[ale] [Ale] [OT] Terms of Service as a Security Threat

[JD]

> The problem I see with the cloud is are adding another layer of complexity.
> Unless you need the complexity (and cost) why use the cloud.
> 
> The TOS problem could really impact small businesses who are relying on the
> cloud as well as home users. In general neither would know much about IP law and
> would be vulnerable to a sneaky TOS granting rights to the service provider that
> the provider does not need. Add to this that many are written is shyster not
> regular English so fully understanding them could be an issue.
> 
> Most TOS' and EULA's are notoriously one side in favor of the vendor with no
> ability of the user making favorable modifications.
> 

As an exmple, I've been working with someone that is having mdadm array issues.
They have a 16-way stripe and 2 disks failed.  Somewhere ... along the way the
array order has been lost and there isn't a config file backed up (huh? but it
is what it is) ....

After 2 days without access to the data, I suggested he rebuild the array from
scratch and restore from backups.  He response was that backups were all online
and would take a month to restore. I do not know which backup storage vendor he
is using, but if the company can't spend $1500 to get a few multi-TB HDDs
FedExed, then perhaps their online backups aren't very useful at all.

It isn't about the backup - it **IS** about the recovery, right?

I hope he just doesn't know the terms that allow a fedex shipment with the
company data. I really do.  Otherwise, their "cloud" use has cost them 30+ days
of access to business data.  How cheap is the cloud now?

The cloud vendor isn't doing anything wrong. The ToS and contract state what
they will do or will not do.  It is up the the selection committed to chose
wisely.  THAT is the real issue that I see.  The data is there and available,
but in the real world, time = money.

What's that old saying?  Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon
filled with backup tapes?