Under 10.04 it was possible to use the gconf-editor system/storage setting to specify the default permissions for vfat and ntfs file systems when a USB drive was mounted. That seems to be missing in 11.04 in gconf-editor and dconf-editor. The automount gives no permissions to other users and groups to access the files and programs such as MediaTomb can not access files on a USB drive unless I format it in ext3.
How can I change the permissions at or after mounting - any change does not seem to be sticky on a ntfs or fat32 USB drive.