TELECOM Digest Fri, 14 Nov 2003 23:00:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 751 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson The Fix is in on VOIP Regulation -- Reed Hundt (Marcus Didius Falco) A More Official Word on Portal ND / N.Portal SK (Mark J Cuccia) Re: Treo 600 for Cingular Wireless GSM/GPRS Customers (Justin Time) Comcast Discounts Broadband Rates in Attack on DSL (Monty Solomon) Re: Long Distance via DSL/Cable ("Mark Mastrocinque) Don't Use Maticmax.com (Steven J Sobol) High Density Multiport Fax Servers (Mike) AOL 9.0: Don't do it;Just Don't; Don't Even Think of it (whorunwerun) Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service (Darren Harris) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. 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Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 20:53:04 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: The Fix is in on VOIP Regulation -- Reed Hundt * Original: FROM..... Dave Farber Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:58:38 -0500 From: David S Isenberg From isen.blog: http://www.isen.com/blog/archives/2003_11_01_archive.html#106859799365154370 Has the FCC already decided how to regulate Internet Telephony? Former FCC Chair Reed Hundt reads a recent letter from FCC Chairman Michael Powell to Senator Ron Wyden to indicate that the FCC is speeding headlong towards an unknown set of VOIP regulations with as little public comment as possible. Hundt spoke today (November 11, 2003) at Jeff Pulver's Wireless Internet Summit in Santa Clara CA. I've known for several weeks that the FCC will be holding a hearing on Voice Over Internet Protocol on December 1. I had thought it would be like the delightfully informative and informal Rural Wireless Internet Service Provider Workshop that the FCC held on November 4. But this is not to be. Apparently the December 1 meeting is to be a formal FCC hearing designed to legally circumvent the more normal, deliberative Notice of Inquiry process, which is designed to solicit, collect and consider a wide range of public comments. The FCC is in a hurry. "Things have greatly accelerated over the last year," writes Powell to Wyden, "and so have the FCC's actions." The hearing will hear "a wide range of witnesses from industry and government," but not (apparently) from the entrepreneurial creators of the next communications industry, or from end users who stand to benefit from the demise of the old telephone "industry". "Shortly after the forum," the letter continues, "The FCC will initiate a Notice of Public (sic) Rule Making on VoIP services." (Actually, it is a notice of *PROPOSED* rule making -- Hundt says that the "Freudian" slip is telling.) As if the FCC will not need much time to consider the "witnesses" in the forum, as if the FCC already knows what the rules will say, as if the fix is in. Powell closes by saying, "As the Senate moves to debate the Internet Tax Moritorium in the coming days, I urge caution in addressing VoIP issues." One of the VoIP issues on the table is Universal Service, according to Powell. That's a tax. It's a tax to support service to the rural and the poor that is being explored by somebody who recently likened the Internet to a Mercedes Benz -- a luxury, not a necessity. Now that the Internet promises to a large proportion of the U.S. $300 Billion annual telecom revenues back into the pockets of rate payers, will the FCC prop up the telephone industry at the expense of the U.S. public with a tax? It is not likely that the FCC, which recently ignored enormous public feedback about relaxed ownership caps on media, will be responsive to pleas to protect Voice over the Internet. But maybe Congress will. And maybe Powell will anticipate this sooner, rather than later, because Powell is a smart guy. Powell gets it. And he doesn't need any more egg on his face. More soon. David I ------- Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 06:21:43 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: A More Official Word on Portal ND / N.Portal SK I finally got around to calling up Midstate Telco in Stanley ND, the telco which provides service to Portal ND USA, and spoke with an older gentleman who told me that he was involved with that telco *ALL OF HIS ADULT LIFE* !!! :) 701-628-2522 (phone), http://www.midstatetel.com/ (Webpage) It *IS* local/EAS/Free to call *IN BOTH DIRECTIONS* between the border communities of Portal ND USA and N.Portal SK Canada and it "always has been"! It is dialable in *BOTH* directions on a *SEVEN-DIGIT* basis. I just don't understand why it has been so difficult to find anything actually documented in SaskTel/CRTC tariffs or ND-side telco/regulatory tariff documents, indicating that it is (and always has been) local/free to call back and forth between Portal ND USA with N.Portal SK Canada. I wonder if there's something "buried" at the FCC's or CRTC's website indicating that this local/FREE/EAS calling has been "grandfathered"? ANYHOW, from my conversation with Midstate Telco in Stanley ND: The name of the telco providing service to both Portal ND USA and the Canadian side (North Portal SK) was known as "The International Telephone Company" for many years, but it was changed to Midstate Telephone circa 1956, at the "request" (demand?) of "Big Mama" (AT&T), to avoid any possible "confusion" as the NANP/DDD network was being firmly developed during the mid-1950s. Portal/N.Portal was served from a *MAGNETO* manual board central office through the 1960s. About that time, the central office was replaced with a Stromberg SXY Step switch, and a new "dial-0" local assistance board from North Electric of Gallion OH was installed. (Toll calls that needed operator assisted billing probably had to be placed thru the NWBell "dial-110" toll operator, who was most likely located in Minot ND). It was at this time that AT&T/NWBell assigned *dialable* 701-926 for the USA-side ratecenter of Portal ND USA, and TCTS/SaskTel assigned *dialable* 306-927 for the Canadian-side ratecenter of North Portal SK Canada. But the Canadian-side was actually getting *dialtone* from the US-side, and all "toll" homed via the US-side NWBell toll switch of Minot ND, MNOTNDBC01T. Local calls beteen the two sides were dialable on a *FOUR* digit basis. There were no "duplicate" line-number assignments between 701-926 and 306-927. And since there were *NO* 701-927 and 306-926 prefixes assigned (for years to come -- I don't even think that there are any such prefixes assigned by Neustar-NANPA nor SAIC-CNAC even as of today), it *might* have even been possible depending on switch translations "elsewhere" for either code to be dialed "interchangeably". (As for "downstream" AMA billing processing, I wonder if something would have "choked" or "dropped a card" if the "wrong" prefix showed up?) Sometime around/before 1975, it seems that Saskatchewan Telecommunications (SaskTel) installed their own switch on the North Portal SK Canada side, taking over the responsibility for those customers. This SK/Canada side local c.o.switch "homed" on SaskTel's Estevan SK toll/tandem switch ESTVSK0101T. But it was *still* a LOCAL/EAS/FREE call between the two sides and now distinct c.o.switches, HOWEVER, one needed to dial at least five-digits, the leading '6' on (701-92)-6-xxxx indicating a call *from* N.Portal SK Canada *to* Portal ND USA, the leading '7' on (306-92)-7-xxxx indicating a call *from* Portal ND USA *to* N.Portal SK Canada. Later on, when at least one side went completely electronic (maybe even digital?), local calling between the two sides had to be the *full* SEVEN-digit directory number, but not including the other side's area code. *AND THIS IS STILL THE CASE AS OF TODAY*. And there always has been "free" local/EAS between Portal and N.Portal, without any interruptions! Today and in more recent years, PRTLNDXADS0 is now a digital switch (Stromberg-DCO), still "Midstate Telco", now homing on Qwest-LEC/USWest/ NWBell's Bismark ND LATA tandem BSMRNDBC12T. On the Canadian side (all SaskTel), NPTLSK01RS1 is a (Nortel) remote switch hosted by the Weyburn SK DMS-100 WYBNSK03DS0, all homing on the tandem/toll switch REGNSK0603T in Regina SK. I also received an email reply from the webmaster and local North Dakota historian, who put togather several webpages on the history/culture of that part of ND and SK ... http://www.portalnd.org/ http://www.portalnd.org/page0002.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0003.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0004.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0006.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0007.html http://www.portalnd.org/page0009.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndburke/burke2.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndburke/phonedir.jpg (1932 one-page phone 'book') http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndburke/49phone.jpg (1949 one-page phone 'book') In my previous post, I wrote: > I've already emailed the webmaster of this site regarding the history > and culture of Portal/N.Portal and (ND/USA) Burke County, with some > comments, and the FOLLOWING QUESTIONS, regarding telephone > service/history... In his reply, he was "waxing nostalgically" about the later 1950s and the telephone with the 'crank on the side', and how the Portal ND operator was like an information and answering service, informing you of the comings and goings of the party you were attempting to reach, i.e., if she already knew that they wouldn't be home because they went on a "day trip" to Minot ND that day, or the like. He told me that the "International Telephone Company" which served both Portal ND and Portal SK as a single combined entity, was once owned exclusively by a local man. And he confirmed that local (free) calling is still possible between both sides of the border in the Portal/N.Portal area, as well as that DIAL service replaced manual/magneto service in the area sometime in the 1960s. On a side note (not really telecom related), mentioned at some of the webpages referenced above, there is even a golf course dating back to the 1930s, built right on the border between ND/USA and SK/Canada! As for US/Canada crossborder local calling arrangements, I am hoping to put togather a more complete and comprehensive summary, outlining all of the arrangements (as well as the discontinued Pt.Roberts WA / Ladner-Beachgrove BC situation), giving NPA-NXX codes, CLLIs where known, toll/tandem homing and host/remote arrangements where known, name/history of local telco on the US side (especially if a non-BOC "independent") and any history of which side actually had the local c.o.switch giving dialtone/service to the other side, etc. I think that at present, all local/free/EAS crossborder situations still in existance have evolved to where each side of the border has its own local c.o.switch although local/free/EAS dialing has been retained. EXCEPT for Stewart BC Canada (250-636, formerly 604-636 prior to Fall 1996) which provides dialtone to Hyder AK USA, AND ALSO the Canadian/BC NPA-NXX (presently 250-636) *IS ALSO USED* for all USA/AK side numbers as well! Calls to/from Hyder AK USA will appear on billing records and be billed/rated as such, as if the call originated or terminated in Stweart BC Canada in most cases, since Hyder AK USA doesn't have an AK/USA (907) based NPA-NXX (907-NXX) c.o.code but rather uses Stewart BC Canada's 250-636. Mark J. Cuccia mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA CSA ------------------------------ From: a_user2000@yahoo.com (Justin Time) Subject: Re: Treo 600 for Cingular Wireless GSM/GPRS Customers Date: 14 Nov 2003 05:39:25 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > Award-Winning Smartphone Simplifies Business and Personal Life > ATLANTA, and MILPITAS, Calif., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular > Wireless and palmOne, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLMO) today announced the > immediate availability of the Treo(TM) 600 smartphone, an integrated > wireless smartphone with a built-in QWERTY keyboard, on Cingular's > nationwide GSM/GPRS network. The Treo 600 smartphone seamlessly > combines a full-featured mobile phone and Palm OS(R) organizer with > wireless applications such as email, text messaging and web browsing > into one compact, powerful device. Rather than read Palm's PR news release, here is a full review of the product by someone who has had it in hand and can compare it to other devices. Review: Handspring Treo 600 By: Anthony Newman, Thursday 13th November 2003, 21:26 GMT Anthony Newman has spent some time with Handspring's final handheld, and finds that it's the closest thing yet to a perfect convergence device. It's incredibly difficult to avoid using superlative terms of affection when discussing the Treo 600: words like 'love' and 'perfect' have a way of creeping in, which is a tribute to just how good a job the team at Handspring did on this, their final pre-palmOne handheld. In fact, the presence of little design details and sheer quality of implementation alone make this arguably the best WAN handheld we've yet seen. The Treo 600: good things come in small packages Design The Treo 600 is a tiny candybar unit, which crucially feels more like a phone than a PDA in the hand. Although it is relatively thick it is ergonomically shaped and sits very comfortably in the palm. This is the first reason why the 600 is so good: it is a full PDA with a touchscreen and a thumbboard, and yet its phone features don't feel out of place: one never feels like they're holding a computer to their head. Perhaps most importantly, it's small enough to carry everywhere like a phone. The display is the Treo's first achilles' heel, though. In a gesture towards size, Handspring included an 11-bit, 2.2" STN LCD running at an archaic 160 x 160 pixel resolution. Although the backlight is incredibly bright, and also readable outside, colours are uneven and notable ghosting can occur. The resolution doesn't feel like a problem -- after all, Palm OS devices managed quite well with it for years -- but more would have been appreciated on a 'high-end' handheld. Granted, no other Palm OS smartphone uses a 320 x 320 display yet, and surprisingly, such a small touchscreen is not a problem - thanks to the well-implemented thumbboard, as we will find. The stylus is rarely used in normal operation, but resides on the back-right corner as usual. The metal barrel runs the entire length of the handheld, so despite the diminutive size of the Treo we find a pleasantly comfortable stick. The buttons are the second real joy of this device. From the power button to the D-pad to the integrated thumbboard they are perfect, offering solid positioning and wonderful feedback. The top of the device holds a power button for the wireless unit and a hard switch to engage silent mode. This is a great little addition - no fiddling with profiles when entering a meeting or cinema; just flick the switch. The left side of the device holds two buttons for controlling volume, while the reset hole resides on the back of the unit. The Treo's front is a button-fetishist's dreamworld: four neat clicky application buttons kick off the selection, offering access to the phone application, calendar and inbox respectively. The final key toggles standby and keylock: a quick tap will turn off the screen at any point, which is great for saving battery life. As with the earlier Treos, use of the option key in conjunction with the application buttons allows an alternate set of programs to be launched. Genius. The D-pad is itself a revelation, and other manufacturers could take a leaf out of Handspring's book in this regard. Feedback and precision is excellent, and the centrally-mounted enter key is equally good. Handspring's implementation of the pad is great for quick navigation too, as we will find later. Of course, the 600's great selling point is its integrated backlit thumboard, which is one of the best we have used. Quiet enough for a meeting, it nonetheless gives a clicky response from its hard, domed keys. They are, admittedly, small, but even this reviewer's large hands had no problem keeping up with note-taking, and made very few errors. Punctuation is easily accessible through a sticky toggle key, and the period has a dedicated key. Handspring has also included a menu key and home key, which help navigation without need for the stylus. One flashing LED indicates network and charging status, although it unfortunately doesn't seem to indicate the presence of a new message or missed call: users will have to check this manually. Audio is provided by a large speaker on the back of the unit, which provides great output for music and the speakerphone, especially considering the petite size of the Treo. The standard phone speaker and microphone are solid as well, offering loud, clear voice transmission. The same can be said of the 2.5 mm headset jack, although the included mono earbud leaves something to be desired: a stereo headset offers greater flexibility for music. The final design feature of the Treo is its integrated VGA digital camera, which sits on the top-right corner of the back. This provided fairly decent output, considering its intended role is photo messaging and casual snapping - see an example here. The Treo occasionally had trouble with some odd colour tinting, and obviously without a flash had difficulty with dark environments. Overall, this is a helpful future, however. Connectivity Expansion is provided by a top-mounted SDIO-capable SD / MMC Card expansion slot, as is standard for many of Palm OS devices nowadays. A small IR port sits next to the slot, again as usual. The USB HotSync port is on the bottom of the handheld, ready for the included USB cable; no cradle is provided. Frustratingly, considering the recent trend in Palm OS products, Handspring chose not to include Bluetooth in the Treo 600. This seems an odd decision, especially for a connected, mobile handheld such as this. primarily, the lack of bluetooth makes it impossible to easily use the treo with a laptop as a dial-up modem, and obviously prevents use with bluetooth headsets too. No Wi-Fi is included either, leaving the only wireless connectivity to be provided by the integrated GSM / GPRS solution. In terms of GSM specification, however, the Treo shines with quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz support, making it functional virtually everywhere in the world. Specifications Under the hood, the Treo is powered by a 144 Mhz TI OMAP ARM processor, while 32 MB of RAM is included, of which 24 MB is available for the user. The battery is a whopper: 1850 mAh, which again is an inspired decision by Handspring, taking the frugal Treo into the realms of a phone, rather than PDA, battery life. In our real-world tests the 600 could easily last for four-to-five days of moderate use, both as PDA and phone. Unfortunately, the battery is non-removable. Software The Treo 600 runs Palm OS 5.2.1, and very well, too: applications launch instantly and there's no delay while performing normal tasks. Similarly important, though, Handspring have made a large number of changes to the OS, as one would expect for a device with such a strong focus on voice. Most important of these is the instant lookup addition to the contacts application, which can usually find a contact with one or two letters from the thumbboard. A single press of the enter key will dial, from where speakerphone can be activated. Contacts, the camera, the message inbox and the application menu are all available from the Phone application, which normally holds a wallpaper and pertinent phone-related information. This implementation is a great way of getting to recent functions; for example, pressing the enter key from the phone app brings up one's recent calls, which can then be dialed again from one more keypress. The Messages app handily groups messages by sender, and shows one's own messages too. This makes replying a breeze, especially with the thumbboard and the emoticon shortcuts onscreen. MMS is dealt with from a separate program and worked perfectly. One problem that often befalls hybrid devices is the problem of locking buttons -- and the Treo has a lot of buttons. Thankfully, the right application button turns off the screen and applies KeyGuard, which can be cancelled by a press of the enter button. This is both natural and fast, so kudos to Handspring. Handspring have also included their own proxy-based Blazer 3 web browser, which reformats pages and was generally a very solid performer throughout our testing. Page reformatting worked fine, although produced occasional odd results. Orange, thankfully, provide a great mobile portal as the default home page. Continuing the positive streak, the e-mail client is pretty good too, supporting multiple accounts and scheduled downloads. Unfortunately, only POP, and not IMAP is supported. The version under review here is provided by Orange UK, and as such includes Orange Backup, a utility for storing PIM information on a central server, and Orange Update, a conduit for software updates, backgrounds and ringtones. Finally, the camera application and associated picture viewer are decent enough, with a cheesy shutter sound for the former and a pleasant thumbnail list for the latter. Although the camera's performance is nothing to shout about, the applications are easy to use. Handspring are certainly not shy about including software, either. E-mail attachments can be viewed via stripped down viewer-only versions of DataViz Word To Go and Sheets To Go. For full office support, however, the Treo includes Cutting Edge Software's Quickoffice 7 Premiere. As well as CityTime included in ROM, we also find several SplashData applications: SplashID, SplashMoney and SplashShopper. In terms of games there is the classic card game, Klondike, and the glitzy shoot-em-up Zap! 2016. Not a bad haul. On the desktop side of things we find Palm Desktop and a link to Outlook, as well as utilities for managing the Treo's pictures. Availability The Handspring Treo 600 is available now in GSM and CDMA versions in a variety of world markets. Prices vary depending on the carrier and contract. Conclusion Handspring have clearly hit a home run with the Treo 600. Aside from the poor screen and lack of Bluetooth, there really is nothing to dislike. In a vast line-up of features, the integrated thumbboard stands out, and overall the Treo 600 is an intuitive, pocketable and totally rock-solid WAN handheld. What more can be asked of a device? What's positive: Excellent design, thumbboard, solid software bundle. What's negative: Poor screen, no Bluetooth Design: 9/10 Connectivity: 7/10 Specifications: 7/10 Software: 8/10 Value: 8/10 iSW Score: 7.8/10 Rodgers Platt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 17:28:51 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Discounts Broadband Rates in Attack on DSL By Michael Learmonth NEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - In move that could touch off a wider price war, Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), the nation's largest cable operator, has begun steeply discounting its high-speed Internet service in certain areas to steal lucrative customers from the Baby Bells. Comcast is targeting customers who use fast Web connections over traditional phone lines, known as digital subscriber lines, in certain Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and SBC Communications (NYSE:SBC) territories in California, Illinois and Maryland. Comcast is offering high-speed Internet service for $19.95 for the first 12 months if they switch. A Comcast spokesperson stressed the offer was limited in scope, targeted by e-mail to existing DSL customers. Comcast's regular broadband rate is $42.95. The "DSL Switch Campaign," as it is known, is analogous to the "dish win-back" campaigns the cable industry has used to compete against satellite broadcasters DirecTV and Echostar. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36472039 ------------------------------ From: Mark Mastrocinque Subject: Re: Long Distance via DSL/Cable Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 01:52:32 GMT www.vonage.com So far, so good. But I keep my fingers crossed. Steveroy Williams wrote in message news:telecom22.748.10@telecom-digest.org: > Pokey wrote in message > news:: >> Does anyone have the names of long distance services via DSL/Cable for >> residential service? >> Are you satisfied with your choice? >> Thxs: Pokey > Are you looking for long distance and local together or just long > distance providers. Whatever your choice is, check out > http://wwww.maticmax.com > Steveroy Williams > Maticmax.com ------------------------------ From: Steven J Sobol Subject: Don't use Maticmax.com Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 14:38:20 -0600 Steveroy Williams wrote: >>> if there was any recourse through local, state, or federal >>> regulatory agencies. Are hotels allowed to charge absurdly high >>> rates for intrastate LD charges in Florida? [ snip ad ] > Steveroy Williams > Maticmax.com Enough already. Folks, if you don't like intrusive ads posted by morons who have nothing better to do than annoy people, avoid Maticmax like the plague. Pat, could you reconsider letting this clown's posts through? JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services 22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950 Steve Sobol, Proprietor 888.480.4NET (4638) * 248.724.4NET * sjsobol@JustThe.net ------------------------------ From: mike.wilson@norsksystems.com (Mike) Subject: High Density Multiport Fax Servers Date: 12 Nov 2003 15:36:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I am trying to build a high density multiport fax server for our enterprise. We are currently looking at Brooktrout TR1034 and the Eicon DIVA Server PRI-24M, both of which seem to do what we are needing (max. 96 ports per server), but the Eicon product is about 1/3 the cost of the Brooktrout product. I've heard plenty of good things about Brooktrout boards and that I should stay away from Digi fax boards, but I've never heard anything about Eicon. Does anyone have any experience with this Eicon card and is it suitable for high port density fax server applications? ------------------------------ From: whorunwerun@aol.com (whorunwerun) Subject: AOL 9.0 don't do it just don't . Don't even think of it. Date: 12 Nov 2003 18:39:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I had 8.0, and it ran fine. I downloaded 9.0 and that was the end of my computer never having a problem. 3 years and no problems. 1 week with AOL 9.0 and I've had 27 error messages , sign offs and other problems. AOL was no help. They can't even admit it has a problem. So I had to REFORMAT MY HARD DRIVE AND INSTALL ALL MY PROGRAMS AND ALL MY SAVED FILES. Needless to say I no longer have AOL at all. Reformat and get rid of it. ------------------------------ From: Searcher7@mail.con2.com (Darren Harris) Subject: Re: Verizon: @#$%! Service Date: 12 Nov 2003 18:48:36 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com There seems to be an assumption that I have DSL. I don't. DSL is not available in my area. A several days ago, another tech was dispatched (I'm told), but I was not home. And all I can do is wait for it to get damp again, because that is when the problems arise. Any other time they will not find the problem. (Not they they've found it the last several time anyway). Perhaps the problem is located at the point where the cable enters the building. Darren Harris Staten Island, New York. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. 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Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #751 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Nov 15 14:00:20 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAFJ0Kh29410; Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:00:20 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:00:20 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311151900.hAFJ0Kh29410@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #752 TELECOM Digest Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:00:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 752 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Post Office Gets Pressured to Pry (Monty Solomon) Nokia N-Gage Pushes its Phone to the Edge (Monty Solomon) Free Calls? So What's Not to Like? (Monty Solomon) Don't Look Now, but the Dean is Watching (Monty Solomon) Pentagon Plans Iraq Channel (Monty Solomon) Do-Not-Call Called to Court (Monty Solomon) E-Vote Firm's Bill Comes Due (Monty Solomon) Diebold with a Vengance / Secrets, Lies, Electronic Voting (M Solomon) Vote Count Marred by Computer Woes (Monty Solomon) Re: A More Official Word on Portal ND/N.Portal SK (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: AOL 9.0 Don't do it; Don't Even Think of it (NBJimWeiss@aol.com) Re: Inter-state In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls (Linc Madison) Re: Norvergence (Joey Lindstrom) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 12:01:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Post Office Gets Pressured to Pry By Ryan Singel WASHINGTON -- Under political pressure to increase profitability and security, the United States Postal Service is introducing new technology that can trace the progress of mail from sender to recipient and record the identity of both parties. Bulk mailers -- such as mail-order services, credit-card companies and online DVD rental services -- already use an "intelligent mail" offering to confirm the check really is in the mail and to speed up outgoing shipments of The Postman Always Rings Twice . Critics, however, say new tracking technology could spell the death of anonymous love letters and anonymous documents mailed off in plain wrappers by whistleblowers. Intelligent mail also would create a massive data trail documenting intimate details of Americans' everyday lives, a rich vein that law enforcement would certainly want to mine. For their part, postal officials are resisting far-reaching suggestions from politicians and homeland security officials that all mail should be tracked and the sender of every piece of mail be identified. The head of the Postal Service's technology drive and its chief privacy officer say they have no plans to implement such a system. But several powerful bureaucracies are pushing the USPS to trace mail. Chris Hoofnagle, associated director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center , argues that a system requiring postal identity cards or secure stamps would sacrifice anonymity for little gain in security, since anyone who could acquire anthrax would be clever enough to filch a few stamps. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61140,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 01:08:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Nokia N-Gage Pushes its Phone to the Edge By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 11/12/2003 Computer gaming devices are supposed to be fun. But game designers generally want people laughing with their products, not at them. It hasn't quite worked out that way for the newest portable game machine, the N-Gage, from Finnish cellphone maker Nokia. After a couple of weeks on store shelves, the N-Gage seems to be having more success as the butt of jokes than as the must-have geek gadget it was supposed to be. Sales are sluggish; one retailer, Electronics Boutique, actually said poor N-Gage sales had forced down third-quarter profits. Meanwhile, critics are hostile -- some to the point of ridicule. It seems unfair to blame the N-Gage's gaming features for this; they are actually pretty good. It's perhaps the first hand-held device to deliver a credible 3-D gaming experience, with rich graphics that approach the quality of desktop monitors. And with built-in wireless Bluetooth networking, you can play against other N-Gage users in the same room. When you're bored with gaming, the N-Gage's built-in FM radio is ready to entertain you, or you can add a memory chip that plays MP3 music files. And, of course, it's a phone. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/316/living/Nokia_N_Gage_pushes_its_phone_to_the_edge+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 01:56:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Free Calls? So What's Not to Like? Internet phone service explodes in popularity, seen as threat to Bells By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/14/2003 Forget low-cost phone service. Michael Cohen and Robert La Ferla are going for no-cost phone service. Cohen, a Chestnut Hill native now attending law school in Toronto, and La Ferla, a software engineer from Cambridge, are among Greater Boston natives who have flocked to an explosively popular free service called Skype that allows users to make totally free computer-to-computer phone calls carried over the Internet. Unlike some Net-based services, Skype -- which rhymes with "hype" -- requires no extra devices beyond the speakers and microphone built in to most newer computers. Just 10 weeks after it was launched, Skype has attracted nearly 2.6 million users. Skype, developed by the same Swedish team that pioneered the online music-piracy service Kazaa, is already perceived as a major new threat to the reeling Baby Bells, AT&T, and MCI, who have seen their industry implode over the last three years as more and more phone communications move to wireless and Internet services or are replaced by e-mail and instant messaging. Daiwa Securities stock analysts recently described Skype as "a giant meteor hurtling on a collision course" toward the incumbent phone giants. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/11/14/free_calls_so_whats_not_to_like/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 02:47:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Don't Look Now, but the Dean is Watching Pressured by the double whammy of feds looking for terrorists and the music industry chasing file sharers, universities are keeping a close eye on student Internet use. By Annalee Newitz Nov. 12, 2003 http://salon.com/tech/feature/2003/11/12/campus_surveillance/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 11:46:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pentagon Plans Iraq Channel Satellite Link Allows White House to Bypass TV Networks By Mike Allen Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, November 15, 2003; Page A17 In an escalation of White House efforts to circumvent what President Bush calls the news media "filter," the Pentagon plans to launch a 24-hour satellite channel from Baghdad to make it easier for U.S. television stations to air government-authorized news about Iraq. The satellite link, dubbed "C-SPAN Baghdad" within the administration, is to go on the air in a week or two. It begins at a time when guerrilla violence in Iraq is increasing and the White House is revising and accelerating plans to transfer governing authority to Iraqis. Administration officials assert that U.S. news organizations have emphasized violence and setbacks in occupied Iraq while playing down progress. The officials say the satellite capability is designed to help local stations interview U.S. authorities in Iraq and offer live coverage of military ceremonies and briefings relevant to their geographic areas. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42547-2003Nov14.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 12:12:15 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Do-Not-Call Called to Court The public's frustration with telemarketers and its right to privacy justifies the national do-not-call list, government lawyers argued before a federal appeals court Monday. Telemarketers, however, told the three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the list inhibits competition and violates their right to free speech by barring calls from businesses but not charities or politicians. The telemarketing companies want the court to uphold lower court rulings that found the list unconstitutional. The court did not indicate when it would rule. The government's interest in protecting the privacy of U.S. households warrants the opt-in list, said Peter Keisler, an assistant attorney general. Americans find calls from companies far more invasive than calls from charities, he said. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61190,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 12:09:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: E-Vote Firm's Bill Comes Due By Kim Zetter SACRAMENTO -- Citing concerns that Diebold Election Systems installed uncertified software on some electronic voting systems in a California county without the state's knowledge, officials are forcing the company to pay for an audit of all the company's voting machines used in the state in order to win certification for a new model. An investigation of how and when the software was installed in Alameda County is still underway. But Tony Miller, special projects coordinator for Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, said Monday that the state would certify Diebold's AccuVote-TSx touch-screen voting machine for the time being under several conditions. The certification is contingent on Diebold paying for an independent audit of all its hardware and software used in 13 other California counties to determine if uncertified components have been installed elsewhere. Diebold must also cooperate fully with the independent auditors and with the secretary of state's office during its investigation of the certification violation, and attend a voting system panel meeting in mid-December, when the state will review the results of the audit and determine what, if any, sanctions may be appropriate. http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61172,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 12:17:59 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Diebold With a Vengance / Secrets, Lies, and Electronic Voting Diebold with a Vengance Secrets, lies, and electronic voting Julian Sanchez As the autumn of 2000 drew to a close, citizens of the wealthiest nation on the planet suddenly began to feel a bit ... backwards. A country still reeling from the unwelcome realization that the magical Bill Gates and his crack squad of Internet pixies had not forever vanquished the business cycle abruptly discovered that a close contest for leadership of the economic and military juggernaut that is the United States would turn on hanging chads. For week after tedious week, we tuned in to CNN to watch weary volunteers squinting at punch cards, debating the significance of each dimple and perforation with the intensity of medieval schoolmen poring over scripture. How grotesquely lo-fi! Why not just scratch out your favored candidate's name on the cave wall with a sharp bone? The talking heads appointed to conduct the autopsy of that imbroglio appeared to be in broad agreement: the whole sordid affair would have been prevented if only Florida had been with it, man and implemented electronic touchscreen voting statewide. (Reason, too, was on the bandwagon.) The companies that make electronic voting machines were delighted to join the chorus, with batallions of erstwhile elected officials on hand to lobby their former colleagues to install the next insanely great thing in voting gadgetry on the double. Legislators in Florida, stung by the national giggles elicited by the poodle orgy that was the 2000 election, quickly banned the old punchcard machines and began a statewide phase-in of touchscreen machines, as did Georgia. Recent estimates by Election Data Services found that counties using electronic voting machines now comprised almost 20 percent of the electorate, more than double the number just six years earlier. Some citizens could even be voting online by 2004. But Floridians don't seem convinced that bytes beat butterflies: A quarter say that they are "not at all confident" in the new technology, and half believe that it's important for machines to preserve a paper trail of votes-something that's not currently done. http://www.reason.com/links/links111103.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 13:22:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Vote Count Marred by Computer Woes Boone County (Indiana) Star report November 9, 2003 Lebanon, Indiana -- Boone County officials are searching for an answer to the computer glitch that spewed out impossible numbers and interrupted an otherwise uneventful election process Tuesday. http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/091021-1006-009.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 23:20:28 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: A More Official Word on Portal ND / N.Portal SK Mark J Cuccia wrote on Fri, 14 Nov 2003 06:21:43 CST about A More Official Word on Portal ND / N.Portal SK: > I finally got around to calling up Midstate Telco in Stanley ND, the > telco which provides service to Portal ND USA, and spoke with an > older gentleman who told me that he was involved with that telco *ALL > OF HIS ADULT LIFE* !!! :) > 701-628-2522 (phone), > http://www.midstatetel.com/ (Webpage) > It *IS* local/EAS/Free to call *IN BOTH DIRECTIONS* between the > border communities of Portal ND USA and N.Portal SK Canada and it > "always has been"! It is dialable in *BOTH* directions on a > *SEVEN-DIGIT* basis. I just don't understand why it has been so > difficult to find anything actually documented in SaskTel/CRTC > tariffs or ND-side telco/regulatory tariff documents, indicating that > it is (and always has been) local/free to call back and forth between > Portal ND USA with N.Portal SK Canada. I wonder if there's something > "buried" at the FCC's or CRTC's website indicating that this > local/FREE/EAS calling has been "grandfathered"? This information would have been in the AT&T filing on divestiture. I think it was in September of 1982, and was a full box of paper (roughly 5000 sheets) or a bit more. Nothing that old would be on the internet, but that's where AT&T documented all the local calling arrangements, strange homing arrangements, and other exceptions to the usual definition of LATA (which generally corresponded to an SMSA, except when it was a state [if there was no SMSA in the state or only one] or a separations study area [if there were independents serving the "LATA", they were not covered by the Consent Decree. Eventually they came to be treated as if they were different LATAs, but it was a year after the divestiture {1/1/83} before that was fully resolved.]) > As for US/Canada crossborder local calling arrangements, I am hoping > to put togather a more complete and comprehensive summary, outlining > all of the arrangements (as well as the discontinued Pt.Roberts WA / > Ladner-Beachgrove BC situation), giving NPA-NXX codes, CLLIs where > known, toll/tandem homing and host/remote arrangements where known, > name/history of local telco on the US side (especially if a non-BOC > "independent") and any history of which side actually had the local > c.o.switch giving dialtone/service to the other side, etc. If you can get a copy of the filing. It's probably only one volume of the filing (which I haven't looked at since about 1982). > I think that at present, all local/free/EAS crossborder situations > still in existance have evolved to where each side of the border has > its own local c.o.switch although local/free/EAS dialing has been > retained. That would be the effect of grandfathering the calling areas, and growth. Also, the separations arrangements were incredibly lucrative for small telephone companies, and many of them over-invested in switching -- the over-investment became apparent when the FCC began to cap switching investment for the purposes of the high cost fund. I don't recall exact dates, but this was a major issue about 1986. The Organization for the Protection and Advancement of Small Telephone Companies) (OPASTCO) filed some urgent petitions with the FCC, but the FCC just went with loop costs as the determination of the high cost fund. Thus, many of the small telephone companies were quick to buy very advanced equipment. I also suspect that the design of some switches of that era, with all the intelligence on the line cards so that up to 80 per cent of the cost of the switch was "non-traffic sensitive," may have been driven by separations rules. As I recall the No. 5A ESS was in that category, but there may have been others. ------------------------------ From: NBJimWeiss@aol.com Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 23:52:28 EST Subject: Re: AOL 9.0 Don't do it, Don't Even Think of it. In a message dated 11/14/03 11:01:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, whorunwerun@aol.com (whorunwerun) wrote: > I had 8.0, and it ran fine. I downloaded 9.0 and that was the end of > my computer never having a problem. 3 years and no problems. 1 week > with AOL 9.0 and I've had 27 error messages , sign offs and other > problems. > AOL was no help. They can't even admit it has a problem. So I had to > REFORMAT MY HARD DRIVE AND INSTALL ALL MY PROGRAMS AND ALL MY SAVED > FILES. Needless to say I no longer have AOL at all. Reformat and get > rid of it. Perhaps, just perhaps, your problems were unique to your machine. I ran 8.0 without incident. I downloaded 9.0 several weeks ago and I've not had a single problem. ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Inter-State In-TRA-LATA Local/Free Calls Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 00:32:33 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , wrote: > The Kansas City KS/MO LATA (and toll-free calling area) includes > much more than two cities. ... The Kansas side is NPA 913, the > Missouri side in 816, but there is 7-digit dialing throughout the > metropolitan toll-free calling area. This is no longer true. As of about four years ago (December 1999), all interstate local calls in the Kansas City area must be dialed as 10D. It was no longer reasonable to protect the prefixes to allow 7D local calls across the state line. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 07:54:34 -0700 Subject: Re: Norvergence Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 21:52:06 EST, Len wrote: > Listen why would you guys call them fraud. They have figured out a way > to cut your costs, why do you care how they do it. > DOES IT WORK? if it works and saves you money WHO CARES how they do > it. As far as Tom and Pete I have no clue who is who. Worldcom and Enron found creative ways to save money, too. Look where it got them. The members of this forum are, on the whole, of above-average intelligence. Please don't try to persuade them with an argument that sounds like it came from a nine-year-old. On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 21:52:06 EST, "Jets Guy22" wrote: > Ok,so here's the deal ... it's no secret to people that when a new > emerging company starts to become successful that people are going to > have negative feedback about it, especially competitors. When > Microsoft first emerged everyone had negative things to say about > them. Why? Because people are scared of new ideas and concepts that > they aren't familiar with. The company of NorVergence itself has grown > exponentially and has been very thorough with their clientele in > making sure they provide services in an efficient manner. Not only do > they take care of their customers but they also take care of their > employees unlike some other sweat-shop companies out there in the > malicious corporate world especially in the telecommunications > industry. Another argument worthy of a nine-year-old. Microsoft wasn't getting much negative press when they "first emerged"; the negative press came later after we all began to see what it was becoming -- you've got it exactly backward. Moderator Pat: it seems pretty obvious to me that "Len", "Jets Guy22", and at least one other poster on this topic (also with a Hotmail address) are actually the same person, trying single-handedly to give the impression that there's some groundswell of support for Norvergence. It's a shady tactic being used to support a company accused of using shady tactics. I'd be interested to know exactly when each of these "three people" made their first posts to this forum? Were they all in this same issue? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I really would not have any easy or convenient way of going through thousands of messages over a 22 year period to tell you the first time any of those author/writers first appeared in print here. If you want to know that, I suggest you go to the Telecom Archives/back issues directories (the several such) and grep the names you are interested in using a wild card for the various issues and volume numbers. Also use various internet search programs to research the names, email addresses, etc. Here is an easier project for you to work on first: Please describe in succinct phrases exactly what makes Norvergence a shady operation ala Enron and Worldcom. I am not saying I disagree with your assessment, only that I would like a factual report for readers here. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #752 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Nov 16 23:26:16 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAH4QGv07769; Sun, 16 Nov 2003 23:26:16 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 23:26:16 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311170426.hAH4QGv07769@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #753 TELECOM Digest Sun, 16 Nov 2003 23:26:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 753 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Munet Digital Electric Watthour Meter Login Problem (Jack Morgan) Re: Norvergence (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Norvergence (Chris Jones) Re: Norvergence (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (jmw) Re: Do-Not-Call Called to Court (Herb Stein) Nine Arrested For Fire-Related Thefts (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Re: Pentagon Plans Iraq Channel (Geoffrey Welsh) Looking for Solutions to Replace Ancient Equipment (Dana) H.323 or SIP (Ashish Sawalkar) Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight (Scott Dorsey) Re: Vote Count Marred by Computer Woes (Jack Hamilton) Last Laugh! Why We Love Children (Lisa Minter) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: meternut2002@yahoo.com (Jack Morgan) Subject: Munet Digital Electric Watthour Meter Login Problem Date: 15 Nov 2003 11:35:54 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com www.munet.com webgate iris schlumberger centron series ethernet network webbot software 240v 200cl type C1S 1.0Kh MU net digital watthour meter electronic watthour meter digital electric meter http browser login Recently I purchased several new old stock munet webgate iris electric meters made in 2000 and 2001, and I have been trying to get them to configure. They have a very similar design to the Schlumberger Centron series(schlumberger made them, MUnet modified them), but have a dual stacked single display that alternates between a bunch of info I have little knowlege what some of it means, mabe you do. Some things alternate more than others ... The display alternates between: a255s255.254.0 subnet a208a1.32.245 IP a208g1.320.0 gateway a10d0.0.2 ? am0002800072100 ? meter number? sprt:80.lac:10 ? the lac changes sometimes dv02.030 ? crdsaml:56n ? susers:0 ? rf:1.m:00000.000 (this is where the KWH are accumulated even goes to watts) sre:0 we:0 ? the we changes sometimes st:0 m:57 ? the me changes sometimes These meters have your typical blade type hookup that you find on most home watthour meters. The problem I am having is this, you need to hook them up to an ethernet network and they have their own webpage in their design. You log onto the web page in this case it is 208.1.32.245 then a login screen comes up. I contacted the manufacturer and they gave me some logins and passwords but they don't work, and I have no addl support from them. It just keeps kicking me back to a login screen when I press login. I have tried exactly as they typed them, caps and not. I have tried swapping different logins for different passwords in the list and no luck. I am communicating with the meters web page, just cant login. The login screen says in large letters AXON and small letters field solutions. In the middle it asks for login and password that can be "obtained by the customers utility company". Toward the bottom you have 3 buttons, SUBMIT , RESET , and LOG-OUT . Then at the bottom it says in print copyright 1999,2000 MU net inc. webgate version (VER 02.030)ADDR 208.1.32.245:80 Another problem I have noticed is that if you remove power from the input to the meter, when you restore power it will report a much lower KWH reading; say I had power on to accumulate 68 KWH, I removed power to work on the AC wiring and when I reapplied power, the meter has reverted back to about 25KWH and its been a week and has not returned to its 68 KWH or higher, it just keeps incrementing from the 25 KWH. Another problem I have noticed is that several of the meters will get garbage on the screen after several days of useage and lock up not measuring KWH, some won't lockup even if not connected to ethernet. MUNET said this was probabaly because the meters were not always connected to a ethernet connection, but I doubt that, because I have one that's been running great for almost a month without it locking up and its not on the ethernet network. Here's the login password information I have, maybe they mis-typed something. MAYBE YOU KNOW THE PROCESS TO RESET THE METER TO DEFAULT. The username / password logon scheme is: Euaxonfs / fieldservice suaxonfs / FIELDservice muaxonfs / FIELDSERVICE To connect you will need to set your computer with address / subnet that can reach the unit and then can logon. In this case the IP address of the meter is a208a1.32.245 or 208.1.32.324 The lines that give the addressing scheme: AXXXAXXX.XXX.XXX is the address mask; AXXXSXXX.XXX.XXX is the subnet mask; AXXXGXXX.XXX.XXX is the gateway (somewhat important to get right); AXXXDXXX.XXX.XXX is the DNS server not used; Use the muaxonfs logon and got to System Setup - IP Addressing to change the IP addressing. I have given you all the info I have; I would appreciate any ideas you have. I really want to get this going as I am a meter nut and would like to have this meter on my air conditioner and set it up for demand metering of TOU so I can see how much it uses peak and off peak. Once you login you can change lots of parameters of the meter, which I look forward to setting up. Also I am looking for the webbot stats software made by munet, it allows for graphing and other cool features on the pc. Thanks, Jack For more information here is a cut and paste of MUnets web page on the webgate iris technology: ------------------------ muNet's WebGate iRIS (Internet Residential Information System) and the WebGate iCIS (Internet Commercial Information System) are the first Internet Protocol ("IP") Interfaces to be electric meter-based. These WebGate IP Interfaces start by providing utilities and their customers with advanced automated meter reading ("AMR") features via the Internet and delivering secure, full-time two-way communications and continuous access to meter data. Beyond these usage-reporting features, the WebGate IP Gateway also addresses pressing utility energy management needs by connecting (via open home networking and LAN's) to individual devices or entire systems, allowing remote access, monitor, control and management. Such access can also be made available to third party, value-added service providers. The WebGate iRIS and iCIS devices turn every electric meter into an IP Gateway with a unique location on the Internet. By tapping the expansive, shared IP network infrastructure, the WebGate System eliminates the need to deploy expensive, proprietary, single-purpose, narrow bandwidth networks, which radically lowers the costs to utilities of obtaining frequent detailed metering information, performing energy management, offering new advanced services, and generating non-regulated revenue opportunities. To assure that today's solutions can be readily adapted to tomorrow's challenges, WebGate IP Interfaces use standards-based open architecture communication protocols, including HTML and XML. Data from meters, devices or systems connected to a WebGate IP Interface can be queried individually by using a standard Internet browser on any computer with an Internet connection, or via the WebBot Central Control Software to perform batch polling, control and reprogramming. The output of all WebGate IP Interfaces can be customized to meet the requirement of the utility including control of access and the presentation of consumption data in either tabular or graphic format. The data acquired through the WebBot Central Control Software can be seamlessly integrated into the utility's legacy CIS, billing or data warehouse. Both WebGate iRIS and iCIS systems use similar design philosophy architecture and are based on open standards. The standard WebGate IP Interface site unit offers different industry leading metrology options integrated with a WebGate module, which includes: a data acquisition system, a database, an embedded processor (that manages the database and serves data to the Internet using HTML and XML Protocol) and a broadband modem. The WebGate Interface begins serving information to the utility and its customer as soon as the WebGate site unit is installed and the Internet connection is established. Optional functionality can be added to the WebGate IP Interface, thereby establishing easy connections to the other meters and systems in the home or business, and linking companies that offer services related to these systems to the remote devices. This feature enables companies providing energy/home systems and services to gain the permanent, cost-efficient, and dependable connection they require to remotely access, control and monitor devices, meters and appliances located within their customers' sites. By using open standard home networking technologies (via wireless or power line carrier communications), the WebGate IP Interface is able to recognize and deliver to the appropriate parties valuable information on a wide variety of devices, including whole house disconnect and load restrictor, remote load shedding via thermostat control or hot water heater disconnect, and remote appliance diagnostics and alarm monitoring. WebBot Central Control Software The WebBot Central Control Software automatically accesses the remote WebGate site units via the Internet in programmable batches to collect specified consumption data, program the units, and upgrade their software. The WebBot software interfaces with leading database packages, such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle 8i, and can easily be customized to transfer data directly into the utility's legacy billing, customer information or data warehouse systems. The WebBot software is fully scalable to meet the needs of large utility customers with multi-million meters. Since the WebGate IP Interface stores and processes data locally, batch data transfers are performed infrequently at times of low network utilization - this ensures very low communication costs. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:00:05 Subject: Re: Norvergence Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:00:20 EST, editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > Moderator Pat: it seems pretty obvious to me that "Len", "Jets Guy22", > and at least one other poster on this topic (also with a Hotmail > address) are actually the same person, trying single-handedly to give > the impression that there's some groundswell of support for > Norvergence. It's a shady tactic being used to support a company > accused of using shady tactics. > I'd be interested to know exactly when each of these "three people" > made their first posts to this forum? Were they all in this same > issue? > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I really would not have any easy or > convenient way of going through thousands of messages over a 22 year > period to tell you the first time any of those author/writers first > appeared in print here. If you want to know that, I suggest you go > to the Telecom Archives/back issues directories (the several such) > and grep the names you are interested in using a wild card for the > various issues and volume numbers. Also use various internet search > programs to research the names, email addresses, etc. > Here is an easier project for you to work on first: Please describe > in succinct phrases exactly what makes Norvergence a shady operation > ala Enron and Worldcom. I am not saying I disagree with your > assessment, only that I would like a factual report for readers here. > PAT] Actually, I'm not the one arguing that Norvergence is shady -- all I know about the company is what I've seen here. It just struck me as VERY suspicious that after OTHERS had argued so, the defensive arguments being put forth were extremely dubious and, indeed, downright suspicious. If anything, all this person has done, in defence of Norvergence, is put them in an even worse light. ------------------------------ From: Chris Jones Subject: Re: Norvergence Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 18:39:09 -0500 > Here is an easier project for you to work on first: Please describe > in succinct phrases exactly what makes Norvergence a shady operation > ala Enron and Worldcom. I am not saying I disagree with your > assessment, only that I would like a factual report for readers here. You already had it in your archives, I hope this doesn't cause an infinite content loop: Satchel Paige (dor@writeme.com) wrote at 28 Sep 2003 17:18:23 -0700: If you were sold or have been pitched the Matrix SOHO product from NorVergence, you have been defrauded. Here is why: 1. You sign a five year Equipment Rental Agreement for a Matrix Box but you do not get a Matrix Box. You get Internet access either via DSL or cable, and, if you had the Internet access before, it is likely the same service provider only taken over by NorVergence (and they can afford it because they get paid for the five years of the deal up front). Then, when installed, NorVergence tells you that your Matrix Box is either the DSL modem or the cable modem they installed. This is something you can buy at Best Buy for about $70. 2. You only really get a 20% discount. This is how to calculate how much NorVergence got paid: Let's say the price of your Matrix Box is $250 per month. Divide that $250 by .0218, that totals $11,467.89. That is how much NorVergence was paid for up front by one of many banks that may have funded the five year deal. Then you pay the bank $250 for 60 months, or $15,000. The bank makes $3,532.11 above the amount they paid to NorVergence. With the NorVergence SOHO product your telephone lines are simply switched to Qwest for toll (local-long-distance) and long distance. How they offer you the zero cents per minute is that the NorVergence proposal when they sold you was simply a twenty percent discount on the cost of all of your services combined (cellular, toll-free, interent access, toll and long distance) and the costs were built into the non-existing SOHO "Matrix Box" or hidden costs. In other words, say you have $50 of Toll and Long Distance usage on 4 lines, $100 of usage for one toll-free number, $300 average for 3 months of cellular usage for 2 cellular phones and DSL for $50 per month. That totals to $500 in monthly costs. NorVergence will simply take twenty percent off of that $500 (they may use 19.1 to 19.6% to throw you off). Twenty percent off of $500 is $100. Your new monthly costs are now $400. Then they subtract from the $400 the SOHO circuit price of $9.99. Your Matrix Box cost is now $390.01. Then they subtract $24.95 for unlimited toll-free usage. Your Matrix Box cost is now $365.06. Then they subtract about $19 for the two cell phones. Your Matrix Box cost is now $346.06. If there is nothing left to subtract, your SOHO Matrix Box (which does not exist) price is the $346.06. That is what you pay back to the bank for 60 months which totals to $20,763.60. Yet, NorVergence gets paid up front from the bank the $346.06 divided by .0218 or $15,874.31. Remember, all you got was a twenty percent discount and either a DSL modem or a cable modem, yet over five years you pay $20,763.60. At $15,874.31 NorVergence got from the bank, they can afford to pay Qwest the discount bulk rates it gets from them and deceive you into thinking your getting "Voice as Unlimited Data" at zero cents per minute through the non-existent "Matrix Box". Their Price and Savings Gaurantee is worthless because it has to be compared with other companies for identical services. What other companies are out there that offer the same services and some kind of magic box? None. Some more NorVergence facts. The Chairman and CEO of NorVergence is Peter Salzano. However, he is just a front man for his brother Thomas N. Salzano (Tom Salzano) who is the true decision maker at NorVergence. Tom Salzano was the former CEO of Minimum Rate Pricing, Inc. which was fined the highest penalty ever by the FCC for Slamming -which is changing your long distance provider without your authorization. The FCC also barred him from ever running a telecommunications company again. So at NorVergence, he is only a "consultant" and is not in any literature. He is, however, in the same building that NorVergence resides at in Newark, New Jersey. Feel free to go to www.fcc.gov and look up "Salzano" or "Minimum Rate Pricing". You may also find information on USENET. What you should do if you have been sold or have been pitched by NorVergence, especially the SOHO product. Call the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)and file a report with their Fraud Department. The FTC's toll-free number is 877-382-4357. You will be asked to provide personal information such as your address, telephone numbers and e-mail address, but this organization will do something to stop this fraud. Remember to write down the reference number they give you. Feel free to reference an existing reference number regarding this matter. It is "3377569". How do I know about all of this? I went throught the NorVergence training program. Do your best to warn others about this fraud. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Norvergence Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:30:13 -0500 Organization: Bell Sympatico FREETECHBOARD.com wrote: > DOES IT WORK? if it works and saves you money WHO CARES how they do it. That approach can cause you a lot of grief if you're not careful. Illustration in the extreme: If I can save you a ton of money, let's split it 50/50, OK? Here goes: cancel all of your telephone lines. That's got to save you money. While we're at it, stop paying your rent/mortgage/taxes. Now, wait, didn't you say, "who cares how"? Now you DO care?!? Even much less drastic 'savings' can undermine your operation and cost you money in the long term. Geoffrey Welsh This address is not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. ------------------------------ From: jmw Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 03:46:29 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net telecom43877@workbench.net wrote: > I am wondering, does anyone know of a reasonably priced lightning > arrestor that can be used on Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable (on a run between > buildings)? I'm looking for something that can stop the voltage surge > from a nearby lightning strike from getting into the computing > equipment on each end. I'm aware of the Tripp Lite DNET1 > (http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=151) but I am [...] As you note, using fiber isn't always a walk at the beach, though there are good reasons to choose it. But what are you trying to do? The earliest ethernet links used a small transformer at each end, which returns a measure of ground fault isolation. ------------------------------ From: Herb Stein Subject: Re: Do-Not-Call Called to Court Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 22:20:52 -0600 Monty Solomon wrote in message news:telecom22.752.6@telecom-digest.org: > The public's frustration with telemarketers and its right to privacy > justifies the national do-not-call list, government lawyers argued > before a federal appeals court Monday. > Telemarketers, however, told the three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. > Circuit Court of Appeals that the list inhibits competition and > violates their right to free speech by barring calls from businesses > but not charities or politicians. Simple enough to fix. I also don't want to hear from charities or politicians. > The telemarketing companies want the court to uphold lower court > rulings that found the list unconstitutional. The court did not > indicate when it would rule. > The government's interest in protecting the privacy of U.S. > households warrants the opt-in list, said Peter Keisler, an assistant > attorney general. > Americans find calls from companies far more invasive than calls from > charities, he said. > http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61190,00.html Herb Stein The Herb Stein Group www.herbstein.com herb@herbstein.com 314 952-4601 ------------------------------ From: chsvideo@hotmail.com (Lincoln J. King-Cliby) Subject: Nine Arrested For Fire-Related Thefts Date: 16 Nov 2003 09:59:48 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com From the Nov. 15, 2003 edition of the North [San Diego] County Times: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2003/11/16/news/top_stories/11_15_0322_33_04.txt Nine arrested for fire-related thefts By: North County Times ALPINE -- Deputies arrested nine people Saturday on suspicion of stealing phone wiring left by SBC Communications, Inc. to restore phone service at the scene of burned-out properties, sheriff's Lt. Lisa Miller said. Miller said the thieves were going onto property recently burned in the Cedar fire, primarily the Harbison Canyon and Crest areas, and taking phone wiring so they can strip it to the copper wiring and redeem it for cash at East County recycling centers. Poway Sgt. Anthony Giammarino said they also handled a case where SBC employees confronted some men taking wiring from property on Highway 67 on Saturday. The thieves tried to tell the SBC crew they were contractors and then quickly fled the area with about $9,000 worth of wiring, he said. Anyone who observes such a theft should contact the Sheriff's Department at (858) 565-5200. ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Pentagon Plans Iraq Channel Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 13:17:15 -0500 Organization: Bell Sympatico > government-authorized news That phrase alone should scare the living daylights out of citizens of the free world. Geoffrey Welsh "We want clean air, clear water, good living conditions, the best health care in the world -- yet we aren't willing to pay for anything manufactured under those restrictions." - Steve Dobbins, president of thread maker Carolina Mills, quoted in Fast Company magazine ------------------------------ From: Dana <***@&^&.com> Subject: Looking For Solutions to Replace Ancient Equipment Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 17:33:50 -0900 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Hi, We have some Lumda FDM L carrier multiplex systems we are looking to replace. Here is the configuration: 1 four wire audio circuit/channel. 1 four wire audio circuit/channel used for a modem line for data. 1 Four wire circuit that is 2 wire at the end points giving us a pots line with E&M signalling. Present arrangement is FXO-FXS. The Lumda receives it's input and sends it's output to a service channel converter, which is then sent to the analog microwave link. So what we are looking for is a device that has the capability of giving us one audio circuit, one data circuit, and one POTS circuit. This of course will interface to the analog microwave interface to the hub site. What would be nice is if this device was capable of passing through a 525 line video signal. Because of the age of terminal equipment would like to stay with the analog microwave paths. We can go to digital Microwave though, we just have to convert it back to analog to feed the terminal equipment. So any ideas for a solution? Thanks. ------------------------------ From: sawalkar@mail.sis.pitt.edu (Ashish Sawalkar) Subject: H.323 or SIP Date: 16 Nov 2003 19:15:21 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I'm investigating the usage of H.323 or SIP in some specific scenarios. I have read significant stuff on both H.323 and SIP and also searched on net for specific deployment scenarios like building a corporate IP telephony infrastructure or building an IP based interexchange carrier. I havent found any strong reasons technologywise for choosing one over another, and it seems like both of them have their strong supporters. Could some of you provide some specific reasons for going for H.323 or SIP in the scenarios mentioned above? Thanks in advance. - Ashish. ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: Retroactive Long Distance Fight Date: 16 Nov 2003 22:22:52 -0500 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) COTTP wrote: > You might catch a sympathetic rep at Sprint. They know full well that > $1.00 a minute to an EU country is a rip-off. Explain that to them and > just maybe they'll knock it back into reality. Hell, that's less than what AT&T charged me for a call to Canada. And in spite of several calls to their customer service folks (AND dealing with a woman at headquarters after talking to the PUC), they still won't drop the charges. We go to court in three weeks. Scott "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Jack Hamilton Subject: Re: Vote Count Marred by Computer Woes Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 11:51:05 -0800 Organization: Copyright (c) 2003 by Jack Hamilton Reply-To: jfh@acm.org Monty Solomon wrote: > Boone County (Indiana) > Star report > November 9, 2003 > Lebanon, Indiana -- Boone County officials are searching for an answer > to the computer glitch that spewed out impossible numbers and > interrupted an otherwise uneventful election process Tuesday. > http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/091021-1006-009.html Related comments from Gore Vidal in the Los Angeles Weekly: "We don't want an election without a paper trail. The makers of the voting machines say no one can look inside of them, because they would reveal trade secrets. What secrets? Isn't their job to count votes?" Jack Hamilton jfh@acm.org If men are to wait for liberty until they become wise and good in slavery, they may indeed wait for ever. - Lord MacCaulay ------------------------------ From: Lisa Minter Subject: Last Laugh! Why We Love Children Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 13:10:19 -0600 A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat. She asked him if it was dead or alive. "Dead." She was informed. "How do you know?" she asked her pupil. "Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move," answered the child innocently. "You did WHAT?!?" the teacher exclaimed in surprise. "You know," explained the boy, "I leaned over and went 'Pssst!' and it didn't move." ------------------ One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?" The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: "The big sissy." ------------------- A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven. Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine ...." His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, "What are you doing?" The little boy answered, "I'm doing my math homework, Mom." "And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked. "Yes," he answered. Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, "What are you teaching my son in math?" The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition." The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?" After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four." ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #753 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Nov 17 13:50:54 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAHIorp11645; Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:50:54 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:50:54 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311171850.hAHIorp11645@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #754 TELECOM Digest Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:51:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 754 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #408, November 17, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? (Phil Earnhardt) Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems (Carl Moore) Wireless Number Portability (Isabelle94) Speaking of Telemarketers, Do Not Call list etc. (HiC) Kiddy Porn Spam (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Pentagon Plans Iraq Channel (AES/newspost) E-911 (Mary Beth Walsh) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 10:26:08 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #408, November 17, 2003 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 408: November 17, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Telus Unveils Hosted IP Telephony ** Sheridan Leaves Bell ** FCC Orders Wireless-Wireline Number Portability ** Sprint Offers Do-Not-Call Screening ** CRTC Rejects Discounts for Health & Education ** Wireless Revenue Up, Wireline Down ** Bell Wants Tariff Order Suspended ** Industry Proposes 514 Overlay Delay ** Bell Mobility Extends E9-1-1 Coverage ** Top Execs Leave RISQ ** Rogers and AT&T Offer One-Stop Wireless Shopping ** Cisco Buys IP Conferencing Developer ** Bell Intros SMB Data Backup ** Text Messages Pass One Million Per Day ** Satellite Piracy Law Dies ** Blackout on Telus-Union Talks ** Wireless Auction Deadline Extended ** Ottawa Renews Offer of PCS Spectrum ** Five Cities Want 3-1-1 ** Canadian to Head BICSI ** Wi-Fi at McDonalds Must Support iPass ** Primus Revenue Jumps ** Correction: Craig vs Look ** Speakers Available for Telecom Meetings ============================================================ TELUS UNVEILS HOSTED IP TELEPHONY: Today, Telus launches IP-One, a hosted IP telephony service for business customers, based on Cisco technology. The telco says eight business customers in Ontario and Quebec, including Borland Canada, have already contracted for the service. SHERIDAN LEAVES BELL: John Sheridan, Bell Canada's Group President Business Markets, has resigned, effective November 28. The three presidents who reported to him will now report directly to CEO Michael Sabia, as will Stephen Wetmore, now President National Markets. ** Sheridan, who has been at Bell for 24 years, is rumored to be considering entry into federal politics. FCC ORDERS WIRELESS-WIRELINE NUMBER PORTABILITY: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has ordered telephone companies to let customers transfer wired telephone numbers to wireless phones, so long as the wireless phone's coverage area overlaps the wired phone's. The order is effective November 24 in the 100 largest markets, and next May 24 elsewhere. ** Several major wireline phone companies oppose the plan, and may take legal action to block it. SPRINT OFFERS DO-NOT-CALL SCREENING: Sprint Canada is offering Canadian customers a number screening service operated by Gryphon Networks, to assist them complying with Do-Not-Call rules when they call the U.S. CRTC REJECTS DISCOUNTS FOR HEALTH & EDUCATION: The CRTC has turned down a Bell Canada tariff application for a "Megalink Bundle for Health and Education Entities," saying the rules that previously allowed preferential tariffs for educational and health entities are no longer applicable. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-454.htm WIRELESS REVENUE UP, WIRELINE DOWN: Statistics Canada says that Canadian wireless revenues grew by 12.9% while wireline revenues dropped 2.3%, resulting in only 1% overall telecom revenue growth in the first half of 2003. Profit margins improved in both segments, in part because of reduced capital spending. www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/031114/d031114b.htm BELL WANTS TARIFF ORDER SUSPENDED: Bell Canada has asked the CRTC to rescind the requirement in Decision 2003-63 that it file public details on 164 customer-specific tariffs, and to stay the order until the application receives final disposition. Bell, which filed a similar application before the Federal Court in October (see Telecom Update #405), says revealing such details will harm customers and reduce competition. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8662/b2_200315988.htm www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8680/b2_200315996.htm INDUSTRY PROPOSES 514 OVERLAY DELAY: The 514 Relief Planning Committee has recommended to the CRTC that the introduction of mandatory 10-digit dialing and a new Area Code in 514 be delayed from September 2005 to October 2006. BELL MOBILITY EXTENDS E9-1-1 COVERAGE: Bell Mobility has expanded its E9-1-1 service to cover the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding communities, Ottawa/Gatineau, and the Island of Montreal. It has until now been available only in Victoria, Vancouver, and Calgary. TOP EXECS LEAVE RISQ: Three senior executives President/CEO Pierre Bouchard, VP Pierre Beaucage and Networking Director Luc Desrosiers have left the Reseau d'informations scientifiques du Quebec (RISQ), the group that manages Quebec's high-speed network for research and education. Mark Leroux and Jan Czech have jointly taken over the president's duties on an interim basis. ROGERS AND AT&T OFFER ONE-STOP WIRELESS SHOPPING: AT&T Wireless and Rogers AT&T Wireless now offer business customers one-stop shopping for wireless in Canada and the U.S. Enterprises can centralize customer care and ordering, and receive discounts based on total usage in both countries. CISCO BUYS IP CONFERENCING DEVELOPER: Cisco Systems is buying Latitude Communications, a developer of software for audio and web conferencing, for US$80 million in cash. It will be added to Cisco's Voice Technology organization. BELL INTROS SMB DATA BACKUP: Bell Canada has launched Business Backup, a network-based data backup service for small and medium businesses. TEXT MESSAGES PASS ONE MILLION PER DAY: The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association says that Canadian cellphone users sent more than 32 million text messages in September. SATELLITE PIRACY LAW DIES: Ottawa's proposed Bill to increase penalties for satellite TV privacy died last week when Prime Minister Chretien prorogued Parliament. BLACKOUT ON TELUS-UNION TALKS: Telus Communications and the Telecommunication Workers Union have begun a 60-day conciliation period to negotiate a new contract. The conciliators have imposed a media blackout on collective bargaining issues for the first 30 days. WIRELESS AUCTION DEADLINE EXTENDED: Industry Canada has extended the deadline for applications for the 2300/3500 MHz spectrum auction (see Telecom Update #401) to December 8, and reduced the deposit required from applicants who want only a small amount of spectrum. strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/vwGeneratedInterE/sf01646e.html OTTAWA RENEWS OFFER OF PCS SPECTRUM: Industry Canada has invited applications for several 2 GHz spectrum licences in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut that found no buyers in the 2001 auction. Applications are due by December 8. strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/vwGeneratedInterE/sf08095e.html FIVE CITIES WANT 3-1-1: Calgary, Toronto, Halifax, Gatineau, and Halton have asked the CRTC to assign the code 3-1-1 for access to non-emergency municipal government information and services. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2003/8665/c126_200315699.htm CANADIAN TO HEAD BICSI: John Bakowski of Bell Canada has been chosen as President-Elect of BICSI, the international organization of telecom cabling and distribution specialists. WI-FI AT McDONALDS MUST SUPPORT iPASS: McDonald's says that all Wi-Fi hotspot services in its U.S. restaurants must meet the security, availability, and interoperability requirements of iPass Inc's Enterprise Ready program. No comparable announcement has yet been made in Canada. PRIMUS REVENUE JUMPS: Primus Canada reports third quarter net revenue of $79.4 million, up 11.7% from the previous quarter and 26.3% from the same period last year. Most of the increase was in residential services. CORRECTION--CRAIG VS LOOK: Telecom Update #406 said, incorrectly, that Craig Wireless had abandoned a lawsuit aiming to force Look Communications to reverse several transactions made last spring. In fact, Craig withdrew the suit in Manitoba in order to refile it in Ontario. We regret the error. SPEAKERS AVAILABLE FOR TELECOM MEETINGS: Looking for a powerful presentation to open your meeting or conference? An entertaining and insightful after-dinner talk? An intensive workshop or course for your team? For speakers who are experts at explaining the fast-changing world of business telecom in plain English, with a business-oriented, bottom-line focus, e-mail ianangus@angustel.ca. ========================================================== HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. 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The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Phil Earnhardt Subject: How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 09:26:21 -0700 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com I regularly use qwestdex.com for directory listings. Recently, I got a reorder tone for a listing for a friend. I called directory assistance to get the updated listing. This happens quite often: the database for Qwest's online -- and free -- residential database is obsolete; the pay-per-call 411 service obviously uses a far more current database. Also, the database has a weird quirk in its interface. If you look up a residential listing for Louisville, Colorado (which is pronounced 'lew iss vil), you go to a page that asks if you want the Louisville associated with Boulder or the Louisville associated with Denver. I have no idea why they do this or what it does; it is a most confusing question. There obviously is only one city, but I have no idea what those unfamiliar with Colorado think when they're presented with this choice. The database offers this same "choice" for other cities. Is there some reason that our Baby Bell can't refresh their qwestdex.com residential database on a daily or weekly basis? Does the PUC have any requirements that the Baby Bells provide an accurate database on their website? Would it help to complain to the PUC? How about the quirky interface? Are there any online services that provide phone listings that are refreshed frequently with an intuitive lookup UI? Thanks. --phil ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:47:21 EST From: Carl Moore Subject: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems An Associate Press item of today says that the Shreveport (Louisiana) police department is going (back?) to voice recording system which offers numbers to press, for non-emergency calls. A voice-recognition system had been used for this, but often fouled up because of problems understanding the drawl used by many people in Louisiana. ------------------------------ From: isabelle94@yahoo.com (Isabelle94) Subject: Wireless Number Portability Date: 17 Nov 2003 09:13:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Just wanted to throw this out there. I have been doing research on this subject and have found it difficult to get straight info. I am with ATT and want to switch ... to who, I don't know. But how it's happening, etc. Just a few sites to check out if you are interested: http://wireless.fcc.gov/wlnp/ http://www.numberportability.com ------------------------------ From: brassplyer@yahoo.com (HiC) Subject: Speaking of Telemarketers, Do Not Call list etc. Date: 17 Nov 2003 05:36:52 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Saw this thing on eBay that looks like a hoot. Indie music label out of Florida has a comedy album of tracks dedicated to playing at telemarketers when they call. There's a couple of sample tracks on their site, sounds like pretty funny stuff. Their home address is: http://home.mpinet.net/~starwater ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 08:49:53 -0700 Subject: Kiddy Porn Spam Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info Here's an interesting piece of spam I got today. It's probably one of THE most blatant I've seen, advertising child porn, white supremacy, and all sorts of illegal things - and then it's got some suspicious-looking contact names (unusual in and of itself, for spam). Makes me think it might be a law-enforcement trap. :-) Anyways, I'm not forwarding it here cuz it'll get flagged as spam by Pat's SpamAssassin (as it did by mine). If you'd like to take a look at it, it's here: http://www.telussucks.info/spam20031117.pdf Any thoughts? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, that's nothing unusual. I went over to your site just to confirm my suspicions. It was sent by the United States Postal Service at their very large kiddy porn factory down in south Florida. For several years now, USPO has operated that factory, where they manufacture, produce and distribute child porn and white power trash in the hopes of getting YOU to sign up for it. They used to send out 'teaser' pictures and literature through snail mail in the hopes you would take the bait and order more of it. Dave Zipp (his phone name at work) was in charge of 'customer service' back then also. 'Mr. Laws' (another phone or screen name) had an important role in those days also. I guess snail mail got to be too expensive, so now they send bulk email, at much better rates, obviously. I heard they have expanded into 'harboring terrorists' as well these days. As soon as you get cozy with Laws and Zipp, they'll offer (or try, if they get a positive street address or verifiable and validated email address) to send you packages of their trash through the US Mail. Naturally you sign for it when it arrives, so they get a green card back in the mail *to show the jury as needed* in case you won't wimper, wither up and automatically confess to being a white power- oriented, terrorist pedophile as they are hoping. This was not an invention of Ashcroft, it was around a long time before he got into his present position, but of course he supports it without any reservations at all, except he would 'cut some corners' or take some additional shortcuts with the US Constitution if he thought he could manage it. Bush didn't start it either; I think it was started during the days of his father, the old Mr. Bush. By all means go look at the exhibit Joey has on display, and in case you were too dense to notice it, 'Zipp' is Mister Zone Improvement Plan himself and 'Laws' refers to the United States Attorney General, or his authorized representative, in whose custody you will soon find yourself if you fall for any of their foolishness. They see no problems with trying to entrap guys with their lures. PAT] ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Pentagon Plans Iraq Channel Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 07:51:03 -0800 In article , Geoffrey Welsh wrote: >> government-authorized news > That phrase alone should scare the living daylights out of citizens of the > free world. It is, however, pretty much all that's available in much of the rest of the world outside the U.S. or more generally outside the "western world". ------------------------------ Subject: E-911 Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 10:10:06 -0600 From: Mary Beth Walsh Did you have any luck finding out more on the E-911 law for Illinois? Mary Beth Walsh Telecommunication Specialist Verizon Airfone Inc. Phone (630) 575-1313 Fax (630) 573-0150 Email mb.walsh@verizon.com Mail Verizon Airfone Inc. 2809 Butterfield Rd. Oak Brook, IL 60522 USA ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #754 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Nov 17 20:09:47 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAI19lb13312; Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:09:47 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:09:47 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311180109.hAI19lb13312@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #755 TELECOM Digest Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:10:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 755 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Social Nets Find Friends in VCs (Monty Solomon) Toner Firm Gets Key Support in DMCA Spat (Monty Solomon) Encryption Promises Unbreakable Codes (Monty Solomon) Camera Phones Roiling Gyms (Monty Solomon) For Teens With Cellphones, an Instant Party (Monty Solomon) Baggage Tracking Goes High Tech (Monty Solomon) Marketers See Text Cellphone Messaging as Great (Monty Solomon) Hospital Records Sent to Wrong Fax (Monty Solomon) Sprint Chases Nextel With Ready Link (Monty Solomon) Song Unveils the World's Most Sophisticated Single Aisle (Monty Solomon) TV Cabo Deploys XACCT N2B to Implement Tiered Pricing (Monty Solomon) Opening Doors With the DMCA (Monty Solomon) EFFector 16:32: Court Hearing on E-Voting Company's Threats (M Solomon) Indiana Labor Department Shoots Itself In The Foot (John Stahl) Re: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems (Pete Weiss) Re: Do-Not-Call Called to Court (Barry Margolin) Article Jul 30 23:50:54 2003 (Eric Jenson) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (w_tom) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Social Nets Find Friends in VCs Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:34:29 -0500 By Joanna Glasner Social-networking websites -- which provide a forum for meeting friends of friends and professional colleagues -- have proven this year that they can be wildly popular. Now venture capitalists are increasingly convinced that such sites can serve another function: making money. In a rare show of confidence in an emerging and still-unprofitable Internet business model, three of Silicon Valley's most storied venture capital firms recently invested in two of the fastest-growing online sites, Friendster and LinkedIn. LinkedIn, a networking site targeting professionals, announced this week that it received $4.7 million in an initial round of venture financing led by Sequoia Capital, a onetime backer of Yahoo, Google and PayPal. Three weeks earlier, Friendster announced that it received $13 million in a venture-financing round led by two other well-known Silicon Valley VC firms, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital. Meanwhile, a third networking site, Tribe.net, is also in talks with venture-funding sources, after receiving initial backing from two media firms, Washington Post Co. and Knight Ridder Digital. The sums being funneled into these social-networking startups aren't vast in comparison to the amounts venture capitalists routinely poured into Net firms in the late 1990s. Nonetheless, entrepreneurs say the infusions are encouraging, particularly considering VCs' recent reluctance to put money into consumer-oriented Internet businesses. The draw of social networking, the startups say, is that a little investment could go a long way. http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,61227,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 01:13:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Toner Firm Gets Key Support in DMCA Spat By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com The U.S. Copyright Office has sided with Static Control Components in a high-profile lawsuit over whether the company may sell chips that permit Lexmark International toner cartridges to be refilled. As part of a 198-page opinion released late Tuesday, the office said Lexmark's invocation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( DMCA ) in its lawsuit against Static Control was invalid. Lexmark is the No. 2 printer maker in the United States, behind Hewlett-Packard, and manufactures printers under the Dell brand. The opinion is not binding on the judges who are considering the case, which is now before the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, but it is expected to be influential. In February, U.S. District Judge Karl Forester granted Lexmark a preliminary injunction ordering Static Control to cease selling its Smartek chip. Static Control CEO Ed Swartz on Wednesday said the opinion was so sweeping that he may begin selling a second chip with similar functionality that would not be covered by the injunction. "It gave us a clear-cut legal path to create a chip that there are no legal issues with," he said. "We think we've done that, but we're going back and double-checking everything." William "Skip" London, the company's general counsel, said: "We have developed code for such a chip. We've shown this code to Lexmark. Lexmark has taken the position that we can't sell it." Swartz said that he has not made a final decision on public sales yet. Static Control is a small Sanford, N.C.-based company that sells printer parts and other business supplies. http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5099112.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 23:29:43 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Encryption Promises Unbreakable Codes By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- Code-makers could be on the verge of winning their ancient arms race with code-breakers. After 20 years of research, an encryption process is emerging that is considered unbreakable because it employs the mind-blowing laws of quantum physics. This month, a small startup called MagiQ Technologies Inc. began selling what appears to be the first commercially available system that uses individual photons to transfer the numeric keys that are widely used to encode and read secret documents. Photons, discrete particles of energy, are so sensitive that if anyone tries to spy on their travel from one point to another, their behavior will change, tipping off the sender and recipient and invalidating the stolen code. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36486613 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 23:48:40 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Camera Phones Roiling Gyms By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/8/2003 They are already banned in "quiet cars" on Amtrak and in New York City theaters and music halls. Soon, the increasingly ubiquitous cellphone may be banished from your local health club. The reason: the surprising growth of cellular phones with built-in digital cameras. Just months after they first became an American mass-market phenomenon, these units are triggering fears that they could be widely abused as "spy cams," leading some health-club chains to ban them from locker rooms where wireless voyeurs could snap compromising photos of patrons. The Wellbridge Health and Fitness Center chain, which operates four clubs in Boston, Cambridge, and Newton, slapped a ban on wireless camera phones this summer, as has San Francisco-based 24 Hour Fitness. Town Sports International, parent company of Boston Sports Clubs, restricts use of any cellphones to lobbies and stairwells. Other local clubs that already discourage use of cellphones in workout rooms, including the Boston Athletic Club in South Boston and Cambridge Racquet & Fitness Club, are considering strengthening policies to specifically forbid camera phones. The camera phones are generating so much alarm because of how widely owned and used they have rapidly become -- and because the images they capture can be sent from the phone to the Internet in seconds. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2003/11/08/camera_phones_roiling_gyms/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 00:57:56 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For Teens With Cellphones, an Instant Party By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff, 11/16/2003 ANDOVER -- First there were four: one high school senior, home alone for the weekend, and three friends she invited over to hang out. Then there were eight: four more friends, invited to cheer on the Red Sox during a playoff game. But it didn't stop there. As cellphones chirped and instant messages flashed, kids looking for something, anything, to do had found their Saturday night party. By the time police arrived, they found an estimated 100 teenage revelers, who quickly ditched the beer and marijuana pipes. The party ended when police arrested and handcuffed the cheerleader and honors student who had invited a few friends over. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/11/16/for_teens_with_cellphones_an_instant_party/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 01:03:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Baggage tracking goes high tech By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 11/16/2003 Airline bag tags, those strips of self-adhesive paper with an abbreviation of the traveler's destination on them, are going high tech. Several airlines have begun testing radio frequency identification technology on bag tags in a bid to improve security and track down lost luggage. Delta Airlines, after testing the technology for a month, on flights from Jacksonville, Fla., to Atlanta, will likely announce tomorrow that they will begin rolling out the system on all flights. The bag-tag technology is similar to the EZ Pass used by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. A tiny chip with a unique signature is embedded in the tag, enabling readers using radio frequencies to identify the tag if it passes within 20 feet, or less if there is some sort of interference in the way. The readers will be positioned all along the baggage handling system, enabling airlines to track the progress of a bag from check-in until retrieval. http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2003/11/16/baggage_tracking_goes_high_tech/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 01:09:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Marketers See Text Cellphone Messaging as the Next Great Marketers Bet Consumers Will Ask for Text Messages By Yuki Noguchi Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, November 8, 2003; Page A01 They're not supposed to call or send a fax to your home. E-mail may soon be off limits, too. So, spurned marketers are now training their sights on cell phones. But they won't call you. They're betting you'll call them to participate in sweepstakes, get coupons or answer surveys. They've struck a deal with the nation's 12 largest providers of wireless phone service to set up a five-digit call-in system. Consumers dial a "short code" promoted by the company on its products and advertisements to get the company to send them back a text message that appears on their cell-phone screens. More than 150 companies have applied to register short codes -- numbers from 20000 to 99999 -- in the two weeks they've been available. Consumer advocates fear that once a customer uses a code to snag a coupon, that cell-phone number could go on a list and be sold to telemarketers, making the cell phone just another target for junk solicitations. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14101-2003Nov7.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 02:00:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hospital Records Sent to Wrong Fax By Michelle Hillman / News Staff Writer WAYLAND -- David Rottenberg was alarmed six months ago when he first began receiving faxes at his home office containing private medical information for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, compression fractures and back pain. On Friday, he mistakenly received a fax containing private medical information about a breast cancer patient -- information intended for MetroWest Medical Center's radiology department, not Rottenberg's fax machine. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/wayl_records11162003.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 02:41:03 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sprint Chases Nextel With Ready Link By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/17/2003 Competition in the already strong market for 'push to talk' wireless services that let consumers use their cellphones like walkie-talkies will be heating up this week, as Sprint PCS joins Verizon Wireless in offering a new service taking aim at Nextel Communications' dominance with its DirectConnect service. Sprint's planned rollout today of its service, called Ready Link, is just the latest example of a host of services and price promotions being launched by wireless carriers in advance of next Monday's deadline for a new federal policy letting subscribers keep their current phone number when they switch to a new carrier. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/321/business/Sprint_chases_Nextel_with_Ready_Link+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 08:49:58 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Song Unveils the World's Most Sophisticated Single Aisle Song Teams With Matsushita Avionics Systems Corporation and EchoStar's Dish Network to Provide Comprehensive On-Board Entertainment Amenities Live Satellite TV and Audio Are Song's Newest Offerings to Enrich the Travel Experience; Pay-Per-View Movies and MP3 Programming Coming Soon NEW YORK, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Song(TM), Delta Air Lines' new service developed to change customer expectations for high-quality, low-fare air travel, will unveil today the world's most sophisticated in-flight entertainment technology among single aisle aircraft. Song is collaborating with Matsushita Avionics Systems Corporation (MAS) and EchoStar Communications Corporation's DISH Network(TM) satellite TV and its service to provide a comprehensive network of on-board entertainment amenities at each seatback that will include live, satellite television, pay-per-view movie programming, MP3 audio programming and interactive video games. Song began in-flight testing of the new MAS eFX system on one aircraft at the end of October. Over the next several months, Song will phase its new entertainment technology into its fleet of 36 Boeing 757 aircraft at the rate of one every four to seven days. By early 2004, all Song aircraft are expected to be outfitted with personal video monitors at each seat, offering a complement of entertainment features -- accessible via touch-screen technology -- including: * 24 all-digital, live, DISH Network TV channels available to passengers for free; * all-digital broadcast audio programming with 24 free channels; and * multi-player interactive video games that allow play between passengers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36492913 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 08:51:38 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TV Cabo Deploys XACCT N2B to Implement Tiered Pricing TV Cabo Deploys XACCT N2B to Implement Tiered Pricing For Broadband Internet over Cable LISBON, Portugal & SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003-- Portugal's Largest Cable Provider Uses XACCT to Differentiate between Domestic and International Web Access for Value-Based Billing XACCT Technologies, the leading provider of network data management platform for telecommunications service providers, announced today that TV Cabo, Portugal's largest provider of cable services and a wholly owned subsidiary of PT Multimedia, has successfully deployed XACCT's Network-to-Business(R) (N2B(R)) software platform to implement a tiered pricing model for its NetCabo broadband Internet service. Instead of traditional flat-rate pricing models, TV Cabo is now able to offer differential pricing for web browsing based on a combination of volume and destination. Since the introduction of tiered pricing models in 2001, NetCabo has experienced accelerated subscriber growth, and reduced churn, making it Europe's 4th largest broadband ISP with over 203,000 subscribers - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36493183 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 09:59:09 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Opening Doors With the DMCA By Katie Dean 01:54 PM Nov. 14, 2003 PT A universal garage door opener is not in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, even if used on a system made by another company, a U.S. District Court ruled Thursday. The court ruled on a dispute between Skylink Technologies, the manufacturer of a universal remote control for garage door openers, and Chamberlain Group, the maker of garage door opener systems. Skylink's remote interoperates with software developed by Chamberlain to activate its opener systems. Chamberlain sued Skylink, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and alleging that Skylink's transmitter violates the anti-circumvention provision of the law. The provision mandates that one may not bypass a technology that protects copyright material. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,61232,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 17:26:57 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EFFector 16:32: Court Hearing on E-Voting Company's Threats EFFector Vol. 16, No. 32 November 15, 2003 donna@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 271st Issue of EFFector: * Court Hearing on Electronic Voting Company's Threats Against Critics * EFF Applauds Ruling in Chamberlain Group v. Skylink DMCA Case * 321 Studios Advocates Fair Uses in Digital Copyright Law: DVD Backup Vendor Supports EFF's Efforts * Deep Links (13): Pardon Me, Sir - You Left Your Ethics in the Limo * Staff Calendar: 11.18.03 - Gwen Hinze speaks at ATSDF, Miami, FL; 11.19.03 - Gwen Hinze speaks at the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest, Miami, FL. * Administrivia http://www.eff.org/effector/16/32.php ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 16:01:08 -0500 From: John Stahl Subject: Indiana Labor Department Shoots Itself In The Foot The Labor Department for the State of Indiana, whose responsibility includes helping unemployed IT people find jobs, is going to use Indian (read, from India) help to reprogram their system. Now you wonder who had the brilliant idea to spirit away more jobs to off-shore nationals/companies when there probably are more than enough unemployed IT people right in Indiana who the State of Indiana can hire directly to do this work. Why wouldn't someone in this labor department figure it for themselves, that it would kill two birds by hiring unemployed state residents to do the work? First it would get people back to work and secondly it would show that the department is doing its job, getting people jobs. John Aljon Enterprises Telecom/Data Consultant Article from Computerworld: November 17, 2003 LATEST HEADLINES Job agency hires foreign help An Indiana unemployment agency has hired a company that's bringing in up to 65 programmers from India Story by Thomas Hoffman NOVEMBER 17, 2003 ( COMPUTERWORLD ) - An Indiana state agency chartered to help unemployed residents find jobs began a controversial IT project this month with the U.S. subsidiary of an offshore software developer, which plans to bring in programmers from India to work on the project. New York-based Tata America International Corp. will send up to 65 IT staffers from India to work alongside 18 state employees over the next two years at a government facility in Indianapolis. Article URL: http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/consulting/story/0,10801,87183,00.html?nas=AM-87183 ------------------------------ From: Pete Weiss Subject: Re: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:50:28 -0500 Organization: Penn State University -- Administrative Information Services On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:47:21 EST, Carl Moore wrote: > An Associate Press item of today says that the Shreveport (Louisiana) > police department is going (back?) to voice recording system which > offers numbers to press, for non-emergency calls. AP - Southern drawls have thwarted voice recognition equipment used by the Shreveport Police Department to route non-emergency calls. Source: [url will wrap] http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&u=/ap/20031117/ap_on_re_us/brf_voice_unrecognition&printer=1 ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Do-Not-Call Called to Court Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 18:56:20 GMT In article , Herb Stein wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote in message > news:telecom22.752.6@telecom-digest.org: >> The public's frustration with telemarketers and its right to privacy >> justifies the national do-not-call list, government lawyers argued >> before a federal appeals court Monday. > >> Telemarketers, however, told the three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. >> Circuit Court of Appeals that the list inhibits competition and >> violates their right to free speech by barring calls from businesses >> but not charities or politicians. > Simple enough to fix. I also don't want to hear from charities or > politicians. I agree, but it may be difficult to expand it to include that. The courts have generally allowed the legislature to get around the 1st Amendment when it comes to commercial speech, but they're very wary of allowing restrictions on other types of speech. So the do-not-call lists probably have to limit themselves to businesses in order to be constitutional at all. I wonder if this limitation is the reason I've recently noticed an increase in telemarketing calls. When I got on my state's list at the beginning of October, I noticed an immediate decrease in the number of empty calls on my answering machine (it's a cheapo that's not good at cancelling blank calls), from at least 5 a day to 1 or 2 a week. But in November it picked up a bit, to about 2 a day. The few times I've been home and picked up, it was a charity, so I suspect most of these calls are from end-of-year pledge drives. I also suspect that even if the do-not-call lists included charities, my existing relationship as a past donor would keep it from being applied. Barry Margolin, barry.margolin@level3.com Level(3), Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. ------------------------------ From: Eric Jenson Subject: "Glare" in Loop-Start Lines Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:09:20 -0800 Dear Editor, Geoffrey Welsh responded to a question from Jay R. Ashworth. Geoffrey mentioned "glare" in loop-start lines. Can you direct me to any articles that help you avoid glare in loop-start systems. Thank you. Eric Jenson Portland, OR [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps Geoffrey Welsh or Jay Ashworth will tell you what their research has turned up. One technique which will *greatly reduce* -- though admittedly not eliminate -- 'glare' on loop-start systems is the way you route the incoming/outgoing traffic. Lets say you have a hundred outside lines in your system. If you work with a main directory listed, or incoming number, you probably have them 'hunt' along in sequence upward, so that if line one is busy the central office will hunt for line two, then three, etc until it reaches line one hundred (in our example) and then return a busy signal to the caller. Meanwhile on your outgoing calls, you send the first call out to line one hundred, then subsequent outgoing calls hunt backward to ninety-nine, nighty-eight, etc. If you have a roughly equal amount of incoming and outgoing traffic, the only 'glare' possibly occurs somewhere in the middle, where the incoming and outgoing traffic meet. Always put the outgoing calls where it is unlikely the call will run into or bump an incoming call. That will eliminate most 'glare' conditions. PAT] ------------------------------ From: w_tom Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 14:13:45 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com All appliance have a certain degree of internal protection. That transformer is part of the galvanic isolation. Protection that is more than sufficient IF 'whole house' protectors are installed on all incoming utility lines. I have described how that protection has been routinely installed since before WWII. Internal appliance protection is installed assuming that the transient will first be earthed at the service entrance - before it can enter the building - using a 'whole house' surge protector. Unfortunately we still don't wire homes as if the transistor exists. This has make a profitable market for ineffective protectors. They use word association as logic: that a surge protector is surge protection. Protector and protection are separate items. But that transformer as found on all NICs can be overwhelmed if the 'whole house' protector is not installed with a less than 10 foot connection to surge protection -- central earth ground. It is why the phone company can connect a $multi-million switching computer to every home in town -- and not suffer damage. jmw wrote: > As you note, using fiber isn't always a walk at the beach, though > there are good reasons to choose it. > But what are you trying to do? The earliest ethernet links used a > small transformer at each end, which returns a measure of ground > fault isolation. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #754 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 18 00:52:52 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAI5qqL15152; Tue, 18 Nov 2003 00:52:52 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 00:52:52 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311180552.hAI5qqL15152@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #756 TELECOM Digest Tue, 18 Nov 2003 00:53:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 756 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FBI May Collect Juveniles' DNA (Monty Solomon) US FCC Restarts Clock For News Corp-DirecTV Review (Monty Solomon) The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux (Monty Solomon) TAA Collecting Objective Information For Norvergence Review (D Baldwin) CIA Operative Cell Trace (William Wallace) How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Camera Phones Roiling Gyms (John R. Levine) How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? (Lou Jahn) Re: How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? (Al Gillis) Re: Kiddy Porn Spam (Wesrock@aol.com) Re: Kiddy Porn Spam (Joey Lindstrom) Re: 'Glare' in Loop-Start Lines (Al Gillis) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 21:02:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FBI May Collect Juveniles' DNA By Richard Willing, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - DNA profiles from hundreds of thousands of juvenile offenders and adults arrested but not convicted of crimes could be added to the FBI's national DNA crime-fighting program under a proposed law moving through Congress. The law, if enacted, would be the greatest single expansion of the federal government's power to collect and use DNA since the FBI's national database was created in 1992. The FBI says its national DNA database holds genetic profiles from about 1.4 million adults convicted of state and federal crimes. The changes, in a little-noticed section of a bill that would authorize $755 million for DNA testing, were approved by the House of Representatives on Nov. 5. Backers say the Senate is likely to approve a similar version by early next year. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-11-16-fbi-juvenile-dna_x.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 21:22:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: US FCC Restarts Clock For News Corp-DirecTV Review WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Monday resumed its informal 180-day clock for reviewing News Corp. Ltd.'s plan to acquire control of No. 1 U.S. satellite television provider DirecTV. The agency on Oct. 10 put its review on hold to consult with antitrust authorities at the U.S. Justice Department and to seek more information from News Corp. and DirecTV's parent, Hughes Electronics Corp. (NYSE:GMH) The additional information sought has been submitted and "we also have substantially completed our discussions with the Department of Justice," Kenneth Ferree, the FCC official heading up the review, said in a letter to the parties. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36508991 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 21:39:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux by Joe Stump We've heard rumblings in the community for quite some time about individuals creating homebrew PVRs using Linux. Out of these stories and legends, a few projects have actually developed some rather useful PVR applications. In this article, I'll describe my own experience building my PVR. I'll also outline the various projects that make up the current state of PVR technology on Linux. http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2003/11/13/linux_pvr.html ------------------------------ From: Dan Baldwin Subject: TAA Collecting Objective Information For Its "Norvergence Review" Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 17:35:18 -0800 A "NorVergence Review" is being prepared and edited by TAA for publication. If you are a telecom end-user that has reviewed the NorVergence service offering for your own firm, TAA would like to share your decision process with other end-users for their benefit. Please contact Dan Baldwin, TAA Editor-at-Large at norvergence@telecomagent.org or call 909-245-6645." ------------------------------ From: WilliamWallaceHEARTKEEPER@hotmail.com (William Wallace ][) Subject: CIA Operative Cell Trace Date: 17 Nov 2003 16:33:10 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Interesting. Anyone up for a trace analysis on this: http://www.PrincessOfRomania.com/tm_cell.html thx1138 ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 19:57:15 EST Subject: How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? In a message dated Mon, 17 Nov 2003 09:26:21 PM Central Standard Time, Phil Earnhardt writes: > Also, the database has a weird quirk in its interface. If you look up > a residential listing for Louisville, Colorado (which is pronounced > 'lew iss vil), you go to a page that asks if you want the Louisville > associated with Boulder or the Louisville associated with Denver. I > have no idea why they do this or what it does; it is a most confusing > question. There obviously is only one city, but I have no idea what > those unfamiliar with Colorado think when they're presented with this > choice. The database offers this same "choice" for other cities. I don't know what to make of this, and I know where Louisville is. It is between Denver and Boulder, and it is in the overall greater Denver toll-free calling area. My B-I-L used to work in Louisville and lived in Longmont, which was not then in the Denver calling area, so it was a toll call between his home and his work. (Longmont has since been added to the Denver calling area.) Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Camera Phones Roiling Gyms Date: 17 Nov 2003 21:06:26 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > The camera phones are generating so much alarm because of how widely > owned and used they have rapidly become -- and because the images > they capture can be sent from the phone to the Internet in seconds. I hear that in Korea a new law requires that phones make a loud beep when they take a picture. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:52:30 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) From: Lou Jahn Subject: How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? Phil Earnhardt wrote about How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? > Are there any online services that provide phone listings that are > refreshed frequently with an intuitive lookup UI? Phil- You did not reference in your e-mail whether you only wanted free sites or are willing to pay a fee for accessing accurate DA information. Our firm provides local and national DA access to many independent telephone companies for use by their operators responding to 411 calls. Hence, our database is extremely accurate and always current. Since we expect the average operator to have little geographic knowledge of any general region, our system provides "location assistance tools" so the desired listings can be located and released with average work times for the entire call process of 20 seconds and lower. Yes, the same national telephone directory assistance database is available to "subscribers" via Internet. Our Windows Browser access is mostly utilized by bill collectors and skip tracers who need both accuracy and ease of use in finding people. It also can be used by PBX attendants to provide their corporate users the high value access meeting telephone quality but at far lower cost. Other credit collections firms tie directly into our National DA system via our XML interface. Using the XML access approach, we provide National 411 access to retail operations so that during the sales process, the buyers telephone number is entered via the cash register (key pad) and within a second the telephone listing (for listed numbers) is presented back to the store. This can provide a low level of security enhancement, but most importantly assures the retail firm captures the exact and valid name/address in their database for later mailings of coupons, sales brochures and/or catalogs. It does not take more than a few wasted mailings to pay for the entire yearly access. If these types of services based on a subscriber fee basis interest you, please visit our WEB site -- as they say in advertising -- it ain't your old telephone directory assistance anymore. Louis Jahn www.InfoPartnersCorp.com 609-823-6602 609-823-2202 Fax ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: How to Get Accurate Directory Listings From the Web? Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:06:57 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Phil Earnhardt wrote in message news:telecom22.754.2@telecom-digest.org: Much information deleted... > Is there some reason that our Baby Bell can't refresh their > qwestdex.com residential database on a daily or weekly basis? Does the > PUC have any requirements that the Baby Bells provide an accurate > database on their website? Would it help to complain to the PUC? How > about the quirky interface? A few months ago Qwest Communications sold its Qwest Dex directory and advertising business unit to Dex Holdings, LLC. So the "Baby Bell" probably doesn't have much duty or responsibility to deal with the issues of accurate and timely directory listings. The new owners, The Carlyle Group and a bunch of attorneys, are the owners of Dex Holdings -- I have no real inside information but I'd guess their real interest is in cash rather than directory entries! Al [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 1-800-TELEDEAL and www.1800teledeal.com is another good source of inexpensive 'real time' directory assistance. At that phone number you would speak to George, the owner of the company. Although at present he only works with companies large enough to divert their 411 traffic to his operator positions (I think he said he contracts through someone else to do the real time lookups) he said to me recently in an interview that he intends to start a 'prepaid calling card' type service for individuals to use. If your company or organization is large enough to be in a position to use a device he supplies which camps on the phone line and 'listens' for the dialing string '411' or (anything)-555-1212 and diverts it to where he says, then you can get your DA for around 25-30 cents per call also. Ask for George at 1-800-TELEDEAL, or 312-372-2900. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Wesrock@aol.com Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:05:49 EST Subject: Re: Kiddy Porn Spam In a message dated 11/17/03 1:23:09 PM Central Standard Time, editor@telecom-digest.org writes, in a comment on a posting from Joey Lindstrom about blantant spam, and which Pat says is from the U.S. Postal Service: > I guess snail mail got to be too expensive, so now they send bulk > email, at much better rates, obviously. Snail mail too expensive for the U.S.P.S.? The U.S.P.S. runs snail mail. Wes Leatherock wesrock@aol.com wleathus@yahoo.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, USPS employees on duty have to pay for postage they use, the same as telephone company employees on duty with a phone on their desk have to pay for its use. Both telco and USPS do not literally buy the service over the counter, but they do have to account for what they use, and stay within budgets. Telco prints out bills on their own telephones, and a supervisor somewhere has to review them and okay them. USPS uses 'franked' (no postage paid) mail but the permit number on the envelope has to be accounted for in the same way. USPS uses Pitney Bowes postage machines for most of their 'franked' mail, but the machines still have to be filled now and then, and some budgetary records kept. Telco yells at the employees who make personal long distance calls on company phones, and I presume USPS keeps track of where their postage goes also, and an auditor somewhere has to sign off on it. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 19:45:46 -0700 Subject: Re: Kiddy Porn Spam Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 13:50:54 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, that's nothing unusual. I went over > to your site just to confirm my suspicions. It was sent by the United > States Postal Service at their very large kiddy porn factory down in > south Florida. For several years now, USPO has operated that factory, > where they manufacture, produce and distribute child porn and white > power trash in the hopes of getting YOU to sign up for it. They used > to send out 'teaser' pictures and literature through snail mail in the > hopes you would take the bait and order more of it. Dave Zipp (his > phone name at work) was in charge of 'customer service' back then > also. 'Mr. Laws' (another phone or screen name) had an important role > in those days also. I guess snail mail got to be too expensive, so now > they send bulk email, at much better rates, obviously. I heard they > have expanded into 'harboring terrorists' as well these days. > As soon as you get cozy with Laws and Zipp, they'll offer (or try, > if they get a positive street address or verifiable and validated > email address) to send you packages of their trash through the US Mail. > Naturally you sign for it when it arrives, so they get a green card > back in the mail *to show the jury as needed* in case you won't > wimper, wither up and automatically confess to being a white power- > oriented, terrorist pedophile as they are hoping. > This was not an invention of Ashcroft, it was around a long time > before he got into his present position, but of course he supports it > without any reservations at all, except he would 'cut some corners' > or take some additional shortcuts with the US Constitution if he > thought he could manage it. Bush didn't start it either; I think it > was started during the days of his father, the old Mr. Bush. By all > means go look at the exhibit Joey has on display, and in case you > were too dense to notice it, 'Zipp' is Mister Zone Improvement Plan > himself and 'Laws' refers to the United States Attorney General, or > his authorized representative, in whose custody you will soon find > yourself if you fall for any of their foolishness. They see no > problems with trying to entrap guys with their lures. PAT] Those names were definitely giveaways. But how do you know so much about this stuff? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: About eight or nine years ago here on the net in the old, now defunct Computer Underground Digest there was an essay on it. About the same time, a Chicago investigative reporter dug into it also, and had a story about it on his website for quite awhile also. There was some farmer in Nebraska about that time who had been bombarded in the US Mail for several months with mailing pieces offering kiddy porn. After a never ending torrent of this stuff, the guy finally had his curiosity get the best of him and he ordered one of the magazines they offered. He was named and his address was given but I do not remember it. Anyway, the day the magazine was delivered was the same day some postal inspectors and FBI guys came to his door; naturally finding him in possession of kiddy porn. There are also police officers who prowl places like IRC sites, AOL chat rooms, and Yahoo chat rooms looking for that stuff. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Al Gillis Subject: Re: "Glare" in Loop-Start Lines Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:44:55 -0800 Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com Hi Eric... Pat's ideas about using linear hunting with one switch (a CO, for example) starting at the first trunk and hunting down the group, with the other switch (a PBX, for example) would use that same group of trunks but would select them from the "bottom up". So that's a precise answer to the question you asked. But a better solution (providing your equipment can use the option) is to use ground start trunks. Ground Start trunks are specifically designed to overcome the problem of glare and use certain signaling sequences (of grounding the tip or ring sides of the line) to determine which switch (CO or PBX) can use the line. Glare, for those who may not know, is the symptom you get when both ends of a line or trunk sieze the line at the same time. You've most likely had this happen at home -- you grab the phone to make a call and someone is there, waiting to talk to you, although the phone didn't ring. Al Gillis Portland, Oregon Eric Jenson wrote in message news:telecom22.755.17@telecom-digest.org: > Dear Editor, > Geoffrey Welsh responded to a question from Jay R. Ashworth. Geoffrey > mentioned "glare" in loop-start lines. Can you direct me to any > articles that help you avoid glare in loop-start systems. > Thank you. > Eric Jenson > Portland, OR > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps Geoffrey Welsh or Jay Ashworth > will tell you what their research has turned up. One technique which > will *greatly reduce* -- though admittedly not eliminate -- 'glare' on > loop-start systems is the way you route the incoming/outgoing > traffic. Lets say you have a hundred outside lines in your system. If > you work with a main directory listed, or incoming number, you > probably have them 'hunt' along in sequence upward, so that if line > one is busy the central office will hunt for line two, then three, etc > until it reaches line one hundred (in our example) and then return a > busy signal to the caller. Meanwhile on your outgoing calls, you send > the first call out to line one hundred, then subsequent outgoing calls > hunt backward to ninety-nine, nighty-eight, etc. If you have a > roughly equal amount of incoming and outgoing traffic, the only > 'glare' possibly occurs somewhere in the middle, where the incoming > and outgoing traffic meet. Always put the outgoing calls where it is > unlikely the call will run into or bump an incoming call. That will > eliminate most 'glare' conditions. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #755 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 18 18:36:17 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAINaHk19982; Tue, 18 Nov 2003 18:36:17 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 18:36:17 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311182336.hAINaHk19982@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #756 TELECOM Digest Tue, 18 Nov 2003 18:36:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 756 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Fast and Furious: The Race to Wire America (Monty Solomon) Motorola Unveils Six New Handsets (Monty Solomon) Feds to Launch $10 million Investigation of Cell Phones (Monty Solomon) Nortel Language Re NorVergence (Dan Baldwin) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (Paul) Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? (jmw) Re: Do-Not-Call Called to Court (John David Galt) Re: URL Shortener (Paul Robinson) Re: Kiddy Porn Spam (COTTP) Re: Baggage Tracking Goes High Tech (jared) Re: Free Calls? So What's Not to Like? (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: "Glare" in Loop-Start Lines (Me) Re: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux (Jim Haynes) Re: Hospital Records Sent to Wrong Fax (Dale Farmer) Wireless Frenzy (Eric Friedebach) Camera Phones Sales Growth Rivals DVD Players (Eric Friedebach) Well, Here's a Number You Might Want to Call (Paul Robinson) Last Laugh! Man's Finger Stuck in Pay Phone for Hours (Joe Wineburgh) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:59:47 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Fast and Furious: The Race to Wire America By MATT RICHTEL Sandy, Utah JAYDENE WASHBURN'S rambler-style home here, 20 minutes south of Salt Lake City, seems the epitome of suburban tranquillity. The neatly cropped lawn is free of weeds. The skis and bicycles are hung tidily in the garage. In the house, the walls are adorned with family photographs and religious images. But look up at Mrs. Washburn's roof and you notice a sign of one of the first great business battles of the 21st century: an antenna that reaches four feet above the shingles. She paid $400 to a start-up called Utah Broadband to install the antenna because she was tired of waiting for the industry's major competitors, the telephone and cable companies, to provide high-speed Internet access, known as broadband. Mrs. Washburn, who teachers fourth grade, wanted to make the switch because her old dial-up access was excruciatingly slow when she tried to gain access to educational Web sites, when her sons played online games or when her husband sold refurbished golf clubs on eBay. Like the building of the railroads in the 19th century and the development of the highway system in the 20th century, the wiring of America represents huge opportunities -- and risks -- for companies large and small. To the winners will go monthly access fees from tens of millions of households and businesses. The competition in the Salt Lake City area mirrors that in towns and cities from Portland, Ore., to Portland, Me. It pits behemoth cable companies against telephone companies, and both against a growing number of small entrepreneurs who want to use wireless technology to bypass the telecommunications infrastructure. All of the contenders are struggling to reach people like Mrs. Washburn, knowing that whoever arrives first has an advantage. About 14 percent of American households have broadband, amounting to a third of those with Internet access. They pay $30 to $60 a month for the service. Growth prospects for the market are strong, according to Patrick Mahoney, an analyst at the Yankee Group, a market research firm. Revenue from high-speed Internet service is expected to increase to $20.8 billion in 2007 from $7.4 billion in 2002, he said. Technology industry analysts say high-speed computer links are being adopted more quickly than virtually any technology in American history. Still, other countries are ahead. The United State ranks 10th in the world in terms of the percentage of inhabitants with high-speed access behind Canada, South Korea and Japan. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/business/yourmoney/16broad.html ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 08:12:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Motorola Unveils Six New Handsets Advanced features at new level of Motorola portfolio expand revenue opportunities for operators and accessibility for consumers LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), a global leader in wireless communications, today introduced a series of new handsets, the Motorola C550, C450, C250, C200, V150 and C343, which leverage the company's rich design and technology innovation heritage to deliver a more compelling wireless experience for budget-conscious consumers. With vivid color screens, advanced messaging, integrated and downloadable games and personalization options, each new model offers a unique combination of 'must-have' features to provide consumers a choice of handsets that meet their needs and suit their budget. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36515484 ------------------------------ Reply-To: Monty Solomon From: Monty Solomon Subject: Feds to Launch $10 Million Investigation of Cell Phones Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 13:00:20 -0500 By Nancy McVicar Health Writer Posted November 16 2003 More than 10 years after the safety of cellular telephones was called into question by the death of a Florida woman from a brain tumor, the federal government is preparing to launch a multimillion dollar investigation into potential cancer-causing or toxic effects associated with the phones. When Susan Reynard, 33, of Madeira Beach died in 1992, 10 million people in this country were using cell phones. Today 150 million Americans, including children and teenagers, put the phones up against their heads every day, yet no government agency vouches they are safe. With 1.5 billion people using wireless phones worldwide, and more devices such as personal computers rapidly switching to wireless technologies, getting answers to the health questions has become crucial. Gary Brown, an adjunct professor in technologies at Nova Southeastern University, said people don't realize the issue of cell phone safety has not been settled. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-rxfone16nov16,0,7861249.story ------------------------------ From: Dan Baldwin Subject: Nortel Language Re NorVergence Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 07:57:12 -0800 Pat, "Nortel Networks has no affiliation with NorVergence and does not endorse the products or services being offered. Any decision to purchase from or be employed by NorVergence should be made independently and should not be based on any alledged or implied relationship between Nortel Networks and NorVergence. Nortel Networks has requested that NorVergence cease and desist from using Nortel Networks names in any of its marketing or telemarketing campaigns." Dan Baldwin 909-245-6645 Telecom Agent Association Founder & Editor-at-Large 31500 Grape Street #3-307 Lake Elsinore, CA 92532 800-558-9043 Fax TelecomAgent.org URL [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I will say that Norvergence if nothing else is always eager to start lawsuits. Their attorney contacted Dan Baldwin, author of the above message and one yesterday, to tell him Novergence was unhappy at him for merely linking to the messages last week in this Digest regards Norvergence. Mr. Baldwin called me on the phone a couple days ago to tell me how he had been threatened with suit for allowing the link to remain. We both got a good laugh out of that. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Paul Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:44:50 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com What about running RG58 thinnet coax and grounding the shield? A cheapo hub with coax connector on each end to do the conversion to Cat5 ? -- Paul wrote in message news:telecom22.744.11@telecom-digest.org... > I am wondering, does anyone know of a reasonably priced lightning > arrestor that can be used on Cat 5 or Cat 6 cable (on a run between > buildings)? I'm looking for something that can stop the voltage surge > from a nearby lightning strike from getting into the computing > equipment on each end. I'm aware of the Tripp Lite DNET1 > (http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=151) but I am > not entirely convinced that would stop a direct lightning hit (this is > an underground cable, but passes near some tall trees that are the > tallest things in the surrounding terrain, as the vertical scar marks > on the trunks attest). k> The one thing I ask is that no one suggest using fiber, unless you > know of some way to terminate it without having $1500 worth of > equipment to attach the ends. I know you can buy fiber with the ends > already attached, but that would not fit in the 1/2" plastic pipe that > connects the two buildings (that now holds the Cat 5 cable), and it > would not be feasible to replace the pipe. I'd actually love to use > fiber on this run (about 100 meters), but apparently no one realizes > that there's a need for pre-terminated fibers that are not > significantly larger at the ends than the rest of the cable, and > there's no way you're going to get a dual SC or ST connector through a > 1/2" pipe (plus, I'd be afraid of breaking the fiber during the pull, > and I really can't afford to experiment - if I spent over $100 for a > fiber patch cable and then broke it during the pull, I'd probably > shoot myself). > (Someone should make fiber patch cable that have just the center part > of the ST cable attached, with a way for the user to attach the outer > ring of the ST connector after the cable is pulled, if you understand > what I'm saying. It would require a little ingenuity but I'm sure it > could be done, and it would allow fiber cables partially > pre-terminated with ST connectors to be pulled through much smaller > spaces, without requiring expensive equipment to splice the ends onto > the cable.) > This is NOT a commercial installation and I'm not spending someone > else's money, and I'm not rich. Think "computer in the detached > workshop on the far side of the property" (but in an area were it is > definitely NOT convenient to lay new pipe now) and you'll have the > general idea. Also I don't want to do wireless. I just want to find > some decent, inexpensive Cat5 lightning arrestors, if such a thing > exists. ------------------------------ From: jmw Subject: Re: Lightning Protection For Cat 5/Cat 6 Cable? Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:58:09 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net w_tom wrote: > All appliance have a certain degree of internal protection. That > transformer is part of the galvanic isolation. Protection that is > more than sufficient IF 'whole house' protectors are installed on all > incoming utility lines. [...] Uh-huh ... and the question remains, what is/was 'telecom43877@workbench.net' trying to do? ------------------------------ From: John David Galt Subject: Re: Do-Not-Call Called to Court Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 20:58:22 -0800 Organization: Diogenes the Cynic Hot-Tubbing Society Barry Margolin wrote: > I agree, but it may be difficult to expand it to include that. The > courts have generally allowed the legislature to get around the 1st > Amendment when it comes to commercial speech, but they're very wary of > allowing restrictions on other types of speech. So the do-not-call > lists probably have to limit themselves to businesses in order to be > constitutional at all. That view is just silly. Freedom of speech has never extended to communication directed to a specific individual who doesn't want to receive it; nor has it ever extended to demanding the use of a facility someone else pays for for his own reasons, when he doesn't want it sent over that facility. Let advertisers stand on soapboxes in the park and shout all they want (during daylight, anyway). I don't have to go there. But if they want to come talk to me, or even stand in my front yard, I don't have to let them. Both the right of private property, and people's right not to be harassed in their homes, trump free speech. And either is sufficient for any reasonable court to uphold the list, and any extension of it to cover beggars and political campaigns. That ought to be that. ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Re: URL Shortener Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 04:28:06 GMT Bill Berbenich wrote: > I just wanted to alert everyone to a very handy web site. If you post > a really long URL on here, chances are that it will be broken up into > two lines. However, if you paste the url into http://smlnk.com/ , it > will give you a much shorter URL that you can post on here without it > being split up. Smlnk.com is a redirector service specifically for > this purpose -- and it's free! There is also http://tinylink.com and http://tinyurl.com that do the same thing. And, inversely there is http://makeashorterlink.com :) Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: Kiddy Porn Spam Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 00:55:43 -0500 In article , Wesrock@aol.com says: >> @yahoo.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, USPS employees on duty have to > pay for postage they use, the same as telephone company employees on > duty with a phone on their desk have to pay for its use. Both telco > and USPS do not literally buy the service over the counter, but they > do have to account for what they use, and stay within budgets. Telco > prints out bills on their own telephones, and a supervisor somewhere > has to review them and okay them. USPS uses 'franked' (no postage > paid) mail but the permit number on the envelope has to be accounted > for in the same way. USPS uses Pitney Bowes postage machines for > most of their 'franked' mail, but the machines still have to be filled > now and then, and some budgetary records kept. Telco yells at the > employees who make personal long distance calls on company phones, and > I presume USPS keeps track of where their postage goes also, and an > auditor somewhere has to sign off on it. PAT] Oh hell -- we used to have the call accounting software hooked up to our G3i and I used to run reports by department to a file, and then bring it into a database that referenced home phone numbers. You wouldn't believe the number of hits we'd get while doing that. It was also how we ferreted out that cross connects with the building next door were never disconnected. Seems there were some odd calls on Verizon bills that didn't show up in the call accounting system. Took a couple weeks of monitoring the indicated trunk lines but eventually I bagged em'. Then of course there were the time we nailed cleaning people calling the Dominican Republic, etc. And I couldn't change COR/COS on the phones because they'd actually sit at any desk and make their one or two hour calls. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Speaking of call accounting software, etc, I am reminded of the time Illinois Bell technicians ripped me off for several dollars in intra-lata (local, yet timed) calls around the Chicago suburbs once a number of years ago. I had a *tiny* little office in downtown Chicago for my recorded message service. I *did* have a personal outside line there also, 312-WEbster-9-4600 but I was in that office such a little amount of time, I rarely used my personal phone there. (Phone traffic there to the extent of several thousand inbound calls to the recorded message arrived daily on the main number there HARrison-7-1234 but little outgoing for me personally there). So imagine my surprise when my phone bill (on 939-4600) arrived one day for many dollars arrived and a few hundred minutes of 'overtime'. I called telco and spoke to the service rep Miss Prissy who hastened to assure me all the calls were mine. 'And to prove they are yours, Mr. Townson, we now have a new type of central office switch (ESS) which will print out all of your traffic. I will send you a copy of the printout.' You do that, sister ... let me look at the bill. This was in 1972, about a month or two after Chicago-Wabash had cut from the real old stepping switches straight to ESS. Well a couple days later, here comes the print out from telco. I scanned the list of calls and make the decision if I recognized the number I would assume it was my call. That cleared up the list extensively. Those that I did not recognize I would cross check through the '2080' service, which was an early Bell criss cross service over the phone. Whether I knew the party who had been called or not, if the call was at a time of day I was usually in that office, I would assume those were mine also. That still left a large number of calls frequently to numbers in Aurora, Illinois (*very* expensive local call from downtown Chicago. Always at 7 to 9 in the morning when I would not have been in the office. And 'two oh eight oh' had this to say about most of them: 'Illinois Bell Locker Room', 'IBT Company Truck Repair Shop, Aurora' 'AT&T Maintainence Foreman' and on it went like that. Even here and an occassional personal call (someone calling wife at home to tell her he got to work okay, etc). I immediatly called back to my contact Miss Prissy. 'Oh, hello Mr. Townson, I assume you got the printout I sent you, and that you are now satisfied all those calls were yours.' I told her 'your new telephone system really is great ... have you ever been charged in court with theft of phone service? You might be now.' She went over her copy, and I pointed out all those calls which obviously had to have been made by guys working either in the frames or in outside plant -- on my nickle. I explained to her, those guys saw my number (4600) right on the end of the frames, assumed it has to be some very large company (since it had a double zero ending) and they figured the calls would not be missed anyway, and they were just to lazy to walk down the aisle and get someone else's pair. Either that or the outside plant guy was in the Bell lockerroom here in our basement working on someone's pairs and needed to call his office, so he just clamped on mine to make the call. Miss Prissy was quite shocked to have a customer (or 'sub' as the business office calls us) talk to her in that tone of voice and authority. She put me on hold a couple of minutes then came back on the line (with a supervisor monitoring it; a trained ear can always tell when someone else has started listening to the conversation) to say, 'what I will do for you, Mr. Townson, is write off your entire extra units of calls for the past three months, will that be satisfactory?' I told her it would be, but if it happened in the future I would be appealing straight to Charlie Brown's office. (He was in his last few years as chairman of IBT). *That* is why auditing your phone bills on a regular basis is always a good idea. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:51:49 -0700 From: jared.NospaM@netspace.net.au (jared) Subject: Re: Baggage Tracking Goes High Tech > The readers will be positioned all along the baggage handling system, > enabling airlines to track the progress of a bag from check-in until > retrieval. There is currently tracking, perhaps in not so much detail. On a recent domestic USA flight my bag didn't arrive. The baggage people got on the computer. Yes, the bag had been loaded on a plane going east instead of west with me. The bag was scanned as it went on the wrong flight but it seems there was nothing in the system to raise an alert that there was a problem. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 02:04:58 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Re: Free Calls? So What's Not to Like? On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 01:56:10 -0500, Monty Solomon wrote about Free Calls? So What's Not to Like? > Internet phone service explodes in popularity, seen as threat to Bells > By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/14/2003 > Forget low-cost phone service. Michael Cohen and Robert La Ferla are > going for no-cost phone service. > Cohen, a Chestnut Hill native now attending law school in Toronto, and > La Ferla, a software engineer from Cambridge, are among Greater Boston > natives who have flocked to an explosively popular free service called > Skype that allows users to make totally free computer-to-computer > phone calls carried over the Internet. Unlike some Net-based services, > Skype -- which rhymes with "hype" -- requires no extra devices beyond > the speakers and microphone built in to most newer computers. Just 10 > weeks after it was launched, Skype has attracted nearly 2.6 million > users. > Skype, developed by the same Swedish team that pioneered the online > music-piracy service Kazaa, is already perceived as a major new threat > to the reeling Baby Bells, AT&T, and MCI, who have seen their industry > implode over the last three years as more and more phone > communications move to wireless and Internet services or are replaced > by e-mail and instant messaging. Daiwa Securities stock analysts > recently described Skype as "a giant meteor hurtling on a collision > course" toward the incumbent phone giants. > http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/11/14/free_calls_so_whats_not_to_like/ The biggest threat to the interexchange carriers (IXCs) (even more than to the Bells, because they are still primarily local exchange carriers (LECs)) is cell phones. Most cell phone plans charge only air time for long distance, so most residential calls in the evenings and weekends are free and probably a large proportion of the residential calls during the day, too. Anyhow, it's much less of a threat to the LECs, including the Bells. They will lose access charge revenue, which is important, but the interexchange carriers have the intercity revenue at risk, which is vital to them. The major difference between VOIP and cell phones is that the very largest companies can use VOIP as a substitute for private networks and ship phone calls around the country, from company switchboard to switchboard. (This was the "special access" argument back in the 80s.) Thus, the IXCs will also lose intercity revenues from their large customers, and they will not necessarily regain some of it in privat line revenues. The T-1 pipes (that may have to be upgraded to T-3 or higher, unless DSL works) from the large customers to their internet service providers (ISPs) are primarily provided by the LECs, so they do retain some revenue under the VOIP scenario. ------------------------------ Reply-To: Me From: Me Subject: Re: "Glare" in Loop-Start Lines Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 13:04:02 GMT Al Gillis wrote in message news:telecom22.756.12@telecom-digest.org: > Hi Eric... > Pat's ideas about using linear hunting with one switch (a CO, for > example) starting at the first trunk and hunting down the group, with > the other switch (a PBX, for example) would use that same group of > trunks but would select them from the "bottom up". > So that's a precise answer to the question you asked. > But a better solution (providing your equipment can use the option) is > to use ground start trunks. Ground Start trunks are specifically > designed to overcome the problem of glare and use certain signaling > sequences (of grounding the tip or ring sides of the line) to > determine which switch (CO or PBX) can use the line. > Glare, for those who may not know, is the symptom you get when both > ends of a line or trunk sieze the line at the same time. You've most > likely had this happen at home -- you grab the phone to make a call and > someone is there, waiting to talk to you, although the phone didn't > ring. > Al Gillis > Portland, Oregon > Eric Jenson wrote in message > news:telecom22.755.17@telecom-digest.org: >> Dear Editor, >> Geoffrey Welsh responded to a question from Jay R. Ashworth. Geoffrey >> mentioned "glare" in loop-start lines. Can you direct me to any >> articles that help you avoid glare in loop-start systems. >> Thank you. >> Eric Jenson >> Portland, OR >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Perhaps Geoffrey Welsh or Jay Ashworth >> will tell you what their research has turned up. One technique which >> will *greatly reduce* -- though admittedly not eliminate -- 'glare' on >> loop-start systems is the way you route the incoming/outgoing >> traffic. Lets say you have a hundred outside lines in your system. If >> you work with a main directory listed, or incoming number, you >> probably have them 'hunt' along in sequence upward, so that if line >> one is busy the central office will hunt for line two, then three, etc >> until it reaches line one hundred (in our example) and then return a >> busy signal to the caller. Meanwhile on your outgoing calls, you send >> the first call out to line one hundred, then subsequent outgoing calls >> hunt backward to ninety-nine, nighty-eight, etc. If you have a >> roughly equal amount of incoming and outgoing traffic, the only >> 'glare' possibly occurs somewhere in the middle, where the incoming >> and outgoing traffic meet. Always put the outgoing calls where it is >> unlikely the call will run into or bump an incoming call. That will >> eliminate most 'glare' conditions. PAT] There are a couple of other selection algorithm pairs that can do the trick and apply to both ground start and loop start trunks; beside ascending and descending sequential selection at either end is most idle and least idle at opposite ends, even vs. odd, cyclical ascending/descending, and other combinations are possible in some vendor products. Glare can still occur on ground start trunks (although greatly reduced). Glare can be an indication that you are nearing the capacity of the trunk group (assuming the trunk group is properly set up), and there are usually performance measurements that will tell you if the trunk group reached full occupancy at certain times. Another time I have seen glare become a problem is when there is one bad trunk (or digit receiver) and sensing the failure, the trunk group attempts to "reselect" a new trunk for the call. Often times reselection code is much faster than the original selection routine, and will tend to grab a trunk before it is properly idled. Well designed call processing code will have two queuing mechanisms for trunks, first an "idle" queue where the trunk is put immediately after being disconnected from either end, and then a "selection" queue where trunks go after being put on the idle queue for a brief time. This helps insure that glare is not a problem. -Hope this helps ------------------------------ Subject: Re: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux Reply-To: jhaynes@alumni.uark.edu Organization: University of Arkansas Alumni From: haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 18:04:18 GMT Care to enlighten us on what a "PVR" is? jhaynes at alumni dot uark dot edu ------------------------------ From: Dale Farmer Organization: Furry green fuzz in the back of the refrigerator Subject: Re: Hospital Records Sent to Wrong Fax Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 19:25:59 GMT Monty Solomon wrote: > By Michelle Hillman / News Staff Writer > WAYLAND -- David Rottenberg was alarmed six months ago when he first > began receiving faxes at his home office containing private medical > information for patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, compression > fractures and back pain. > On Friday, he mistakenly received a fax containing private medical > information about a breast cancer patient -- information intended for > MetroWest Medical Center's radiology department, not Rottenberg's fax > machine. > http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/wayl_records11162003.htm Such things unfortunately happen a lot. I worked for a company and one of the fax lines that was unpublished, and used only for outgoing faxes was a simple transposition error for the fax machine number at a local hospital ER. I would find on it at least once a week or so some confidential medical information on it. I would usually call the originating office, if I could figure it out, and inform them of the error. Usually they would apologize and nothing more was said. I then took the pages down to the shredder to personally destroy them, having a health care background, patient confidentiality is somewhat of a hot button for me. --Dale ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Wireless Frenzy Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:26:38 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette Allison Fass, 11.18.03, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Until now, if you wanted to change wireless carriers, you'd have to change your phone number, too. Starting next week, though, you won't have to. As of Nov. 24 a U.S. Federal Communications Commission mandate will allow consumers to switch cell services within the same local region without changing their numbers. Ready to feast on the impending flood of changes is David A. Steinberg, chief executive at InPhonic, the largest online seller of wireless services. Steinberg has launched a Web site, WireFly.com, that will make consumers' wireless service decisions and purchases even easier, he says, and cut their bills up to 30%. The draw is one-stop comparison shopping. A WireFly user can enter detailed wireless information -- total number of minutes per month as well as percentages of anytime minutes, night and weekend minutes, long-distance and roaming -- and have the software spit out the least expensive matches. He will then be able to port his cell-phone number and buy the service right then and there. Eric Friedebach http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/18/cz_af_1118compliance.html ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: Camera Phones Sales Growth Rivals DVD Players Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:40:50 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette Jefferson Graham, 11.18.03, USA Today Teeny camera cellphones appear to be on pace to replace DVDs as the fastest-growing consumer technology device ever. Introduced three years ago in Japan and less than a year ago in the USA, they've caught on so fast that Nokia and other phonemakers say most new phones from now on will have built-in cameras. "They're becoming a standard feature," says Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak at the Comdex technology show here. Nokia, the No. 1 cellphone maker, introduced six models in the past two months. All include cameras. Costs are plummeting, too. Not quite a year ago, U.S. camera phones ran as high as $399. Plus, consumers had to sign with cellphone carriers for two-year service agreements. Now, T-Mobile is giving a camera phone away -- as long as consumers subscribe to monthly service. AT&T offers a camera phone for $49.99, plus service contract. Sprint offers a phone for $79.99, plus monthly contract. http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/18/1118cameraphonespinnacor.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Well, Here's a Number You Might Want to Call Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 20:24:22 GMT I've been getting a bit of spam from some company which has been sending out an offer of some kind to allow people to make lots of money. Yeah, right. But then I had a thought, let's do that, and allow the telephone company to make lots of money off this spammer. The phone number in their ad is: 800-359-8336 x 8460 I encourage lots of people to make lots of calls and encourage your friends to do so. If you can get to a live person, be sure to tell them what you think of those who send out unsolicited e-mail. If it's a recording, you might want to call back many, many times in order to make sure you hear all of it and remember it. Don't forget to try using pay phones, we want to make sure they make some money off this too! Pay phone operators need all the help they can get, and since it's at someone else's expense, why not? Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: Wineburgh, Joe Subject: Last Laugh! Man's Finger Stuck in Pay Phone for Hours Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 12:27:13 -0500 Is this a first? #JOE EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A man and a pay phone were rushed to a hospital after he got his finger stuck in the coin return slot while trying to retrieve his 50 cents. Emergency room doctors gave Emanuel Fleming a painkiller Monday and pried his middle finger loose using a wooden device and lubricant, ending the three-hour ordeal. "The bone in my finger felt like it was going to break. My finger was numb. It was very painful," said Fleming, an elementary school janitor. Fleming had tried to call his wife, but the line was busy. Two passers-by tried to help. When they failed to free him, Fleming used his other hand to dial 911. Emergency crews and a representative of the company that owns the phone were sent to the scene. But they were also unable to free Fleming. The phone was near a busy bus stop. "People on the bus who know me were laughing at me," Fleming said. With few options left, ambulance crew members cut the telephone off at the base and took it and Fleming to St. Mary's Hospital. "I've been in this business more than 30 years and I've seen a lot of weird things, but never anyone trapped in a telephone," said Herb Simmons, manager of the ambulance company. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #756 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Nov 19 17:06:09 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAJM69N26315; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:06:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:06:09 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311192206.hAJM69N26315@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #757 TELECOM Digest Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:06:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 757 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comcast Strives to Stay Just Folks (Monty Solomon) Intelligent Tags are Breaking the Ice (Monty Solomon) More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (Monty Solomon) The Web's New Currency (Monty Solomon) Thumbs Pay at some Stores (Monty Solomon) The Keys to Keeping Cell Customers (Monty Solomon) Remote Possibilities (Monty Solomon) Swiss Army Recorder: TiVo/DVD (Monty Solomon) Tivo at Crossroads, Needs Cable Partner - Analysts (Monty Solomon) AT&T Wireless Launches Fast U.S. Wireless Service (Monty Solomon) GILC Alert v7i8 (Monty Solomon) Acxiom Opts Out of Opt-Out (Monty Solomon) Installers in Florida or Georgia? (Chester) TelcoData.Us Gone? (Matthew Sadler) Main Distribution Frame (Travis Barnes) Re: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux (Willy Kreim) Re: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux (Rich Greenberg) Re: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems (Laszlo) uRipp Site Denies Assertions (Joey Lindstrom) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:31:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Strives to Stay Just Folks Executives at the U.S.' biggest pay-TV company see a family atmosphere as key to its success. By Sallie Hofmeister, Times Staff Writer PHILADELPHIA - Ralph Roberts, the 83-year-old chairman and co-founder of Comcast Corp., has his own bobblehead doll. In the cable company's workaday world of engineers, technicians and customer service representatives, the soft-spoken pay-TV pioneer is the equivalent of a rock star. He routinely gets standing ovations at company events. Employees want his autograph and compete for his bobblehead. When Roberts visited the Denver office last week, employees surprised him with a cake shaped like his trademark bow tie to commemorate Comcast's 40th anniversary. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-comcast17nov17,1,7719485.story ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:40:57 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Intelligent Tags Are Breaking the Ice In October, surrounded by the colourful foliage of a New England autumn, 500 technology consultants, venture capitalists and visionaries gathered for the annual Pop!Tech conference in Maine. The conference provides a window into the future, allowing a glimpse of the impact that up and coming technology will have on ordinary people. Like any other conference, it allows people with similar interests to meet and make contact, whether for academic collaboration, business partnership or simply to make friends. But this process of "networking" is usually rather mysterious. Place a large number of people in a room, add some food and alcohol, and somehow it happens. But at Pop!Tech this year, things were different. As delegates arrived at the meeting, they were handed an intelligent tag the size and weight of a PDA to wear around their necks. Called an nTag, each delegate's device was pre-programmed with the conference schedule, which could be displayed on a small screen on the front of the tag, as well as with personal information supplied earlier to the organisers. This included the wearer's contact details, employment history, their professional interests and personal hobbies the kind of information that people often compare to decide whether they have anything in common. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994371 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:46:13 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen By AMY HARMON INDIANAPOLIS -- Striding into the airport here one recent afternoon, Kimberly Ward did not so much as glance at the two ticket agents waiting at the counter. Like most of her fellow travelers, she instead claimed an automated check-in terminal, touched its screen a few times, and took the proferred boarding pass with a quick smile of thanks. Ms. Ward, 37, pays for gas only at the pump. She shops at Marsh, a supermarket in her neighborhood that has machines that let customers scan, bag and pay for groceries themselves. Her favorite bank teller is her A.T.M. Dealing with humans in such situations "just slows you down," she says. "This is a lot more convenient." A new generation of self-service machines is slipping into the daily lives of many Americans. Rejected for decades as too complicated, the machines are being embraced by a public whose faith in technology has grown as its satisfaction with more traditional forms of customer service has diminished. Faced with the alternative -- live people -- it seems that many consumers now prefer the machines. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/17/technology/17MACH.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:51:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Web's New Currency A new generation of e-payment companies makes it easy to "pay as you go" for inexpensive Web content, portending big profits for online businesses. By Gregory T. Huang December 2003/January 2004 Ask Ron Rivest if he's ever been whisked away by the CIA in the middle of the night, and he laughs -- but he doesn't say no. At Peppercoin, a two-year-old MIT spinoff in Waltham, MA, the renowned cryptographer oversees an operation far less secretive than an intelligence agency but almost as intense: a clearinghouse for electronic "micropayments," pocket-change transactions that may finally allow magazines, musicians, and a multitude of others to profit from selling their wares online. It's September, and with only weeks to go until commercial launch, Peppercoin's software engineers troubleshoot at all hours. Marketing executives shout across the room and over the phone, making deals. But in the eye of the storm, Rivest is calm and collected. Eyes sparkling, real change jingling in his pocket, he even wears sandals with authority. What Peppercoin is trying to do, he says, is make it easy to "pay as you go" for inexpensive Web content--so you won't need to pay subscription fees, limit yourself to free content, or share files illegally. With a click of the mouse--and Peppercoin's software churning away behind the scenes--you can now download a single MP3 from an independent-music site, watch a news video clip, or buy the latest installment of a Web comic from your favorite artist. All for just pennies. It sounds simple, but it wasn't possible a few months ago. Most Web merchants still can't support micropayments--transactions of about a dollar or less -- because the processing fees from banks and credit card companies erase any profit. But Peppercoin, the brainchild of Rivest and fellow MIT computer scientist Silvio Micali, is in the vanguard of a new crop of companies--including BitPass of Palo Alto, CA, and Paystone Technologies of Vancouver, British Columbia--that make cash-for-bits transactions superefficient. These companies' founders are well aware of the string of defunct e-payment companies whose virtual currencies have gone the way of the Confederate dollar. But they've got something new up their sleeves: easier-to-use technology that allows Web sites to accept tiny payments by effectively processing them in batches, thereby cutting down on bank fees. http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/huang1203.asp ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:37:31 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Thumbs Pay at Some Stores By Michelle Kessler USA TODAY A pet store in Herndon, Va., will sell puppies for cash, credit, check -- or your thumbprint. Customers at Fox Mill Pets can pay for the doggy in the window by placing a thumb on a fingerprint scanner at the register. The scanner is connected to a computer, which analyzes the print. Because thumbprints are unique, the computer can match the print to a customer and deduct the price of the puppy from that customer's checking account. Count this as one of the first retail applications of biometric technology, which uses physical characteristics to identify people. Biometric devices such as fingerprint readers, retinal scanners and facial recognition systems are often part of high-tech security - in life and in science fiction. But until recently, biometrics has been considered too expensive and cumbersome for everyday use. Trials, such as Fox Mill Pets' partnership with biometrics firm BioPay, may prove otherwise. Eleven Food 4 Less stores in the Midwest and three Kroger grocery stores in Texas are trying fingerprint scanners, as are other shops. Advocates say the technology will improve customer service. Even though customers are usually asked to provide a second form of ID, the thumbprint reader can be a minute faster than writing a check, biometric companies say. And by making it easier to deduct money from a bank account, it can reduce credit card transactions, for which stores usually pay a fee. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-11-17-biometrics_x.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 02:18:01 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Keys to Keeping Cell Customers With price less of a factor, wireless providers are waging the battle to reduce churn with better call quality and customer service For most people, losing a cell-phone connection is a bummer. But for Greg Clemens, a real estate agent in Portland, Ore., it's worse than that. Clemens often needs to negotiate contracts and talk with prospective home buyers on the go -- only to find that his service drops calls or garbles transmissions too often. "It has been extremely frustrating," he says. Many wireless customer agree, at least some of the time. Only a handful gripe formally: The Federal Communications Commission received 3,901 complaints relating to wireless service providers in the second quarter, up 7% from a year earlier. But millions of customers vote with their feet every year, judging by how frequently they switch carriers. In fact, prices now vary so little that customers increasingly are choosing a provider based on call quality and customer service, says Martin Dunsby, vice-president for operations at wireless consultancy InCode Telecom in San Diego. So at long last, cell companies are starting to focus intently on those two issues. One superficial indicator is the "Can You Hear me Now?" ad campaign of No. 1 provider Verizon Wireless, a joint venture between Verizon ( VZ ) and Vodafone ( VOD ), which has 36 million customers and is signing up new ones faster than any other carrier. The ad features a Verizon Wireless technician checking to make sure there are no dead spots in buildings and stadiums. More substantively, carriers are more efficiently and sensitively handling customer accounts, improving other aspects of customer service, and extending the reach of their networks. http://businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2003/tc20031111_2423_tc135.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 02:21:29 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Remote Possibilities By CLIVE THOMPSON When cat lovers go on vacation and leave their animals behind, they usually worry neurotically: did they leave enough food in the bowl for Fluffy? But there isn't much they can do about it. That is, unless they've got what Karen Lurker's got -- a pet feeder you can control from anywhere in the world using your mobile phone. Lurker, a spokeswoman for NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile-phone company, is in her gleaming showroom in Manhattan, introducing the gunmetal-gray 'I See Pet' feeder. It's about the size and shape of a squat coffee-maker, and it stares at you like a cyclops with one robotized eye. "That's actually a Webcam," she notes. "It'll broadcast whatever's happening in your house and send the picture to your phone. So when you're at work, you can pull out your mobile and see how the cats are doing." If they're looking hungry? Lurker hits a button on the keypad, and the robot feeder clicks once -- then disgorges a pile of M&M's into the food tray. ("That candy's just for our guests," she adds hastily. "Obviously you'd be feeding them real pet food.") Customers asked the manufacturer, AlphaOmega Soft, to install a speaker too, so that they could talk to their pets while away on a business trip. But the company "figured that would probably just freak the pet out too much," Lurker says. The device goes on sale in the United States early next year, and when it does, it'll give us yet another weird way to use today's mobile phones: as teleportation devices. DoCoMo is hardly alone in this endeavor. A consortium of high-tech heavyweights called the Internet Home Alliance is wiring entire houses in Boston so that they can be remotely manipulated by mobile phone -- turning kitchen appliances on and off from the supermarket, for example. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16CELL.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 02:31:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Swiss Army Recorder: TiVo/DVD By DAVID POGUE SOONER or later, the technologies of the various areas of our lives merge, resulting in a savings of cost, cables and clutter. For the nightstand, you can buy a clock-radio-telephone. In the car, you've got one radio-CD-player-heating-control unit. In your pocket, a Swiss Army knife. But the area around the TV is still a mess. By the time you've installed your cable box, VCR, TiVo and DVD player-recorder, you've built a techno-tower crisscrossed by cables and overrun by remotes. If ever an area cried out for consolidation, the TV room is it. The industry has taken a few tentative steps in that direction: combo VCR-DVD players fill the shelves at Costco and Circuit City, and Toshiba recently unveiled a $400 TiVo with built-in DVD player. But those early attempts should bow down before the sweet perfection of a new pair of hybrids: Pioneer's new DVR-810H and Elite DVR-57H. Each of these remarkable machines is a TiVo recorder, DVD player and DVD recorder in a single box, with one remote that also controls your TV. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/technology/circuits/13stat.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 00:24:17 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Tivo at Crossroads, Needs Cable Partner - Analysts By Franklin Paul NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Tivo, the television recording technology company, needs to find a partner in the cable TV market or face falling from its status as a hip innovator to being a small niche player, analysts said. The San Jose, California-based Tivo makes systems that allow users to personalize TV programs recorded to a set-top box with a built-in hard drive. Its stock is up 69 percent this year. Tivo recently hit one million subscribers for its digital video recorder (DVR) systems. Its customers pay as much as $13 a month to subscribe to its service. Analysts expect Tivo to shrink its loss to 16 cents a share from a loss of 23 cents last year, on higher revenues, when it reports fiscal third quarter results on Thursday. Its current fourth quarter outlook is expected to be even stronger. But Tivo is at a crucial crossroads, analysts said. As people begin to buy Tivo-like services that allow them to pause and rewind live TV from cable companies, Tivo needs to make good on its growth plan by providing its technology to more media outlets. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36532312 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 00:25:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Wireless Launches Fast U.S. Wireless Service By Reed Stevenson LAS VEGAS, Nov 18 (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE), the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, on Tuesday launched a new service that it said offers the fastest access to data via cell phones in North America. John Zeglis, chairman and chief executive of AT&T Wireless, said the service provides access to the Web via cell phones and laptops at the fastest speeds available in North America. The service, called EDGE, for Enhanced Data GSM Environment, is at least twice as fast as current GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) networks. Both EDGE and GPRS are advanced versions of the world's dominant wireless technology standard, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36530033 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 00:31:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: GILC Alert v7i8 Welcome to the Global Internet Liberty Campaign Newsletter. Welcome to GILC Alert, the newsletter of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign. We are an international organization of groups working for cyber-liberties, who are determined to preserve civil liberties and human rights on the Internet. We hope you find this newsletter interesting, and we very much hope that you will avail yourselves of the action items in future issues. If you are a part of an organization that would be interested in joining GILC, please contact us at . If you are aware of threats to cyber-liberties that we may not know about, please contact the GILC members in your country, or contact GILC as a whole. Please feel free to redistribute this newsletter to appropriate forums. =============================================== Free expression [1] New wave of Chinese Net dissident arrests [2] Upcoming EuroDMCA may stifle Net free speech [3] Flap over voting machine documents on the Web [4] Hollywood sues more Net users [5] Spyware maker launches legal attacks against critics [6] US gov't orders crippling of digital TV systems [7] College music-sharing system shutdown amidst copyright threats [8] US gov't unveils limited copyright law exemptions [9] US Supreme Court again reviews Net speech law [10] Crippled DVDs prove unpopular [11] US plan would restrict flow of mere facts [12] New report on multiple digital divides released Privacy [13] New law allows Singapore gov't cyber-attacks [14] Information sought on MATRIX spy program [15] New computer bug does not require opening of attachment [16] AOL invades private computers, alters settings [17] Lingerie retailer fined over e-privacy breach [18] Finnish geographic kid Net tracking plan draws concern [19] Big Brother Awards ceremonies held recently in 4 countries http://www.gilc.org/alert/alert78.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 01:48:30 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Acxiom Opts Out of Opt-Out By Ryan Singel Acxiom calls itself the premier source of addresses and phone numbers for telemarketers and mass mailers. But when it receives a list of names of people who want to get off its lists, the company considers the request to be junk mail and sends it back. The Little Rock, Arkansas, company, which made $958 million in revenue last year from selling people's names, addresses and profiles, says it wants to hear personally from each individual who wants to opt out. That way, Acxiom can explain how fair its privacy policies are. It also foils efforts to help people get their names off marketers' lists with just one opt-out form. Private Citizen , a for-profit privacy company, offers individuals the ability to pay a yearly fee to stop telemarketers and credit card offers that come from a wide variety of mailing lists and direct marketers. Private Citizen has been helping people unsubscribe since 1988. It also teaches members how to sue telemarketers and junk faxers. According to its website, its customers have collected over $2 million from telemarketers. http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,61240,00.html ------------------------------ From: Chester Subject: Installers in Florida or Georgia? Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 01:19:28 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Hello, I'm looking for any phone system/network installers in Florida or Georgia. We've got some clients down that way, and need someone to go onsite to setup some equipment for us. Email me for details! Chester chester@NOSPAMprosoundusa.com ------------------------------ From: Matthew Sadler Subject: TelcoData.Us Gone? Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 20:25:35 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7438 Maybe this is why telcodata.us is "down for an indefinite period of time." --mws http://www.scanchattanooga.com/ ------------------------------ From: travisbarnes@yahoo.com (Travis Barnes) Subject: Main Distribution Frame Date: 18 Nov 2003 21:48:39 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I know that the Main Distribution Frame is the headquarters for all the cabling in a building and the Intermediate Distribution Frame is located on different floors of a given building. Is there really much else to learn about it? I would imagine that there are several grounding issues to be familiar with and I'd like to learn more about these topics. Are there any references online that would help me to that end? Feel free to email me. Thanks. Travis Barnes travisbarnes@yahoo.com ------------------------------ From: willykk@my-deja.com (Willy Kreim) Subject: Re: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux Date: 19 Nov 2003 07:32:32 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com haynes@alumni.uark.edu (Jim Haynes) wrote in message news:: > Care to enlighten us on what a "PVR" is? Personal Video Recorder, afaik. Think of TIVO and other digitial TV recorders that save programs to an internal hard disk for later playback. Willy > jhaynes at alumni dot uark dot edu ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: The State of Home-Brew PVRs on Linux Date: 19 Nov 2003 16:08:08 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Jim Haynes wrote: > Care to enlighten us on what a "PVR" is? Personal Vidio Recorder, such as TVio Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com + 1 770 563 6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: laszlo@paragoncomputing.com (Laszlo) Subject: Re: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems Date: 18 Nov 2003 07:30:42 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Pete Weiss wrote in message news:: > On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:47:21 EST, Carl Moore wrote: >> An Associate Press item of today says that the Shreveport (Louisiana) >> police department is going (back?) to voice recording system which >> offers numbers to press, for non-emergency calls. > AP - Southern drawls have thwarted voice recognition equipment used by > the Shreveport Police Department to route non-emergency calls. > Source: > [url will wrap] > http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&u=/ap/20031117/ap_on_re_us/brf_voice_unrecognition&printer=1 Some voice reco systems for tracking packages, getting stock quotes or accessing contact lists seem to work very well, even taking into account accents. I've seen a particular system work with Texans, Chinese, Mexicans, Afghanis and several other accents. In my experience, a well built (and tested) system based on Philips, Nuance or Speechworks speech recognizers should have worked, given a reasonable SNR (15db+). Does anyone know who the vendor was for the Shreveport system? ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:30:58 -0700 Subject: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info Pat, your assertions about uzipp.com are being flatly denied by one of the principals, as detailed below. Your response? ==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE================== Hmm. I'm not sure what that's all about. It's sounds like some guy starting up rumors. Anyway, basically the reason you got that spam was because some jerk was trying to get my company (UZIPP.com) and I in trouble through sending mass spam which is illegal in many states. I nor did any of my employees send that spam message. I do not work for the government nor postal office, so those allegations are also false. If you have any questions, please let me know. However, beware of what you read, not everything is real nor true. Thanks. Dave Zipp Owner UZIPP.com ===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE=================== [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Please note Mr. Zipp did not deny any allegations about kiddy porn or white power stuff on his site. The only thing he denies are the allegations about working for the government or the post office. He states that 'some jerk' wanted to get his company in trouble by spamming, which he states is against the law in many states. Did the 'jerk' who sent out Mr. Zipp's name and his company name UZIPP alter his website to include the references to child porn and white power? Call me curious, I guess, but it seems at best to be a feeble denial. Nor did Mr. Zipp ever actually say *what* his business is. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #757 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Nov 19 23:21:02 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAK4L2k27942; Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:21:02 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:21:02 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311200421.hAK4L2k27942@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #758 TELECOM Digest Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:21:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 758 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Court Grants FCC Extension on Cable Ruling (Monty Solomon) Court to FBI: No Spying on In-Car Computers (Monty Solomon) The Media Baron, the Reporter and the Dictator (Monty Solomon) Digital Rights Management and the Breakdown of Social Norms (M Solomon) ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (Monty Solomon) DIRECTV Launches National High-Definition Television Bundled (M Solomon) Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (Barry Margolin) Re: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems (Rich Greenberg) In Whom Do You Trust? (Monty Solomon) Attn: Global Crossing Shareholders (Rishi) Alcatel Webtouch One - Smartcard Port? (Willy Kreim) AT&T Wireless Faces GSM Hang-Up (Eric Friedebach) Excite Telecom - Better Than Most (Ryan) Re: Info 4 U Ltd. (goldinyou) New Docs on Oftel's Site (Press Office) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:57:36 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court Grants FCC Extension on Cable Ruling By Jim Hu Staff Writer, CNET News.com A federal appeals court has granted the Federal Communications Commission an extension for filing a petition to rehear a controversial case involving cable regulation, an FCC source confirmed. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said the FCC now has until Dec. 4 to file a petition asking the court to reconsider a previous ruling involving cable broadband regulation. If the petition is granted, another panel of judges will take a fresh look at the case in what's called an "en banc" hearing. The panel will then offer a separate ruling based on their examination. The deadline extension stems from an October ruling by a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit , which said the FCC erred when it designated cable broadband as an "information" service. The label is important, because information services such as cable TV systems are outside the reach of federal regulations. However, the Ninth Circuit said cable broadband services have elements of both an information service and regulated "telecommunications" services. Immediately after that ruling, the FCC criticized the judges' decision and vowed to appeal. But the FCC did not say at the time whether it would ask for a new hearing with the Ninth Circuit or take the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Monday deadline extension suggests that the FCC will take it back to the Ninth, the FCC source said. http://news.com.com/2100-1034-5109586.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:01:10 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court to FBI: No Spying on In-Car Computers By Declan McCullagh Staff Writer, CNET News.com The FBI and other police agencies may not eavesdrop on conversations inside automobiles equipped with OnStar or similar dashboard computing systems, a federal appeals court ruled. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the FBI is not legally entitled to remotely activate the system and secretly use it to snoop on passengers, because doing so would render it inoperable during an emergency. In a split 2-1 ruling the majority wrote that "the company could not assist the FBI without disabling the system in the monitored car" and said a district judge was wrong to have granted the FBI its request for surreptitious monitoring. The court did not reveal which brand of remote-assistance product was being used but did say it involved "luxury cars" and, in a footnote, mentioned Cadillac, which sells General Motors' OnStar technology in all current models. After learning that the unnamed system could be remotely activated to eavesdrop on conversations after a car was reported stolen, the FBI realized it would be useful for "bugging" a vehicle, Judges Marsha Berzon and John Noonan said. http://news.com.com/2100-1029-5109435.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:06:38 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: The Media Baron, the Reporter and the Dictator Radio & TV: David Folkenflik Rupert Murdoch, the media baron whose News Corp. owns the Weekly Standard, the New York Post and the Fox News Channel, is a lightning rod for debates about whether news outlets reflect their owners' politics or their quest for profits. Murdoch does little to disguise his political tilt to the right. In the September issue of the Atlantic Monthly, however, liberal media critic James Fallows makes a forceful case that Murdoch's influence stems from his willingness to please governments whose good graces are important to his corporate well-being. In China, for example, television broadcasting has made for strange bedfellows. Consider a letter, written last spring and recently obtained by The Sun. http://www.sunspot.net/entertainment/tv/bal-to.tvradio19nov19,0,7989976.story ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:28:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Digital Rights Management and the Breakdown of Social Norms by Christopher May Abstract At the centre of the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) is a long history of political bargains struck between private rights to reward and the social benefit of information/knowledge diffusion. The historical dynamic of politics in this policy area has been to expand the rights of owners while circumscribing the public realm of information and knowledge. In recent decades the public domain has become merely a residual, all that is left when all other rights (as constructed by IPRs) have been exercised. The advent of digital rights management (DRM) technologies has disturbed a reasonably legitimate politico-legal settlement over "fair use," challenging the existing balance between the rights of "creators" and the interests of users. The breakdown of the norms underpinning IPRs has prompted renewed debate regarding their legitimacy. Although it is technological change that has enhanced not only the ability to copy but also the potential to control the distribution of content, this paper suggests that this argument will not be won or lost in the realm of technology. Rather, new technologies return the question of the control of knowledge and information (content) to the realm of politics. Contents Introduction TRIPS: Historical context The normative underpinnings of intellectual property Digital rights management and the crumbling norms of copyright Conclusion http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_11/may/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:29:55 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap By Michael Learmonth NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - ESPN launched what it called the "first phase" of a marketing campaign on Wednesday to respond to Cox Communications Inc.'s (NYSE:COX) threat to strip the sports network from its basic cable television package. The campaign includes radio spots and newspaper ads in Cox markets as well as the obligatory Web site, www.keepespn.com, that warns: "Don't let Cox cable take away your SportsCenter." The site encourages visitors to buy satellite dishes or join the "Team to Keep ESPN on Basic," which promises to notify members if Cox were to remove Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE:DIS) ESPN from its basic service and tells how to find different pay-TV providers. The site is a slap back at Cox Communication's site, makethemplayfair.com, which gives visitors the opportunity to send e-mail to ESPN, Fox Entertainment Group's (NYSE:FOX) competing Fox Sports network and local elected officials to complain about increases in the price of sports programming. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36540458 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 17:31:05 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: DIRECTV Launches National High-Definition Television Bundled EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2003--DIRECTV, Inc., the nation's leading digital multichannel television service provider, announced today the launch of a new high-definition (HD) television bundled equipment offer for new DIRECTV customers, at Circuit City retail locations across the country. Customers who purchase a Samsung HD television can add a Samsung-DIRECTV(R) HD system for $199, a savings of $400(a). The promotion begins on Nov. 19, 2003 and runs through Jan. 31, 2004. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36542736 ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:31:36 GMT In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > A new generation of self-service machines is slipping into the daily > lives of many Americans. Rejected for decades as too complicated, the > machines are being embraced by a public whose faith in technology has > grown as its satisfaction with more traditional forms of customer > service has diminished. Maybe I've been lucky, but I don't have a problem with "traditional forms of customer service". I'll happily work with a customer service rep when I need something unusual. But for something as simple as withdrawing cash from my bank account or printing a boarding pass, humans just aren't needed -- a machine can do just as well. There are times when I want to be waited on, pampered, or have my hand held, but these situations usually aren't among them. It also helps that there are still lots of customers who prefer the traditional process. It means that the wait at the automated kiosk is usually much shorter than for the live agent. I wonder when the airport automated check-in machines will start printing luggage routing tags automatically, so that I'll be able to check my bags in by myself as well. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Level(3), Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Shreveport (LA) Voice Recognition Problems Date: 19 Nov 2003 17:45:53 -0500 Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Laszlo wrote: > Pete Weiss wrote in message > news:: >> On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 11:47:21 EST, Carl Moore >> wrote: >>> An Associate Press item of today says that the Shreveport (Louisiana) >>> police department is going (back?) to voice recording system which >>> offers numbers to press, for non-emergency calls. >> AP - Southern drawls have thwarted voice recognition equipment used by >> the Shreveport Police Department to route non-emergency calls. >> Source: >> [url will wrap] >> http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&u=/ap/20031117/ap_on_re_us/brf_voice_unrecognition&printer=1 > Some voice reco systems for tracking packages, getting stock quotes or > accessing contact lists seem to work very well, even taking into > account accents. I've seen a particular system work with Texans, > Chinese, Mexicans, Afghanis and several other accents. In my > experience, a well built (and tested) system based on Philips, Nuance > or Speechworks speech recognizers should have worked, given a > reasonable SNR (15db+). > Does anyone know who the vendor was for the Shreveport system? Probably the lowest bidder. Rich Greenberg Work: Rich.Greenberg atsign worldspan.com + 1 770 563 6656 N6LRT Marietta, GA, USA Play: richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time zone. I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val(Chinook,CGC,TT), Red & Shasta(Husky,(RIP)) Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 18:21:24 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: In Whom Do You Trust? ETHICS & PRIVACY In Whom Do You Trust? When it comes to our privacy, we trust physicians and the U.S. Postal Service. BY DR. LARRY PONEMON While technology has become the great enabler of data collection and utilization, one of the biggest responsibilities for IT leaders is making sure the personal information their systems collect for a variety of purposes is protected from misuse and abuse. Ponemon Institute and the CIO Institute at Carnegie Mellon University have just released their first report card on how much trust Americans have in how organizations from banks to telephone companies are protecting their personal information. The verdict: We trust our health care providers but not our grocery stores. http://www.darwinmag.com/read/110103/trust.html ------------------------------ From: rishi0005@netscape.net (rishi) Subject: Attn: Global Crossing Shareholders Date: 19 Nov 2003 16:28:32 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Global Crossing is soon going to emerge from Ch. 11 bankruptcy. The Shareholders will lose every thing unless they act immediately. Email me and I'll tell you what to do to block the discharge. I believe Global Crossing has 50,000 or more shareholders. The company did not disclose the number of shareholders to avoid appointment of a shareholders committee. This is necessary for companies with over 50,000 shareholders. So please email so I can see if there is a sufficient response to act on the matter. Please email now. rishi0005@netscape.net ------------------------------ From: willykk@my-deja.com (Willy Kreim) Subject: Alcatel Webtouch One - Smartcard Port? Date: 19 Nov 2003 06:18:04 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I got myself one of those old "internet phone" experiments from Alcatel ("Alcatel Webtouch One"). This was introduced I think back in 1999 or 2000 at the moment of the "internet appliance" hype when everyone and his mother were racing to develop the killer appliance. It's got a nice 5" VGA-res color touchscreen, dialup modem for internet connectivity, and decent browser software (with java). However what puzzles me is the "smart card" slot on the side. I haven't found yet any document that tells what's the use of it. Or at least, what was the "intended future use" when they designed it. What type of smart card can be inserted there? Any firmware hacking or modding for this unit? Certainly hacking it for a rs232 connection to a PPPD server on a PC that goes to the net over a broadband link would be nice, if possible while retaining the unit's caller-ID and voice call-logging features. Am I the only one with this old toy? Willy ------------------------------ From: Eric Friedebach Subject: AT&T Wireless Faces GSM Hang-Up Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 10:47:33 -0600 Organization: Muddy Paw Prints On The Corvette Mark Tatge, 11.19.03, Forbes.com NEW YORK - Big computer problems at AT&T Wireless have strangled the wireless company in the past two weeks, making it impossible to upgrade or add customers to its so-called next-generation Global System for Mobile Communications/General Packet Radio Service network. Dealers have complained the system has been down more than it has been up, frustrating attempts to activate customers since Nov. 1. As of Tuesday afternoon, the computers were back up, but hold times at call centers were running as long as 80 minutes as employees scrambled to catch up. Employees in AT&T stores said the company was "thousands of orders behind," due to a software glitch that crashed company computers. Most were advising customers last weekend to come back in a week or longer. AT&T Wireless spokesman Mark Siegel said late Nov. 18 that problems related to the outage were "not quite cleared up," but the situation was improving. He declined to be more specific about how many orders the company was behind or how many customers it might have lost. Siegel downplayed the outage by saying GSM/GPRS was only 3 million, or about 14%, of AT&T's 22 million customers. http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/19/cz_mt_1119awe.html Eric Friedebach ------------------------------ Reply-To: Ryan From: Ryan Subject: Excite Telecom - Better Than Most Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 09:45:26 -0800 Organization: Excite Telecom Inc. Dear Mr. Mark Galecki, It is our full intention to provide a high quality service and product for our customers. My business success is dependant on satisfied customers buying our products over and over. I can understand your frustration when you have a difficult time with a product, and do not feel you receive a fair value. Thank you for making us aware of this issue. We have taken steps to resolve it so it does not happen again. We are a small company with 3 employees and do our best to treat our customers with honesty and integrity. I have tried to contact you, please feel free to call me, your input is welcome. Best regards, Ryan ------------------------------ From: goldinyou Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 10:17:43 -0800 Hi, I read your letter on "Info 4 U Ltd." while I was trying to find a web page for the business. I too receive these annoying faxes and would like them to buy me more cartridges for my/their fax machine. I say "their" because I too can not get through to the 800 number they say I can call at no cost. I refuse to pay the $3.95 to call the 900 number to be removed from their annoying "customer list". Hum ... wonder when or how I managed to become their "customer"??? If you want to start a class action law suit, count me in. I'll even help you! I live in California, and don't understand why they are sending me these faxes. I'm on the "Do not call list" and wonder why spam faxes weren't included. Thank you for time, Torri ------------------------------ From: Press Office Subject: New Docs on Oftel's Site Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 16:09:43 -0000 Oftel has today published several documents and a press reelase. The reelase is at: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/press/releases/2003/pr61_03.htm and the documents are as follows: Draft Determination under Section 190 of the Communications Act 2003 Draft Direction under Regulation 6(6) of the Telecommunications (Interconnection) Regulations 1997 for resolving a dispute between Orange Personal Communications Services Ltd ('Orange') and British Telecommunications plc ('BT') concerning the cost sharing arrangements for Customer Sited Interconnect ('CSI') links connection and rental charges - this is at: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/licensing/2003/csi1103.pdf Consumer complaints made to Oftel -- the telecoms industry regulator - which is at: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/consumer/comp1103.htm and Reporting Quality of Service Information to Consumers at http://www.oftel.gov.uk/publications/consumer/2003/qos1103.pdf Regards Jo Hamilton Oftel webmaster :-) You have received this message because you have asked to be notified when Oftel publishes new documents. If you would like to unsubscribe, or change your details please go to: http://www.oftel.gov.uk/whats_new/sign_up.htm and follow the relevant link. At the end of 2003, Oftel will merge with four other regulators into Ofcom -- the new converged regulator for the communications sector. More information at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #758 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Nov 20 15:01:07 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAKK17002832; Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:01:07 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:01:07 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311202001.hAKK17002832@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #759 TELECOM Digest Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:01:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 759 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 'Spyware' Steps Out of the Shadows (Monty Solomon) CA Free Antivirus and Firewall Software (Monty Solomon) Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (Pete Romfh) Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (COTTP) Re: NEC Phone Kits Killer Price (Peter Moore) Re: AT&T Wireless Launches Fast U.S. Wireless Service (Nathan Strom) Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (Clark Griswold, Jr.) Norvergence Review Needs Input From Users (Dan Baldwin) Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn (Lincoln King-Cliby) Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn (Daniel W. Johnson) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 23:45:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Spyware' Steps Out of the Shadows By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com Late in July, an e-mail that hit employee in-boxes at a British credit card and finance company carried a secret payload -- "spyware" capable of recording confidential corporate data and sending it over the Net. Labeled "Wedding Invitation," the e-mail looked at first like spam or an ordinary worm. But consultants at security company Clearswift now believe that the e-mail was part of a targeted attack on the victim company aimed at extracting specific information -- a nightmare scenario in the corporate security world. Clearswift says the incident highlights a dangerous new trend in computer breaches, where spyware applications increasingly play a starring role . Relatively benign attacks intended to win attention by disrupting networks are being eclipsed by sophisticated attempts to steal passwords and other confidential information that can be used to deliver cash. http://news.com.com/2100-1032-5108965.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 00:03:35 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CA Free Antivirus and Firewall Software Free eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/ ------------------------------ From: Pete Romfh Subject: Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 06:30:04 -0600 Organization: Not Organized Barry Margolin wrote: > I wonder when the airport automated check-in machines > will start printing luggage routing tags automatically, > so that I'll be able to check my bags in by myself as > well. As a Techno-Geek for an airline I can share some insight on that topic. The check-in of luggage by an airline employee is a requirement placed by Transportation Safety Administration. It's entirely technologically feasible to handle the check-in in an automated manner. Other TSA requirements call for positive bag match to assure you get on the same aircraft as your checked bags. If you check a bag then decide not to get on the flight, your bag is supposed to be removed from the aircraft as well. That's why it's more difficult to switch flights at the last minute if you have checked baggage. There are several systems being used to screen and track your bags during your trip. In some cases it's easier to locate your bag than you in the system. I had suggested a simpler solution than the multi-million dollar computerized version selected, but our management felt that passengers might balk at being handcuffed to their luggage. =;) Pete Romfh, Telecom Geek & Amateur Gourmet. promfh at Texas dot net ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 12:54:58 -0500 In article , barmar@alum.mit.edu says: > I wonder when the airport automated check-in machines will start > printing luggage routing tags automatically, so that I'll be able to > check my bags in by myself as well. They already do -- except they get printed behind the counter. But you're right -- why not just eliminate most of the human reps. But with CSA scans etc. you'd attach your tag, hand it off to TSA and hope for the best. ------------------------------ From: VoiceMailPros@yahoo.com (Peter Moore) Subject: Re: NEC Phone Kits. Killer Price Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 08:46:07 -800 Reply-To: VoiceMailPros@yahoo.com NEC Phone Kit Configured 8x16x4 8 Digital Speaker Display Phones 4 Ports Voice Mail Supports Record Conversation & Live Call Screening Built in Caller I.D. ALL FOR ONLY $1,924 NEW 817 329 5521 x420 www.ExecutiveVoice.com ------------------------------ From: nstrom@ananzi.co.za (Nathan Strom) Subject: Re: AT&T Wireless Launches Fast U.S. Wireless Service Date: 20 Nov 2003 09:27:17 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36530033 (from the article) > Redmond, Washington-based AT&T Wireless said that EDGE would deliver > data at 100 to 130 kilobits per second, twice as fast as most other > wireless data services and about three times faster than > conventional home dial-up Internet access. I thought 1xRTT went to 144kbit/sec, and the new 1xEVDO network that Verizon was rolling out could go in the 500-700kbit/sec range ... Besides, they still say nothing of latency; bandwidth isn't everything. ------------------------------ From Clark W. Griswold, Jr. <73115.1041@compuserve.com> Subject: Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 22:45:36 -0700 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Monty Solomon wrote: > The site is a slap back at Cox Communication's site, > http:\\makethemplayfair.com, which gives visitors the opportunity to send > e-mail to ESPN, Fox Entertainment Group's (NYSE:FOX) competing Fox > Sports network and local elected officials to complain about increases > in the price of sports programming. Frankly, after reading both web sites, I'm even more on Cox's side on this. Disney (ESPN) seems to think the only cost problem is that Cox would charge $4 for a decoder box if ESPN was on an encrypted or digital tier. They are also playing fast and loose with the numbers. They compare what they charge Cox (a wholesale per subscriber rate) to the retail rate that Cox charges a consumer for a complete package, which has to include capital recovery and operating expenses on top of programming costs. I would love to see a law requiring every channel be made available ala carte. The problem with this is that the cable companies claim (and apparently the US Govt agrees) that packaging channels keeps pricing down by creating a potential audience that will support advertising. If channels were sold 100% ala carte, advertising support would disappear making the entire cost be born by subscribers. Now that sounds OK to me, but would probably be difficult for many people to afford. On the other hand, as soon as more people get PCRs/DVRs/Tivo devices, the advertising model will die anyway. I can't recall the last advertisement I've watched, other than intentionally during the Superbowl game. :) ------------------------------ From: norvergence@telecomagent.org Subject: TAA Norvergence Review Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 07:25:06 -0800 "TAA Collecting Objective Information For Its 'Norvergence Review' A "NorVergence Review" is being prepared and edited by TAA for publication. If you are a telecom end-user that has reviewed the NorVergence service offering for your own firm, TAA would like to share your decision process with other end-users for their benefit. Please contact Dan Baldwin, TAA Editor-at-Large at norvergence@telecomagent.org or call 909-245-6645." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 21:50:35 -0800 From: Lincoln King-Cliby Reply-To: withheld@request Organization: Is the sign of a sick mind Subject: Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn [Pat - If you publish this, please remove my email address. Thanks] Pat, Although I missed the original message so I don't know --exactly-- what the deal is, but on a whim after reading this I visited uzipp.com, and they are a webhosting firm ... Plugging the URL into archive.org and selecting a few random dates seems to indicate that that's what the uzipp.com domain always has been used for. Lincoln Joey Lindstrom wrote: > Pat, your assertions about uzipp.com are being flatly denied by one of > the principals, as detailed below. Your response? > > ==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE================== > > Hmm. I'm not sure what that's all about. It's sounds like some guy > starting up rumors. Anyway, basically the reason you got that spam was > because some jerk was trying to get my company (UZIPP.com) and I in > trouble through sending mass spam which is illegal in many states. I nor > did any of my employees send that spam message. I do not work for the > government nor postal office, so those allegations are also false. If you > have any questions, please let me know. However, beware of what you read, > not everything is real nor true. Thanks. > > Dave Zipp > Owner > UZIPP.com > ===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE=================== > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Please note Mr. Zipp did not deny any > allegations about kiddy porn or white power stuff on his site. The > only thing he denies are the allegations about working for the > government or the post office. He states that 'some jerk' wanted to > get his company in trouble by spamming, which he states is against > the law in many states. Did the 'jerk' who sent out Mr. Zipp's name > and his company name UZIPP alter his website to include the references > to child porn and white power? Call me curious, I guess, but it > seems at best to be a feeble denial. Nor did Mr. Zipp ever actually > say *what* his business is. PAT] ------------------------------ From: panoptes@iquest.net (Daniel W. Johnson) Subject: Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn Date: 19 Nov 2003 21:54:13 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Please note Mr. Zipp did not deny any > allegations about kiddy porn or white power stuff on his site. The He also didn't deny any allegations about assassinating Lincoln or double-parking. > only thing he denies are the allegations about working for the > government or the post office. He states that 'some jerk' wanted to > get his company in trouble by spamming, which he states is against > the law in many states. Did the 'jerk' who sent out Mr. Zipp's name > and his company name UZIPP alter his website to include the references > to child porn and white power? Call me curious, I guess, but it > seems at best to be a feeble denial. Nor did Mr. Zipp ever actually > say *what* his business is. PAT] Well, at the moment, that website's title states "UZIPP WebHosting - Quality Hosting, Low Prices", which would seem to identify his business. What was the title when you looked at the website and found references to child porn and white power? (Moderator responded in private email) > I did not look at the website at all. So, when you asked, "Did the 'jerk' who sent out Mr. Zipp's name and his company name UZIPP alter his website to include the references to child porn and white power?", you hadn't actually confirmed the references on the website, you were just taking the spammer's word for them? > Mr. Zipp claimed that someone was > trying to make trouble for him by sending out the spam message which > he denies sending. Ask yourself which is more likely: A) Mr. Zipp, operating a business that relies on going un-noticed, decides to advertise it massively. Then, before I check the site, he modifies it to hide anything that would be of interest to the desired new customers and make it look like a harmless webhosting outfit that has been in business for a long time. B) Someone who doesn't like Mr. Zipp and his webhosting (typically a former customer who was cut off for spamming) tries to get him in trouble by sending a spam claiming that all sorts of illegal content are really on the site. Nothing of the sort is visible there, of course, but many people will be so outraged that they will report Mr. Zipp's business without looking at the website at all. And for the sake of completeness: C) A postal sting decides to attract attention from potential customers by sending out spam. Then, before I check the site, they modify it to hide anything that would be of interest to the sting's targets and make it look like a harmless webhosting outfit that has been in business for a long time. You do know the story of the original joe job, I trust? http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/J/joe-job.html http://www.spamfaq.net/terminology.shtml#joe_job http://www.rahul.net/falk/glossary.html#joe Daniel W. Johnson panoptes@iquest.net http://members.iquest.net/~panoptes/ 039 53 36 N / 086 11 55 W [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You need to go back and look at the original message from Joey Lindstrom which began this thread. Joey sent a message saying "I received a very peculiar spam". He did not send the actual spam, just quoted a few lines from it which included references to (as Joey put it) various illegal things including white power and child porn. He said it was sent by Mr. Zipp and Mr. Laws. Joey said the original spam was on his site if anyone wanted to look at it. I went and did so -- at Joey's site, as Joey had chosen to copy it. Then I composed my editor's note giving my understanding of the names of the individuals involved, Laws and Zipp. I did not *ever* go to the actual web site of Laws and Zipp; I only discussed what Joey had chosen to quote from their web site. Joey then took it upon himself to forward my editor's note to Mr. Zipp who responded as written above. Then Mr. Zipp responded to Joey (and Joey forwarded on to the Digest) denying it all. I printed Mr. Zipp's denial and in an editor's note I said that Mr. Zipp had not addressed or denied what I thought were the operative phrases in the original *email Joey forwarded to me*, with allegations of white power and child porn, and which were alluded to in the spam on file at Joey's site. I did not just make up those phrases for Mr. Zipp to deny ala your 'assassinating Lincoln or double-parking' examples. I do not have time nor interest in examining Mr. Zipp's website personally. Like Ann Landers answering a letter sent by a reader, I only get one side of the story. The side of the story as presented by Joey; his presentation of the 'facts'. I answered based on Joey's presentation of the 'facts'. Nothing else. Your links given above are good reading for everyone these days interested in attempting to get the full story, which I did not have time to do when writing up the Digest. I could not begin to unravel to the point of finding the truth on everything which comes my way on the net. That's one reason I enquote words like 'jerk' when they are not my own statements. Joey had complained about the spam, and Mr. Zipp complained about the 'jerk' who had sent it. I just commented on it and included some knowledge based on things I have read in the past. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #759 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Nov 20 21:42:29 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAL2gTI04874; Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:42:29 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:42:29 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311210242.hAL2gTI04874@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #760 TELECOM Digest Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:42:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 760 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Feds Summarize "Operation Cybersweep" Results (Danny Burstein) Release To Pivot (RTP) on 5ESS (Masoud) Re: Remote Possibilities (Mark Atwood) Re: Thumbs Pay at Some Stores (Mark Atwood) Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (Barry Margolin) Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn (Joey Lindstrom) Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn (Linc Madison) Re: It's so Sad to See Such Concepts Ignored (Linc Madison) Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? (Paul Robinson) Re: Camera Phones Roiling Gyms (Ray Normandeau) Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam (jmbuescher) Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (Joey Lindstrom) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Danny Burstein Subject: Feds Summarize "Operation Cybersweep" Results Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 18:10:36 -0500 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC WASHINGTON, D.C. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray of the Criminal Division, FBI Assistant Director Jana Monroe and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris today announced the arrests or convictions of more than 125 individuals and the return of over 70 indictments in a coordinated nationwide enforcement operation designed to crack down on the leading types of online economic crime. [ snip of some typical scams, then...] In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Allan E. Carlson was indicted on charges of hacking into computers of unsuspecting users across the country to launch spam e-mail attacks criticizing the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. Carlson, a disgruntled Phillies fan, was also charged with identity theft for illegally using the e-mail address of reporters at Philadelphia newspapers. http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/November/03_crm_638.htm Danny "do the Phillies have any other kind of fans?" Burstein _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: masoudlog@yahoo.com (Masoud) Subject: Release To Pivot (RTP) on 5ESS Date: 20 Nov 2003 14:09:16 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hi, I have come across a system where I need to deploy an enhanced service box behind a Nortel DMS switch. DMS receives calls from a 5ESS, and sends them to the enhanced services box (ES). After some processing, ES should release the call to 5ESS. We can't touch the software load on the Nortel DMS, and we want to do this with least headache. The Enhanced Services box is connected to DMS250 using SS7 F-Link, and DMS250 is on the SS7 network. As one option we are looking at using RTP for that feature, but here are the unknowns: 1- Can we use inband signaling to invoke RTP at 5ESS? Something similar to ATT Transfer Connect? 2- If not, can we use SS7 PAM (Pass Along Messaging) from ES to DMS, and from there to 5ESS to accomplish this? 3- What software load would 5ESS need to have to support RTP? Is there a different load needed for inband singling version? 4- Are there other options available other than RTP? I would appreciate any help. Thanks, Masoud ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Remote Possibilities Date: 20 Nov 2003 14:20:09 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Monty Solomon writes: > When cat lovers go on vacation and leave their animals behind, they > usually worry neurotically: did they leave enough food in the bowl for > Fluffy? But there isn't much they can do about it. That is, unless > they've got what Karen Lurker's got -- a pet feeder you can control > from anywhere in the world using your mobile phone. Wouldn't it make more sense to hire a pet sitter? That way you can also have your lights turned on and off, your mail brought in, your plants watered, and have a daily check that your pets are healthy, and that your house hasn't been broken into or burned down. Honestly, I'm as rah-rah for tech as most anyone, I prefer ATMs and autokiosks, and such but some things the human touch makes much more sense. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, mra@pobox.com | people won't be sure you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ From: Mark Atwood Subject: Re: Thumbs Pay at Some Stores Date: 20 Nov 2003 14:24:28 -0800 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Monty Solomon writes: > Customers at Fox Mill Pets can pay for the doggy in the window by > placing a thumb on a fingerprint scanner at the register. > The scanner is connected to a computer, which analyzes the print. > Because thumbprints are unique, the computer can match the print to a > customer and deduct the price of the puppy from that customer's > checking account. The guy who a couple of years ago demonstrated how easy it is to "steal" a thumbprint recently did it again, and now it's even cheaper and faster (typically $10 worth of supplies), and it can be easily done without the victims permission or even knowledge. If my credit card is stolen, I can get another one issued. And I don't leave a copy of my credit card number behind every time I touch a piece of glass or smooth plastic. Thumbprint ID is a neat sounding idea that will be a disaster in practice. Mark Atwood | When you do things right, mra@pobox.com | people won't be sure you've done anything at all. http://www.pobox.com/~mra ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen Organization: Level(3) Communications, Woburn, MA Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:15:01 GMT In article , Pete Romfh wrote: > Barry Margolin wrote: >> I wonder when the airport automated check-in machines >> will start printing luggage routing tags automatically, >> so that I'll be able to check my bags in by myself as >> well. > As a Techno-Geek for an airline I can share some insight on that topic. > The check-in of luggage by an airline employee is a requirement placed > by Transportation Safety Administration. It's entirely technologically > feasible to handle the check-in in an automated manner. I assumed it was more due to regulations than technical issues. > Other TSA requirements call for positive bag match to assure you get > on the same aircraft as your checked bags. If you check a bag then > decide not to get on the flight, your bag is supposed to be removed > from the aircraft as well. That's why it's more difficult to switch > flights at the last minute if you have checked baggage. That same "check baggage then don't board" problem can happen when an agent puts the bag on the conveyor belt. I assume that the final check occurs at the gate; if they never receive a boarding pass corresponding to a piece of checked luggage, the crew is alerted and the bags get removed from the aircraft. I could understand this security policy more if the agents actually inspected the luggage in some way. I assume they're permitted to do so if they feel the need to, but I'm not sure what clues would prompt that, except the proverbial "joking about a bomb" that we've all had driven into our heads the security people take seriously. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Level(3), Woburn, MA *** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups. Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 14:19:27 -0700 Subject: Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:01:07 EST, Daniel W. Johnson wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Please note Mr. Zipp did not deny any >> allegations about kiddy porn or white power stuff on his site. The > He also didn't deny any allegations about assassinating Lincoln or > double-parking. A sophistic argument (not to be confused with "sophisticated"). No allegations about assassinating Lincoln or double-parking were made, whereas specific allegations about kiddy porn and white power *WERE* made. It's a good thing I didn't call him an idiot: I might have been charged with revealing state secrets. :-) (Well, *IF* he's a government agent that is). >> only thing he denies are the allegations about working for the >> government or the post office. He states that 'some jerk' wanted to >> get his company in trouble by spamming, which he states is against >> the law in many states. Did the 'jerk' who sent out Mr. Zipp's name >> and his company name UZIPP alter his website to include the references >> to child porn and white power? Call me curious, I guess, but it >> seems at best to be a feeble denial. Nor did Mr. Zipp ever actually >> say *what* his business is. PAT] > Well, at the moment, that website's title states "UZIPP WebHosting - > Quality Hosting, Low Prices", which would seem to identify his > business. What was the title when you looked at the website and found > references to child porn and white power? See this URL: http://www.telussucks.info/spam20031117.pdf > (Moderator responded in private email) >> I did not look at the website at all. > So, when you asked, "Did the 'jerk' who sent out Mr. Zipp's name > and his company name UZIPP alter his website to include the references > to child porn and white power?", you hadn't actually confirmed the > references on the website, you were just taking the spammer's word > for them? >> Mr. Zipp claimed that someone was >> trying to make trouble for him by sending out the spam message which >> he denies sending. > Ask yourself which is more likely: > A) Mr. Zipp, operating a business that relies on going un-noticed, > decides to advertise it massively. Then, before I check the site, he > modifies it to hide anything that would be of interest to the desired > new customers and make it look like a harmless webhosting outfit that > has been in business for a long time. ??? He's operating a business that relies on going unnoticed? A web-hosting business? How does going unnoticed benefit such a business? Most business that go unnoticed also go BROKE. > B) Someone who doesn't like Mr. Zipp and his webhosting (typically a > former customer who was cut off for spamming) tries to get him in > trouble by sending a spam claiming that all sorts of illegal content > are really on the site. Nothing of the sort is visible there, of > course, but many people will be so outraged that they will report Mr. > Zipp's business without looking at the website at all. > And for the sake of completeness: > C) A postal sting decides to attract attention from potential > customers by sending out spam. Then, before I check the site, they > modify it to hide anything that would be of interest to the sting's > targets and make it look like a harmless webhosting outfit that has > been in business for a long time. Let's be clear about this: the spam is advertising WEB HOSTING SERVICES for those people who wish to host websites containing child porn and/or white supremacy content. Each of the three scenarios you've outlined (after eliminating the absurd "unnoticed" thing in "A", and eliminating the unneeded requirement in "C" that the site was changed at all -- it would have appeared to be "generic" all along, before the spamming took place) is, IMHO, equally likely, based on the objective evidence we've seen. However, we also have the anecdotal evidence that Pat presented, which I now quote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, that's nothing unusual. I went over > to your site just to confirm my suspicions. It was sent by the United > States Postal Service at their very large kiddy porn factory down in > south Florida. For several years now, USPO has operated that factory, > where they manufacture, produce and distribute child porn and white > power trash in the hopes of getting YOU to sign up for it. They used > to send out 'teaser' pictures and literature through snail mail in the > hopes you would take the bait and order more of it. Dave Zipp (his > phone name at work) was in charge of 'customer service' back then > also. 'Mr. Laws' (another phone or screen name) had an important role > in those days also. I guess snail mail got to be too expensive, so now > they send bulk email, at much better rates, obviously. I heard they > have expanded into 'harboring terrorists' as well these days. > As soon as you get cozy with Laws and Zipp, they'll offer (or try, > if they get a positive street address or verifiable and validated > email address) to send you packages of their trash through the US Mail. > Naturally you sign for it when it arrives, so they get a green card > back in the mail *to show the jury as needed* in case you won't > wimper, wither up and automatically confess to being a white power- > oriented, terrorist pedophile as they are hoping. " Pat has SPECIFIC MEMORIES of these individuals that predate my posting of this spam-example to this forum. So unless you're accusing him of deliberately inventing these memories, I'd have to say that option "C", the possibility that this is indeed a sting, increases in probability. Take a good long read of the spam in question and you'll find other telltale signs that point in this direction also. > You do know the story of the original joe job, I trust? > http://catb.org/esr/jargon/html/J/joe-job.html > http://www.spamfaq.net/terminology.shtml#joe_job > http://www.rahul.net/falk/glossary.html#joe I'll certainly admit that it's possible. I just don't think it's the most likely explanation. ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Kiddy Porn Spam Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 17:32:29 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , Joey Lindstrom wrote: > Here's an interesting piece of spam I got today. It's probably one > of THE most blatant I've seen, advertising child porn, white > supremacy, and all sorts of illegal things - and then it's got some > suspicious-looking contact names (unusual in and of itself, for > spam). Makes me think it might be a law-enforcement trap. :-) > Anyways, I'm not forwarding it here cuz it'll get flagged as spam by > Pat's SpamAssassin (as it did by mine). If you'd like to take a look > at it, it's here: > http://www.telussucks.info/spam20031117.pdf This sounds very, very much like a "joe job," in which a spammer sends out spam supposedly advertising some unwitting third party's services or products, without the knowledge or consent of the supposed "sender." I've gotten spams recently offering me cocaine (buy 9 kg and get an extra kilo free!) and surface-to-air missiles, with child pornography thrown in as a free bonus with my purchase. Another spam openly advertised money laundering services for my illegal business. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Oh, that's nothing unusual. I went > over to your site just to confirm my suspicions. It was sent by the > United States Postal Service at their very large kiddy porn factory > down in south Florida. For several years now, USPO has operated that > factory, where they manufacture, produce and distribute child porn > and white power trash in the hopes of getting YOU to sign up for it. > They used to send out 'teaser' pictures and literature through snail > mail in the hopes you would take the bait and order more of it. Dave > Zipp (his phone name at work) was in charge of 'customer service' > back then also. 'Mr. Laws' (another phone or screen name) had an > important role in those days also. I guess snail mail got to be too > expensive, so now they send bulk email, at much better rates, > obviously. I heard they have expanded into 'harboring terrorists' as > well these days. Did they use those specific names "Dave Zipp" and "Nick Laws"? As odd as those names might sound, there are in fact several "Dave Zipps" scattered around the country, and I'm sure there are real people named "Nick Laws." Although I have seen many reports of the USPIS child pornography production and distribution operations, I'd guess that this is more likely to be some spammer who got kicked off of a legit host and retaliated by trying to sully the host's name. If it were the USPIS or the DOJ or any other law enforcement types, I rather think they'd be a bit more subtle. In particular, with the porn, they'd start off with some "barely legal" stuff and then try to entice you step by step until you were clearly over the line. I mean, I know that a lot of criminals are stupid, some of them even more stupid than the keystone cops you're talking about, but you still need to be a *little* more clever than the come-on in this spam. In any case, there are only those two possible explanations: it's either a hoax, or it's some really inept attempt at entrapment. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dave Zipp used that specific name in the disclaimer message he sent to Joey which was in turn passed on to me. And yes, thanks for reminding me, Linc. About the time that the report was printed in Computer Underground Digest and the Chicago area investigative reporter did his series on it, it stirred up some attention on Usenet also, which may have been some of the reports you referred to. Scene: a neighborhood barbeque or open house reception. Dave Zipp is one of the guests. Someone inquires of him, what kind of work do you do? "Oh, I work for the post office" he replies. The next question is doing what (assuming the answer will be the man is a route carrier or maybe even has an inside job sorting mail, working at the public counter, whatever ...)? Zipp replies "oh, I am in charge of the manufacturing and distribution of child pornography in the south Florida office." Imagine telling your neighbors that tibit at the barbeque or cocktail party or whatever. Geeze almighty ... does no one have any Shame any longer? Certainly the elder Bush never had any, and his son is quickly approaching that point. Linc (and others), do you remember that infamous message posted on Usenet several years ago giving announcing the 'Cocaine of the Month Club'? You supposedly got high grade stuff, a lot of it for free if you promised to buy a certain amount each month for a year. As a bonus for your prompt (and paid for) order, they would toss in some glossy photos of naked little boys. They actually gave a real name and real street address of some guy in Brooklyn, New York to order through. That was found to be a hoax also, to deliberatly send federal agents on some wild goose chase on purpose. I don't think the Federal Bureau of Inquisition was amused by it, neither was our illustrious Elder Bush, who was the resident president then in power. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Its So Sad to See Such Wonderful Concepts Not Being Noticed Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 16:50:26 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , Distressed wrote: > Its so sad to see that really amazing projects such as > www.mutualphone.com and www.phonebazooka.com were closed due to lack > of funds. I dunno why people can't make some much needed donations to > these sites to get them back up and running or maybe some company > could step forward. I kept trying these services and then eventually > I contacted both of the owners, one on Yahoo Messenger and the other > on his phone. I was so disheartened to see that both the servers were > closed but both are hopeful to get them back up in the future. Best > of luck you both. That's all well and good, but since you don't tell us anything at all about what those sites used to do (and even *if* I were willing I can't check myself, since you say the sites are closed down), the information content of your message is very nearly zero. The names of the sites in question don't shed any light on their purpose, either, except that they both have something to do with phones. Please, everyone, tell the readers what you're talking about in the body of your message, and preferably in the subject line as well. It's only common courtesy. Besides that, I'm not willing even to click on a URL unless I have some idea of what the subject is. Messages like "check out this really interesting web site" are useless unless I know up front why the web site might interest *me*. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Paul Robinson Organization: elusive-butterfly.net Subject: Re: Do Speaking Clock Phone Numbers Exist Any More? Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 20:24:11 GMT Herb Stein wrote: >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 202-651-1920 is the Naval Observatory >> Master Speaking Clock. It alternates UTC and Eastern Standard time. >> PAT] > Try again, Pat. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: What did I say wrong, Herb? Is there a > typo in the phone number somewhere. Tell me what I should have said, > Herb. PAT] That number gets a SIT tone and is reported out of service. A number for them that does work is 202-762-1401. S Falke wrote: > 767-8900 for time is listed at > http://www.textfiles.com/phreak/NUMBERS/dial30.phk {age unknown} for > {PacBell} NorCal area codes 209, 408, 415, 707, 916. Not listed are > "new" codes 510, 530, 650, 925. > In NorCal in the 1950-60s, 76-any-five-digits worked, too. Actually, back when I lived in Oakland back in the 1960s, most people said the number for the correct time was "POPCORN" Paul Robinson "Above all else... We shall go on..." "...And continue!" "If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us." ------------------------------ From: rayta@msn.com (Ray Normandeau) Subject: Re: Camera Phones Roiling Gyms Date: 20 Nov 2003 12:33:23 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Monty Solomon wrote in message news:: > By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/8/2003 > The reason: the surprising growth of cellular phones with built-in > digital cameras. Just months after they first became an American > mass-market phenomenon, these units are triggering fears that they > could be widely abused as "spy cams," leading some health-club chains > to ban them from locker rooms where wireless voyeurs could snap > compromising photos of patrons. Here is a Yahoo Group for Cell Phone pix: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cellpics/ Long Distance =<2.9 Cents Per Minute, no other fee: https://www.onesuite.com/ Promotion Code 034720367 USA 2.5-2.9 CPM, Canada 2.5-3.5 CPM, UK 2.5-3.9 CPM Will work on cell phones! Great international rates! ------------------------------ Reply-To: From: jmbuescher Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 12:42:06 -0800 I too have received some of these faxes. The one that I received today was from suite #407, 255 Newport Drive, Port Moody, BC, Canada V3II 5TT1. Is there anything that we can do to get to these con artists? John Buescher Business Development - Mgr. CSI - Sacramento 916-206-3037 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That Canadian address may explain why none of the complainers here in the USA are able to get anywhere on the 800 number. Maybe. Canadians often times cannot reach USA toll free numbers and vice versa, unless the subscriber instructs telco to fix it for international traffic. It may be a malicious, willful thing by the phone subscriber, but often as not it is only ignorance of how toll free numbers are mantained by the subscriber. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 13:55:16 -0700 Subject: Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 15:01:07 EST, Clark W. Griswold, Jr. wrote: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> The site is a slap back at Cox Communication's site, >> http:\\makethemplayfair.com, which gives visitors the opportunity to send >> e-mail to ESPN, Fox Entertainment Group's (NYSE:FOX) competing Fox >> Sports network and local elected officials to complain about increases >> in the price of sports programming. > Frankly, after reading both web sites, I'm even more on Cox's side on > this. > Disney (ESPN) seems to think the only cost problem is that Cox would > charge $4 for a decoder box if ESPN was on an encrypted or digital > tier. They are also playing fast and loose with the numbers. They > compare what they charge Cox (a wholesale per subscriber rate) to the > retail rate that Cox charges a consumer for a complete package, which > has to include capital recovery and operating expenses on top of > programming costs. > I would love to see a law requiring every channel be made available > ala carte. The problem with this is that the cable companies claim > (and apparently the US Govt agrees) that packaging channels keeps > pricing down by creating a potential audience that will support > advertising. If channels were sold 100% ala carte, advertising support > would disappear making the entire cost be born by subscribers. > Now that sounds OK to me, but would probably be difficult for many > people to afford. OK, what about this idea? Pay x dollars per month, receive 50 channels. Pay y dollars per month, receive 100 channels. Pay z dollars per month, receive 150 channels. (and so on) The actual channels you would receive would be up to you (ie: a la carte), but this pricing model would encourage you to grab piles of channels, even channels you don't necessarily watch a lot. Once you've parked yourself on the couch and start channel-surfing, you could wind up watching channels that you might not otherwise have chosen to subscribe to if you were paying by-the-channel, making the advertisers happy. I'd *LOVE* to have this. That said, Bell Expressvu (the Canadian satellite service to which I subscribe) has a decent compromise. (Note: I'm about to go on a pro-Expressvu rant -- I have no affiliation to them other than as a very satisfied customer). You start with "the locals" (all the local channels everywhere in Canada, which is cool for time-shifting purposes), then they offer not 1, not 2, not 3, but TWELVE "tiers" of channels. You can buy each tier for something like $6.95 per month, or you can have any seven for $40.99 per month. They also have discount pricing for nine tiers and twelve tiers, I think. Then, beyond that, they've got your "specialty" channels (Playboy, Movie Network, and so on) that you pay extra for IF you want them. Each of the twelve tiers is WELL THOUGHT OUT, with channels grouped together by interest. I was strongly interested in five of them, and moderately interested in two of them, so I bought the seven-tier package and I've been quite happy with it. Now, as for a la carte: The last group of cable/satellite channels that the CRTC authorized (including such channels as "Much Loud", "Stampede", and so on) are referred to as "diginets", as they are available ONLY via digital delivery (cable or satellite) and not over analog cable. These channels are included in the twelve tiers I mentioned, but can also be picked up on an a la carte basis for $2 per month per channel ($3 if you're subscribing to fewer than 7 tiers, I think). So, for example, if I wanted "SEX-TV" but didn't want the rest of the channels in that tier, I can simply not subscribe to that tier and then sign up for that channel individually. (Let me clarify, though: only the "diginet" channels are available this way. I cannot get CNN unless I subscribe to the "tier" that it's in.) Cool feature: you can now do all of this on their website, and the channels you pick are usually available within 5 minutes of your clicking "submit". :-) The whole thing is very flexible. Not as flexible as perhaps it could be, but I'm certainly quite happy with it, particularly in comparison to my local cable company (Shaw Cable), which still bundles all their channels into a mere three tiers. To get the channels I want via Shaw, my monthly bill would rise about $25 compared to Bell Expressvu. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #760 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Nov 21 13:45:31 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hALIjVg10307; Fri, 21 Nov 2003 13:45:31 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 13:45:31 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311211845.hALIjVg10307@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #761 TELECOM Digest Fri, 21 Nov 2003 13:45:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 761 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson TiVo Reports Record Subscription and Revenue Growth in Q3 (M Solomon) FCC Denies Request for Delaying Number Moves (Monty Solomon) Internet Access Tax Battle Heats up in Senate (Monty Solomon) AT&T Files Patent Infringement Suit Against PayPal, Inc. (Monty Solomon) FCC Head Wants Change to News-DirecTV Deal (Monty Solomon) AT&T: EBay, PayPal Infringe on Patents (Monty Solomon) Cable Companies Discovering a New Revenue Stream - Calypso (M Solomon) Privacy, Consumer Groups Warn of Risks of RFID (Monty Solomon) 2002 A.M. Turing Award Winners Lectures (Monty Solomon) AT&T Nets a Share of Local Calls [Mass.] (Monty Solomon) Zoom Begins Shipping Bluetooth Wireless Modems, Adapters (Monty Solomon) Roam Sweet Roam (Monty Solomon) Hit Replay (Monty Solomon) Number Portability Decision and Wireline Telecom Sector (Monty Solomon) Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen (Linc Madison) Re: TelcoData.Us Gone? (bsd@bsdman.org) Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam (Linc Madison) Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam (Joey Lindstrom) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:46:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Reports Record Subscription and Revenue Growth in Q3 TiVo Reports Record Subscription and Revenue Growth in Q3; Raises Guidance for Remainder of Year - Nov 20, 2003 04:00 PM (PR Newswire) Demand for DIRECTV with TiVo, TiVo Series2, and new DVD products yields 209,000 net subscription additions for the quarter and drives TiVo subscription base to over one million - Reports record quarterly revenue of $43.3 million, a 73% increase over Q3 of last year - DIRECTV relationship produces strong results for both companies - Expects to add over a million subs during next fiscal year - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36566385 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:47:54 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Denies Request for Delaying Number Moves WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday rejected a request to delay allowing consumers to switch their home telephone numbers to wireless phones in the top 100 markets, set to begin Nov. 24. CenturyTel Inc. (NYSE:CTL) and the U.S. Telecom Association on Tuesday asked the agency to put off such moves, arguing they were unfairly disadvantaged because it was technologically harder to move a number from a wireless phone to a home phone than in the other direction. The FCC said its number portability rules were designed to be a two-way street between land line and wireless carriers and was already in the process of trying to further facilitate difficult transfers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36569632 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:50:12 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Internet Access Tax Battle Heats up in Senate By Christina Ling WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. senator said on Thursday that he would hold up a massive year-end spending bill if it included a ban on Internet-access taxes that he and several colleagues fear would harm state and local finances. Delaware Sen. Thomas Carper, a Democrat, told reporters he would try to keep the omnibus bill from coming to the Senate floor if the ban was included in its present form, which he said infringed on the rights of state and local governments to raise revenues. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36570166 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:53:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Files Patent Infringement Suit Against PayPal, Inc. BEDMINSTER, N.J., Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T Corp. today filed a patent infringement suit against PayPal, Inc. and eBay, Inc., in federal district court in Delaware. AT&T alleges that, through the use of their online payment systems, PayPal and eBay have infringed AT&T's U.S. patent that covers transactions in which a trusted intermediary securely processes payments over a communications system such as the Internet. The use of a trusted intermediary ensures that one party will not have to disclose sensitive information, such as a credit card number or bank account number, to the other party to the transaction. AT&T's lawsuit seeks compensation for PayPal's and eBay's unauthorized use of the patented technology. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36562829 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:54:20 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FCC Head Wants Change to News-DirecTV Deal WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - News Corp.'s proposed purchase of satellite provider DirecTV likely needs changes to ensure it cannot gain an unfair advantage over cable rivals, two officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell is worried News Corp. Ltd. (AUS:NCP) could entice cable subscribers to DirecTV by withholding popular programming like broadcast or regional sports channels from cable providers during contract disputes, they said. Without conditions on the DirecTV purchase, Powell is worried News Corp. could encourage customers to get those channels by abandoning the cable provider and subscribing to DirecTV, the biggest U.S. satellite television provider with 12 million customers. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36562717 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:59:40 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T: EBay, PayPal Infringe on Patents By RACHEL KONRAD AP Business Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- AT&T Corp. reached out and smacked eBay Inc. with a patent infringement lawsuit Thursday, claiming the online auction company has been using a payment system that the telecommunications giant developed more than a decade ago. The case, filed in federal court in Delaware, comes on the heels of an August verdict in which a Virginia judge ordered eBay to pay $29.5 million to an inventor who accused the company of stealing his ideas for fixed price sales formats. AT&T's suit demands that eBay pay an undisclosed amount in licensing fees because its lucrative PayPal division functions as a "trusted intermediary" between buyers and sellers who may not know each other. The system _ widely regarded as critical to eBay's gangbuster growth and a boon to e-commerce in general _ lets buyers provide credit card or bank account information to a reliable third party instead of individual sellers around the world. Buyers merely have to trust PayPal, and they don't have to worry about disreputable sellers using sensitive financial data for fraudulent purposes. AT&T says three senior engineers working for the phone company filed for a patent in 1991 for exactly such a process, which they called "Mediation of Transactions by a Communication System." The patent was granted in 1994, AT&T said. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36570023 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 22:04:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cable Companies Discovering a New Revenue Stream - Calypso Wireless' Technology Transforms the Existing Revenue Model MIAMI LAKES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 2003--Calypso Wireless, Inc. (OTC:CLYW), announced today that the company is in negotiations with one of the largest cable companies in the U.S. to license and purchase Calypso's ASNAP(TM) technology and related products to the cable company. Calypso Wireless has proprietary technology that seamlessly switches back and forth between cellular (GSM/GPRS or CDMA) networks and Wi-Fi wireless local area networks (WLAN) utilizing the 802.11 standard without losing connectivity. This makes Calypso's technology a natural fit for cable companies such as Time-Warner (NYSE:TWX), Cox Communications (NYSE:COX) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA). Calypso's technology enables cell phones and other mobile devices to automatically detect an available wireless local area network and then seamlessly switch between the signals from a GSM/GPRS link tower to the broadband network such as cable with Wi-Fi. The wireless customer remains connected to the GSM/GPRS or CDMA network until his cell phone detects a Wi-Fi network. At that point, the cell phone seamlessly switches to that network and is now able to connect at a speed of 11,000 Kbps (11Mbps) enabling movie-quality, real-time video conferencing via Calypso's cellular phones, or any cell phones powered with Calypso's technology. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36554833 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 22:38:28 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CDT Headline: Privacy, Consumer Groups Warn of Risks of RFID From: CDT Info Subject: CDT Headline: Privacy, Consumer Groups Warn of Risks of RFID Product Tracking Devices Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 15:48:13 -0500 Privacy, Consumer Groups Warn of Risks of RFID Product Tracking Devices Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an item-tagging technology with profound societal implications. Used improperly, RFID has the potential to jeopardize consumer privacy, reduce or eliminate purchasing anonymity, and threaten civil liberties. CDT has joined consumer organizations and privacy advocates on a joint statement on the deployment of RFID in the consumer environment. The statement describes the technology and its uses, defines the risks, and discusses potential public policy approaches to mitigate the problems. November 17, 2003 Statement on RFID [pdf], Nov. 14, 2003 http://www.cdt.org/privacy/031114rfid.pdf RFID Privacy Workshop @ MIT, Nov. 15, 2003: http://www.rfidprivacy.org/agenda.php ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:35:50 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 2002 A.M. Turing Award Winners Lectures http://www.acm.org/awards/turing_citations/rivest-shamir-adleman.html Dr. Leonard M. Adleman - Turing Lecture on Pre RSA Days University of Southern California Dr. Ronald L. Rivest - Turing Lecture on Early RSA Days Massachusetts Institute of Technology Dr. Adi Shamir - Turing Lecture on Cryptology: A Status Report The Weizmann Institute ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 23:58:52 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: AT&T Nets a Share of Local Calls [Mass.] 4% of state market tallied in 6 months; more seen next year By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/20/2003 Six months after it resumed offering local phone service in Massachusetts, AT&T Corp. has garnered 4 percent of the state market and expects to reach double digits next year, company chief executive David W. Dorman said yesterday. In an appearance at the Boston College Chief Executive Forum, Dorman indicated that Ma Bell is taking a serious look at offering a low-priced, unlimited phone calling service over the Internet through devices that would be attached to broadband Internet connections, a market now controlled mainly by tiny start-ups like Vonage and Packet8. AT&T's push into local services, including its launch in June of $50-a-month unlimited local and long distance service in Massachusetts, has attracted over 4 million customers nationally. Selling local service over lines rented from Baby Bells like Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth is a key AT&T strategy to offset its steadily declining core long-distance business. But Dorman said even cheaper "voice-over Internet protocol" services are destined to grow explosively, and AT&T recognizes it needs to get in the game. "Resistance is futile," Dorman said. "This is one of those things that is like a tidal wave coming. It's going to be the method of choice for anyone who has a broadband connection" to make phone calls, whether they have a cable modem, a telephone-based digital subscriber line, or some other high-speed Internet access. Dorman gave no details of when AT&T might launch service or the price. Packet8 charges $20 a month, and Vonage $35, for unlimited long-distance calls throughout the US and Canada, with some differences in calling features and international coverage. Both services connect a phone to a broadband modem through a third device. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/11/20/atampt_nets_a_share_of_local_calls/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 02:26:18 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Zoom Begins Shipping Bluetooth(R) Wireless Modem and Adapters Modem Provides Easy Internet Access for PDAs and Laptops Zoom Technologies, Inc. ( NASDAQ: ZOOM ) announced today that it has begun shipping a modem and two adapters incorporating Bluetooth wireless technology. The modem plugs into a telephone jack and an AC power source, and delivers no-wires modem capability for Bluetooth-enabled notebooks, PDAs or computers. The high-performance adapters add wireless connectivity to a computer, or extend the range of wireless connections for computers with less powerful Bluetooth radios. All of the new Bluetooth products from Zoom are Class 1 devices, which provide a wireless connection at a distance of up to 100 meters (330 feet). A Class 1 device is the most powerful of the three Bluetooth radio classifications. Class 2 Bluetooth devices typically work up to 10 meters, and Class 3 Bluetooth devices typically work up to 1 meter. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200311191931_IWR_060271 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 02:30:23 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Roam Sweet Roam Roam Sweet Roam Stephen Manes, 12.08.03, 12:00 AM ET This is the year the wireless home gets interesting. Here's how to start making it happen. http://www.forbes.com/columnists/free_forbes/2003/1208/140.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 02:58:07 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hit Replay By JOHANNA BERKMAN Anthony Wood had two goals in the summer of 2002: get in shape and figure out what to do with the rest of his life. The year before, the 36-year-old Silicon Valley entrepreneur had sold ReplayTV, the digital video recorder company that he founded, for $125 million plus the assumption of debt. Now recruiters were calling him about C.E.O. posts at technology companies, and he had to make a decision -- take a job or start all over. He packed up his Palo Alto household for the season and with his wife, Susan, and two toddlers, headed for Sunriver, Ore., a resort area in Deschutes National Forest. "It's not like Aspen," Wood says. "It's a regular place, and it's beautiful." It was there, biking on a trail surrounded by ponderosa and lodgepole pines, sandwiched between the river and snowcapped mountains, that he resolved his fate: "I settled on the idea of starting a company in the digital-media-player space," he says, "since it was going like gangbusters." He couldn't get excited about being a "hired gun." Wood knew it, but you may not: there's a battle currently raging in Silicon Valley for control of your living room. The new investment theme is digital connectivity, that is, linking your computer to your TV and other set-top boxes from your cable or satellite provider so that you can access all your digital photos, music and movies without ever leaving the sofa. This intersection of the PC and the home audio-video market was 'the Number One trend,' at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, according to Bill Gurley, a partner at Benchmark Capital, a top Silicon Valley venture-capital firm. "I suspect that it will be even bigger" in 2004, Gurley says. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/magazine/16ROKU.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:20:08 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Number Portability Decision Adds to Wireline Telecom Sector's Issue #66 November 20, 2003 by Adam Thierer On Monday, November 24, Americans will gain a de facto property right in their telephone numbers. Thanks to new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules that go into effect that day, wireless and wireline carriers will be forced to let customers in major metropolitan areas take their phone numbers with them when they decide to switch providers. All Americans will gain this right by next May. Hailed as a pro-competitive move in most circles, the FCC adopted this 'number portability' measure under the assumption that it would generate more customer churn by allowing consumers to take their phone numbers with them when they want to shop around for better deals. Of course, if anyone had property rights in phone numbers it was probably the carriers that originally assigned them to us, but the FCC ignored that and re-assigned the rights to end users so they can more easily jump from one provider to another. And jump ship they will, in very large numbers in all likelihood, especially from the wireline side of the business to wireless. In fact, telecom industry pundits are increasingly talking about the 'perfect storm' that now looms for the wireline telecom sector in the wake of the following developments: http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/031120-tk.html ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: More Consumers Reach Out to Touch the Screen Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 18:09:53 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org With telephones, I was quite pleased 20 years or so ago when it became possible to self-dial a long-distance call from a payphone with a calling card, without human intervention. At the airport, on my most recent trip, I was unable to use the automated check-in machines, though. My frequent flyer number, and therefore my ticket, was registered with the last name MADISONJR instead of MADISON JR. Since my credit card (used only for ID) has my name correctly as MADISON JR, it generated a name mismatch error. I think I finally got them to fix that, since it has also made it very difficult for me to get the miles credited if the ticket showed my name as MADISON JR or just MADISON. I wonder, though, about people with names like DE LEON or VAN DE KAMP. At the supermarket, I use the self-scan checkouts if I only have a reasonably small number of items, but the cross-checks become cumbersome if I have a large number of items. The system wants you to place each item in the bag immediately after you scan it, so that it can update the weight of the bag to guard against your slipping in an item you didn't scan. If the weight gets out of sync, you either have to wait for a human to come assist you, or else start over from scratch. If you have a kajillion items, letting the clerk scan them in beep-beep-beep fast is a better bet. The clerk can also deal with items that scan at the wrong price. At the movie theater, though, I often stroll past several dozen people waiting to hand their cash to a person while I walk right up to the DIY kiosk. Of course, I have to use a credit card, but I don't mind that part at all. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: bsd@bsdman.org (bsd@bsdman.org) Subject: Re: TelcoData.Us Gone? Date: 20 Nov 2003 18:35:08 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Matthew Sadler wrote in message news:: > http://www.securityfocus.com/news/7438 > Maybe this is why telcodata.us is "down for an indefinite period of > time." > --mws > http://www.scanchattanooga.com/ Yes, that is why telcodata.us is down. As is this: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&q=%22Paul+Timmins%22+&btnG=Search+News whois.nic.us output for telcodata.us: Registrant Name: Paul Timmins Registrant Organization: Timmins Technologies Registrant Address1: 930 Village Green #2014 Registrant City: Waterford Registrant State/Province: Michigan Registrant Postal Code: 48328 Registrant Country: United States Registrant Country Code: US Registrant Phone Number: +1.2488587526 Registrant Email: paul@timmins.net Registrant Application Purpose: P4 Registrant Nexus Category: C21 Cheers, -b ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 01:38:55 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , jmbuescher wrote: > I too have received some of these faxes. The one that I received > today was from suite #407, 255 Newport Drive, Port Moody, BC, Canada > V3II 5TT1. Is there anything that we can do to get to these con > artists? Not likely, in this case. The address is a Mailboxes Etc. near Vancouver. Incidentally, the postcode is V3H 5H1, not V3II 5TT1 ... Their phone number is +1 604 461-9333 (that's the number for the Mailboxes Etc., *NOT* the fax spammer!) Of course, you could write or call the Mailboxes Etc. and try to find out the procedure for obtaining the name and physical address of the customer, but I would expect that to be unlikely to yield results with any reasonable expenditure of time and effort. Also, my understanding is that fax spam is one area in which Canadian law lags behind U.S. law. In other words, the fax spam they are sending may not be illegal in Canada. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 06:55:12 -0700 Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Thu, 20 Nov 2003 21:42:29 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That Canadian address may explain why > none of the complainers here in the USA are able to get anywhere on > the 800 number. Maybe. Canadians often times cannot reach USA toll > free numbers and vice versa, unless the subscriber instructs telco to > fix it for international traffic. It may be a malicious, willful thing > by the phone subscriber, but often as not it is only ignorance of how > toll free numbers are mantained by the subscriber. PAT] We operate a small (ie: 3 employees plus 4 or 5 contractors) business in Calgary, Alberta. When we switched our local and LD service to Sprint Canada, I was asked whether we wanted a toll-free number. We don't do a lot of out-of-town business but sometimes the owner goes out of town and would find this useful for calling back to the store. So, we opted for it. At NO TIME was I asked what, if any, "range" I wanted on this number. It works everywhere in North America -- indeed, the first time the owner used it, he was calling us from Arizona. I'd always understood that toll-free numbers had limited coverage areas unless (as you suggest) the subscriber specifically asks for a larger area. In our case, it seems to have been the reverse. Is my experience unique, or has this become the norm, I wonder. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe the fact that you ordered your 800 service through Sprint *Canada* made the difference. Canadians after all, are not as USA-centric as people in this country tend to be. Maybe the default condition at Sprint Canada is to provide 'international' toll free numbers, thus it did not occur to the rep to ask if you wanted United States coverage on your 800 number. On the other hand, in the USA you have to specifically request it, if in fact your carrier makes it available. When we used to have ranges or 'bands' in long distance calling in the USA it was in the time when long distance calls were much more expensive, even when purchased in bulk quantity through WATS or INWATS type services. Band 1 service (in or outbound) in WATS/INWATS were the states which touched your state. Band 2 included a few more states outside of that area, and so on until you reached Band 6 which took in the east coast and west coast for folks who were in Chicago, for example. Band 6 (INWATS and WATS) were considerably more expensive than Band 1. But in no case did Wide Area Telephone Service ever go outside the USA. You paid for the bands of service in hours, or fractions of an hour, rather than minutes. Make (or receive) as many calls in an hour as you wanted. Essentially WATS was a guarentee to telco that you would use several hours of long distance each month. But you *never* did a/c-555-1212 on the 'wats line' since those calls were free anyway. (Remember those days?) Long distance is so cheap these days the concept of a WATS lime is ridiculous, so telco says take it all for 3-5 cents per minute *except on Canada inbound to USA*. My toll free line for example does not include Canada unless I specifically call and request it. PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #761 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Nov 22 02:10:08 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAM7A8D13118; Sat, 22 Nov 2003 02:10:08 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 02:10:08 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311220710.hAM7A8D13118@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #762 TELECOM Digest Sat, 22 Nov 2003 02:09:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 762 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Book Review: "Wireless Security Essentials", Russell Vines (Rob Slade) Satellite TV, was Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox (Danny Burstein) Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (COTTP) Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (Thomas A. Horsley) Norvergence Fraud (RFL) Re: CA Free Antivirus and Firewall Software (David Clayton) Re: Thumbs Pay at Some Stores (AES/newspost) Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn (Daniel W. Johnson) Re: Kiddy Porn Spam (Linc Madison) Court OKs Home-To-Cell Number Transfers (Monty Solomon) Audio: Steve Harmon: TiVo Drops Despite Subscriber Growth (M Solomon) Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam (John R. Levine) Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam (Jenna Sanchez) Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam (John R. Covert) Silly Cell Phone "Antenna Booster" (Mark Crispin) Nortel Call Pilot (DEVIN) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 07:31:41 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Wireless Security Essentials", Russell Dean Vines BKWLSCES.RVW 20031018 "Wireless Security Essentials", Russell Dean Vines, 2002, 0-471-20936-8, U$40.00/C$62.50 %A Russell Dean Vines %C 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8 %D 2002 %G 0-471-20936-8 %I John Wiley & Sons, Inc. %O U$40.00/C$62.50 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471209368/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471209368/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471209368/robsladesin03-20 %P 345 p. %T "Wireless Security Essentials" The introduction asserts, as a statement on the rapid pace of technological innovation, that wireless security may have changed between the writing and the publication of the book. It may be an interesting comment on security that the book is still relevant and that wireless security is unchanged in the two years since the book's completion. It may also be a measure of the good job that Vines did on his subject. Part one deals with the foundational aspects of the technology. Chapter one covers computing technology, with a basic but brief look at computer architecture and some network architecture (but mostly protocols). Both wireless LAN and cellular telephone are discussed, but the LAN material predominates. Wireless theory, including radio communication and transmission protocols, is examined in chapter two. The explanations are good: Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) and Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) are much better than in other related works, although the text could still use some improvement on details such as DSSS chipping and the mapping of bits to the frequency signals. Wireless reality, in chapter three, is an odd mix of the security portions of wireless LAN protocols (except for Bluetooth, which has a number of functions explained in detail), the Infrared Data Association (IrDA), wireless operating systems and devices, and wireless services. Part two covers security essentials. Chapter four outlines security concepts and methodologies in a well-chosen (with the signal exception of cryptography) but not well-structured list. (Given Vines' participation in "The CISSP Prep Guide" [cf. BKCISPPG.RVW] this is not surprising.) According to chapter five, security technology primarily encompasses cryptographic aspects of wireless LAN protocols. There is a very comprehensive examination of a broad range of attacks against wireless devices (Personal Digital Assistant [PDA] viruses, for example) and transmissions (there is an extremely detailed analysis of WEP weaknesses, backed up by even more details in appendices B and C), as well as recommended countermeasures, in chapter six. Although not perfect, this book is an extremely useful guide to the security issues surrounding the use of wireless devices. Of the various books reviewed on the topic of wireless LANs and security, it is the best work seen to date. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKWLSCES.RVW 20031018 rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Computer Security Day, November 30 http://www.computersecurityday.com/ victoria.tc.ca/techrev/mnbksc.htm sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/secgloss.htm ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Satellite TV, was Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 02:43:58 UTC Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In Joey Lindstrom writes: [lots snipped throughout] > That said, Bell Expressvu (the Canadian satellite service to which I > subscribe) has a decent compromise. > You start with "the locals" (all the local channels everywhere in > Canada, which is cool for time-shifting purposes), then they offer not > 1, not 2, not 3, but TWELVE "tiers" of channels. You can buy each > tier for something like $6.95 per month, or you can have any seven for > $40.99 per month. They also have discount pricing for nine tiers and > twelve tiers, I think. Then, beyond that, they've got your > "specialty" channels (Playboy, Movie Network, and so on) that you pay > extra for IF you want them. I'm aware of a grey market, so to speak, with Canadians using illegal (to them) US based satellite networks/dishes such as Direct-TV and DISH. Based on your description above, it sounds like it's time for a reverse move. danny " now watch the spammers start... " burstein _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: COTTP Subject: Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap Organization: Children of the Tea Party Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 22:55:12 -0500 In article , nstrom@ananzi.co.za says: > Monty Solomon wrote: >> The site is a slap back at Cox Communication's site, >> http:\\makethemplayfair.com, which gives visitors the opportunity to send >> e-mail to ESPN, Fox Entertainment Group's (NYSE:FOX) competing Fox >> Sports network and local elected officials to complain about increases >> in the price of sports programming. > Frankly, after reading both web sites, I'm even more on Cox's side on > this. I'm not. Cox never plays fair. I'm a Cox subscriber and guess what, I can't hit that web site. That isn't' fair play. I intend to contact them about this. After contact them they of course say they aren't blocking it. So I called a friend who's also a Cox subscriber and wonder of wonders he can't access it either. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:39:14 GMT Nah! There is only one correct pricing policy for TV: 1. Everything is video on demand. I can watch the show anytime I want to once it is out of production and on the server. 2. I pay for everything on a per viewing basis from an account I setup with a billing agent (which may or may not be the cable company, but does insure anonyminity for me so the pesteriferous marketing droids don't innundate me with ads for products they imagine are related to shows I decided to watch). 3. Advertisers pay money into my account when I watch their ads (which will probably need to change to be active content things like video games with infinite amounts of product placement so they can verify there is really a person at the other end). Now I can avoid ads completely if I am willing to pay the full price, or if I'm a cheap bastard, I can watch lots and lots of interactive ads and accrue viewing credits in my account so I don't have to spend my own money :-). This model has all kinds of advantages: First of all, networks and all the "suits" sending notes to the production team "helping them out" disappear. Shows can go directly from the creative folks to the on demand servers with no third parties screwing around with things. With no networks, there are also no programmers pulling good shows off the air because they didn't draw a big enough share. As long as enough folks pay to watch it, and the producers want to keep going, the show stays on. Finally, no advertisers need to interfere in show content anymore. They aren't sponsoring shows, they are sponsoring viewers. Show content can't possibly reflect back on them. Other benefits include no more Nielsen (everyone is paying individually to access each show -- you know down to the last viewer who is watching but no one really cares anymore anyway since the advertisers aren't paying for the shows anymore), no more "sweeps", no more reruns being foisted on you (you can watch it again if you want, but there is no schedule or season). The only real problem with this scheme is that it will never happen :-). >>==>> The *Best* political site >>==+ email: Tom.Horsley@worldnet.att.net icbm: Delray Beach, FL | Free Software and Politics <<==+ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 16:08:38 -0500 From: rfl Subject: Norvergence Fraud I just met with a Norvergence rep and the deal they offered will save me money. I am totally ignorant of this technology. Are there other companies that offer this same kind of service? Is the MATRIX nothing more than a conversion box? Randy Larson ------------------------------ From: David Clayton Subject: Re: CA Free Antivirus and Firewall Software Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 15:49:53 +1100 Organization: iPrimus Customer Monty Solomon contributed the following: > Free eTrust EZ Armor Security Suite > http://www.my-etrust.com/microsoft/ Free for one year, then they expect you to pay a subscription. There are other (really) free AV and firewall products available, I use AVG from Grisoft - http://www.grisoft.com/ and Zonealarm from Zonelabs - http://www.zonelabs.com/ both are free to home users. Regards, David Clayton, e-mail: dcstar@XYZ.myrealbox.com Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. (Remove the "XYZ." to reply) Dilbert's words of wisdom #18: Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience. ------------------------------ From: AES/newspost Subject: Re: Thumbs Pay at Some Stores Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 08:12:54 -0800 In article , Mark Atwood wrote: >> The scanner is connected to a computer, which analyzes the print. >> Because thumbprints are unique, the computer can match the print to a >> customer and deduct the price of the puppy from that customer's >> checking account. > The guy who a couple of years ago demonstrated how easy it is to > "steal" a thumbprint recently did it again, and now it's even cheaper > and faster (typically $10 worth of supplies), and it can be easily > done without the victims permission or even knowledge. > Thumbprint ID is a neat sounding idea that will be a disaster in > practice. I believe the first graf above is basically incorrect in two ways. First of all, I'm guessing that the fingerprint analysis is basically used only as a kind of crude security or validity check *after* the customer has entered their ID, or claimed ID. In addition, fingerprints may or may not be unique. Despite the aura of infallibility that has grown up around fingerprint identification, claims that real and practical systems can uniquely identify individuals with anything like adequate reliability given only a fingerprint -- or more accurately, some kind of digital representation of a fingerprint -- should be viewed with great skepticism. (Of course any claims for the validity of polygraphy, aka "lie detectors", should be viewed with total and complete skepticism.) ------------------------------ From: panoptes@iquest.net (Daniel W. Johnson) Subject: Re: uZipp Denies Assertions, was Re: Kiddy Porn Date: 21 Nov 2003 09:41:15 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Joey Lindstrom wrote in message news:: > A sophistic argument (not to be confused with "sophisticated"). No > allegations about assassinating Lincoln or double-parking were made, > whereas specific allegations about kiddy porn and white power *WERE* > made. It's a good thing I didn't call him an idiot: I might have been > charged with revealing state secrets. :-) (Well, *IF* he's a > government agent that is). Okay, that was unworthy of me, although I would like to know what allegations were made and/or emphasized in the particular message he was replying to. Poking around with Google turned up uzipp internal forum postings denying that any adult content whatsoever is hosted there. (Of course, that could be part of a front, although I'm not sure who it could be intended for.) > See this URL: > http://www.telussucks.info/spam20031117.pdf I got several copies of that email myself; it looks like someone took the standard sales information from uzipp.com and tacked on the claims about content. And is the apparently generic webhosting provider really consistent with the spam's claims of *specializing* in adult and white power? > ??? He's operating a business that relies on going unnoticed? A > web-hosting business? How does going unnoticed benefit such a business? > Most business that go unnoticed also go BROKE. If he were really hosting child porn sites, he would need a low profile. > Pat has SPECIFIC MEMORIES of these individuals that predate my posting > of this spam-example to this forum. So unless you're accusing him of > deliberately inventing these memories, I'd have to say that option > "C", the possibility that this is indeed a sting, increases in > probability. Take a good long read of the spam in question and you'll > find other telltale signs that point in this direction also. Okay, those names are rare. My local phone book lists 16 people named Laws and one named Zipp. (And my use of Google confirmed that Nick Laws is part of uzipp's staff.) > I'll certainly admit that it's possible. I just don't think it's the > most likely explanation. Two other data points that might be relevant: The spam does not seem to have come from uzipp's servers. The AUP and/or TOS state that law enforcement can get customer information with a simple written request. (Hmmm. One document refers to the courts of Florida, the other to the courts of Harris County, Texas.) ------------------------------ From: Linc Madison Subject: Re: Kiddy Porn Spam Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 01:39:07 -0800 Organization: California resident; nospam; no unsolicited e-mail allowed Reply-To: lincmad@suespammers.org In article , Linc Madison wrote: > Did they use those specific names "Dave Zipp" and "Nick Laws"? As odd > as those names might sound, there are in fact several "Dave Zipps" > scattered around the country, and I'm sure there are real people > named "Nick Laws." > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Dave Zipp used that specific name in > the disclaimer message he sent to Joey which was in turn passed on to > me. And yes, thanks for reminding me, Linc. About the time that the > report was printed in Computer Underground Digest and the Chicago > area investigative reporter did his series on it, it stirred up some > attention on Usenet also, which may have been some of the reports you > referred to. I'm not sure that my question was clear, so let me clarify: Did the *previous* reports of child pornography involving the USPIS use the specific names "Dave Zipp" and "Nick Laws"? In other words, were those names known to you PRIOR to Joey Lindstrom's report of the spam he received? A Google search turns up nothing at all connecting Dave Zipp to the USPIS or to child pornography, other than the current spam run, including in Usenet archives that go back to 1981. My extensive experience in the spam wars leads me very strongly to believe that it was a "joe job," not a real come-on or a trap by those wily feds. That impression is strongly reinforced by looking at the actual web site that was supposedly spam-vertised. There is nothing at all to suggest the presence of child pornography anywhere on the site; indeed, quite the contrary. There are a number of legit non-porn sites hosted there, which is more trouble than I would expect the USPIS to go to for a sting. To think that someone who was actually operating a business devoted to hosting child pornography in the United States would advertise it in blanket spam to the entire world in such starkly obvious terms, strains my credulity well beyond its limits. I also don't think that law enforcement would be that stupid, since such a shotgun approach and such blunt wording of the come-on would surely scare off more potential marks than it would draw in. As I said earlier, they'd start with some "just turned 18" stuff and then ease you into the illegal areas. If you told me that the sender had carefully tracked down people who post images in certain newsgroups with questionable content with offers to host their kiddie porn, I might view it differently, but neither a real child pornographer nor a law enforcement sting would cast their net so wantonly. Linc Madison * San Francisco, California * lincmad@suespammers.org * primary e-mail: Telecom at LincMad dot com All U.S. and California anti-spam laws apply, incl. CA BPC 17538.45(c) This text constitutes actual notice as required in BPC 17538.45(f)(3). DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED E-MAIL TO THIS ADDRESS. You have been warned. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not remember if the name 'Dave Zipp' or 'Nick Laws' appeared in any of the earlier reports or not. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:53:26 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Court OKs Home-To-Cell Number Transfers By JONATHAN D. SALANT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court Friday cleared the way for consumers to transfer home phone numbers to cell phones beginning Monday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the United States Telecom Association's request to block the rule from taking effect Monday for people living in the 100 most-populous metropolitan areas. It did, however, agree to hear the lawsuit brought by the association, the trade group for local phone companies, which claims the new rule favors wireless carriers. The court, in an unsigned order, told the Federal Communications Commission to respond by Wednesday and for the trade association to reply by Dec. 2. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36590972 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 23:56:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Audio: Steve Harmon: TiVo Drops Despite Subscriber Growth - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36586104 ------------------------------ From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam Date: 21 Nov 2003 15:02:06 -0500 Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA > I'd always understood that toll-free numbers had limited coverage > areas unless (as you suggest) the subscriber specifically asks for a > larger area. In our case, it seems to have been the reverse. > Is my experience unique, or has this become the norm, I wonder. It's the norm. With my old LD carrier my 800 number worked from all of the US and Canada. I eventually turned off Canadian access because the rate was high and I got a lot of wrong numbers due to its being in the company phone book of an insurance company in Toronto. With my current LD carrier it works from the US only, but I could call them up and turn on Canadian access if I thought the company phone book had been corrected. 800 vendors went to flat rates (or maybe instate, intersate, Canada, and maybe different rates for AK HI PR VI) quite a while ago, before POTS long distance went flat rate. ------------------------------ From: Jenna Sanchez Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 16:59:49 -0500 I received the same fax and was irritated by it also. I called the "800" number all day and it was busy. Convinced it was fake, I searched Info 4 U on Yahoo and your message came up. I found a website called junkfax.org that fights these fax's and I thought you might want to submit it also. They say they fight the ones with the most responses first. Thanks a bunch, Jenna M. Sanchez [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe the number was 'busy all day' or maybe what you were getting was some kind of misprogrammed thing which resulted in a 'reorder tone' which closely resembles a 'busy signal' but is faster, i.e. a 'fast busy signal'. Maybe if it had been programmed correctly you would have instead heard a message saying something like 'number not available from your calling area' if in fact the number terminates in Canada somewhere. Maybe someone who actually has a phone line in Canada could try the same 800 number and report on what they get. I am not trying to defend the company (and the fact that they also use a 900 number for removals makes it very difficult to stand up for them) but there may be a somewhat 'valid' explanation for it. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 16:48:22 -0500 (EST) From: John R. Covert Subject: Re: Info 4 U Ltd Fax Spam Time for a short update on this. I suspected from the beginning that the address in Coquitlam printed on the FAX I received was a mail drop, not the address of the company itself. This has been confirmed, and of course the more recent address in the neighboring town of Port Moody is also a mail drop. Since first posting my letter to the Coquitlam Bylaw Enforcement and Licensing office, I have learned that the police in both Coquitlam and Port Moody were already looking into the operation of Info 4 U, and had determined that it was a U.S. company simply using a Canadian mail drop. I would like to suggest that anyone who has received a FAX from this company file a report with Phonebusters, a Canadian national call center for telemarketing fraud coordinated by the OPP and the RCMP at 888 495-8501. I am in touch with the police departments in both Coquitlam and Port Moody, as well as Phonebusters and the Enforcement Division of the FCC. But one report will get zero action; everyone who has actually received one of these faxes needs to take it upon themselves to contact the authorities. I have not yet been able to find out anything more about the company than that it is a U.S. company. But with more reports, especially to Phonebusters (who have been conducting an investigation) we may be able to get something happening. /john ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Silly Cell Phone "Antenna Booster" Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 14:11:50 -0800 Organization: University of Washington I got an "AB Antennas Booster" was included as a freebie along with a replacement battery. I'm trying to decide if it would have any value installed on the phone, or if I should just toss it in my small but growing collection of "sleazy goods that I got for free." In other words, was the concensus that these things were completely worthless, or "helps a little bit but not worth spending any money"? If the latter, how should it be installed? The instructions are in Chenglish: "put it nearby antenna of battery." I have a flip phone with a non-extensible antenna, and am using Verizon largely in 800 CDMA/analog territory (only occasionally in 1900 CDMA). The battery is on the opposite side of the flip from the antenna, so I don't think that it should go there. That would have been convenient, since the battery is behind a door and it wouldn't show. As far as I can tell, the only sensible way to apply it is wrapped around the antenna. It would look somewhat ugly, so I don't want to do it if it's completely useless. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2003 17:26:49 -0600 From: DEVIN Subject: Nortel Call Pilot Trying to see if anybody out there has been succesfull setting up an external email server within Call Pilot 2.0 for the reciept of text messages from Call Pilot to a data enabled device such as a Blackberry or one of Sprint's new units ... my customer is wanting the voice mail to send him a email type file that let's him know that he has a message. Thanks for any help. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #762 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Nov 22 22:44:15 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAN3iFn17847; Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:15 -0500 (EST) Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:15 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311230344.hAN3iFn17847@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #763 TELECOM Digest Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 763 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 40 Years Ago Today (TELECOM Digest Editor) Re: Number Portability Decision Wireline Telecom Sector (Airperson) Telecommuting Interview (Lee) Re: Satellite TV, was Re: ESPN Ads Take AIM at Cox (Joey Lindstrom) Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (Garrett Wollman) Re: Silly Cell Phone "Antenna Booster" (Michael D. Sullivan) mMode (Lee) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:10:23 EST From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: 40 Years Ago Today It was Friday, November 22, 1963 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. It has always been alleged that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed Kennedy from his hiding place on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository Building, which is now known as Dealy Plaza. A Commission investigating the matter came to that official conclusion after much inquiry. The only trouble was that Oswald himself was killed two days later (Sunday, November 24, 1963) while in the custody of the Dallas Police Department. Owald never did admit to it, and Jack Ruby silenced Oswald before he could speak and say anymore about the matter. Many of our readers here at TELECOM Digest were not even born forty years ago, or were around, but far too young to remember very much of that day. I remember it very well. That Friday, at about noon, when Kennedy was killed, I was having lunch with some friends and we were watching on television a very popular daytime quiz show called 'The Price is Right', and the host that day was a popular personality called Bob Barker. The show had just gotten underway at 12 noon, central time, when it was interuppted for a news bulletin. The first news report was that television had 'just received a report that shots had been fired at a motorcade in which President Kennedy was riding ... but there are not yet any details about the matter'. It cut back to the Price is Right show. For all of about two minutes, then a news bulletin again. This time, they confirmed, that shots *had* been fired and it appeared that President Kennedy had been shot. More news when we get it. Back to the Price is Right show. By 12:10 pm the show was interuppted a third time, to say, yes, it is official: shots were fired, Kennedy has been hit, his car has been pulled out of the (now suspended) motorcade and he was rushed to the hospital. After the talking heads made a few more comments, then it was back for (what was left) of the Price is Right program, but that was for only two or three more minutes, until the news people took over full time coverage of the matter. By 12:20 pm central time, more or less, all television and radio stations in the USA and most of the world had gone to full time coverage which would continue for the next two days. Two or three months earlier, I had taken a volunteer position with the Chicago Public Library, in charge of making a video presentation about the library; its various departments and functions. We had it all set to be aired, and had some free time from Channel 9 (WGN) in Chicago to show it as a public service program, to be aired at 11 AM for thirty minutes the Sunday morning before, on November 17. As it turned out, the Saturday night (before the Sunday my show was to be on), WGN had some mechanical problems which shut them off the air for about 30 minutes. They got back on using emergency equipment, but had to be (scheduled) off the air as soon as possible to finish the needed repairs, which took about an hour or two. So they announced 'we will go off the air for repairs on Sunday morning at 10 AM until our work is finished.' It wound up taking only an hour or so, but that caused a delay in the programs scheduled that day. Don't worry, they said, those public service programs are recorded a long time in advance, so we will just bump them all up a week. We will put your show about the library on next Sunday morning instead. Well the next Friday, Kennedy was assassinated. All Friday afternoon and night, and all day Saturday was given over to coverage of that important event. By Saturday night midnight, even the talking heads on television had run out of things to talk about, and for the remainder of the night into the early morning hours on Sunday, the TV stations simply had their cameras focused on Kennedy's casket, which had been placed in the rotunda. Starting sometime Sunday morning the regular television talk shows and other Sunday morning public service things were back on the air, although in a rather solemn frame of mind. Comes 11 AM and time for my video on the library. A minute or so before it was to begin, the Channel 9 engineer on duty said, "we have to do a little more coverage on Kennedy. The fellow who killed him is being transported from the Dallas Police Department to the county jail. We are going to cover that, then come back to our regular programs; so we will run about ten minutes behind, but run your thing from the beginning, and run behind on all the programs for the rest of the afternoon." That seemed okay to me. 11 AM that Sunday morning, news people took over and said, 'we are going live to Dallas again, at the police station, where Lee Harvey Oswald is being transferred to the Sheriff. Then it was live there, and we see this mob of news people in the hallway, all waving their microphones and cameras, trying to get a quick word out of Lee Harvey Oswald. "Oh, Mr. Oswald, would you tell the viewers why you shot President Kennedy?" The police kept pushing the reporters out of the way and leading Oswald, chained and handcuffed, down the hallway. Then out of nowhere, it seemed, a man (later identified as Jack Ruby) walked up, his face contorted in anger, and said to Oswald, 'you son of a bitch, you shot our president, now I am going to shoot you!' With that, he pulled out a gun and did just that. It happened so quickly, that Oswald was down and out before the police could get the gun away from Mr. Ruby, or so the police later claimed. Well, the talking heads covering the matter just about flipped out. That was, I guess, the first time a person got murdered on live television. For the next several hours on television, starting about ten minutes later, every three to five minutes, every television station in the world, it seems, replayed that killing of Oswald, minus the audio which by then had been greatly edited to only show Ruby's contorted face and his lips moving. If you were able to read lips, then you could see that Ruby was saying 'you son of a bitch', but other than the original showing, at about 11:03 that Sunday morning, no one got to hear Ruby saying it. But the audio came back on in the edited clips after the speech but just as the gun was being fired and Oswald was falling over dead. For the rest of the day and evening, midst all the chatter of the talking heads, every two or three minutes they would say, 'in case you just woke up or tuned in, look at what happened in Dallas this morning,' and they would play that horrid clip, over and over, then chatter some more about it, and the two day earlier assassination of Kennedy. Needless to say, my 'get to know your Chicago Public Library' video never did get aired. And that was forty years ago this weekend. Patrick Townson ------------------------------ From: Airperson@nowhere.biz Subject: Re: Number Portability Decision Adds to Wireline Telecom Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 05:49:22 -0800 Organization: Cox Communications Keep in mind that we have had LNP for competitive wireline carriers for 5 years, or so. I switched two of my wireline numbers from Pacific Bell to Cox Communications some 3 years ago, then subsequently switched one of the numbers back to Pacific Bell. Thus, I have had de facto property rights on those numbers for the past 3 years, not next Monday. Monty Solomon wrote: > Issue #66 > November 20, 2003 > by Adam Thierer > On Monday, November 24, Americans will gain a de facto property right > in their telephone numbers. Thanks to new Federal Communications > Commission (FCC) rules that go into effect that day, wireless and > wireline carriers will be forced to let customers in major > metropolitan areas take their phone numbers with them when they > decide to switch providers. All Americans will gain this right by > next May. > Hailed as a pro-competitive move in most circles, the FCC adopted > this 'number portability' measure under the assumption that it would > generate more customer churn by allowing consumers to take their > phone numbers with them when they want to shop around for better > deals. Of course, if anyone had property rights in phone numbers it > was probably the carriers that originally assigned them to us, but > the FCC ignored that and re-assigned the rights to end users so they > can more easily jump from one provider to another. And jump ship they > will, in very large numbers in all likelihood, especially from the > wireline side of the business to wireless. In fact, telecom industry > pundits are increasingly talking about the 'perfect storm' that now > looms for the wireline telecom sector in the wake of the following > developments: > http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/031120-tk.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ditto here in Independence. Lisa and her mother changed from SW Bell to our local carrier Prairie Stream and got to keep their original SWB number. Same thing for me, same local number, etc. That's nothing new around here either, but maybe in some larger cities it will be a big deal. PAT] ------------------------------ From: nephesys@hotmail.com (Lee) Subject: Telecommuting Interview Date: 22 Nov 2003 06:54:44 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com I would like to "interview" as many persons as possible in reference of telecommuting. If you are telecommuting, have telecommuted before, or are a boss whose employees are telecommuting, I would like to receive feedback: 1. Name 2. Age 3. Where do you live? 4. What company permits you telecommuting? Are you your own boss? 5. How long have you been telecommuting? 6. What type of telecommuting are you performing? a. Home-based b. Mobile-worker c. Telecottage or telecenter d. Satellite office e. Distance working companies f. Mixed telework g. Other 7. Explain your experience. Was it any goood? Was it any bad? Why? 8. Advantages and disadvantages encountered. 9. Recommendations This information is needed for a technical report in which I am working. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 09:06:24 -0700 Subject: Re: Satellite TV, was Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 02:10:08 -0500 (EST), Danny Burstein wrote: > In Joey Lindstrom > writes: > [lots snipped throughout] >> That said, Bell Expressvu (the Canadian satellite service to which I >> subscribe) has a decent compromise. >> You start with "the locals" (all the local channels everywhere in >> Canada, which is cool for time-shifting purposes), then they offer not >> 1, not 2, not 3, but TWELVE "tiers" of channels. You can buy each >> tier for something like $6.95 per month, or you can have any seven for >> $40.99 per month. They also have discount pricing for nine tiers and >> twelve tiers, I think. Then, beyond that, they've got your >> "specialty" channels (Playboy, Movie Network, and so on) that you pay >> extra for IF you want them. > I'm aware of a grey market, so to speak, with Canadians using illegal > (to them) US based satellite networks/dishes such as Direct-TV and > DISH. > Based on your description above, it sounds like it's time for a reverse > move. You're probably right. "I Am Not A Lawyer", but the following is my understanding of the legal versus illegal aspects to this: Some years ago, a trial judge ruled that it could not be illegal to steal something that you were prohibited from purchasing. Thus, lots of people went out and bought "black market" DirecTV (mostly) and DISH Network (less popular) equipment, along with card programmers and whatnot. These people (and I'll admit to being one of them, for about six months) would get the latest "bin file" from "their guy" and install it on their smart card, and watch absolutely free TV (less anything that "their guy" charged them for providing the bin). Every so often, DirecTV (I didn't have DISH) would send down an ECM (Electronic Counter Measure) that would zap these illegal cards while (hopefully, though not always) not affecting legitimate subscriber cards. This would send everyone back to "their guy" for a newly-rewritten bin that would get around the latest ECM. It was a never-ending struggle against "Dave" (the name we gave the security people at DirecTV, collectively). "Dave" would zap us, we'd find a way around it, then "Dave" would find a way to zap our new fix, and so on. Dave was a sadistic bastard: many times, the ECM would come down about 20 minutes into, say, the Super Bowl. :-) The result was unreliable TV which, on average, was costing 50%-60% of what reliable, legal TV would cost. That's why I got out of it, and onto the "legal" track. Shortly after my decision, another Canadian judge essentially reversed the previous decision: hacking DirecTV was illegal again. I sold my equipment earlier this year: there's still lots of folks out there willing to defy the law. In deciding to "go legal", I had two choices: go with one of the authorized Canadian satellite companies (ExpressVu and StarChoice), or go "grey market" and stay with DirecTV or DISH. The latter is an important distinction. It is still not lawful for DirecTV or DISH to market to Canadians. They cannot sell their service to us directly. However, their are several "remailers" in the USA which will provide us Canadians with a US mailing address. We can apply for service using that address for billing. The monthly bill is sent to that address, and the remailer forwards it to me in Canada. DirecTV believes it's dealing with an American customer. This is a violation of DirecTV's terms of service, but if they don't find out about it, they won't do anything about it. In the meantime, I'm doing NOTHING ILLEGAL on this side of the border. Owning the equipment is legal, mounting it on my roof is legal, and there's nothing the local authorities can do about it (though if they find out all of the details of my arrangement, they could alert DirecTV, which might shut me down). I'm quite certain this could be done in reverse -- someone in the USA could find a Canadian remailer to send their Bell ExpressVu bills on to the USA. I have NO IDEA whether this would be legal in the USA. Assuming it is, I definitely have to recommend it. In making my decision, it came down to price. Yes, DirecTV has a few channels that I can't get on ExpressVu. But while I can't pick up MTV, I can pick up MTV Canada. Similarly, there are Canadian versions of History Channel, Showcase, Discovery, and others. No HBO? No problem: sign up for Movie Central, which runs most HBO content (sometimes a few days later, as is the case with The Sopranos, just to pick one example). So the services are similar. I'm paying about $60 Canadian per month, for seven out of the twelve tiers of channels. This gets me 43 local channels from around the country, 200+ channels of non-local content (US networks, cable networks, etc.), 15 HDTV channels (a $10 hit by itself), plus a whack of music channels and some Canadian channels rebroadcast with a "descriptive video" soundtrack (for the visually impaired). It's really a great deal. If you get the model 5100 receiver, you also get a PVR that doesn't cost you any additional monthly fee. (Alas, they don't have an HDTV-compatible PVR yet, but I understand that one is on the way). (That model number should ring a bell with DISH network subscribers: ExpressVu uses pretty much the same hardware as DISH, including the same model numbers. Mine's the 6000, while the basic units are the 3100 and 3800.) To get roughly the same content on DirecTV (but with no local-to-me channels) would cost about twice as much, after adjusting for currency exchange rates and everything. For me, choosing between a Canadian supplier and a US supplier was a no-brainer. ------------------------------ From: wollman@lcs.mit.edu (Garrett Wollman) Subject: Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 17:50:05 +0000 (UTC) Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science In article , Thomas A. Horsley wrote: > First of all, networks and all the "suits" sending notes to the > production team "helping them out" disappear. For values of 'notes' being 'banknotes', since it is the 'suits' who actually provide the funding (financed on the future value of advertising) that gets new programming produced in the first place. I don't watch much television, network or otherwise, but I recognize that our culture would be immensely poorer without the role of audience aggregators like networks, syndicators, and cable operators. They are no less essential than editors. Garrett A. Wollman | As the Constitution endures, persons in every wollman@lcs.mit.edu | generation can invoke its principles in their own Opinions not those of| search for greater freedom. MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - A. Kennedy, Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. ___ (2003) ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Silly Cell Phone "Antenna Booster" Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 20:46:38 GMT On Fri, 21 Nov 2003 14:11:50 -0800, Mark Crispin posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > I got an "AB Antennas Booster" was included as a freebie along with a > replacement battery. I'm trying to decide if it would have any value > installed on the phone, or if I should just toss it in my small but > growing collection of "sleazy goods that I got for free." > In other words, was the concensus that these things were completely > worthless, or "helps a little bit but not worth spending any money"? Can it -- they're worthless. Wrapping it around your antenna will degrade performance. The FTC recently ordered a recall regarding similar items. > If the latter, how should it be installed? The instructions are in > Chenglish: "put it nearby antenna of battery." > I have a flip phone with a non-extensible antenna, and am using > Verizon largely in 800 CDMA/analog territory (only occasionally in > 1900 CDMA). The battery is on the opposite side of the flip from the > antenna, so I don't think that it should go there. That would have > been convenient, since the battery is behind a door and it wouldn't > show. > As far as I can tell, the only sensible way to apply it is wrapped > around the antenna. It would look somewhat ugly, so I don't want to > do it if it's completely useless. > -- Mark -- > http://staff.washington.edu/mrc > Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. > Si vis pacem, para bellum. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. ------------------------------ From: nephesys@hotmail.com (Lee) Subject: mMode Date: 22 Nov 2003 15:22:11 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com We have to study the functions of mMode and the history and actual of use of Java to answer the following questions: * Is mMode an operating system? * Why Java was created? What is Java Virtual Machine? * What does JVM do in a computer? What does it do in a telephone? * Could mMode be a computer operating system? If someone here knows any available references besides AT7T I would be very thankful. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. 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Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. 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End of TELECOM Digest V22 #763 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Nov 23 16:11:45 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hANLBjf22084; Sun, 23 Nov 2003 16:11:45 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 16:11:45 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311232111.hANLBjf22084@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #764 TELECOM Digest Sun, 23 Nov 2003 16:11:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 764 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Comcast Hiking Cable Rates (Monty Solomon) RCN Launches High Definition TV Service in San Francisco (Monty Solomon) CodeFellas (Monty Solomon) US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity (Marcus Didius Falco) Re: Satellite TV, was Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox (Mark Crispin) Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap (Joey Lindstrom) Re: Number Portability Decision Adds to Wireline Telecom (J Lindstrom) Review: CBC's HDTV Debut (Joey Lindstrom) Bob Barker (Joey Lindstrom) Kennedy and Network TV, the CORRECT Times and Shows (Mark J Cuccia) Wanted Nortel Equipment (Roy Chapman) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 02:36:33 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Comcast Hiking Cable Rates Standard service to go up average of 6.5% on Jan. 1 By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 11/22/2003 Comcast Corp. yesterday said it was raising its rate for standard cable service in New England by an average of 6.5 percent, or $2.71 a month, effective Jan. 1. The increase will affect most of Comcast's 2.2 million customers in New England, raising the average monthly bill for standard service, which includes local broadcast channels as well as cable networks like CNN and ESPN, to $44.07. Individual customers, depending on where they live and their specific subscription package, would face different price increases. Comcast officials refused to offer details about price changes for other cable packages, but community officials said it appeared from notices they had received that the monthly rental for some cable boxes would be going up. A small group of customers has already been notified that the a la carte price of HBO is going up $5 a month. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2003/11/22/comcast_hiking_cable_rates/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 02:45:41 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: RCN Launches High Definition TV Service in San Francisco RCN Launches High Definition TV Service in San Francisco Offers 6 Channels of Cinema-Quality HDTV Service, Including ESPN and Discovery HD Theater PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RCN Corporation (Nasdaq: RCNC ) announced the launch of its High Definition Television (HDTV) service to cable TV customers in its San Francisco market today. San Francisco joins the Boston, Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Lehigh Valley, PA, Queens and Philadelphia markets in offering this service. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200310241756_PRN__PHF028 RCN Launches Video On Demand In San Francisco, Including Subscription Video On Demand Bay Area Customers Can Now Access On Demand Programming PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RCN Corporation (Nasdaq: RCNC ) today announced that its Video on Demand (VOD) and HBO On Demand(TM) and Cinemax On Demand(TM) subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are now available to more than 90,000 marketable homes in its San Francisco market. http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200311131512_PRN__PHTH020 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 09:32:11 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CodeFellas Smart mobs? Fuhgeddaboutit. Not till they hired me. Now they're getting a secure P2P bet-processing system. A mafia hacker tells his story to Wired. By Simson Garfinkel http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/mafia_pr.htmllist ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 15:11:16 -0500 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity Looks as if nearly everyone with a hotmail account will be technically in violation of the law. * Original: FROM..... John Gilmore This bill makes it a crime to use any false or misleading information in a domain name or email account application, and then send an email. That would make a large fraction of hotmail users instant criminals. It also makes it a crime to remove or alter information in message headers in ways that would make it harder for a police officer to determine who had sent the email. Anonymizers will be illegal as soon as this bill becomes law. There are MANY, MANY other things wrong with it -- including the fact that most of its provisions apply to *ALL* commercial email, not just BULK commercial email -- and that it takes zero account of the First Amendment, attempting to list what topics someone can validly send messages about, while outlawing all other topics that relate to commercial transactions. If it passes, I think I can make a criminal out of just about any company. Companies are liable for spam that helps them, even if they had no part in sending it. Read the bill yourself: http://news.com.com/pdf/ne/2003/FINALSPAM.pdf And weep. And then call your Congressman. Everyone's common sense goes out the window when the topic is spam. They're willing to sacrifice whatever principles they have. And you already know how few principles Congress had left. John http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1024_3-5110622.html Congress Poised for Vote on Anti-Spam Bill Declan McCullagh Published: November 21, 2003 Congress has reached an agreement on antispam legislation and could vote on it as early as Friday afternoon, a move that would end more than six years of failed attempts to enact a federal law restricting unsolicited commercial e-mail. Negotiators from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives said Friday that the legislation was a "historic" accomplishment with support from key Democrats and Republicans in both chambers. "For the first time during the Internet-era, American consumers will have the ability to say no to spam," House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., said in a statement. [...] If the measure becomes law, certain forms of spam will be officially legalized. The final bill says spammers may send as many "commercial electronic mail messages" as they like--as long as the messages are obviously advertisements with a valid U.S. postal address or P.O. box and an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Junk e-mail essentially would be treated like junk postal mail, with nonfraudulent e-mail legalized until the recipient chooses to unsubscribe. [...] One hotly contested dispute has been resolved: The bill would pre-empt more restrictive state laws, including one that California enacted in September. That law established an opt-in standard and was scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. With final passage of this bill, the core of California's law would never take effect. [...] Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/) The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo@metzdowd.com ------------------------------ From: Mark Crispin Subject: Re: Satellite TV, was Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 09:48:41 -0800 Organization: University of Washington On Sat, 22 Nov 2003, Joey Lindstrom wrote: > To get roughly the same content on DirecTV (but with no local-to-me > channels) would cost about twice as much, after adjusting for currency > exchange rates and everything. For me, choosing between a Canadian > supplier and a US supplier was a no-brainer. Of course, it goes both ways. The Canadian satellite providers omit some channels which are important to me as an American, but which Canadians probably wouldn't care about. I am not interested in ExpressVu as my regular provider. What I really wish would be if the US and Canadian satellite providers could agree to some sort of "roaming" arrangement for RVers. For users with a standard sized dish, DirecTV isn't useful north of central British Columbia; half the channels aren't viewable in Fort St. John, and further north you lose the other half. The ideal situation would be if any satellite receiver would work with any provider, and everything was on the card. I could then buy a "visitor" ExpressVu card. When I'm up in the Canadian north, I could call ExpressVu with credit card details and they switch on my card for X number of days. Presumably, it'd be expensive; maybe two weeks on a visitor card would cost the same as a month with a monthly plan. But that'd be OK. -- Mark -- http://staff.washington.edu/mrc Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate. Si vis pacem, para bellum. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 21:48:39 -0700 Subject: Re: ESPN Ads Take Aim at Cox Over Programming Flap Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:15 -0500 (EST), Garrett Wollman wrote: > In article , Thomas A. Horsley > wrote: >> First of all, networks and all the "suits" sending notes to the >> production team "helping them out" disappear. > For values of 'notes' being 'banknotes', since it is the 'suits' who > actually provide the funding (financed on the future value of > advertising) that gets new programming produced in the first place. > I don't watch much television, network or otherwise, but I recognize > that our culture would be immensely poorer without the role of > audience aggregators like networks, syndicators, and cable operators. > They are no less essential than editors. Very true, but the original poster has a point also -- all he's saying is that non-creative people are often given too much input into the creative process. I recall reading an interview with musician Gary Numan: he'd signed with a new record label, and they sent a couple of guys over to his studio to "help" him make his music a bit more mainstream. They started playing back the music Gary had recently recorded, then started fiddling with different knobs and dials on his mixing board, playing back the music a bit more, fiddling a bit more, and then declaring "there! that's the sound you want to have!" They then left, feeling they'd earned their pay and set the poor artist on the right path. Problem was, the mixing board's power was switched off. All of the dial and lever fiddling they'd been doing had had no effect whatsoever on the sound they were hearing. Another example, for those of you who are fans of the TV show "Babylon 5". For the entire first season, like most shows, the producers would continually receive "notes" from the studio people suggesting this change and that change. But after the second episode of season two (the show ran five seasons), some very sage person at Warner Brothers decided "ok, we trust you. We will send you no more notes - we trust your vision." And they didn't. And any fan of the show will tell you: up until that point, the show was very good, but AFTER that point, it became great. The handcuffs had been removed. Maybe an important difference with this show is that one layer of (mis)management was missing: the network. Babylon 5 was a syndicated show from the very beginning (though it's fifth season was initially broadcast exclusively on TNT). There was no network, the producers only had Warner Brothers on their back, and only for a little while. Indeed, some of the best shows on TV are those where the networks take a hands-off approach. Law & Order, West Wing, and Friends would be three more examples of that. I think it comes down to that age-old axiom: too many cooks spoil the broth. PS - here's an amusing cartoon, stolen from CBC's website, that captures some of the spirit of the afore-mentioned outdoor hockey games. :-) http://www.telussucks.info/frezenmeinutzov.bmp ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 21:35:49 -0700 Subject: Re: Number Portability Decision Adds to Wireline Telecom Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:15 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Ditto here in Independence. Lisa and > her mother changed from SW Bell to our local carrier Prairie Stream > and got to keep their original SWB number. Same thing for me, same > local number, etc. That's nothing new around here either, but maybe > in some larger cities it will be a big deal. PAT] It's always been the position of "the phone company" that the customer had no rights whatsoever in their phone number, in both Canada and the USA. Indeed, the current Telus "Superpages" 2004 phone book for Calgary contains the following (on page 31 of the purple-rimmed pages, "General Terms Of Service" -- note that Telus is referred to as "TCI" throughout -- and on the web at th URL): http://about.telus.com/publicpolicy/tariffs/docs2/CRTC214_6/General_8/Sect ion_11/items100-124.pdf) 113.0 TCI-Initiated Changes In Telephone Numbers or Service Arrangements 113.1 TCI has the right to change its communications network at any time. Because a customer's telephone service is located within a particular area of the network, changes to the network might mean that a customer will be placed in a different "Local Service Area", "Exchange Area" or "Base Rate Area". This might result in rate changes to the customer or a change to the customer's telephone number. Telephone numbers may also be changed for technical reasons or if different telephone numbers are designated to TCI by another authority. 113.2 Customers do not have any property rights or any other rights to any telephone numbers designated for them whether or not the telephone number is published in a telephone directory. 113.3 TCI may change the telephone number designated for a customer if TCI has: (a) reasonable grounds for changing it and gives the customer reasonable advance written notice stating the reason for and the anticipated date of the change, or (b) in cases of emergency, given the customer verbal notice, which must be followed by a written explanation as soon as possible. 113.4 If TCI changes a customer's telephone number and the customer did not request the change, TCI must intercept all calls made to the customer's old number and advise the caller of the customer's new number. TCI will provide this service without charge until one of the following happens: (a) the customer's service is cancelled or terminated, or (b) updated telephone directories showing the new number are distributed. 113.5 TCI is not liable for any damages resulting from changes to telephone numbers, "Local Service Areas", "Exchange Areas" or "Base Rate Areas". 113.1 seems to be a blanket statement saying "we own your phone number", yet seems to limit the conditions under which they can change it. The last sentence would seem to cover things like area code splits. 113.2 is an even balder blanket statement, yet seems to be contradicted by the whole notion of Local Number Portability. The point you and the original poster are making is that, while the terms of service don't seem to have changed, the various regulatory bodies have essentially bestowed on us "property rights" in our phone numbers that we never had before, and I for one am glad of it. These rights are not absolute, of course: if I move from Calgary to Edmonton tomorrow, well ... I'm an idiot. Er, I mean, I can't keep my phone number. Sorry. But as long as I stay within Calgary, which is all one contiguous rate center, I can move from location to location and insist upon keeping my phone number. I really, really like this. It means that my friends don't have to keep learning new phone numbers for me, and I for them. I'm in the less-usual position of having a phone number originally assigned to a CLEC (Sprint Canada), and then having it ported over to the ILEC (Telus). This was for technical (DSL-related) reasons - Telus still sucks. :-) This puts me in a prefix code that, so far, has received relatively few "cold call" telemarketing calls, which is a nice advantage. My number is also "easy to remember", as the last four digits spell out my first name. I went to some effort to get this number and I'd sure like to be able to keep it as long as possible. But because my number is "ported", that makes me a slight pain in the ass for Telus. I'm sure that they could invent a reasonable excuse sometime down the road to force me to change to a new phone number -- and at that point, technical reasons or no technical reasons, I'm back with Sprint Canada so fast I'll leave a vapour trail. :-) Similarly, my cellphone has the same last 4 digits. The number was assigned to me when I signed up for service with Clearnet, which was later (ARGH!) bought out by Telus. I've stayed with them for one reason: that phone number, which I don't want to lose. The day wireless number portability arrives in Canada, Bell Mobility will be getting at least one new customer. :-) ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:48:28 -0700 Subject: Review: CBC's HDTV Debut Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info Not bad for a rookie. CBC Television made its belated HDTV debut today, with a special edition of "Hockey Night In Canada". Broadcasting from Edmonton, the show was a unique double-header: the "Mega Stars" game in the afternoon, followed by the "Heritage Classic" in the early evening. Both games were played in a specially-erected outdoor rink in Commonwealth Stadium. The first game was an "old-timers" game, featuring famous alumni of the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens teams of the 70's and 80's, including such heroes as Guy Lafleur, Mark Messier, and Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky. The second was a real regular-season game between the modern-day versions of those same two teams. This was the first non-exhibition game in the 86-year history of the NHL to be played outdoors. (They played an outdoor game in Las Vegas, of all places, about a decade ago, but this was an exhibition game and didn't count in the standings) And WOW!, was it cold! At the beginning of the "Heritage Classic" game, the temperature was a chilly -18 Celsius (which is zero Fahrenheit). By the third period, it was down to -22 Celsius (-7 Fahrenheit), with the wind chill making it feel like -28C (-18F). Despite this, the all-time attendance record for a single NHL game was more than doubled: more than 57,000 people braved the cold to watch this spectacle. (The previous record was 28,000+) CBC could not have asked for a better showcase for their HDTV debut. Interest in the game across Canada was huge, and the game itself was a visual spectacle that looked pretty darn good on regular TV, and absolutely AMAZING in HDTV. Game organizers had built up snow-covered hills, grass, and trees around the rink, giving the whole thing the look of an old-fashioned pond hockey game -- something every Canadian boy remembers with fondness. The effect was incredible. For about the first 45 minutes of the broadcast (mostly the introduction of the "Mega Stars" alumni game, and about the first 15 minutes of the game itself), there were some teething problems. Video was occasionally misaligned, and there were audio problems galore: it would get quiet, then loud, then quiet, then disappear for several seconds, and then come back. After that, those problems pretty much disappeared completely. Because the rink was built on a football field, there was quite a distance between the rink boards and the stands, thus CBC didn't have access to their usual large array of camera locations. They made do with a mere seven: - One on a tower (about 30 feet high) at roughly the center-ice line, fairly close to the rink boards. - One camera in each end zone; - One "net cam" in each net; - A really cool automated "rail-cam" that ran along a special rail along the side boards. The camera operator got to sit in the nice warm truck instead of out in the cold. :-) - One "blimp cam" for the occasional overhead shot. Despite this limitation, the presentation was outstanding. CBC has a great reputation for having the best camera crews for hockey and it's well deserved. This broadcast had NONE of the out-of-focus problems that plagued the ABC HDTV broadcasts of the Stanley Cup Finals last June. All shots were perfectly framed and perfectly focused, and the overall presentation was absolutely breathtaking. It was just like being there, except that you couldn't see your breath. :-) That said, it wasn't perfect, but I'm now delving into nit-picking -- stuff that will get better as CBC gains more experience with this new technology. 1) The end-zone cameras had to shoot their footage THROUGH the glass. This isn't so noticeable on NTSC broadcasts but adds an annoying shimmer in HDTV. 2) The video from the "rail-cam" wasn't as good as from the tower and end-zone cameras. While better than NTSC, it certainly wasn't 1080i - probably 720. 3) The net-cam and blimp-cam shots were in 480 NTSC - when these shots are dropped into an HDTV broadcast, they look TERRIBLE. ABC had a similar problem last June in their broadcasts from The Pond in Anaheim: they have this spiffy "flying camera" that zips overhead during play, but it too is 480 NTSC. The angles this camera produces are VERY cool, but because it's such a jarring change from the regular HDTV resolution that you've been watching, it's more distracting than helpful. I can maybe see their point with the netcams, though: would YOU want to mount an expensive HDTV camera in the path of 100MPH frozen rubber pucks? :-) Both games were very entertaining. The Mega Stars game, as you might expect, was a bunch of out-of-shape old guys skating around and not hitting each other, which meant a lot of offense - but the goalies played like they were still in the NHL. Instead of the high-scoring affair everyone expected, this one wound up being a 2-0 win by the Oilers alumni, with all four goalies making some breathtaking saves. The second game was even more entertaining. Faster, and much more physical -- the latter being somewhat surprising. Nobody likes to receive a body-check, but it's GOTTA be worse when it's THAT FREAKING COLD. :-) There was also a welcome absence of the "neutral zone trap", a relatively-modern defensive tactic that tends to put fans to sleep. Canadiens goalie Jose Theodore donned a red, white and blue tuque, complete with Canadiens logo, over his goal mask, and every player on the ice was wearing extra warm underwear under their extra warm underwear. Large propane heaters were employed to keep the players' benches and penalty boxes toasty warm, but that didn't help the goalies, who had to stand out there in the cold for long stretches of time. Thankfully, there are three "TV time-outs" per period, during which both goalies rushed over to their benches, took off their gloves and blockers, and stashed them in front of the heaters. Their gloves had been freezing up, making it difficult to catch pucks. It was simply a well-played, exciting game, with an exciting finish. The Canadiens avenged their alumni's loss earlier in the day, and posted a 4-3 win. CBC's plans are to go with full-time HDTV sometime early in 2004. This presentation was a one-off: CBC's HDTV channel was dark all week, and went dark again at the end of the Heritage Classic game (Hockey Night In Canada always has two regular-season games: tonight's second game was available only in standard definition). Given how good this presentation was, I can only assume that when CBC finally does go hi-def full-time, they're going to jump right to the front of the quality line, despite their relatively late start. They say HDTV was made for sports. While I sure enjoy watching Law & Order in HDTV, I have to agree with this statement. I've watched hockey, football, basketball, and tennis in HDTV, and once you've watched sports in HDTV, you're addicted. It's REALLY hard to go back to anything less. Hats off to CBC -- nine out of ten on this one. ------------------------------ From: Joey Lindstrom Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 20:54:24 -0700 Subject: Bob Barker Reply-To: joey@telussucks.info On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:15 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org wrote: > That Friday, at about noon, when Kennedy was killed, I was having > lunch with some friends and we were watching on television a very > popular daytime quiz show called 'The Price is Right', and the host > that day was a popular personality called Bob Barker. The show had > just gotten underway at 12 noon, central time, when it was interuppted > for a news bulletin. The first news report was that television had > 'just received a report that shots had been fired at a motorcade in > which President Kennedy was riding ... but there are not yet any > details about the matter'. Hate to contradict you, but see this bio page at CBS: http://www.cbs.com/daytime/price/about/bios/cast_bios_bbarker.shtml According to this, Bob is now in his 31st year as host of The Price Is Right, meaning you must be thinking of something else. According to that same bio, he earlier hosted the daytime show "Truth Or Consequences". The bio isn't clear as to whether that show was on the air in 1963 but it seems to be implied -- I'm guessing, then, that it was this show, and not The Price Is Right, that you remember. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Nov 2003 23:56:37 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Kennedy and Network TV, the CORRECT Times and Shows Pat wrote: > That Friday, at about noon, when Kennedy was killed, I was having > lunch with some friends and we were watching on television a very > popular daytime quiz show called 'The Price is Right', and the host > that day was a popular personality called Bob Barker. The show had > just gotten underway at 12 noon, central time, when it was interuppted > for a news bulletin. The first news report was that television had > 'just received a report that shots had been fired at a motorcade in > which President Kennedy was riding ... but there are not yet any > details about the matter'. Pat, while I have no disagreement at all with the comments you have regarding Kennedy, Oswald, Rubenstein and all, I *DO* want to mention that your (central zone) timing and the program are *NOT* correct. Kennedy wasn't shot in Dallas until around 12 *THIRTY* in the afternoon Central Time. Bill Cullen was still host of TPIR at that time. Only two months before, the NBC-TV daytime version of TPIR ceased altogether (Bill Cullen as host), and the prime-time version of TPIR in September, 1963 (Bill Cullen) moved from NBC-TV on Friday nights over to ABC-TV on Wednesday nights. TPIR ceased altogether for most of the later 1960s. It was resumed in September, 1972, daytimes, on CBS-TV, *THIS* time now with Bob Barker. > It cut back to the Price is Right show. For all of about two minutes, > then a news bulletin again. This time, they confirmed, that shots > *had* been fired and it appeared that President Kennedy had been > shot. More news when we get it. Back to the Price is Right show. By > 12:10 pm the show was interuppted a third time, to say, yes, it is > official: shots were fired, Kennedy has been hit, his car has been > pulled out of the (now suspended) motorcade and he was rushed to the > hospital. After the talking heads made a few more comments, then it > was back for (what was left) of the Price is Right program, but that > was for only two or three more minutes, until the news people took > over full time coverage of the matter. By 12:20 pm central time, more > or less, all television and radio stations in the USA and most of the > world had gone to full time coverage which would continue for the next > two days. Kennedy was shot at approximately 12:30pm CST in Dallas. The only network TV show on between 12:30 and 1pm (CST) or 1:30-2pm EST at that moment, in the Eastern/Central timezone sections (Pacific coast parts of the three TV networks is a different situation altogether), was "As the World Turns", *LIVE*, on the CBS Television Network. At about 12:40pm CST (1:40pm EST; 10:40am PST), Cronkite made his first audio-over bulletins interrupting "As the World Turns". The west coast facility, CBS Television City, Hollywood, was taping ATWT as it fed out of NYCity across the telco coax/microwave/etc. lines coast-to-coast, videotaping the live feed for intended playback two hours later (network daytime on the west coast is two hours later than what the rest of the country sees it). I assume that master control at CBS in Hollywood saw the slide-cards "CBS NEWS BULLETIN" on what they were taping, and switched the west coast feed on to what was coming out of NYCity at those moments. (A rerun of either "Real McCoys" or maybe "December Bride" was airing on the west coast of CBS-TV at the moment, 10:30am PST). NBC-TV and ABC-TV at 12:30pm CST (1:30pm EST) was "dark" in the Eastern and Central parts of the network. Those two networks had to do their best to alert affiliates that they were sending bulletins on what they heard, however, the newsrooms at local affiliates probably were getting alerts on their AP and UPI newswire teletypes, and realized that they could check NBC or ABC themselves. In New York City, at 30 Rockafeller Center, Don Pardo of NBC broke into WNBC-TV-4's local program origination at about 1:40pm EST, with a slide card and voiceover. It was probably fed down the NBC Television Network, but as to how many affiliates were able to notice it and switch to that Pardo voiced announcement is not really known. Cronkite had to do voiceovers with slide cards for about 20 to 25 minutes until he could go on live WITH CAMERA/VIDEO, because no cameras were "warm" in the newsroom at the moment. Remember that cameras still had *VACUUM TUBES* at that time (even though the transistor had already been invented by the three Bell Labs scientists some 15 years earlier), and those had to be warmed up before use. Don Gardiner ABC *RADIO* is credited with being the first radio or TV network to break-in with news bulletins, before Cronkite on CBS-TV, Don Pardo's first announcements for NBC-TV, ABC-TV, Mutual Radio, Alan Jackson on CBS Radio, or NBC Radio. So, about the only thing that is NOT correct is the time and the program you reference. The first incidents became known between 12:30 and 1pm Central (a half hour LATER), and it was "As the World Turns" on CBS-TV that was the only network TV program in the Eastern/Central time zones that was interrupted. NBC-TV and ABC-TV were "dark" at the moment in the Eastern/Central zones. And "The Price is Right" references simply could NOT be correct, because Barker didn't begin as host until almost ten years later, 1973 ... the daytime version of TPIR ceased a few months earlier and the nighttime version also in September, 1963 moved from NBC Fridays to ABC Wednesdays, Bill Cullen being the host of any daytime/nighttime versions of TPIR in the 1950s/60s. I mentioned that Bob Barker didn't take over as host of the resumed "The Price is Right", *now* on CBS-TV (daytime) until Sept.1972 (for about a year at that time, it was even called "The *New* Price is Right"); and in November, 1963, while Bill Cullen was still host of TPIR, the daytime version was cancelled and that the night-time version with Cullen had also just moved from NBC-TV (Friday nights) to ABC-TV (on Wednesday nights). I did get to thinking that maybe you were thinking of "Truth or Consequences", which Bob Barker also hosted in the 1960s and 70s. Ralph Edwards created TOC in the 1940s and hosted it for many years initially on network radio. Later, by the early 1950s, he hosted a TV version, which aired on various TV networks at various times (both daytime and primetime versions) thorughout the 1950s. Another host of TOC in the 1950s, according to research I've done, was Jack Bailey (who was one of the longtime radio or TV hosts in the 1950s/60s of "Queen for a Day"). By the early 1960s, including in November 1963, Bob Barker had taken over as host of TOC. In the later 1960s and early 1970s, Barker hosted the first-run syndicated version of TOC, but in 1963, he was host of an NBC-TV daytime version of TOC which aired 12:30-12:55pm EASTERN (which is 11:30-11:55am Central). The remaining five minutes was the "NBC Midday News". Back in the 1960s/70s, all three television networks had one, two, sometimes even as many as three, five minute newscasts scattered throughout daytime programming, sort of like what was also becoming of network radio in the 1950s/60s, with the five-minute newscasts throughout the day most (or now ALL) hours. But still, in either the eastern or central time zones, Bob Barker's "Truth or Conesquences" was running on the NBC Television Network from 11:30-11:55am Central (12:30-12:55pm Eastern), about an hour *BEFORE* Kennedy was even shot in his motorcade in downtown Dallas TX at about 12:30pm Central (1:30pm Eastern), with the first network radio and TV bulletins interupting about five to ten mintues later. What do old microfilm TV Guide listings (Chicago edition) or old microfilm backissues of the Chicago Tribune or Chicago Daily News for their radio/TV listings indicate for "regular" prgramming on Friday 22-Nov-1963, 12:30-1pm Central? WBBM-TV-2 (CBS) would have "As the World Turns" (NETWORK) WMAQ-TV-5 (NBC) would be a LOCAL program WLS-TV-7 (ABC) would also be a LOCAL program And all three stations listed above were (and probably still are) actually *OWNED* by their resepective networks/corporate entities. mjc ------------------------------ From: Roy Chapman Subject: Wanted Nortel Equipment Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 13:52:57 -0600 Organization: MTS Internet MICS, CICS, 6x16, 3x8, 8x24, Voice Mail Systems, NAMS 2,4,6,8 ports Star Talk Flash 2,4 ports; Telephones M7310,M7208, M7324, T7208, T7316, Nortel software, Nortel Fibre Cards; Meridian PBX Systems. Options 11C Options 51C, 61C, 81C Call (204) 253-1331 ask for Roy E-mail roy@telroy.ca or Visit my web site at www.telroy.ca Fax your list of equipment to (204) 256-9257. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. 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Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #764 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Nov 24 14:00:19 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAOJ0I927891; Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:00:19 -0500 (EST) Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:00:19 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311241900.hAOJ0I927891@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #765 TELECOM Digest Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:00:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 765 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #409, November 24, 2003 (Angus TeleManagement) Book Review: "Wireless Security End to End", Carter/Shumway (Rob Slade) Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity (John R. Levine) Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity (Steve Michelson) India Telecom News Invites You (India Telecom News) Re: Formatting Phone Numbers (Markus Kuhn) Re: Bob Barker (Michael D. Sullivan) Cingular Submits First Port Request (Monty Solomon) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. 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Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 10:22:56 -0500 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #409, November 24, 2003 TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 409: November 24, 2003 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca ** CYGCOM INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGIES: www.cygcom.com ** GROUP TELECOM: www.360.net ** JUNIPER NETWORKS: www.juniper.net ** PRIMUS CANADA: www.primustel.ca ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** TELUS: www.telus.com ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** New Fixed Wireless Network Planned ** N.B. Broadband Access Program Announced ** Fredericton Offers Free Wi-Fi ** Vonage Coming to Canada? ** FCC Rejects Portability Delay ** Rogers Trials Faster Wireless Data ** CRTC Report on Competition Due This Week ** CRTC Appointments Leaked ** Aliant Halifax Centrex Changes Approved ** Craig Appeals Ruling on Look Ownership ** Telecom Statistics Posted ** Ottawa ISP Offers E-Mail via Wireless SMS ** Nortel Restates Financial Results ** CRTC Consolidates Floor Price Proceeding ** MTS to Reduce Staff ** Daoust Heads Consultants' Liaison Group ** Advanstar Allies With Call Centre Group ** Eiger Restructures Onlinetel Ownership ** Wi-LAN Adds VoIP Support ** Angus in the News ** Protect Your Phone System From Pirates ============================================================ NEW FIXED WIRELESS NETWORK PLANNED: Allstream, Microcell and NR Communications have formed a joint venture to offer wireless Internet access and Voice over IP services on a wholesale basis. They hope to begin commercial service in some cities early in 2004. ** NR Communications is a technology investment company headed by Nick Kauser, formerly Chief Technical Officer of AT&T Wireless. ** Microcell's contribution to the joint venture will be 60 MHz of licensed bandwidth, covering most of Canada, held through its Inukshuk subsidiary. Unique Broadband Services says it will challenge the deal, claiming it has a contract giving it first right of refusal on the Inukshuk spectrum. Microcell says no such contract was ever signed. (See Telecom Update #384) N.B. BROADBAND ACCESS PROGRAM ANNOUNCED: A $44.6 million initiative to make high-speed Internet access available to 90% of New Brunswick residents within three years will be jointly funded by Infrastructure Canada ($16.5M), the Province of New Brunswick ($12.5M), and Aliant ($15.6M). www.infrastructure.gc.ca/csif/publication/newsreleases/2003/20031118moncton_e.shtml FREDERICTON OFFERS FREE WI-FI: Fredericton has begun offering free wireless Internet access in the city's downtown area and at the airport. The Fred-eZone program, which will eventually cover all business corridors and public spaces, uses the city-owned fibre network as a backbone. VONAGE COMING TO CANADA? The National Post reports that U.S. Internet telephony provider Vonage plans to begin offering service in Canada within the next month in partnership with a Canadian company, likely a cableco or CLEC. FCC REJECTS PORTABILITY DELAY: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has rejected a request by the United States Telecom Association that number portability between wireline and wireless phones be delayed. Number portability is scheduled to begin today in the 100 largest U.S. markets. ** On Friday, an appeal court rejected a USTA motion to stop implementation immediately, but ordered the FCC to reply to the group's arguments this week. ROGERS TRIALS FASTER WIRELESS DATA: Rogers AT&T Wireless has begun a Vancouver-area trial of EDGE technology, which provides data transmission at 100-130 Kbps on GSM networks. Rogers plans to install EDGE across the country, beginning next year, at a cost of about $25 million. CRTC REPORT ON COMPETITION DUE THIS WEEK: On November 27, the CRTC will release its annual report to Cabinet on the status of telecom competition and the deployment of broadband infrastructure in Canada. CRTC APPOINTMENTS LEAKED: The National Post reports that the federal government will shortly appoint two new CRTC commissioners (Andrew Fenus and Satvie Nijjar) and will renew David Colville's appointment for one year. ALIANT HALIFAX CENTREX CHANGES APPROVED: The CRTC has approved an Aliant Centrex price reduction for Halifax customers with more than 10,000 lines who sign five-year contracts, from $25 to $18.20 a month (see Telecom Update #394). The Commission says that, unlike an earlier application that it denied, this change does not de-average rates within a band. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Orders/2003/o2003-468.htm CRAIG APPEALS RULING ON LOOK OWNERSHIP: Craig Wireless International Inc. has asked the federal court for leave to appeal a CRTC ruling that allows Unique Broadband Systems to increase its ownership of Look Communications from 29% to 51% (see Telecom Update #405). UBS and Look say they will "vigorously contest the motion." TELECOM STATISTICS POSTED: Statistics Canada has now posted the reports described in overview last week (see Telecom Update #408), providing statistics on Canadian wireline and wireless telecom service revenues, expenses, and employment for Q1 and Q2, 2003. The reports are downloadable, for a fee. www.statcan.ca/english/IPS/Data/56-002-XIE.htm OTTAWA ISP OFFERS E-MAIL VIA WIRELESS SMS: Magma Communications, an Ottawa Internet provider, offers to forward e-mail to a user's cellphone using Short Message Service. The technology is provided by ZIM, an Ottawa-based developer headed by Michael Copeland. NORTEL RESTATES FINANCIAL RESULTS: Nortel Networks has restated its results for the years 2000 to 2003, reducing its reported losses by US$505 million. It is holding an independent review of the causes of these errors. CRTC CONSOLIDATES FLOOR PRICE PROCEEDING: Responding to a joint application from Bell and Telus (see Telecom Update #407), the CRTC has combined both stages of the proceeding on new floor price rules announced in Public Notice 2003-8, omitting the "interim rules" stage, in order to achieve an earlier final ruling. ** The CRTC denied the telcos' request to have CRTC staff briefing documents made public. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2003/dt2003-78.htm MTS TO REDUCE STAFF: Manitoba Telecom says that slower growth is forcing it to reduce staff by 85 positions this year. MTS now has 3,800 employees. DAOUST HEADS CONSULTANTS' LIAISON GROUP: Carole Daoust, Mitel's Consultant Program Manager, has been elected president of the Supplier Liaison Group of the Canadian Telecommunications Consultants' Association. www.ctca.ca ADVANSTAR ALLIES WITH CALL CENTRE GROUP: Advanstar Technology Group, organizer of the International Call Centre Management conferences in the U.S. and Canada, has formed a strategic alliance with the Call Center Networking Group, which has 2,000 members in 25 cities. The ICCM conferences will now be official CCNG events. EIGER RESTRUCTURES ONLINETEL OWNERSHIP: VoIP long distance provider Onlinetel is about to become a publicly traded company through a reverse takeover. Parent company Eiger Technology will acquire 95.2% of Newlook Industries, which will own 100% of Onlinetel. ** Eiger has abandoned a previously announced plan to sell a majority of Onlinetel to Globealive Communications. (See Telecom Update #394) WI-LAN ADDS VOIP SUPPORT: Wi-LAN Inc. has added support for Voice over IP to its Ultima3 Fixed Wireless Access product series. The company says each base station can be engineered to support up to 7,200 residential users. ANGUS IN THE NEWS: What does Angus TeleManagement Group think about the impact of the U.S. Do Not Call law in Canada? About Telus's new IP Voice services? About wireless number portability? Our Angus in the News web page features recently published articles quoting Canada's top telecom analysts on current issues. www.angustel.ca/inthenews.html PROTECT YOUR PHONE SYSTEM FROM PIRATES: In the latest issue of Telemanagement, Ian Angus details measures you must take to protect your system from the new wave of long distance theft. ** Also in this Telemanagement: John Riddell on the unique challenges of maintaining IP-PBXs, and Lis Angus on Ottawa's latest moves to extend broadband to remote and rural communities. Telemanagement is available only by subscription. For more information on Canada's #1 source for expert, independent telecom analysis and guidance, call 800-263-4415 ext 500 or go to www.angustel.ca/teleman/tm.html. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2003 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 07:35:50 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Wireless Security End to End", Carter/Shumway BKWLSCEE.RVW 20031019 "Wireless Security End to End", Brian Carter/Russell Shumway, 2002, 0-7645-4886-7, U$39.99/C$59.99/UK#29.95 %A Brian Carter %A Russell Shumway %C 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8 %D 2002 %G 0-7645-4886-7 %I John Wiley & Sons, Inc. %O U$39.99/C$59.99/UK#29.95 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 %O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764548867/robsladesinterne http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764548867/robsladesinte-21 %O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764548867/robsladesin03-20 %P 336 p. %T "Wireless Security End to End" Part one is an introduction to wireless network security. Chapter one is supposed to be an opening to wireless networking, but is basically a list of common protocols. Wireless threat analysis, in chapter two, is an unstructured list of miscellaneous threats. A facile overview of blackhat communities, some intrusion tools, and a discussion of insider attacks (without mention of any relevance to wireless networking) is in chapter three. Part two looks at the components of network security. Chapter four presents us with random security factors in place of the promised network security model. Network intrusion protection is said, in chapter five, to consist of firewalls and other tools with limited application to wireless topologies. In regard to network intrusion detection, some of the material in chapter six is pointless (who would expect an intrusion detection system (IDS) to protect against insider attacks?) and some is wrong (a honeypot would only act as an intrusion detection sensor by chance). Chapter seven has sound information on host-based IDS and some advice on hardening systems, but wireless networking is almost unmentioned. Virtual private networks are discussed in chapter eight, while nine turns to logging and audits. Part three reviews wireless security components. Chapter ten outlines a configuration for basic level wireless security. Secure authentication, in chapter eleven, has at least some relation to wireless. The examination of encryption, in chapter twelve, lists protocols without much discussion of concepts, and records weaknesses of the systems without providing details. Chapter thirteen briefly considers the placement of wireless access points, from a convenience rather than security perspective. Part four contemplates the integration of wireless security into the network security process. Chapter fourteen registers some tools for the logging of wireless security events. A number of points to consider for a wireless security policy are enumerated in chapter fifteen. Various sniffing and cracking tools are described in chapter sixteen. Chapter seventeen isn't really clear as to its purpose, but seems to be talking about management of device configuration. Part five lists products, rather than the promised security models. We look at Cisco and LEAP, RADIUS, IPSec, secure wireless public access, and secure wireless point-to-point in chapters eighteen to twenty two. While not as bad as "Wireless Security" (cf. BKWRLSSC.RVW), by Randall K. Nichols and Panos C. Lekkas, this work is only on a par with bloated exercises such as Jahanzeb Khan and Anis Khwaja's "Building Secure Wireless Networks with 802.11" (cf. BKBSWNW8.RVW) or the comprehensive list of topics (but missing details) in "Designing a Wireless Network" (cf. BKDSWLNT.RVW) by Jeffrey Wheat et al. Certainly "Wireless Security Essentials" by Russell Dean Vines (cf. BKWLSCES.RVW) is far superior to the Carter and Shumway book. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2003 BKWLSCEE.RVW 20031019 ====================== rslade@vcn.bc.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca rslade@sun.soci.niu.edu Computer Security Day, November 30 http://www.computersecurityday.com/ victoria.tc.ca/techrev/mnbksc.htm sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade/secgloss.htm ------------------------------ Date: 24 Nov 2003 06:33:39 -0000 From: johnl@iecc.com (John R. Levine) Subject: Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity Organization: I.E.C.C., Trumansburg NY USA In article was written: > Looks as if nearly everyone with a hotmail account will be technically in > violation of the law. > * Original: FROM..... John Gilmore > This bill makes it a crime to use any false or misleading information > in a domain name or email account application, and then send an email. No, it doesn't, as anyone who actually read the anti-spam bill would know. It makes it illegal to send commercial e-mail with forged info, but "commercial" is an important word. Anonymous commercial speech is an oxymoron. The point of an ad is to get people to buy something from you, and they can't do that if they can't find you. I suppose this might make fake grassroots "astroturf" campaigns difficult, but I can't get too upset about that. There's plenty wrong with the CAN SPAM act, but it says nothing whatsoever about anonymous mail that isn't commercial. Regards, John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Sewer Commissioner "More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly. ------------------------------ From: Steve Michelson Subject: Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 11:48:55 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net After reading the bill (as you suggested), I see that it only applies to the sending of multiple commercial e-mail messages, where: Multiple is defined (in the bill) as: more than 100 electronic mail messages during a 24-hour period, more than 1,000 electronic mail messages during a 30-day period, or more than 10,000 electronic mail messages during a 1-year period. Commercial is defined (in the bill) as: any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service (including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose). What is the problem? How does this criminalize nearly everyone with a hotmail account? Marcus Didius Falco wrote in message news:telecom22.764.4@telecom-digest.org: > Looks as if nearly everyone with a hotmail account will be technically in > violation of the law. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Has anyone ever noticed how the persons who (such as the guy quoted by Marcus) complain about almost anything and everything intended as an anti-spam measure, who are certain that the measure, if implemented, for sure will spell the death of the net fail to notice how if anything spells the modern 'death of the net' these days it is the way we are slowly getting buried in spam? Some of them seem unwilling to even try anything. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:44:04 +0530 From: India Telecom News Subject: India Telecom News Invites You Hi, I am seeking your permission to introduce our News Letter -- India Telecom Newsletter (ITN) Weekly -- India's largest circulated newsletter with highest international reach. And www.indiatelecomnews.com -- India's only telecom weekly newspaper on the Net. We also provide quality content for information/media firms. We are always looking for mutually beneficial business opportunities hence open to ideas and suggestions. We have been publishing ITN Weekly as pure e-mail newsletter for the last one year. Right now we have 11,200 registered subscribers -- 95% non-technical telecom professionals, executives and entrepreneurs. The readership -- 48% inside India and 52% outside India. And www.indiatelecomnews.com is becoming the most credible and biggest info site on telecom industry/market in India. So I request you to come up with any good proposal that could be mutually beneficial for a long-term. Please also note that we do not publish advertisements in our site. Since this is totally a banner-free, pop-up free site, we get more readership. If interested in ITN weekly newsletter, you may please sign up free at www.indiatelecomnews.com We respect your privacy. This is a one time mailing and you will not be emailed again. Hence the need to unsubscribe is not required. Thanks you for the patience. Krishna Kumar Business Manager www.indiatelecomnews.com Further Information:- 1. Please send press release/media briefings to - newsdesk@indiatelecomnews.com 2. Please send request for editorial coverage/invitations to - editor@indiatelecomnews.com 3. Business Queries to - business@indiatelecomnews.com 4. Advertising / Sponsorship - publisher@indiatelecomnews.com To subscribe - subscribe@indiatelecomnews.com To unsubscribe - unsubscibe@indiatelecomnews.com [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If you can supply this in *text format* -- NOT html -- send along a copy every week and I will include it here in TELECOM Digest, just as I do with the Canadian telecom news. Thanks. PAT] ------------------------------ From: n03W48+mgk25@cl.cam.ac.uk (Markus Kuhn) Subject: Re: Formatting Phone Numbers Date: 24 Nov 2003 14:14:44 GMT Organization: University of Cambridge, England > Is there an ISO or other international standard for the representation > of phone numbers? The full ITU-T E.123 standard notation for a telephone number is: National (022) 749 0111 Telephone ------------------------------ International +41 22 749 0111 In the US and Canada (+1) replace "National" with "Within N Amer. zone", as in Within N. Amer. zone (607) 123 4567 Telephone ------------------------------------ International +1 607 123 4567 This is to avoid confusion caused by the fact that the country code is there the same as the trunk prefix, and calls between US and CA are dialed like national calls. If it is desirable to write only the international number, it should be written in the form: Telephone International +22 607 123 4567 The new ITU-T E.123 (02/2001) also says that on letterheads, the http:// prefix of URLs should not be used. (I personally think, in email it should be used, to aid URL autodetection.) Example: Telephone: National (0609) 123 4567 International +22 609 123 4567 E-mail: jdeo@isp.com Web: www.doecorp.com > +12 (345) 678-9012 > +12 (0) 345 678-9012 No, neither of these follow the standard. They are definitely not resembling the ITU-T E.123 notation in any way, which uses no parenthesis in an international telephone number. Such alternatives have been tested during the development of E.123 and found to confuse users. I would definitely avoid these. http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/publications/recs.html Markus Markus Kuhn, Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ || CB3 0FD, Great Britain ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + Call for Votes: misc.metric-system -- Interested in a new group + + on the introduction of the metric system? Please look at + + news.announce.newgroups, http://www.uvv.org/cgi-bin/getmsg/2471 or + + send email to for information on how + + cast your newsgroup creation vote. Ballot ends 25 November 2003. + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Bob Barker Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:02:54 GMT On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 20:54:24 -0700, Joey Lindstrom posted the following to comp.dcom.telecom: > On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 22:44:15 -0500 (EST), editor@telecom-digest.org > wrote: >> That Friday, at about noon, when Kennedy was killed, I was having >> lunch with some friends and we were watching on television a very >> popular daytime quiz show called 'The Price is Right', and the host >> that day was a popular personality called Bob Barker. The show had >> just gotten underway at 12 noon, central time, when it was interuppted >> for a news bulletin. The first news report was that television had >> 'just received a report that shots had been fired at a motorcade in >> which President Kennedy was riding ... but there are not yet any >> details about the matter'. > Hate to contradict you, but see this bio page at CBS: > http://www.cbs.com/daytime/price/about/bios/cast_bios_bbarker.shtml > According to this, Bob is now in his 31st year as host of The Price Is > Right, meaning you must be thinking of something else. According to > that same bio, he earlier hosted the daytime show "Truth Or > Consequences". The bio isn't clear as to whether that show was on the > air in 1963 but it seems to be implied -- I'm guessing, then, that it > was this show, and not The Price Is Right, that you remember. The host of The Price Is Right in the early 60s was Bob (?) Cullen. Perhaps Cullen was sick or on vacation that day, and Bob Barker was a guest host. Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD, USA Delete nospam from my address and it won't work. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So long ago ... a litte hard to remember for sure. My brain aneurysm wreaked havoc on my short term memory [for example, yesterday I set off for a walk in the evening; got a half block down the street *then* remembered I had forgotten my eye glasses, my cell phone and my walking cane and my neck scarf] but it did not damage my long term memory all that badly; oddly, I can remember some of those things better than I can recent events. I am almost certain I saw Bob Barker on television that day and reflected it must have been taped ahead of time, since the very next night I heard him moderating a talk show on station KOA out of Denver, taking live phone calls, on the Kennedy thing. Also, to Mark Cuccia with his detailed schedule of programming: I lied a little about events. I did have lunch with friends at 'noon' that Friday, however not in Chicago. I had taken the South Shore Electric Interurban Train from Chicago to Michigan City, Indiana where my friends had met me and driven me down to Laporte, Indiana. Whether we were watching a television station from Chicago, or South Bend, Indiana or possibly Michigan City, Indiana/Benton Harbor, Michigan I just cannot say. I think Michigan City and South Bend are on eastern time. My friends had helped me produce the library video about a month before. Isn't it odd how one can remember the most insignificant details, yet lose track of more important matters, like wearing your scarf and gloves when it is cold outside? My friend who lived in Michigan City, Indiana (he had a lakefront cottage there) had a TRIangle phone number. (219-874). PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 23:36:49 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cingular Submits First Port Request Boxing Champion 'Tito' Trinidad First to Port Wireless Number to Cingular SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cingular Wireless, the second largest wireless carrier in the nation, announced early this morning it has initiated its first wireless number port request on behalf of the soon-to-be Cingular customer and five-time world boxing champion, Felix "Tito" Trinidad. The port request was submitted in Puerto Rico at 12:01 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time (11:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) and is believed to be one of the first in the country. Beginning today, American consumers can switch their wireless service provider without changing their telephone number, or bring their landline telephone number to a wireless service account. The event, known as local number portability (LNP), is an industry-wide mandate by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Satellite Feed To view and receive footage of Mr. Trinidad initiating his port request, see below times and coordinates for the satellite feeds. Monday, November 24, 2003 (KU Band/Analog) 0500-0530 a.m. EST SBS6/T5 DL11823H 1030-1100 a.m. EST SBS6/T7 DL11872H 1400-1430 p.m. EST SBS6/T5 DL11823H 1900-1930 p.m. EST SBS6/T5 DL11823H - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=36599494 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #765 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 25 01:18:55 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAP6ItJ01586; Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:18:55 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:18:55 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311250618.hAP6ItJ01586@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #766 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:18:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 766 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Back Bay Man Accused of Stealing Identities of Paul Casey (M. Solomon) Your Next Battery (Monty Solomon) Verizon Wireless to Increase Fee to Cover Policy's Cost (Monty Solomon) Verizon Scaling Back on Plan for WiFi Deployment (Monty Solomon) Hot Pursuit (Monty Solomon) Congress Expands FBI Spying Power (Monty Solomon) Consumption of Information Goods and Services in the USA (Monty Solomon) PDA (rui) Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Friday 22 November 1963 (Mark J Cuccia) Local Number Portability Provider Database LNP (Virtual Lab Rat) For VOIP Carriers and Who Wants to be Carrier (shen) The Gadget Shop is First to Trial Mobile Barcode Coupons (PressRelease) Telecom Digest Links Out of Date (jmeissen@aracnet.com) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:48:02 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Back Bay Man Accused of Stealing Identities of a Dozen Paul Caseys By David Abel and Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff Correspondent, 11/24/2003 The 21st century epidemic of identity theft has developed a new strain in Boston: the case of the Paul Caseys. Yesterday authorities announced the arrest on Friday of a 39-year-old Back Bay man for allegedly stealing the identities of at least 12 people, all with the name Paul Casey, including 42-year-old Paul C. Casey, a Democratic state representative from Winchester. Boston police say David Faulcon of 144 St. Botolph St. used documents from the Registry of Motor Vehicles to obtain department store credit cards and during the past few months he illegally charged thousands of dollars to Paul Caseys in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/328/metro/Back_Bay_man_accused_of_stealing_identities_of_a_dozen_Paul_Caseys+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 23:35:38 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Your Next Battery Scientists are scrambling to perfect the fuel cell as a methanol-powered source for energy-hungry laptops and other portable devices. By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff, 11/24/2003 Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic nonstop in 1927. There's hardly a laptop computer in the world that could match that record. Most go dark after four hours or so, forcing the user to carry along heavy spare batteries or resign himself to a few idle hours. That's why scientists around the world are racing to perfect a new power source for laptops, cellphones, and other portable devices -- the fuel cell, a device that could turn cheap liquid fuel into virtually unlimited electricity. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2003/11/24/your_next_battery/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:31:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Wireless to Increase Fee to Cover Policy's Cost By 0, 11/24/2003 After holding off for months, Verizon Wireless, the nation's biggest cellphone company, confirmed it is planning to impose a 40-cent monthly rate increase on its 36 million subscribers to cover the cost of the new 'number portability' policy for wireless consumers. Verizon's current five-cents-a-month 'federal regulatory fee' will be raised to 45 cents starting in March, spokeswoman J. Abra Degbor said. The Bedminster, N.J.-based carrier, which is owned 55-45 by Verizon Communications Inc. and European wireless giant Vodafone Group PLC, 'will not charge our customers to recover embedded start-up costs' for developing systems to handle customers switching to Verizon from other carriers but keeping their old phone number. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/328/business/Verizon_Wireless_to_increase_fee_to_cover_policy_s_cost+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:35:25 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon Scaling Back on Plan for WiFi Deployment By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff, 11/24/2003 An innovative approach to rolling out WiFi high-speed wireless Internet access -- by installing transmitters on city pay phones -- has been scaled back sharply by Verizon Communications Inc. But the nation's biggest phone company said last week it remains enthusiastic about the technology, although it is making no promises to introduce it in Boston or New England someday. After initially saying it hoped to have as many as 1,000 WiFi-enabled pay phones operating in New York City by year's end, Verizon now expects to have no more than 500 in place, spokesman Jack Hoey said. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/328/business/Verizon_scaling_back_on_plan_for_WiFi_deployment+.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:38:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Hot Pursuit James McLaughlin is one of the most successful online detectives in America. Talking dirty and flirting openly in Internet chat rooms, he lures potential sexual predators to their arrest. But do his tactics cross the line? By Carlene Hempel, 11/23/2003 http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2003/11/23/hot_pursuit/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:40:53 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Congress Expands FBI Spying Power By Ryan Singel 02:00 AM Nov. 24, 2003 PT Congress approved a bill on Friday that expands the reach of the Patriot Act, reduces oversight of the FBI and intelligence agencies and, according to critics, shifts the balance of power away from the legislature and the courts. A provision of an intelligence spending bill will expand the power of the FBI to subpoena business documents and transactions from a broader range of businesses -- everything from libraries to travel agencies to eBay -- without first seeking approval from a judge. Under the Patriot Act, the FBI can acquire bank records and Internet or phone logs simply by issuing itself a so-called national security letter saying the records are relevant to an investigation into terrorism. The FBI doesn't need to show probable cause or consult a judge. What's more, the target institution is issued a gag order and kept from revealing the subpoena's existence to anyone, including the subject of the investigation. The new provision in the spending bill redefines the meaning of 'financial institution' and 'financial transaction.' The wider definition explicitly includes insurance companies, real estate agents, the U.S. Postal Service , travel agencies, casinos, pawn shops, ISPs, car dealers and any other business whose 'cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters.' Justice Department officials tried earlier this year to write a bill to expand the Patriot Act. A draft -- dubbed Patriot II -- was leaked and caused such an uproar that Justice officials backed down. The new provision inserts one of the most controversial aspects of Patriot II into the spending bill. Intelligence spending bills are considered sensitive, so they are usually drafted in secret and approved without debate or public comment. Chris Schroeder, a Duke law professor and former assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel at the Justice Department, said the re-insertion shows that "people who want to expand the powers of the FBI didn't want to stop after Patriot II was leaked." http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:53:27 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Consumption of Information Goods and Services in the United States Consumption of Information Goods and Services in the United States: There is a trendsetting technology elite in the U.S. who chart the course for the use of information goods and services November 23, 2003 For many Americans, having the latest electronic gadget or experimenting with the newest tech fad is a habit they develop at an early age and never break. Although these ardent technophiles are a minority of the population, their trendsetting ways often ripple widely in society. Many people, in time, wind up following the technological trail cleared by these pioneers. In fact, Americans have become steady adopters of devices and services that enable them to gather and distribute information, and these have given us flexibility in how we communicate, altered the patterns of how we stay in touch with others, and even influenced the content of our messages. In this report, we take an inventory of the communications gadgets and services that American use and examine the variations within the population of technology users. http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=103 ------------------------------ From: rui_grave@hotmail.com (rui) Subject: PDA Date: 24 Nov 2003 11:26:00 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com alguem me pode informar qual a melhor marca de pda, tenho duvidas se aide comprar uma hp ou palm ... obrigado. se existir um motivo sério, digam por favor. ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity Date: 24 Nov 2003 19:47:36 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Steve Michelson wrote: > After reading the bill (as you suggested), I see that it only applies > to the sending of multiple commercial e-mail messages, where: > Multiple is defined (in the bill) as: more than 100 electronic mail > messages during a 24-hour period, more than 1,000 electronic mail > messages during a 30-day period, or more than 10,000 electronic mail > messages during a 1-year period. So how do they intend to determine that those criteria were met? Especially given that the source can be routed through infected computers instead of a central mail server? On the basis of complaints? I haven't had a chance to read the text itself yet. Does the law go after the actual sender, or the entity on whose behalf the spam was sent? John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 14:00:40 CST From: Mark J Cuccia Subject: Re: Friday 22 November 1963 Pat replied re, Bob Barker: > Also, to Mark Cuccia with his detailed schedule of programming: > I lied a little about events. I did have lunch with friends at > 'noon' that Friday, however not in Chicago. I had taken the South > Shore Electric Interurban Train from Chicago to Michigan City, > Indiana where my friends had met me and driven me down to Laporte, > Indiana. Whether we were watching a television station from Chicago, > or South Bend, Indiana or possibly Michigan City, Indiana/Benton Harbor, > Michigan I just cannot say. I think Michigan City and South Bend are > on Eastern Time. Even if Michigan City IN and South Bend IN are on Eastern Time, 12:Noon EST would be 11am CST. NBC-TV was indeed airing Bob Barker with "Truth or Consequences" from 12:30-12:55pm EST, 11:30-11:55am CST. The remaining five minutes was "NBC Midday News". In the 1970s, Edwin Newman hosted this NBC-TV five-minute daytime newscast. I don't know if in the 1960s whether Floyd Kalber (from NBC-Chicago, BTW) anchored this five-min newscast or not. Throughout most of the 1960s, from 4-4:25pm ET (3-3:25pm CT), NBC-TV was airing the *original* version of "The Match Game" with Gene Rayburn, LIVE from New York City, with the theme song "Swingin' Safari". (The 1970s had Rayburn hosting a pre-taped "Match Game '7x", taped in Hollywood at CBS Television City, airing on CBS-TV, with its own 70s style theme song). From 4:25-4:30pm ET (3:25-3:30pm CT), there was "NBC Late Afternoon News, with Floyd Kalber from Chicago". I remember coming home from school and seeing the very end of "The Match Game" followed by Floyd Kalber's NBC-TV five-minute afternoon newscast back in the late 1960s. Anyhow, it was still another half-hour before JFK's motorcade would reach downtown Dallas and the Texas Schoolbook Depository/Dealy Plaza, and ... at approximately 12:30pm CST (Dallas time), 1:30pm EST. As for the various TV networks and what was on ... I mentioned that *both* NBC-TV *and* ABC-TV were "dark" for the hour of 1-2pm EST (Noon-1pm CST) in the Eastern and Central zones. Actually, I found out that the ABC Television Network was *NOT* "dark" from 1-2pm EST (Noon-2pm CST), but rather that they were airing "General Hospital", most likely performed *LIVE* from ABC Los Angeles, from 1-1:30pm Eastern (12:Noon-12:30pm Central), followed from 1:30-2pm EST (12:30-1pm CST) by "Major Adams: Trailmaster" which was a rerun title of the earlier prime time series "Wagon Train". It was this rerun of "Wagon Train" (as "Major Adams: Trailmaster") which was airing on the Eastern/Central section of ABC-TV which was being interrupted with news bulletins. Ron Cochran was the eventual live on-camera anchor for most of ABC-TV's Friday afternoon coverage. On CBS-TV, most of Friday afternoon was Cronkite, but when he seemed somewhat emotionally unable to continue (he kept aimlessly putting on and taking off his eyeglasses, repeatedly, and dabbing his eyes, also his voice starting to crack), they replaced him with Charles Collingwood, and later Harry Reasoner took over the anchor desk that afternoon. On NBC-TV, they had a *smoke-filled* studio *FILLED* with NBC newsmen, along with the *WAFTING CIGARETTE SMOKE* from various NBC news anchors. (I've seen the videotape of six hours of NBC-TV's Friday afternoon coverage, when A&E reran it on the 25h anniversary in November 1988). Some of the NBC-TV anchors included Bill Ryan, Frank McGee, Chet Huntley, Merril Muller, and others. Robert McNeill was on the phone with Frank McGee, and you hear the audio of the phone line with McNeill, sometimes also each phrase being *repeated* by McGee who thought that McNeill's phone conversation wasn't making it on-line over the network/air. You also heard the BEEEP tone every ten seconds or so, to indicate that the telephone call was being recorded and/or broadcast! Edwin Newman also appeared a few times on the NBC *TV* coverage, although that Friday afternoon, he mostly anchored the NBC *RADIO* coverage. There were several newsmen in New York and Washington back and forth anchoring Mutual Radio News coverage. ABC Radio had Don Gardiner for most of Friday afternoon. CBS Radio had Alan Jackson and others that Friday afternoon. Many audio cuts of both radio and TV coverage of JFK/etc. AND OTHER news events over the decades can be heard at Jeff Miller's "Broadcast Sound Files" webpage, http://www.fivay.org/sounds/ I know that AT&T/Bell (and the independents) had to do a LOT of scrambling to get landline circuits available to all radio and TV networks, for various pick-ups from and within Washington DC, from Dallas TX, from Hyannisport MA, etc. On the 25th anniversary specials in 1988 where extensive CBS-TV and NBC-TV coverage was aired on the regular and cable networks, there were segments of the six-hours on NBC-TV where they switched to Dallas (WBAP-TV Ft.Worth/Dallas). NBC-TV NY Rockafeller Center's studios were all BLACK-AND-WHITE (even though NBC-TV, owned by RCA, was the most colorful network). However for several segments when they switched to Dallas, those segments were actually live *IN COLOR*. Later segments from WBAP-TV Ft.Worth/Dallas were only in B&W. I thought that was *QUITE* interesting! In the later 1950s and early 1960s, before NBC-TV was 95% color circa 1965 (even CBS-TV and ABC-TV finally were approx or greater than 50% color in 1965/66), *MOST* of the Texas and Oklahoma NBC-TV affiliates had *MORE* LOCAL color programming than did NBC-TV or the NBC *owned/operated* stations in NY, Chicago, Burbank, DC, etc. The Texas/Oklahoma oil millionaires were buying color TV sets, and the NBC affiliates throughout TX/OK accommodated with large amounts of local color programming! On the tapes of extended CBS-TV 1963 coverage aired in a 1988 CBS-TV 25th anniversary special, there is a segment where Cronkite switches to Dan Rather (CBS News) at the studios of KRLD-TV Dallas. Just before Dan Rather starts speaking, you hear a faint but distinct string of telco "MF" toll-network tones in the background! mcuccia@tulane.edu New Orleans LA ------------------------------ From: me@virtuallabrat.com (Virtual Lab Rat - No Spam Please) Subject: Local Number Portability Provider Database LNP Date: 24 Nov 2003 13:47:24 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com When needing to obtain the service provider of a particular telephone number, we could previously check to see the servicing company using a service like fone finder. However, I don't know of any database provider that would provide an up-to-date listing of what numbers have been transferred and who is the current provider of service. Any suggestioned solutions would be appriciated. ------------------------------ From: aix.s@263.net (shen) Subject: For VOIP Carriers and who Wants to be Carrier Date: 24 Nov 2003 17:10:59 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Ladies and Gentlemen, We are Hong Kong GuoXin Network Communications Cooperation Ltd.,which is a leading company at the forefront of network Communications technology in China. Today GuoXin brings high-quality voice services to carriers, service providers, enterprises of all sizes, and individuals worldwide. The customers in Japan, Vietnam, Middle East, and Southeast Asia are enjoying the services of good quality and competitive price provided by GuoXin. Our Client-products: . Webphone:a web-based dialer that can be accessed from our website to make call. . Softphone:a client dialer that can be downloaded onto your PC and remove the extra step of going to our websites. . USB phone:an itegration of telephone and PC phone,offering internet calls with the convenience of a telephone interface. . IP-PBX:small gateway. . Netphone:network telephone. Our Termination-products: . Gatekeeper: Authorizes and authenticates all calls and communicates with the billing system. It also has many other management functions such as Bandwidth Control and Zone Management. . Proxy: Implement connection to the different termination service provider. Support different protocol such as H.323, SIP and MGCP. And the codecs of G.711, G.723.1 and G.729 are compatible. . Billing System: Based on Radius, record and report all transactions; Provide Real-time billing, CDR and customer care with IVR system. . IVR System: Provide Interactive Voice Response Service to customers to direct the caller through the call process. The IVR prompts the exchange of a PIN and a dialing destination number, and it alerts the user of the remaining balance on a prepaid card. . Media Gateway: a high-density, carrier-class telephony gateway that links IP networks with the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Implement the conversion between digital signals and analog signals. As the important provider of VOIP platform and services, GuoXin brings complete solution and services to the market which allow the carrier to deliver internet voice service of excellent quality to customers with a low investment that is never achievable before. Now we are looking for master partners worldwide,if you are interested in our products. Please feel free to mail me at hkinc_dx@hotmail.com, or load our website www.hkvoip.net for more information. Best regards, shen ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 05:08:37 +0400 From: Editor (PressReleaseNetwork.com) Subject: The Gadget Shop is First to Trial Mobile Barcode Coupons PRESS RELEASE NETWORK http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com The Gadget Shop is First to Trial Mobile Barcode Coupons -- increased average transaction value by 50% London, UK - Nov 24, 2003 (PRN): When it was announced that Chris Gorman had taken control of The Gadget Shop, the serial entrepreneur vowed to add a number of innovations to his stores. His nationwide chain is now positioned as the dominant name in the gift market sector. Last week, The Gadget Shop became the first High Street retailer to run a mobile coupon campaign. Shoppers on Oxford Street were sent an SMS message with an embedded barcode, offering 10% discount, redeemable at three of The Gadget Shops stores; Oxford Street, Covent Garden and The Trocadero. The campaign, managed by mobile loyalty & couponing pioneers, m-bar-go, was delivered as a simple text message with an embedded barcode. The message read 'Christmas has come early @ The Gadget Shop. Save 10% until 31/10/03 with this SMS. Pass it on'. Recipients were asked to present their SMS at point-of-purchase, where the barcodes were read by The Gadget Shop's standard barcode reader. "This being our first public trial, we were keen to learn how the public would react to offers being sent to their mobile phone." Marc Lewis, founder of m-bar-go, said. "The Gadget Shop, because it is such an innovative retailer, was a natural choice for our first retailer programme and we were delighted with the response. To have increased the average transaction value by 50% is a clear endorsement of our product." m-bar-go promises more trials in the New Year, with two Grocers, a CTN and a Music Retailer. For more information on m-bar-go, visit http://www.m-bar-go.com For more information, contact: Marc Lewis m-bar-go Tel: +44 (207) 349 4942 Mobile: +44 (0) 7980 296 605 Email: marc@m-bar-go.com Gary Donoghue The Gadget Shop Tel: 0141 880 2000 Email: Gary.Donoghue@thegadgetshop.co.uk ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Telecom Digest Links Out of Date Date: 25 Nov 2003 04:22:42 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com I was looking for a way to compare cell phone providers, so I went to the Telecom Digest web site looking for information. While looking around I discovered a number of the pages referenced in the 'links' page aren't valid anymore. In fact, of the small sample I tried some 3/4 were no longer valid. As for my original quest, I would appreciate any advice on cell phone provider comparisons. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-330-6774 Fax 1: 775-255-9970 Fax 2: 530-309-7234 Fax 3: 208-692-5145 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe: telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/ (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2003 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, gifts from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert have enabled me to replace some obsolete computer equipment and enter the 21st century sort of on schedule. His mail order telephone parts/supplies service based in the Chicago area has been widely recognized by Digest readers as a reliable and very inexpensive source of telecom-related equipment. Please request a free catalog today at http://www.sandman.com --------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above. Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing your name to the mailing list. If you donate at least fifty dollars per year we will send you our two-CD set of the entire Telecom Archives; this is every word published in this Digest since our beginning in 1981. All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only and messages should not be considered any official expression by the organization. End of TELECOM Digest V22 #766 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Nov 25 16:35:10 2003 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p2/8.11.3) id hAPLZ9x05519; Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:35:10 -0500 (EST) Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:35:10 -0500 (EST) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200311252135.hAPLZ9x05519@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V22 #767 TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 Nov 2003 16:34:00 EST Volume 22 : Issue 767 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity (Jack Decker) Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity (Marcus Didius Falco) Anyone Getting Spied on by Avenue A? (TELECOM Digest Editor) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk is definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 03:07:33 -0500 From: Jack Decker
Subject: Re: US Antispam Bill is Death to Anonymity Pat, please strip out the "from" e-mail address on this message before sending it out - I guess that request kind of proves the point you were making when you said: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Has anyone ever noticed how the persons > who (such as the guy quoted by Marcus) complain about almost anything > and everything intended as an anti-spam measure, who are certain that > the measure, if implemented, for sure will spell the death of the net > fail to notice how if anything spells the modern 'death of the net' > these days it is the way we are slowly getting buried in spam? Some of > them seem unwilling to even try anything. PAT] I have kind of an interesting anti-spam story, and even the events leading up to it will probably be of some interest to TELECOM Digest readers. As you may be aware, for a few years now we've had a mailing list and web site here in Michigan for telecommunications users in this state. The web site wasn't anything fancy, just some recent news, a bunch of possibly useful links, and some information on Michigan local calling areas and the like. The server that all of this resided on, along with my personal e-mail account, belonged to a long-time friend that I've known since he was in High School (probably right around 30 years now). Many months ago he had a spot of personal difficulty, and the physical possession of the server went to his nephew, Paul Timmins. If that name sounds familiar, it's either because you've used Paul's "telcodata.us" database (which was also housed on that server, or perhaps another physically located in Paul's apartment), or because you've been reading the news lately. For those not aware of Paul's situation, the article that probably describes the situation most accurately is from The Register in England, and you can read that at this URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/34144.html Note that if the above article is accurate, it would appear that Paul really had no significant involvement in this: "The statements suggest that Timmins' involvement was limited to providing the other two hackers with an 802.11b card, and having knowledge of what his associates were up to. But all three men are charged in each count of the indictment." Anyway, a couple of weeks ago the FBI confiscated virtually anything remotely resembling a computer from Paul's apartment, and that included the aforementioned server. And that's really about all I know about the incident -- Paul, on the advice of his attorney, isn't saying much of anything to anyone, and if my friend (his uncle) knows anything more, he's not sharing it with me. I got more information from the Register article than anything I've heard directly. I do think, from a couple of offhand comments that were made, that a high school journalism student probably could have done a better job of investigative reporting than some of the first reporters to "report" on this (there were apparently more interested in finding out Paul's salary than whether there was any truth to the allegations), but I doubt that anyone who reads this Digest needs to be convinced that the American press isn't what it used to be. So anyway, the servers from Paul's apartment were spirited away, and obviously they didn't care about the collateral damage -- the innocent people who suddenly lost e-mail, the telephone industry people who used the telcodata.us database, and t