chip CompaniesThis is more so for all cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin in particular. It’s not a matter of if but a matter of when a blue-chip company such as Facebook, Amazon or Google decides to implement their own cryptocurrency.Another possibility is a potential ‘world coin’ which global governments will all agree on using, this may seem unrealistic but it is definitely not impossible and many benefits would arise from having such a currency.Quantum ComputingBitcoin is said to be Quantum resistant, on the whitepaper it mentions that:‘To compensate for increasing hardware speed and varying interest in running nodes over time, the proof-of-work difficulty is determined by a moving average targeting an average number of blocks per hour. If they're generated too fast, the difficulty increases.’This may seem quantum resistant but it is important to understand that the difficulty is changed every 10 minutes and this is more than enough time for QC to mine all of Bitcoin’s remaining coins.Bitcoin BubbleThe last point of this section is to recognize that the Bitcoin bubble could pop loud enough to crash the market. Due to a whole lot of hype, and even more speculative and uneducated buyers, Bitcoin could face a peak in which a simple spark could cause a panic sell in the market.EthereumWhat is Ethereum?Ethereum is an open source platform with the mission to build and inspire next-generation decentralized applications. In other words, the applications being built on the Ethereum network would have no middle men. Users are able to interact safely with social and financial systems to transact peer to peer, therefore opening a new realm of opportunity within decentralized development on specifically the exchange of value.Like the Bitcoin network exchanges Bitcoin, applications within the Ethereum network would exchange ETHER. Therefore, making the Ethereum network have its own digital currency or, cryptocurrency that these decentralized applications would run on.On the Ethereum network, developers are able to build these decentralized applications simply, within this seemingly complicated new technology. Think of it as Shopify or Volusion, these are centralized networks in which users/developers can build e-commerce stores more efficiently and cost effectively.Ethereum is similar in this aspect, the network was essentially created to assist and fuel the growth of decentralized blockchain applications within its network.Smart ContractsNow, what Ethereum is based on, is a thing called “Smart Contracts”Developers are extremely excited about this tool, a smart contract is similar to how it sounds, it’s a digital contract that self-executes… Think of it as a virtual vending machine.A smart contract is a digital contract between two people in which the technology or tool handles the management, performance, enforcement and payment of the agreement. The smart contract has its own digital bank account of ETHER and settles once the product is received or the service is completed therefore greatly improving the efficiency of data tracking, payment processing and user friendliness of each decentralized application.Let’s dive into an exampleMusicThe first age of the internet brought quite a bit of disruption to the music industry… Idk if you knew, but if you we’re a songwriter 25 years ago and produced a hit song that got a million singles you would acquire royalties of up to $50,000. Now if you were to produce a hit song that gets a million streams you don’t get $50,000, you get $45… Enough to cover the first round at the bar.In result, musicians are now finding other ways to produce revenue with their music. One being the utilization of a blockchain ecosystem like Ethereum. Music applications are now being built for musicians to reclaim their content, smart contracts are being implemented into the music itself, therefore the music protects the intellectual property rights of the artist.You want to listen to the song? It’s free… or maybe a few micro pennies to download. You want to put the song in your video or movie? Make it your ringtone? These each cost a different price and presented at the point of purchase would be its underlying IP rights for the use of that piece of music.Musicians are absolutely hyped about this because now, the song becomes a business. It’s out there on this platform marketing itself, protecting the rights of the author and because the song has a payment system; in the sense of a bank account, all of the money then flows back to the artist, and they control the industry rather than these powerful intermediaries.This concept could apply not only to just songwriters but any creator of content, from art, to inventions, to scientific discoveries or the work from independent journalists. There are endless industries in which people do not gain fair compensation in which the underlying technology of Ethereum could benefit in a big way.Other examples:· A smart contract can be created to pay a worker for every hour they work, they log their hours on the blockchain and then after verification the funds are instantly transferred to them· Buying goods internationally can be tracked and verified – reducing fraud.· Property buying can be facilitated through the contract· Every industry that has a contract in place will be able to use the blockchain of EthereumIt is also worth noting that Ethereum is also a lot quicker than Bitcoin, average block time being 15 seconds for Ethereum opposed to 10 minutes for Bitcoin.Personally, I am invested into both. If I HAD to choose, like I said it would be Ethereum simply because of where it is now in comparison to its potential as well as its very transparent, direct, opportunistic mission towards the hosting of decentralized blockchain applications.

Warning long answer!Since 1990, I’ve been studying the confidentiality of the messaging systems on computers and mobile devices.It was obvious that the electronic forums, emails and SMS messages could easily be intercepted by 3rd parties. Expecting the service providing companies to develop and implement confidentiality protocols were unrealistic. There were never a general consensus about the need for confidentiality or inter-service protocol development.With the discouragement of the governments many computer scientists shied away from creating software to keep communication confidential between parties.Many spy movies showed advanced technologies to keep the communication between spies and their organizations. The most famous being the Enigma machine used by the Germans during the World War 2. British scientist Alan Turing was the one to develop an early version of today’s computers to solve the mystery of the Enigma machine. Like every visionary he had serious problems with the establishment. After the government discovering that he was gay, he was given 2 options. First option was jail time until he turned heterosexual, or chemical castration. Poor Turing chose the second option and after a while he committed suicide. Every cryptologist today remembers to what happened to the first representative of this science.Without getting into the technological terms (they are all available on Wikipedia) the best way to keep conversation confidential is to use a code book between 2 (or more, but more on that later) parties. A code book is a simple definition and a list of codes that is shared between the parties and each code is used only once. Unless the code book is compromised this method of communication privacy is bullet proof. There is no computer in the world, and there won’t be any in the future that can figure out what the communication is. The only method would be the old school spying on the parties who are communicating between each other.If I need to give an example for the method above, it would be like, let’s choose a newspaper that is accessible to both parties. That will be our message base.Let’s define a codebook now:First code in the book is3–4,6–7,1–2 and repeats itselfsecond code is5–7,3–1,8–5,4–2 and repeats itselfSo let’s say I send you a message today like20,42,15,5,8,67,23,56,12,43,13,11,10Since it is our first message exchange you will use the first code in the book. Also our message base is only known to us which also makes it even more difficult for others to understand the secret message I just sent you.To understand the message, here is what you do: you pick up today’s New York Times which is the newspaper we agreed to use.Take the first number in the secret message which is 20, then look in the codebook for the first code which is 3–4. You go to the 3rd page find the 4th paragraph and get the 20th character and repeat this process for each number in the secret message I sent.Let’s say MI6 is trying to intercept the message, which they do because I sent the message by email or SMS or event with both to you.All they have is 20,42,15,5,8,67,23,56,12,43,13,11,10 and they have no idea what it means. They don’t know which text source we used, which was New York Times and they don’t know the code we used for that message which was 3–4,6–7,1–2. We can even make this more difficult, for each day of the week we use a different newspaper that we agree upon.And let’s say MI6 figures out which newspaper we use for each day, let’s say they even figure out our code mechanism which is the page, paragraph and character to decode the secret message.As long as we use each line of code only once and never repeat used codes, there is virtually no way that MI6 to figure out our conversation. Except of course sending their double o agent to one of us and beating us in the head with an iron bar which would make us sing like a bird and spill all the secrets.As you can see in the example an iron bar, strategically placed on your head with a moderate blow would break all the code we established.That reality aside, if I whisper to your ear the newspaper names and hand you a piece of paper with a list of codes which I also have the same copy, until ve run out of codes there is no way our communication can be interpreted when intercepted.The difficulty in this type of message confidentiality is sharing and keeping a piece of paper with a list of codes and do the code exchange again when the list of codes are depleted and never use a code again.When this is not possible for practical reasons like distance between parties or the number of messages exchanged being too high and frequent the methodology used is computer based encryption (ensuring the confidentiality of communication between parties) of messages.This is also not so unlike what we did in the first example. To create our never ending codes is that for each message we exchange we use 3 constants. You have a master key, a public key and we agree on a mathematical formula which is very very difficult for the computer to solve. The difficulty here ensures that the time to try every combination of variables (without the master key) for the formula is so long, it practically makes it impossible for others to guess our code list.In this method I also have a master key and a public key. To solve the issue of keeping a list of established codes and communicating that between parties we freely exchange our public keys with everyone and when I’m sending you a message, I use your public key (any of my keys except generating a special signature with my private key so that you can validate with my public key that ensures the message has originated really from me) to create a confidential message. When you receive it by email, SMS or regular post mail, you use your private key which can only find out the contents of the confidential message. And since we are talking about computer systems, we protect our private keys with passwords.I don’t like using names given by computer engineers or any other technical person but for the sake of clarification this master/public key and an established algorithm to use is called public private key cryptology.Another term I don’t like is ‘end to end encryption’. This is to confirm that the cryptology method used can not be intercepted by other parties and only the recipient can understand the contents of the message.One company who has developed an implementation of end to end encryption is Open Whisper Systems. They named their product ‘Signal’ which is a platform and also the name of their app on iOS and Android. Their product uses this public private key cryptology to ensure the text and voice communications between parties to stay confidential. Supposedly the infamous NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden uses their app and he considers it quite good.Now let’s circle back to the WhatsApp security issue. WhatsApp is using the protocol established by the Open Whisper Systems for their public private key protected communications (audio, video and text messages).The problem is the user friendliness of the Signal app is not good. There are certain times that these public and private keys have to be changed. 2 example of those times is if you change your phone or uninstall / reinstall your app (whichever app you are using, Signal or WhatsApp)To test the user friendliness of Signal App’s handling the change of the key pairs (public private key combinations) I used my regular human guinea pig Riz. It was very difficult for me to explain what he has to do and also to find the location of the menu items were horribly difficult. After cursing at me and the app designers many times Riz completed the approval of the new key exchange between us so we could communicate again.Let’s have a look into how WhatsApp has implemented this renewal of key pairs between users. Since authenticity of a user can only identified by trusting their private key signed signature and for the likely case of the user have a new phone or has reinstalled the WhatsApp App, WhatsApp servers keep a copy of the secret message until the recipient downloads it. Now let’s say that you sent me a message while I was offline and I changed phones meanwhile. When I get that message from you what the Signal app does is, it warns me and it won’t let you communicate with you until I approve your new public key (in the style of a combined public keys of both parties because there is only one code that needs to be verified on both ends). Instead of asking user to do the verification what WhatsApp does it re-encrypts your message with my new key again (in their explanation by asking your WhatsApp to keep that message in memory in encrypted form and first decrypt then re-encrypt the same message with my new public key) without asking neither of us to re-confirm the identity of both parties.This technically opens up a backdoor for intelligence agencies to decrypt the messages between parties.How does that happen? WhatsApp confirms App installation by SMS confirmation. Let’s say I want to intercept your WhatsApp messages. I send a team in a delivery van which looks like a repair van but which has a mobile communication signal jammer to your home address. The jamming is smart enough to make your phone think it is still in network coverage so you don’t suspect a thing unless you try to make a call which will look like mobile network is crowded and unavailable. While I knock your phone off the network I can do 2 things, I can either intercept any SMS messages which comes your way in my service van, or give a court order to the mobile phone company to give me a copy of your SMS messages in real time.Then I install WhatsApp on a new phone, enter your phone number as my number and receive a copy of the SMS confirmation with the verification number and enter it in WhatsApp. From that moment on I will receive any waiting (since I knocked you off mobile network) and any news messages WhatsApp users send to you.Intentional or unintentional this is a secret door that can be easily used by government agencies.If I used the above technique to intercept messages between Signal users, what would happen were to be, first I couldn’t receive any messages waiting in the cloud because Signal does not keep messages in the cloud, when you are offline, the message waits in the sender’s Signal App. When the sender tries to send a new or resend the unsent message to you, my new installation of Signal app on my government agency phone will inform your friend, the sender that I’ve changed our shared agreed secret code and asks your friend if s/he wants to approve this new installation on the other end by confirming the new shared secret code with you. When s/he calls you on your landline, you say you haven’t installed a new WhatsApp on your phone or changed phones, you both understand that there is another party in between trying to intercept your messages.Now, WhatsApp says that there is an option in their App, under Settings / Account / Security / Show Security Notifications which is by default off. If you turn this ON then their claim is you will receive notifications when a contact’s security code has changed. They don’t say if the messages will still be delivered in spite of a security notification or not. They add that ‘The messages you send your calls are encrypted regardless of this setting, WHEN POSSIBLE’. I capitalized the last 2 words, what the heck ‘WHEN POSSIBLE’ mean? They also do not say anything about the messages you are going to receive. Even though you enable this warning setting on, if your friend’s setting is not on, they will not be notified if the messages they are sending to you are intercepted.This unintentional secret door is called a ‘user friendly design choice’ by WhatsApp. It is such a user friendly design choice it is government agents friendly as well. I can’t imagine how many diplomats already delivered confidential messages to enemy agencies using WhatsApp. Diplomats in Brussels wake up and smell the coffee…

Some of the frequently asked Interview questions for java developers are:1   What is an object ? 2   What is method overriding in java ? 3   What is super keyword in java ? 4   What is method overloading in java ? 5   What is difference between c++ and Java ? 6 What is JIT compiler ? 7   What is bytecode in java ? 8   Difference between method overloading and method overriding in java ? 9   Difference between abstract class and interface ? 10   Why java is platform independent? 11 Difference between this( and super( in java ?12 How to call one constructor from the other constructor ? 13 what are static blocks and static initalizers in Java ? 14 What is method in java ? 15 What is constructor in java ? 17 Difference between Character Constant and String Constant in java ?18 Why main( method is public, static and void in java ? 19 Explain about main( method in java ? 20 What is difference between length and length( method in java ? 21   What  is ASCII Code? 22 What is Unicode ? 23 What are constants and how to create constants in java? OOPS24 Explain about object oriented programming and its features? 25 What is Abstraction? 26 What is Encapsulation? 27 What is the difference between abstraction and encapsulation? 28 List out benefits of object oriented programming language? 29 Differences between traditional programming language and object oriented programming language? 30 What is Inheritance? 31 What is Polymorphism? 32 How does Java implement polymorphism? 33 Explain the different forms of Polymorphism 34 What is runtime polymorphism or dynamic method dispatch? 35 What is Dynamic Binding? 36 What is method overloading? 37 What is method overriding? 38 What are the differences between method overloading and method overriding? 39 Can overloaded methods be override too? 40 Is it possible to override the main method? 41 How to invoke a superclass version of an Overridden method? 42 What is super? 43 How do you prevent a method from being overridden? 44 What is an Interface? 45 Can we instantiate an interface? 46 Can we create an object for an interface? 47 Do interfaces have member variables? 48 What modifiers are allowed for methods in an Interface? 49 What is a marker interface? 50 What is an abstract class? 51 Can we instantiate an abstract class? 52 What are the differences between Interface and Abstract class? 53 When should I use abstract classes and when should I use interfaces? 54 When you declare a method as abstract, can other nonabstract methods access it? 55 Can there be an abstract class with no abstract methods in it? 56 What is IS-A relationship  in java?57 What is HAS A relationship in java?58 Difference between IS-A and HAS-A relationship in java?59 Explain about instanceof operator in java?60   What does null mean in java?61   Can we have multiple classes in single file ?62   What all access modifiers are allowed for top class ?63 What are packages in java?64   Can we have more than one package statement in source file ?65   Can we define package statement after import statement in java?66 What are identifiers in  java?67 What are access modifiers in java?68   What is the difference between access specifiers and access modifiers in java?69   What access modifiers can be used for class ?70   Explain what access modifiers can be used for methods?71   Explain what access modifiers can be used for variables?72   What is final access modifier in java?73   Explain about abstract classes in java?74 Can we create constructor in abstract class ?75   What are abstract methods in java?Type Casting      76 What is TypeConversion? 77 Explain Implicit Conversion/ Widening/Automatic Type Conversion? 78 What is Explicit Conversion/Narrowing/Casting? 79 Can a double value be cast to byte? How to cast double value to byte with help of the example? 80 Can a Boolean primitive value to be converted to any other primitive in java? 81 What is autoboxing and autounboxing? 82 What are advantages of autoboxing and autounboxing? 83 How to cast objects or what is object casting? 84 What is upcasting or downcasting? Exception Handling85   State some situations where exceptions may arise in java?86   What is Exception handling in java?87    What is an eror in Java?88   What are advantages of Exception handling in java?89   In how many ways we can do exception handling in java?90   List out five keywords related to Exception handling ?91   Explain try and catch keywords in java?92   Can we have try block without catch block?93    Can we have multiple catch block for a try block?94   Explain importance of finally block in java?95   Can we have any code between try and catch blocks?96   Can we have any code between try and finally blocks?97   Can we catch more than one exception in single catch block?98   What are checked Exceptions?99   What are unchecked exceptions in java?100   Explain differences between checked and Unchecked exceptions in java?101 What is default Exception handling in java?102   Explain throw keyword in java?103   Can we write any code after throw statement?104 Explain importance of throws keyword in java?105 Explain the importance of finally over return statement?106 Explain a situation where finally block will not be executed?107   Can we use catch statement for checked exceptions?108   What are user defined exceptions?109   Can we rethrow the same exception from  catch handler?110   Can we nested try statements in java?111 Explain the importance of throwable class and its methods?112 Explain when ClassNotFoundException will be raised ?113 Explain  when NoClassDefFoundError  will be raised ?Nested Class & Inner Class114 What are inner classes or non static nested classes in java? 115   Why to use nested classes in java? 116   Explain about static nested classes in java? 117 How to instantiate static nested classes in java? 118   Explain about method local inner classes or local inner classes in java? 119 Explain about features of local inner class? 120 Explain about anonymous inner classes in java? 121 Explain restrictions for using anonymous inner classes? 122   Is this valid in java ? can we instantiate interface in java? 123 Explain about member inner classes? 124 How to instantiate member inner class? 125 How to do encapsulation in java? 126 What are reference variables in java ? 127 Will the compiler creates a default constructor if I have a parameterized constructor in the class? 128   Can we have a method name same as class name in java? 129   Can we override constructors in java? 130 Can Static methods access instance variables in java? 131 How do we access static members in java? 132    Can we override static methods in java? 133 Difference between object and reference? 134 Objects or references which of them gets garbage collected? 135 How many times finalize method will be invoked ? who invokes finalize( method in java?136 Can we able to pass objects as an arguments in java? 137 Explain wrapper classes in java? 138 Explain different types of wrapper classes in java? 139 Explain about transient variables in java? 140 Can we serialize static variables in java? 141   What is type conversion in java? 142   Explain about Automatic type conversion in java? 143 Explain about narrowing conversion in java? 144 Explain the importance of import keyword in java? 145 Explain naming conventions for packages ? 146 What is classpath ? 147 What is jar ? 148 What is the scope or life time of instance variables ? 149 Explain the scope or life time of class variables or static variables? 150 Explain scope or life time of local variables in java? 151   Explain about static imports in java? 152 Can we define static methods inside interface? 153 Define interface in java? 154 What is the purpose of interface? 155 Explain features of interfaces in java? 156 Explain enumeration in java? 157 Explain restrictions on  using enum? 158 Explain about field hiding in java? 159   Explain about Varargs in java? 160 Explain where variables are created in memory? 161 Can we use Switch statement with Strings? 162 In java how do we copy objects? Theads163 What is thread in java? 164   Difference between process and thread? 165   What is multitasking ? 166   What are different types of multitasking? 167   What are the benefits of  multithreaded programming? 168   Explain thread in java? 169   List Java API that supports threads? 170   Explain about main thread in java? 171   In how many ways we can create threads in java? 172   Explain creating threads by implementing Runnable class? 173 Explain creating threads by extending Thread class ? 174 Which is the best approach for creating thread ? 175   Explain the importance of thread scheduler in java? 176   Explain the life cycle of thread? 177   Can we restart a dead thread in java? 178   Can one thread block the other thread? 179 Can we  restart a thread already started in java? 180 What happens if we don’t override run method ? 181   Can we overload  run( method in java? 182 What is a lock or purpose of locks in java? 183   In how many ways we can do synchronization in java? 184   What are synchronized methods ? 185 When do we use synchronized methods in java? 186   When a thread is executing synchronized methods , then is it possible to execute other synchronized methods  simultaneously by other threads? 187 When a thread is executing a synchronized method , then is it possible for the same thread to access other synchronized methods of an object ? 188 What are synchronized blocks in java? 189   When do we use synchronized blocks and advantages of using synchronized blocks? 190   What is class level lock ? 191   Can we synchronize static methods in java? 192   Can we use synchronized block for primitives? 193   What are thread priorities and importance of thread priorities in java? 194   Explain different types of thread priorities ? 195   How to change the priority of thread or how to set priority of thread? 196   If two threads have same priority which thread will be executed first ? 197 What all methods are used to prevent thread execution ? 198 Explain yield( method in thread class ? 199   Is it possible for yielded thread to get chance for its execution again ? 200 Explain the importance of join( method in thread class? 201   Explain purpose of sleep( method in java? 202   Assume a thread has lock on it, calling sleep( method on that thread will release the lock? 203 Can sleep() method causes another thread to sleep? 204 Explain about interrupt() method of thread class ? 205 Explain about interthread communication and how it takes place in java? 206 Explain wait() , notify() and notifyAll() methods of object class ? 207 Explain why wait(), notify() and notifyAll() methods are in Object class rather than in thread class? 208 Explain IllegalMonitorStateException and when it will be thrown? 209   when wait(), notify(),notifyAll() methods are called does it releases the lock or holds the acquired lock? 210   Explain which of the following methods releases the lock when yield(), join(),sleep(),wait(),notify(), notifyAll()methods are executed?211   What are thread groups? 212 What are thread local variables ? 213 What are daemon threads in java? 214 How to make a non daemon thread as daemon? 215 Can we make main() thread as daemon?Collection Framework216 What is collection ?217 Difference between collection, Collection and Collections in java?218 Explain about Collection  interface in java ?219 List  the interfaces which extends collection interface ?220 Explain List interface ?221 Explain methods specific to List interface ?222 List implementations of List Interface ?223   Explain about ArrayList ?224 Difference between Array and ArrayList ?225   What is vector?226 Difference between arraylist and vector ?227   Define  Linked List and its features with signature ?228   Define Iterator and methods in Iterator?229 In which order the Iterator iterates over collection?230   Explain ListIterator and methods in ListIterator?231 Explain about Sets ?232 Implementations of Set interface ?233   Explain HashSet and its features ?234 Explain Tree Set and its features?235 When do we use HashSet over TreeSet?236 What is Linked HashSet and its features?237 Explain about Map interface in java?238 What is linked hashmap and its features?239   What is SortedMap interface?240   What is Hashtable and explain features of Hashtable?241 Difference between HashMap and Hashtable?242 Difference between arraylist and linkedlist?243 Difference between Comparator and  Comparable in java?244 What is concurrent hashmap and its features ?245 Difference between Concurrent HashMap and Hashtable and collections.synchronizedHashMap?246 Explain copyOnWriteArrayList and when do we use copyOnWriteArrayList?247 Explain about fail fast iterators in java?248 Explain about fail safe iterators in java?Serialization249 What is serialization in java? 250 What is the main purpose of serialization in java? 251 What are alternatives to java serialization? 252 Explain about serializable interface in java? 253 How to make object serializable in java? 254 What is serial version UID and its importance in java? 255 What happens if we don’t define serial version UID ? 256 Can we serialize static variables in java? 257 When we serialize an object does the serialization mechanism saves its references too? 258 If we don’t want some of the fields not to serialize How to do that? 259 Explain importance of object class in java? 260 Explain purpose of object class or why object class is super class for all java classes? 261 Explain Object class methods? 262 List methods which can be overrided from Object class? 263 Explain purpose of toString( method in java?Strings 264 Explain Strings in java?265 Difference between Strings and Character Arrays in java?266 Explain importance of String class in java?267 In how many ways we can create Strings in java?268 Explain how to create Strings using String literal and advantages of creating Strings using String literal?Class Loaders 269 What are classloaders and different types of class loaders in java?270 What is BootStrap class loader and how does it works?271 What is Extensions class loader and how does it works?272 What is application class loader and how does it works?273 When an object becomes eligible for garbage collection?274 Who performs garbage collection?275 When does garbage collector run?276 Which algorithm garbage collector uses to perform garbage collection?277 List out different garbage collection algorithms?278 Can we force JVM for garbage collection?279 How to request jvm to perform garbage collection operation?280 Explain the purpose of finalize method in relation to Garbage collection?281 How many times finalize method is called on an Object?282 Once an object is garbage collected can it become signNowable again?283 How to write a code that makes an object eligible for garbage collection?