Nice post moni3z. 

That's a lot of information you provide there. You seem to confirm my previous assertion that if you're technically savvy you don't need to pay for these types of services because you can roll your own.
I was thinking of an analogy for the bricks and mortar world. I thought of the clothes analogy: While theoretically it would be much cheaper if we would all just make our own clothes from cloth we buy in the flea market, the reality is that most people are happy to pay a professional to do it for them so all they have to worry about is wearing the clothes, not making them. I think the analogy applies here too. You could (theoretically, if you have moni3z's know how) set up your own secure network and applications, or you could just buy the same service from others. It's a question of talent, money, time and personal choice.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, the FortKnox guys replied to my email and have authorized me to share their coupon code with the bitcoin community.
If you use the coupon code satoshi at checkout, you'll get 15% off all products, on top of whatever other discounts they already offer.

The non-tech savvy can have someone they trust and know vet the code for them. Obviously they can't do it themselves.
Regarding rolling your own, what makes you trust the free services more than the commercial ones? Because in the final analysis it always boils down to trust. If you don't trust their service (doesn't matter if it's free or commercial), your only option is to roll you own. Provided you know how, of course.

There's obviously a market for these services or else how do you explain the success of a company like Silent Circle? (which is American, by the way...and still it seems many people are willing to pay for privacy even though there are comparable free services, as you point out)

No, I'm not "connected" to the service. I'm simply a user. I couldn't care less if anyone signs up or not.

As for the value question, I agree that technically savvy people can probably roll their own infrastructure. But remember that 99% of the people out there are not technically savvy, which is why it's great to see these services popping up to make them accessible to the other 99% that have no privacy protections.
The fact that it is open source means, to me, that you don't have to blindly trust them like all other commercial "secure communications" offerings out there. You can actually inspect the source code yourself if you have the necessary technical skills.

https://www.fortknox.is

I emailed them and asked if we could get a special discount for the bitcoin community.
We'll see how they respond.

To all open source, decentralized, privacy minded bitcoin lovin cryptogeeks out there:

There's a new encrypted communications service hosted out of Iceland that I started using with some friends last week. So far, I'm loving it.
They offer encrypted phone calls, SMS and chat with file transfers for Android based smartphones. I have a buddy that only uses iPhones, and even he was able to use their secure service.

The best part is they don't seem interested in collecting your private info unlike most other companies out there. And that's a refreshing change. All you need to give them is an email address.

And, of course, they accept Bitcoins and Litecoins, among other payment options.

If anyone's interested in protecting their privacy and preserving anonymity, check them out at https://www.fortknox.is

I've emailed them and asked if they would consider a special discount for the bitcoin community since it fits in well with their service.
Hopefully I'll get back a positive response soon. If so I'll post the info here.

Interesting times indeed.
That's why I recently signed up for a new privacy service hosted out of Iceland. Not only is their code and philosophy 100% open source, they even accept bitcoins and litecoins.
Now all my phone calls and chats are encrypted. 

Good point. I guess how long you try depends a little on common sense and your own level of perseverance. I imagine after a reasonable effort has been made to find the owner, without success, then it would be ok to keep the BTC, or, even better, donate them to some charity.

Don't do anything. As others have pointed out, it is just like stealing someone's wallet, even if they weren't too smart to begin with and picked a weak passphrase.
If you found a wallet in a taxi cab, would you keep it or try to find the owner and return it? I guess it depends on your morals. I would return it, but that's just me.

Thanks for clearing that up. That is not at all clear from reading the newbie rules.

"my goal is to capitalize on the ups and downs of the market, sell high and buy low"

Don't mean to be a dick, but you do realize that is what all stock market speculators say right before they lose it all, right?
If you speculate for a living, be it on wall street, real estate, or BTC, eventually you will get your head handed to you unless it's a rigged game and you've got a seat at the top of the pile (think wall st. investment banks).

Be careful and have the humility to realize that market timing (which is what you want to do) is impossible to do consistently. If I were you I'd start a business that accepts BTC. That's a better way to achieve your goal IMO.

I recommend Bitpay as stated by Stephen Gornick.

Their approval time is very quick and you'll be up and running in no time.
At least that's been my experience with them.

Exactly. Sooner or later one cryptocurrency will end up top of the pile and will become the de facto cc to use.
It may not even be the best one (whatever that means anyway) that wins. Just think Betamax vs VHS in the 80s.
Ok, now I feel old because many of the posters here probably have no clue what I'm talking about.

This is both good and bad. Too many new cryptocurrencies will just confuse the general public and lead to low levels of adoption.
On the other hand, innovation is always good for this sector. Maybe we have yet to see what will become the de facto cryptocurrency of the digital age.
Maybe it won't be bitcoin at all like many assume. Maybe it'll be some other cryptocurrency which manages to avoid the bad PR from the mainstream media.
In my mind, the breakthrough will come when a government starts accepting BTC (or whatever alternative) to pay taxes. Then we will see it really take off (I mean use wise, not necessarily price wise in comparison to paper fiat currencies)

Anyway, as someone put it before in this thread, fascinating times indeed.