offering split-perspectives as suggested by wachs

Former-commit-id: d51349ef93a892ff6fb1c65cd5292c8e73fc0a62

6 files changed, 315 insertions, 103 deletions

diff --git a/citizens.html b/citizens.html
index 74da1005..c3d3bd1b 100644
--- a/citizens.html
+++ b/citizens.html
@@ -137,7 +137,62 @@
 	     valute nel tuo portafoglio digitale.</p>
         </div>
       </div>
-
+      <div class="col-lg-12">
+        <h2 lang="en" id="overview">Taler as seen by customers</h1>
+        <h2 lang="de">Taler aus Kundensicht</h1>
+        <h2 lang="fr" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <h2 lang="it" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <p lang="en">Customers interact with the Taler system mostly using
+          a free wallet implementation, which may be an extension or plugin
+          to their browser or a custom application on their computer(s).
+          Typical steps performed by customers are:
+        </p>
+        <p lang="de" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="fr" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="it" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p>
+          <img src="images/customer.svg" alt="customer perspective" style="float: right; margin: 50px 5px 5px 5px;" width="50%">
+          <ol>
+            <li lang="en">The customer selects a mint (i.e. by visiting the
+              respective website or selecting from a list of mints in the
+              application) and asks the wallet to create bank transfer
+              instructions to withdraw a certain amount of electronic cash.
+              The bank transfer instructions will contain an
+              access code that must be included in the subject of the
+              transaction, as well as the wire details for the mint (i.e.
+              a SEPA account number).</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">The customer then instructs his <b>bank</b> to
+               transfer funds from his account to the Taler mint using
+               these instructions provided by the wallet (top left).</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Once the funds have arrived, the wallet will
+               automatically withdraw the electronic coins.  The
+               customer can use the wallet to review his remaining balance
+               at any time. He can also make backups to secure his digital
+               coins against hardware failures.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">When visiting a merchant that supports Taler,
+               a new payment option is available in the checkout system.
+               If the customer selects payments via Taler, the wallet
+               displays the secured contract from the merchant and asks
+               for confirmation.  Taler does not require the customer
+               to provide any identity information to the merchant.
+               Transaction histories and digitally
+               signed contracts can be preserved in the wallet for future
+               review by the customer, or even use in court.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+          </ol>
+        </p>
+      </div>
       <!--# include file="common/footer.inc" -->
     </div> <!-- /container -->
   </body>
diff --git a/developers.html b/developers.html
index 840b5cda..618472f4 100644
--- a/developers.html
+++ b/developers.html
@@ -174,7 +174,106 @@
             <a href="http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/taler">http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/taler</a>.</p>
         </div>
       </div>
-
+      <div class="col-lg-12">
+        <h2 lang="en" id="overview">Taler system overview</h1>
+        <h2 lang="de">Das Taler-System im &Uuml;berblick</h1>
+        <h2 lang="fr" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <h2 lang="it" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <p lang="en">The Taler system consists of protocols and free software
+          implementations between a number of actors as illustrated in the
+          illustration on the right.  Typical transactions involve the following steps:
+        </p>
+        <p lang="de" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="fr" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="it" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p>
+          <img src="images/system.svg" alt="system overview" style="float: right; margin: 50px 5px 5px 5px;" width="50%">
+          <ol>
+             <li lang="en">A customer instructs his <b>bank</b> to transfer funds
+               from his account to the Taler mint (top left).  In the subject of
+               the transaction, he includes an authentication token from his
+               electronic <b>wallet</b>. In Taler terminology, the customer
+               creates a reserve at the mint.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Once the mint has received the transfer, it allows the
+               customer's electronic wallet to <b>withdraw</b> electronic coins.
+               The electronic coins are digital representations of the original
+               transfer. It is important to note that the mint does not learn
+               the "serial numbers" of the coins in this process, so it cannot
+               tell later which customer purchased what at which merchant.
+               The use of Taler does not change the currency or the
+               total value of the funds (except for fees which the mint may
+               charge for the service).</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Once the customer has the digital coins in his wallet,
+               the wallet can be used to <b>spend</b> the coins with merchant
+               portals that support the Taler
+               payment system and accept the respective mint as a business
+               partner (bottom arrow). This creates a digital contract signed
+               by the customer's coins and the merchant. Assuming courts accept
+               cryptographic signatures, the customer can later use this digitally
+               signed contract in a court of law to prove the exact terms of
+               the contract and that he paid the respective amount. The customer
+               does not learn the banking details of the merchant, and Taler
+               does not require the merchant to learn the identity of the
+               customer. Naturally, the customer can spend any fraction of his
+               digital coins (the system takes care of customers getting
+               change).</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Merchants receiving digital coins <b>deposits</b>
+               the respective receipts that resulted from the contract signing
+               with the customer at the mint to redeem the coins.
+               The deposit step does not reveal the learn the details of the
+               contract between the customer and the merchant or the identity
+               of the customer to the mint in any way. However, the mint
+               does learn the identity of the merchant via the provided bank
+               routing information.  The merchant can, for example when
+               compelled by the state for taxation, provide information linking
+               the individual deposit to the respective contract signed by the
+               customer. Thus, the mint's database allows the state to enforce
+               that merchants pay applicable taxes (and do not engage in
+               illegal contracts).</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Finally, the mint transfers funds corresponding to
+               the digital coins redeemed by the merchants to the merchant's
+               <b>bank</b> account. The mint may combine multiple small
+               transactions into one larger bank transfer.
+               The merchant can query the mint
+               about the relationship between the bank transfers and the
+               individual claims that were deposited.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Most importantly, the mint keeps cryptographic
+               proofs that allow it to demonstrate that it is operating
+               correctly to third parties.  The system requires an external
+               <b>auditor</b>, such as a government-appointed financial regulatory
+               body, to frequently verify the mint's databases and check that
+               its bank balance matches the total value of the remaining coins
+               in circulation.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">Without the auditor, the mint operators could
+               steal funds they are holding in reserve. Customers and merchants
+               cannot cheat each other or the mint. If any party's computers
+               are compromised, the financial damage is limited to the
+               respective party and proportional to the funds they
+               have in circulation during the period of the compromise.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+           </ol>
+         </p>
+       </div>
       <!--# include file="common/footer.inc" -->
     </div> <!-- /container -->
   </body>
diff --git a/governments.html b/governments.html
index 7255c1a0..ca365590 100644
--- a/governments.html
+++ b/governments.html
@@ -109,7 +109,65 @@
 	     (in modo significativo) l'inquinamento.</p>
         </div>
       </div>
-
+      <div class="col-lg-12">
+        <h2 lang="en" id="overview">Taler as seen by governments</h1>
+        <h2 lang="de">Taler aus Regierungsperspektive</h1>
+        <h2 lang="fr" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <h2 lang="it" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <p lang="en">Governments can observe traditional wire
+          transfers entering and leaving the Taler system, and
+          require merchants and mint operators to provide certain
+          information during financial audits.  Mint operators
+          are expected to be permanently checked by auditors,
+          while merchants may be required to reveal information
+          during regular tax audits.
+          Information available to the government includes:
+        </p>
+        <p lang="de" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="fr" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="it" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p>
+          <img src="images/government.svg" alt="government perspective" style="float: right; margin: 50px 5px 5px 5px;" width="50%">
+          <ul>
+            <li lang="en">From the banking system:
+              The total amount of digital currency
+              obtained by a customer. The government could impose
+              limits on how many digital coins a customer may
+              withdraw within a given timeframe.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">From the banking system:
+               The total amount of income received
+               by any merchant via the Taler system.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">From auditing the mint:
+               The amounts of digital coins legitimately withdrawn by
+               customers from mint, the value of non-redeemed digital coins
+               in customer's wallets, the value and corresponding wire details
+               of deposit operations performed by merchants with the mint, and
+               the income of the mint from transaction fees.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="en">From auditing merchants:
+               For each deposit operation, the exact details of the
+               underlying contract that was signed between
+               customer and merchant.  However, this information would
+               typically not include the identity of the customer.
+               Note that while the customer can decide to prove that it was his
+               transaction (i.e. in court when suing the merchant if the
+               merchant failed to deliver on the contract),
+               merchant, mint and government cannot find out the customer's
+               identity from the information that Taler collects.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+          </ul>
+        </p>
+      </div>
       <!--# include file="common/footer.inc" -->
     </div> <!-- /container -->
   </body>
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 76852c00..d06e1f32 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -194,106 +194,6 @@
           <p><a lang="it" class="btn btn-primary" href="/news" role="button" lang="it">Scopri di più &raquo;</a></p>
         </div>
       </div>
-      <div class="col-lg-12">
-        <h2 lang="en" id="overview">Taler system overview</h1>
-        <h2 lang="de">Das Taler-System im &Uuml;berblick</h1>
-        <h2 lang="fr" note="outdated"></h2>
-        <h2 lang="it" note="outdated"></h2>
-        <p lang="en">The Taler system consists of protocols and free software
-          implementations between a number of actors as illustrated in the
-          illustration on the right.  Typical transactions involve the following steps:
-        </p>
-        <p lang="de" note="outdated"></p>
-        <p lang="fr" note="outdated"></p>
-        <p lang="it" note="outdated"></p>
-        <p>
-          <img src="images/system.svg" alt="system overview" style="float: right; margin: 50px 5px 5px 5px;" width="50%">
-          <ol>
-             <li lang="en">A customer instructs his <b>bank</b> to transfer funds
-               from his account to the Taler mint (top left).  In the subject of
-               the transaction, he includes an authentication token from his
-               electronic <b>wallet</b>. In Taler terminology, the customer
-               creates a reserve at the mint.</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="en">Once the mint has received the transfer, it allows the
-               customer's electronic wallet to <b>withdraw</b> electronic coins.
-               The electronic coins are digital representations of the original
-               transfer. It is important to note that the mint does not learn
-               the "serial numbers" of the coins in this process, so it cannot
-               tell later which customer purchased what at which merchant.
-               The use of Taler does not change the currency or the
-               total value of the funds (except for fees which the mint may
-               charge for the service).</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="en">Once the customer has the digital coins in his wallet,
-               the wallet can be used to <b>spend</b> the coins with merchant
-               portals that support the Taler
-               payment system and accept the respective mint as a business
-               partner (bottom arrow). This creates a digital contract signed
-               by the customer's coins and the merchant. Assuming courts accept
-               cryptographic signatures, the customer can later use this digitally
-               signed contract in a court of law to prove the exact terms of
-               the contract and that he paid the respective amount. The customer
-               does not learn the banking details of the merchant, and Taler
-               does not require the merchant to learn the identity of the
-               customer. Naturally, the customer can spend any fraction of his
-               digital coins (the system takes care of customers getting
-               change).</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="en">Merchants receiving digital coins <b>deposits</b>
-               the respective receipts that resulted from the contract signing
-               with the customer at the mint to redeem the coins.
-               The deposit step does not reveal the learn the details of the
-               contract between the customer and the merchant or the identity
-               of the customer to the mint in any way. However, the mint
-               does learn the identity of the merchant via the provided bank
-               routing information.  The merchant can, for example when
-               compelled by the state for taxation, provide information linking
-               the individual deposit to the respective contract signed by the
-               customer. Thus, the mint's database allows the state to enforce
-               that merchants pay applicable taxes (and do not engage in
-               illegal contracts).</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="en">Finally, the mint transfers funds corresponding to
-               the digital coins redeemed by the merchants to the merchant's
-               <b>bank</b> account. The mint may combine multiple small
-               transactions into one larger bank transfer.
-               The merchant can query the mint
-               about the relationship between the bank transfers and the
-               individual claims that were deposited.</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="en">Most importantly, the mint keeps cryptographic
-               proofs that allow it to demonstrate that it is operating
-               correctly to third parties.  The system requires an external
-               <b>auditor</b>, such as a government-appointed financial regulatory
-               body, to frequently verify the mint's databases and check that
-               its bank balance matches the total value of the remaining coins
-               in circulation.</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="en">Without the auditor, the mint operators could
-               steal funds they are holding in reserve. Customers and merchants
-               cannot cheat each other or the mint. If any party's computers
-               are compromised, the financial damage is limited to the
-               respective party and proportional to the funds they
-               have in circulation during the period of the compromise.</li>
-             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
-             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
-           </ol>
-         </p>
-       </div>
        <div class="col-lg-12">
          <h2 lang="en" id="taxability">Taler technology: About taxability, change and privacy</h1>
          <h2 lang="de">Taler Technik: Steuern, Wechselgeld und Privatsph&auml;re</h1>
diff --git a/investors.html b/investors.html
index 19ea21b6..53242236 100644
--- a/investors.html
+++ b/investors.html
@@ -121,6 +121,52 @@
 	     o entrambi) per facilitare le transazioni.</p>
         </div>
       </div>
+      <div class="col-lg-12">
+        <h2 lang="en" id="overview">Taler as seen by the mint operator</h1>
+        <h2 lang="de">Taler aus Betreiberperspektive</h1>
+        <h2 lang="fr" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <h2 lang="it" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <p lang="en">The mint operator primarily operates a Web service
+          portal and keeps databases with transaction details and
+          cryptographic proofs.  Its operational expenses are thus related to
+          its interactions with the banking system and the operation of
+          the computing infrastructure, while its income is based on
+          transaction fees it may charge for the various interactions.
+          Key interactions of the mint include:
+        </p>
+        <p lang="de" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="fr" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="it" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p>
+          <img src="images/mint.svg" alt="operator perspective" style="float: right; margin: 50px 5px 5px 5px;" width="50%">
+          <ol>
+            <li lang="en">Create a <b>reserve</b> based on an incoming
+              wire transfer from a customer.</li>
+            <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="en">Allow customers to withdraw (and refresh)
+               digital coins from their reserve.</li>
+            <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="en">Accept and validate deposits from merchants.</li>
+            <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="en">Execute wire transfers to merchants in
+               response to validated deposits.</li>
+            <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="en">Preserve and provide cryptographic proofs of
+               correct operation for audits by financial regulators.</li>
+            <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+          </ol>
+        </p>
+      </div>
       <!--# include file="common/footer.inc" -->
     </div> <!-- /container -->
   </body>
diff --git a/merchants.html b/merchants.html
index 09eece94..4d4bd72b 100644
--- a/merchants.html
+++ b/merchants.html
@@ -222,6 +222,60 @@
 	     fornendo standard aperti e implementazioni di riferimento in free-software.</p>
         </div>
       </div>
+     <div class="col-lg-12">
+        <h2 lang="en" id="overview">Taler as seen by merchants</h1>
+        <h2 lang="de">Taler aus Gesch&auml;ftssicht</h1>
+        <h2 lang="fr" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <h2 lang="it" note="outdated"></h2>
+        <p lang="en">Merchants supporting the Taler system need to integrate
+          some relatively simple logic into their transaction processing
+          system.
+          Typical steps performed by the merchant system are:
+        </p>
+        <p lang="de" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="fr" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p lang="it" note="outdated"></p>
+        <p>
+          <img src="images/merchant.svg" alt="merchant perspective" style="float: right; margin: 50px 5px 5px 5px;" width="50%">
+          <ol>
+            <li lang="en">The new logic detects when a customer's system
+              supports Taler and then needs to send a digitally signed
+              version of the proposed contract in a simple JSON format to
+              the customer.
+              The message also includes salted, hashed wire details for
+              the merchant, as well as restrictions as to which mint operators
+              the merchant is willing to deal with.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+            <li lang="en">The customer sends a signed response which states
+               that certain digital coins now belong to the merchant to both
+               signal acceptance of the deal as well as to pay the respective
+               amount (bottom).</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">The merchant then forwards the signed messages
+               received from the customer to the mint, together with its
+               wire details and the salt (without hashing).  The mint verifies
+               the details and sends a signed confirmation (or an error
+               message) to the merchant.  The merchant checks that the
+               mint's signature is valid, sends a confirmation to the
+               customer and executes the contract-specific business logic.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="en">The mint performs wire transfers corresponding to
+               the claims deposited by the merchant.  Note that the mint may
+               charge fees for the deposit operation, hence merchants may
+               impose limits restricting the set of mint operators they are
+               willing to deal with.</li>
+             <li lang="de" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="fr" note="outdated"></li>
+             <li lang="it" note="outdated"></li>
+          </ol>
+        </p>
+      </div>
       <!--# include file="common/footer.inc" -->
     </div> <!-- /container -->
   </body>