Abound Resources Community Bank Survey Reveals That Regulations, Rates, and Economic Recovery Dampen Optimism

Abound Resources, a leading bank consulting firm, released the results of its recent survey of community bank executives.

Austin, Texas (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Abound Resources, a leading bank consulting firm, released the results of its recent survey of community bank executives. The results highlight that community bank CEOs are much more pessimistic going into 2013 than they were going into 2012. The primary driver of the pessimism is an increasingly difficult regulatory environment.
In 2012, despite uncertainty about the economy and regulations, CEOs felt they could plan for the impact of bank regulations. However, going into 2013 they are concerned about increasing regulations, uncontrolled powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and increasing inconsistency among bank examiners.
“This year bank CEOs are decidedly more pessimistic than they have been since we launched our annual survey four years ago,” said Brad Smith, President and CEO of Abound Resources. More than one-third (36%) of bank CEOs report they are either very or somewhat pessimistic about their bank’s outlook for 2013. In 2012, only 21% were pessimistic and none were very pessimistic. Only about one-quarter (28%) are optimistic or very optimistic about 2013, compared to 45% in 2012.
Other major issues of concern are a weak economy and loan demand. Both of these factors were mentioned by 67% of CEOs as major concerns in 2013.
In terms of setting growth priorities for 2013, growing commercial loans, growing mortgages and mortgage originations and increasing market share among the small business segment were the top three.
On the operating side of the equation, priorities are consistent with prior year surveys in that streamlining work flows and increasing operational and technology efficiencies are the primary focus.
2013 is the year of bank workflow improvements. In 2012, streamlining bank workflows was cited by 45% of CEOs as a priority, second to improving efficiency ratios (64%). This year, improving bank workflow is the number one efficiency and cost saving priority for CEOs (60%), followed closely by improving the bank efficiency ratio (58%). According to Brad Smith, “There is a built-up demand for improving bank workflow since so few banks made workflow improvements last year. Bank workflow improvement projects are tricky as middle management is often resistant to changing how they work, or they don’t know how to make changes beyond a few tweaks.”
A complimentary copy of a White Paper analyzing the complete survey results is available for download by clicking here.
ABOUT ABOUND RESOURCES
Abound Resources is a full service bank consulting firm with the sole purpose of helping community banks achieve their goals - whether those goals are for growth, efficiency, technology or risk management. In fact, we guarantee it.
Abound Resources offers an array of services designed to improve performance and profitability and help community banks cope with an increasingly stringent regulatory environment.
Our seven practice areas are each headed by an experienced practice leader:

    Technology – bank technology plans, bank vendor evaluations, core vendor RFPs, bank contract negotiations, bank vendor management
    Performance Management – bank workflow improvement, revenue enhancement, bank efficiency improvement
    Lending – loan process improvement, loan origination vendor evaluations and implementations
    Small Business and Commercial – small business deposit and fee income growth programs, bank cash management programs
    Strategic Planning – bank strategic plans, risk tolerance planning, one page strategic plans, competitive differentiation
    Sales and Marketing – branch performance improvement, sales coaching and training, e-marketing strategies and campaign management
    Risk Management and Compliance – ERM, bank IT audits, information security assessments, bank compliance, BSA review

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Rosacea Care Company, One of First Out of the Gate With Sea Buckthorn, Will Introduce New Products Featuring the Remarkable Ingredient in 2013

The Rosacea Care Company, one of the first to use Sea Buckthorn in the treatment of rosacea and sensitive skin, will introduce new products featuring the ingredient this spring. The soothing and healing qualities of Sea Buckthorn, which contains contains high concentrations of Vitamins C and E as well as flavonoids and oils rich in essential fatty acids, have proven to be an effective approach to relieving the irritation, discomfort and facial redness often associated with rosacea .

Pittsfield, Massachusetts (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
It may sound like a race horse -- perhaps the son of Seabiscuit -- but Sea Buckthorn has proven to be one of the richest and most effective skin care ingredients for treating rosacea and sensitive skin. The Rosacea Care Company, which features the ingredient in its popular Night Cream, will shortly add two new products incorporating Sea Buckthorn. The specific products are currently in the trial phase and will be released in the spring.
Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) has a long history of use in Asia and the Far East as a primary healing agent. It is a shrub with vibrant orange berries and grows in the mountainous regions of Russia and China as well as along certain maritime coasts. It contains high concentrations of Vitamins C and E as well as flavonoids and oils rich in essential fatty acids. It is also a potent antioxidant.
According to Marina Perry, Vice President for Product Development at Rosacea Care, the soothing and healing qualities of Sea Buckthorn provide an effective approach to relieving the irritation and discomfort often associated with rosacea, a skin disorder characterized by facial redness, frequently accompanied by pimples and visible blood vessels. There is no cure, but it is possible to control the symptoms, and that’s where the healing powers of Sea Buckthorn can play a major role.
Perry was born and raised in Russia, where households regularly maintain a supply of Sea Buckthorn Oil to use for treating burns and healing wounds. “In my family,” she says, “whenever there was any kind of burn, abrasion or skin problem, my mother immediately reached for the bottle of cling-berry, as we called it, and the pain and inflammation disappeared.” Perry also notes that some cosmetologists today see anti-aging properties in Sea Buckthorn. “My mother used it as a skin moisturizer, and I can attest that well into her 60’s she had skin like a baby.”
The botanical name for Sea Buckthorn contains the Latin word Hippophae, which means ‘shiny horse.’ Perry explains that there is a legend that ancient Greeks believed that horses who fed on these plants recovered more quickly from battle wounds and developed shiny coats in the process. She adds, “So maybe the reference to Seabiscuit isn’t that far off after all.”
Rosacea Care offers the world’s most comprehensive line of professional skin care products for the treatment of rosacea and sensitive skin. Each of the Rosacea Care products has been exclusively designed and developed by leading dermatologists and research laboratories to provide a helpful and supportive response to these skin conditions. The family-owned company, founded in 2000, is based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Rosacea Care has customers in 80 countries.

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Pwnie Express Participates in Department of Energy Cyber Security Workshop

Pwnie Express, Leader in Innovative Pentesting Products Joins Leaders in Government and Academia at Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Discuss Cyber Security.

Oak Ridge, TN (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Vermont-based Pwnie Express, leader in innovative penetration testing products, will be a Silver Sponsor at this year’s Cyber Security and Information Intelligence Research Workshop (CSIIRW) held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on January 8-10, 2013.
The conference brings together like-minded leaders, researchers and practitioners from Government, Industry and Academia to meet and discuss pertinent issues and needs, establish relationships and identify opportunities for collaboration - to ensure a comprehensive strategy for cybersecurity and information intelligence founded on sound principles and technologies.
Approximately 300-350 mid-senior level researchers, as well as agency and industry executives are expected to participate in this year's workshop. DOE National Laboratories participating include: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
About Pwnie Express

Pwnie Express is the premier global provider of innovative, cost effective, rapid deployment penetration testing products. Their products have been incorporated into the cyber-security toolboxes of over one hundred security service providers, several Fortune 50 companies and various federal agencies. The Pwn Plug has been named as the Editors Choice in PC Magazine and Pwnie Express has been named by CIO On-line as one of the 7 hottest security companies to watch. They have recently been featured in Wired.com, The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Journal, Ars Technica, PC Magazine, and Slashdot. Pwnie Express has also been named one of the the 2012 Industry Innovators in Analysis and Testing by SC Magazine.

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India's top cop calls for rape crackdown

nts and other AP reporting, Bikram Singh …more
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NEW DELHI (AP) — India's top law enforcement official said Friday that the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand" to prevent attacks such as the fatal gang rape of a student on a New Delhi bus last month.
That attack has sparked outrage across India and led to calls for tougher rape legislation and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said crimes against women and marginalized sections of society are increasing, and it is the government's responsibility to stop them.
"This needs to be curbed by an iron hand," he told a conference of state officials from across India that was called to discuss how to protect women.
He called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.
"We need a reappraisal of the entire system," he said.
Five men were charged Thursday with murder, kidnapping and rape in the attack on a 23-year-old student who died over the weekend in a Singapore hospital from massive internal injuries. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday at a new fast-track court inaugurated this week to deal with rape cases in the capital.
In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women's safety.
On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India. The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials' criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.
However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country.

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India rape victim's friend recounts ordeal

NEW DELHI (AP) — The companion of a woman who was gang-raped aboard a bus in New Delhi recounted in a television interview for the first time Friday how the pair was attacked for 2 1/2 hours before being thrown on the side of the road, where passersby ignored them and police debated jurisdiction issues before helping them.
The Dec. 16 attack has outraged Indians and led to calls for tougher rape laws and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers. The nation's top law enforcement official said the country needs to crack down on crimes against women with "an iron hand."
The 23-year-old woman died over the weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack. Authorities charged five men with her murder and rape and were holding a sixth suspect believed to be a juvenile. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Saturday.
The woman and her male friend had just finished watching the movie "Life of Pi" at an upscale mall and were looking for a ride home. An autorickshaw driver declined to take them so they boarded the private bus with the six assailants inside, the companion told the Indian TV network Zee TV.
Authorities have not named the man because of the sensitivity of the case. The TV station also declined to give his name, although it did show his face during the interview. The man has a broken leg and was sitting in a wheelchair during the interview.
After a while, the men on the bus starting harassing and attacking the pair, he said.
"I gave a tough fight to three of them. I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod," he said. The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and raped her.
"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you ... even animals don't behave like that," he said.
Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying she was dead, he said.
The men then dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. He waved to passers-by on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help.
"They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said. After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived and the officers began arguing over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.
The man said he was given no medical care. Instead, he spent four days at the police station helping them investigate the crime. He said he visited his friend in the hospital, told her the attackers were arrested and promised to fight for her.
"She has awakened us all by her courage," he said. "People should move ahead in the struggle to prevent a similar crime happening again as a tribute to her."
On Friday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said crimes against women and marginalized sections of society are increasing, and it is the government's responsibility to stop them.
"This needs to be curbed by an iron hand," he told a conference of state officials from across India that was called to discuss how to protect women.
He called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.
"We need a reappraisal of the entire system," he said.
In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women's safety.
On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India. The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials' criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.
However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country.

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India gang-rape victim's friend recounts attack

NEW DELHI (AP) — Passers-by refused to stop to help a naked, bleeding gang-rape victim after she was dumped from a bus onto a New Delhi street, and police delayed taking her to a hospital for 30 minutes, the woman's male companion said in an interview. It was his first public account of the gruesome attack that killed the 23-year-old student and prompted demands for reform of a law enforcement culture seen as lax in crimes against women.
The gang-rape victim's brother blamed a delay in medical treatment of nearly two hours for her death last week in a Singapore hospital.
The woman's male companion, who has not been named, sat in a wheelchair with a broken leg in his interview aired Friday on Indian TV station Zee News. He recounted the 2 ½ hour rape and beating by a group of men on a bus, which the pair had boarded as they were returning from seeing a movie together.
"I gave a tough fight to three of them. I punched them hard. But then two others hit me with an iron rod," he said. The woman tried to call the police using her mobile phone, but the men took it away from her, he said. They then took her to the rear seats of the bus and one-by-one began raping her, beating and violating her with an iron rod.
Afterward, he overheard some of the attackers saying the woman was dead before dumping both onto the street, he said.
On Saturday, police officer Vivek Gogia denied the companion's assertion that police officers debated jurisdiction for 30 minutes before taking the rape victim and her friend to a hospital.
In a statement, Gogia said police vans reached the spot where the rape victim and her friend were dumped within three minutes of receiving the alert. "Police vans left the spot for hospital with the victims within 12 minutes," he said.
That time was spent in borrowing bed sheets from a neighboring hotel to cover the naked rape victim and her friend, he said.
Also Saturday, a court asked police to produce five men accused of raping the student for pre-trial proceedings on Monday. Police have charged them with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring them the death penalty.
A sixth suspect, listed as a 17-year-old, was expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.
Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said the summary received from Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore said the rape victim's death was caused by septicemia and multiple-organ failure, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
He also told Magistrate Namrita Aggarwal that the DNA test confirmed that the blood of the victim tallied with the blood stains found on the clothes of all the accused.
Meanwhile, the rape victim's brother said the delay in providing medical treatment led to complications which perhaps caused her death.
"She told me that after the incident she had asked passers-by for help but to no avail, and it was only after the highway patrol alerted the police that she was rushed to hospital, but it had taken almost two hours," the Press Trust of India quoted the brother as saying in his ancestral village, Medawara Kala, in northern Uttar Pradesh state.
"By then a lot of blood was lost," he said.
The 23-year-old woman died last weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the attack.
On the night of the attack, the woman and her companion had just finished watching the movie "Life of Pi" at an upscale mall and were looking for a ride home. An autorickshaw driver declined to take them, so they boarded the private bus with the six assailants inside, the companion told Zee News.
After the pair were on the bus for a while, the men started harassing and attacking them.
"The attack was so brutal I can't even tell you ... even animals don't behave like that," the man said.
The men dumped their bleeding and naked bodies under an overpass. The woman's companion waved to passersby on bikes, in autorickshaws and in cars for help, but no one stopped. "They slowed down, looked at our naked bodies and left," he said.
"My friend was grievously injured and bleeding profusely," he said. "Cars, autos and bikes slowed down and sped away. I kept waving for help. The ones who stopped stared at us, discussing what could have happened. Nobody did anything."
After about 20 minutes, three police vans arrived, but the officers argued over who had jurisdiction over the crime as the man pleaded for clothes and an ambulance, he said.
Finally, he said, they were taken to a hospital.
The man said he was given no medical care. He then spent four days at the police station helping police investigate the crime. He said he visited his friend in the hospital, told her the attackers were arrested and promised to fight for her.
Authorities have not named the man because of the sensitivity of the case. Zee News also declined to give his name, although it did show his face during the interview.
Indian law prohibits the disclosure of the identity of victims in rape cases, and police have opened an investigation into the TV station for broadcasting the interview, New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said Saturday. Violators of the law can face up to two years in prison and a fine.
The woman's companion said he gave the TV interview because he hopes it will encourage rape victims to come forward and speak about their ordeals without shame.
He said his friend was determined to see that the attackers were punished. "She gave all details of the crime to the magistrate — things we can't even talk about," he said. "She told me that the culprits should be burnt alive."
He added, "People should move ahead in the struggle to prevent a similar crime happening again as a tribute to her."
Most people in India are reluctant to get involved in police business because once they become witnesses, they can be dragged into legal cases that can go on for years. Also, Indian police are often seen less as protectors and more as harassers.
On Friday, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde called for changes in the law and the way police investigate cases so justice can be swiftly delivered. Many rape cases are bogged down in India's overburdened and sluggish court system for years.
In the wake of the rape, several petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court to take an active role in the issue of women's safety.
On Friday, the court dismissed a petition asking it to suspend Indian lawmakers accused of crimes against women, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction, according to the Press Trust of India. The Association for Democratic Reforms, an organization that tracks officials' criminal records, said six state lawmakers are facing rape prosecutions and two national parliamentarians are facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.
However, the court did agree to look into the widespread creation of more fast-track courts for accused rapists across the country.

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Samsung Galaxy Muse is like an iPod Shuffle that Syncs with Your Phone

In perhaps the most awkwardly titled tech press release ever, Samsung Mobile announced the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy Muse, a device which appears to have nothing to do with "CORRECTING and REPLACING and ADDING MULTIMEDIA" but everything to do with being a music player crossed with a smartphone accessory.
​Say goodbye to iTunes?
While most handheld music players (and smartphone or tablets with music apps) sync with a PC or Mac music app, like iTunes or Banshee, the Samsung Galaxy Muse syncs with your Android phone itself. It uses the Muse Sync app, which Google Play says will install on devices like the Nexus 7 tablet but which Samsung says will only work with the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II smartphones.
​Plug it in, turn it on
The pebble-shaped Muse connects to your Samsung phone via its headset jack. It doesn't have a screen, so you have to control it iPod Shuffle style, and use the Muse Sync app to see how much of its 4 GB of space are free and decide which playlists to sync. Since it only has those 4 GB, it can only hold a fraction of the music that can be put on the much more powerful smartphones.
​Who is Samsung selling the Galaxy Muse to?
Samsung says "users can sync the songs they want and leave their phone behind," the usefulness of which may depend on whether or not you feel limited by having to bring your smartphone with you. The press release mentions its "wearable design and small form factor," and suggests taking it "in place of [your] smartphone ... at the gym or on the go."
​What other gadgets are like the Galaxy Muse?
The most obvious comparison is to the iPod Shuffle, Apple's similarly tiny and screen-less portable music player. At $49, it costs the same as the Galaxy Muse (although a Droid-Life tipster found a $25 off coupon code for the Muse), but comes in seven different colors and has an embossed click-wheel controller instead of a flat and featureless surface. It requires you to use iTunes on a desktop PC or Mac, though.

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Facebook, Google tell the government to stop granting patents for abstract ideas

Facebook (FB), Google (GOOG) and six other tech companies have petitioned the courts to begin rejecting lawsuits that are based on patents for vague concepts rather than specific applications, TechCrunch reported. The agreement, which was cosigned by Zynga (ZNGA), Dell (DELL), Intuit (INTU), Homeaway (AWAY), Rackspace (RAX), and Red Hat (RHT), notes the only thing these abstract patents do is increase legal fees and slow innovation in the industry. The companies claim that “abstract patents are a plague in the high tech sector” and force innovators into litigation that results in huge settlements or steep licensing fees for technology they have already developed on their own, which then leads to higher prices for consumers.
“Many computer-related patent claims just describe an abstract idea at a high level of generality and say to perform it on a computer or over the Internet,” the briefing reads. “Such barebones claims grant exclusive rights over the abstract idea itself, with no limit on how the idea is implemented. Granting patent protection for such claims would impair, not promote, innovation by conferring exclusive rights on those who have not meaningfully innovated, and thereby penalizing those that do later innovate by blocking or taxing their applications of the abstract idea.”
The companies conclude, “It is easy to think of abstract ideas about what a computer or website should do, but the difficult, valuable, and often groundbreaking part of online innovation comes next: designing, analyzing, building, and deploying the interface, software, and hardware to implement that idea in a way that is useful in daily life. Simply put, ideas are much easier to come by than working implementations.”

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Verizon Offering $5 Shared 4G Plan for Samsung Galaxy Camera

Imagine the powerful Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, except that it can't make phone calls and its backplate has been replaced by a digital camera -- handgrip, zoom lens, and all. That's basically the Samsung Galaxy Camera in a nutshell, and whether it's a small, awkwardly-shaped Android tablet or a digital camera that you can play Modern Combat 3 on depends on how you look at it.
When the Galaxy Camera launched last month, it was only available in white, and cost $499 on AT&T's network with a month-to-month data plan. But on Dec. 13, it launches on Verizon's network, in both white and black. The Verizon Galaxy Camera costs $50 more up front, but in return it has 4G LTE instead of HSPA+, and Verizon is offering a "promotional price" for the monthly charge: Only $5 to add it to a Share Everything plan, instead of the usual $10 tablet rate.
A 4G digital camera
While it's capable of functioning as an Android tablet (or game machine), the biggest reason for the Samsung Galaxy Camera's 4G wireless Internet is so it can automatically upload photos it takes. Apps such as Dropbox, Photobucket, and Ubuntu One offer a limited amount of online storage space for free, where the Galaxy Camera can save photos without anyone needing to tell it to. Those photos can then be accessed at home, or on a tablet or laptop.
Most smartphones are able to do this already, but few (with the possible exception of the Windows Phone powered Nokia Lumia 920) are able to take photos as high-quality as the Galaxy Camera's.
Not as good of a deal as it sounds
Dropbox is offering two years' worth of 50 GB of free online storage space for photos and videos, to anyone who buys a Samsung Galaxy Camera from AT&T or Verizon. (The regular free plan is only 2 GB.)
The problem is, you may need that much space. The photos taken by the Galaxy Camera's 16 megapixel sensor take up a lot more space, at maximum resolution, than ordinary smartphone snapshots do. Those camera uploads can eat through a shared data plan, and with Verizon charging a $15 per GB overage fee (plus the $50 extra up-front on top of what AT&T charges) it may make up for the cheaper monthly cost.
On top of that, the Galaxy Camera's photos are basically on par with a $199 digital camera's -- you pay a large premium to combine that kind of point-and-shoot with the hardware equivalent of a high-end smartphone.
It does run Android, though, right?
The Galaxy Camera uses Samsung's custom software for its camera app, and lacks a normal phone dialer app. Beyond that, though, it runs the same Android operating system found on smartphones, and can run all the same games and apps.
Some apps don't work the same on the Galaxy Camera as they do on a smartphone, however. Apps which only run in portrait mode, for instance, require you to hold the camera sideways to use them (especially unpleasant when they're camera apps). And while it can make voice and even video calls over Skype, it lacks a rear-facing camera or the kind of speaker you hold up close to your ear. So you may end up making speakerphone calls and filming the palm of your hand.

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Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet.
But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web's most controversial characters, sees a business opportunity.
Founded in 2010, CloudFlare markets itself as an Internet intermediary that shields websites from distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks, the crude but effective weapon that hackers use to bludgeon websites until they go dark. The 40-person company claims to route up to 5 percent of all Internet traffic through its global network.
Prince calls his company the "Switzerland" of cyberspace - assiduously neutral and open to all comers. But just as companies like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have faced profound questions about the balance between free speech and openness on the Internet and national security and law enforcement concerns, CloudFlare's business has posed another thorny question: what kinds of services, if any, should an American company be allowed to offer designated terrorists and cyber criminals?
CloudFlare's unusual position at the heart of this debate came to the fore last month, when the Israel Defense Forces sought help from CloudFlare after its website was struck by attackers based in Gaza. The IDF was turning to the same company that provides those services to Hamas and the al-Quds Brigades, according to publicly searchable domain information. Both Hamas and al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are designated by the United States as terrorist groups.
Under the USA Patriot Act, U.S. firms are forbidden from providing "material support" to groups deemed foreign terrorist organizations. But what constitutes material support - like many other facets of the law itself - has been subject to intense debate.
CloudFlare's dealings have attracted heated criticism in the blogosphere from both Israelis and Palestinians, but Prince defended his company as a champion of free speech.
"Both sides have an absolute right to tell their story," said Prince, a 38-year old former lawyer. "We're not providing material support for anybody. We're not sending money, or helping people arm themselves."
Prince noted that his company only provides defensive capabilities that enable websites to stay online.
"We can't be sitting in a role where we decide what is good or what is bad based on our own personal biases," he said. "That's a huge slippery slope."
Many U.S. agencies are customers, but so is WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing organization. CloudFlare has consulted for many Wall Street institutions, yet also protects Anonymous, the "hacktivist" group associated with the Occupy movement.
Prince's stance could be tested at a time when some lawmakers in the United States and Europe, armed with evidence that militant groups rely on the Web for critical operations and recruitment purposes, have pressured Internet companies to censor content or cut off customers.
Last month, conservative political lobbies, as well as seven lawmakers led by Ted Poe, a Republican from Texas, urged the FBI to shut down the Hamas Twitter account. The account remains active; Twitter declined to comment.
MATERIAL SUPPORT
Although it has never prosecuted an Internet company under the Patriot Act, the government's use of the material support argument has steadily risen since 2006. Since September 11, 2001, more than 260 cases have been charged under the provision, according to Fordham Law School's Terrorism Trends database.
Catherine Lotrionte, the director of Georgetown University's Institute for Law, Science and Global Security and a former Central Intelligence Agency lawyer, argued that Internet companies should be more closely regulated.
"Material support includes web services," Lotrionte said. "Denying them services makes it more costly for the terrorists. You're cornering them."
But others have warned that an aggressive government approach would have a chilling effect on free speech.
"We're resurrecting the kind of broad-brush approaches we used in the McCarthy era," said David Cole, who represented the Humanitarian Law Project, a non-profit organization that was charged by the Justice Department for teaching law to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist group. The group took its case to the Supreme Court but lost in 2010.
The material support law is vague and ill-crafted, to the point where basic telecom providers, for instance, could be found guilty by association if a terrorist logs onto the Web to plot an attack, Cole said.
In that case, he asked, "Do we really think that AT&T or Google should be held accountable?"
CloudFlare said it has not been contacted about its services by the U.S. government. Spokespeople for Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, told Reuters they contracted a cyber-security company in Gaza that out-sources work to foreign companies, but declined to comment further. The IDF confirmed it had hired CloudFlare, but declined to discuss "internal security" matters.
CloudFlare offers many of its services for free, but the company says websites seeking advanced protection and features can see their bill rise to more than $3,000 a month. Prince declined to discuss the business arrangements with specific customers.
While not yet profitable, CloudFlare has more than doubled its revenue in the past four months, according to Prince, and is picking up 3,000 new customers a day. The company has raked in more than $22 million from venture capital firms including New Enterprise Associates, Venrock and Pelion Venture Partners.
Prince, a Midwestern native with mussed brown hair who holds a law degree from the University of Chicago, said he has a track record of working on the right side of the law.
A decade ago, Prince provided free legal aid to Spamhaus, an international group that tracked email spammers and identity thieves. He went on to create Project Honey Pot, an open source spam-tracking endeavor that turned over findings to police.
Prince's latest company, CloudFlare, has been hailed by groups such as the Committee to Protect Journalists for protecting speech. Another client, the World Economic Forum, named CloudFlare among its 2012 "technology pioneers" for its work. But it also owes its profile to its most controversial customers.
CloudFlare has served 4Chan, the online messaging community that spawned Anonymous. LulzSec, the hacker group best known for targeting Sony Corp, is another customer. And since last May, the company has propped up WikiLeaks after a vigilante hacker group crashed the document repository.
Last year, members of the hacker collective UgNazi, whose exploits include pilfering user account information from eBay and crashing the CIA.gov website, broke into Prince's cell phone and email accounts.
"It was a personal affront," Prince said. "But we never kicked them off either."
Prince said CloudFlare would comply with a valid court order to remove a customer, but that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has never requested a takedown. The company has agreed to turn over information to authorities on "exceedingly rare" occasions, he acknowledged, declining to elaborate.
"Any company that doesn't do that won't be in business long," Prince said. But in an email, he added: "We have a deep and abiding respect for our users' privacy, disclose to our users whenever possible if we are ordered to turn over information and would fight an order that we believed was not proper."
Juliannne Sohn, an FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Michael Sussmann, a former Justice Department lawyer who prosecuted computer crimes, said U.S. law enforcement agencies may in fact prefer that the Web's most wanted are parked behind CloudFlare rather than a foreign service over which they have no jurisdiction.
Federal investigators "want to gather information from as many sources as they can, and they're happy to get it," Sussmann said.
In an era of rampant cyber warfare, Prince acknowledged he is something of a war profiteer, but with a wrinkle.
"We're not selling bullets," he said. "We're selling flak jackets."

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