From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 20 23:33:16 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 5F3E01543E; Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:33:15 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #151 Message-Id: <20060421033315.5F3E01543E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:33:15 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 20 Apr 2006 23:35:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 151 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Network Neutrality (Patrick Townson) Westchester (NYC Suburb) and 802.11 Safety (Danny Burstein) Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (xx-google@telefog.com) Re: When Did 2L-5N Become Required in Los Angeles? (Lisa Hancock) EarthLink Taps Level 3 for VoIP (USTelecom dailyLead) Continuing to Read About the Scams (Carl Moore) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Patrick Townson Subject: Network Neutrality Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:37:33 -0500 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Network Neutrality', the concept that everyone on the net should be given equal use of network facilities is a very interesting concept. At first glance, I would say I agree with it, yet the telcos, notably AT&T (SBC by its other name) and the larger ISPs (America OnLine for example) seem to be fighting it for various reasons. The editorial comment which follows comes from the Move On people, who, IMO were dreadfully off-base in their comments last week (and again today as a passing comment in this latest piece) also seem to favor network neutrality. Quite some time ago, I suggest that (again, IMO) the ICANN people, given their druthers, would tend to favor 'large corporations' rather than the small, everyday internet user. I would appreciate _your_ thoughts on this topic of Network Neutrality, as it has come to be known. First, here are the thoughts of the Move On people, then I will print responses in the days to come from readers. PAT] --------- Move On Commentary follows -------- Google, Amazon, MoveOn. All these entities are fighting back as Congress tries to pass a law giving a few corporations the power to end the free and open Internet as we know it. Tell Congress to preserve the free and open Internet today. Dear MoveOn member, Do you buy books online, use Google, or download to an Ipod? These activities, plus MoveOn's online organizing ability, will be hurt if Congress passes a radical law that gives giant corporations more control over the Internet. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. Amazon doesn't have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer. If Net Neutrality is gutted, MoveOn either pays protection money to dominant Internet providers or risks that online activism tools don't work for members. Amazon and Google either pay protection money or risk that their websites process slowly on your computer. That why these high-tech pioneers are joining the fight to protect Network Neutrality (1) -- and you can do your part today. The free and open Internet is under seige-can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7356-6797352-bMWpQ7QJCHRaBOa6odHI8Q&t=4 Then, please forward this to three friends. Protecting the free and open Internet is fundamental -- it affects everything. When you sign this petition, you'll be kept informed of the next steps we can take to keep the heat on Congress. Votes begin in a House committee next week. MoveOn has already seen what happens when the Internet's gatekeepers get too much control. Just last week, AOL blocked any email mentioning a coalition that MoveOn is a part of, which opposes AOL's proposed "email tax." (2) And last year, Canada's version of AT&T-Telus-blocked their Internet customers from visiting a website sympathetic to workers with whom Telus was negotiating. (3) Politicians don't think we are paying attention to this issue. Many of them take campaign checks from big telecom companies and are on the verge of selling out to people like AT&T's CEO, who openly says, "The internet can't be free." (4) Together, we can let Congress know we are paying attention. We can make sure they listen to our voices and the voices of people like Vint Cerf, a father of the Internet and Google's "Chief Internet Evangelist," who recently wrote this to Congress in support of preserving Network Neutrality: My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would place broadband operators in control of online activity ... Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online.(4) The essence of the Internet is at risk-can you sign this petition letting your member of Congress know you support preserving Network Neutrality? Click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7356-6797352-bMWpQ7QJCHRaBOa6odHI8Q&t=5 Please forward to 3 others who care about this issue. Thanks for all you do. -Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team Thursday, April 20th, 2006 P.S. If Congress abandons Network Neutrality, who will be affected? a.. Advocacy groups like MoveOn-Political organizing could be slowed by a handful of dominant Internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay "protection money" for their websites and online features to work correctly. b.. Nonprofits-A charity's website could open at snail-speed, and online contributions could grind to a halt, if nonprofits can't pay dominant Internet providers for access to "the fast lane" of Internet service. c.. Google users-Another search engine could pay dominant Internet providers like AT&T to guarantee the competing search engine opens faster than Google on your computer. d.. Innovators with the "next big idea"-Startups and entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay Internet providers for dominant placing on the Web. The little guy will be left in the "slow lane" with inferior Internet service, unable to compete. e.. Ipod listeners-A company like Comcast could slow access to iTunes, steering you to a higher-priced music service that it owned. f.. Online purchasers-Companies could pay Internet providers to guarantee their online sales process faster than competitors with lower prices-distorting your choice as a consumer. g.. Small businesses and tele-commuters - When Internet companies like AT&T favor their own services, you won't be able to choose more affordable providers for online video, teleconferencing, Internet phone calls, and software that connects your home computer to your office. h.. Parents and retirees - Your choices as a consumer could be controlled by your Internet provider, steering you to their preferred services for online banking, health care information, sending photos, planning vacations, etc. i.. Bloggers-Costs will skyrocket to post and share video and audio clips-silencing citizen journalists and putting more power in the hands of a few corporate-owned media outlets. To sign the petition to Congress supporting "network neutrality," click here: http://www.civic.moveon.org/save_the_internet/?id=7356-6797352-bMWpQ7QJCHRaBOa6odHI8Q&t=6 P.P.S. This excerpt from the New Yorker really sums up this issue well. In the first decades of the twentieth century, as a national telephone network spread across the United States, A.T. & T. adopted a policy of "tiered access" for businesses. Companies that paid an extra fee got better service: their customers' calls went through immediately, were rarely disconnected, and sounded crystal-clear. Those who didn't pony up had a harder time making calls out, and people calling them sometimes got an "all circuits busy" response. Over time, customers gravitated toward the higher-tier companies and away from the ones that were more difficult to reach. In effect, A.T. & T.'s policy turned it into a corporate kingmaker. If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's a good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by a "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service to all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while "tiered access" never influenced the spread of the telephone network, it is becoming a major issue in the evolution of the Internet. Until recently, companies that provided Internet access followed a de-facto commoncarriage rule, usually called "network neutrality," which meant that all Web sites got equal treatment. Network neutrality was considered so fundamental to the success of the Net that Michael Powell, when he was chairman of the F.C.C., described it as one of the basic rules of "Internet freedom." In the past few months, though, companies like A.T. & T. and BellSouth have been trying to scuttle it. In the future, Web sites that pay extra to providers could receive what BellSouth recently called "special treatment," and those that don't could end up in the slow lane. One day, BellSouth customers may find that, say, NBC.com loads a lot faster than YouTube.com, and that the sites BellSouth favors just seem to run more smoothly. Tiered access will turn the providers into Internet gatekeepers.4 Sources: 1. "Telecommunication Policy Proposed by Congress Must Recognize Internet Neutrality," Letter to Senate leaders, March 23, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1653 2. "AOL Blocks Critics' E-Mails," Los Angeles Times, April 14, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1649 3. "B.C. Civil Liberties Association Denounces Blocking of Website by Telus," British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Statement, July 27, 2005 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1650 4. "At SBC, It's All About 'Scale and Scope," BusinessWeek, November 7, 2002 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1648 5. "Net Losses," New Yorker, March 20, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1646 6. "Don't undercut Internet access," San Francisco Chronicle editorial, April 17, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1645 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: So what are your thoughts? America OnLine (for one) has stated they do not intend to tamper with the existing newsgroups, etc. On this point, MoveOn was dead wrong last week. Now, on this latest variarion on the same idea, I myself do not know what to think. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Westchester (NYC Suburb) and 802.11 Safety Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 18:40:53 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC [ excerpts ] April 20, 2006 COUNTY TO REQUIRE BUSINESSES TO SECURE WIRELESS NETWORKS Law signed by Spano is first of its kind in the U.S. A groundbreaking proposal requiring local businesses to secure their wireless networks to protect their customers against identity theft and other computer fraud has just become law. County Executive Andy Spano signed a bill into law today that mandates commercial businesses that offer public Internet access and/or maintain personal information on a wireless network to take "minimum security measures." [1] In addition, businesses that offer public Internet access must also "conspicuously post a sign" advising customers to "install a firewall or other computer security measure when accessing the Internet." In a related effort, but taking another tack in combating computer crime, the Department of Public Safety recently created the state's first accredited Digital Crime and Investigation Unit. Two investigators are now dedicated to searching the Internet for "techy criminals" involved in identity theft, fraud (phishing), pedophilia and cyberbullying. The unit will also recover digital evidence that can be used by prosecutors in seeking convictions. When the law was being proposed last fall, a team from the Department of Information Technology showed how easy it was to find vulnerable networks by taking a drive through downtown White Plains. Using a laptop computer equipped with easily available software, they came across 248 wireless hot spots in less than a half an hour. Out of those, 120, or almost half, lacked any visible security at all... rest: http://www.westchestergov.com/currentnews/2006pr/Wifinew.htm [a] closed quotation marks outside the period in original text _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: xx-google@telefog.com Subject: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular Date: 20 Apr 2006 10:41:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com I haven't found answers to most of these questions: 1. Can a VoIP number be ported to cellular? 2. Can a VoIP number be ported to POTS? 3. Can a VoIP number be ported to another VoIP provider? 4. Can a cellular number be ported to POTS? 5. Can a cellular number be ported to VoIP? 6. Can a cellular number be ported to another cellular provider? (I think that the answer is yes.) 7. Can a POTS number be ported to cellular? (I think that the answer is yes.) 8. Can a POTS number be ported to VoIP? (I think that the answer is yes.) Can you provide answers? Can you direct me to the answers on the Internet? ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: When Did 2L-5N Become Required in Los Angeles? Date: 20 Apr 2006 10:54:17 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > Many small towns required only four- or five-digit dialing locally > long after the "conversion" took place. By "long," I mean 10 or 15 > years or more. A friend of mine reported is update NY state town worked like that. But once they went to ESS it no longer worked. I wonder if this still applies to sparsely populated places in say Wyoming and the Dakotas where there is little population growth. The step-by-step selectors ignored "absorbed" the front end digits if they were dialed. I worked for an organization that had Centrex, but apparently under a step-by-step switch. I noticed all numbers were 3xxx, so I tried dialing something without the front end "3". That is, for ext 3212 I dialed only 212. It worked. My co-workers were impressed. Of course, if the ext was 3371, you still had to dial the leading 3. I don't recall if there were 39xx or 38xx since 8 and 9 were used for tie lines and outside lines. Also, for suburban message unit calls we were ONI -- we had to give our phone number to an operator. Nobody told me whether I should give my own extension or the main number (3000) so I gave the main number. The operator's switchboard was a cord board, a 552 I believe. I thought Centrex always had consoles. In the early days of Centrex the operator had to handle transfers. (I think Centrex II allowed the user to dial it himself). Transfer requests (flashing) for a directly dialed calls came up to the operator as an attendant request. Transfer requests for an operator connected call resulted in the supv signal on the cord pair automatically flashing until serviced. Centrex could be supplied under either step by step or crossbar, but not panel. I didn't think there was step in the city but apparently there was. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 14:29:33 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: EarthLink Taps Level 3 for VoIP USTelecom dailyLead April 20, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dulofDtutcxIiBLwNo TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * EarthLink taps Level 3 for VoIP BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Lucent wins big IPTV deal with Telefonica * Sprint Nextel buys affiliate * Cisco looks to college students for broadband content ideas * Amazon, InPhonic team to sell mobile phones, service plans * EarthLink, BellSouth, Nokia report earnings USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Shopping for or selling telecom equipment? TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Study: Web access via mobile devices becoming commonplace * NBCU, affiliates to launch broadband venture * Motorola touts wireless mesh REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Pennsylvania looks to catch up in E911 Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dulofDtutcxIiBLwNo ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 15:09:21 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Continuing to Read About Scams I am going along with advice that I *NOT* send *ANY* reply to scam mail -- not even, say, "remove me from your list", because even "remove me from your list" notifies the scammers of the existence of your active email box. Yes, one of the things the scammers might do is to send you a check and get you to send some money back by an irreversible method, say by wire. The check would eventually be found to be counterfeit, and the scammers will have made money (which is the same as the money you sent by wire). A supposed notice of a win in a foreign lottery will turn out to be just another advance-fee fraud. Just before I left for a trip to Indiana in June 2004, I received an inquiry about 2 telephone number strings, one starting with 0031 and the other starting with 001413215, and besides answering the question about the telephone numbers (and doing a futile web search for the firm name mentioned), I warned the sender to make sure this was legitimate (I myself have received some email which claimed to be from Netherlands and to be about a lottery). ----- Forwarded message # 1: From: Rick Merrill Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Purely Spam! MY PRESENTATION TO YOU Organization: Comcast Online Date: Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:56:21 GMT HENRY CASTLE wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Of the 126 times in the past two days > I have been selected by some bogus Solicitor in Nigeria somewhere to > serve as the executor of some poor deceased devils estate (always > numbering in the millions-billions of dollars) I have never once > answered them. I am wondering what would happen if I did. I've had > many folks say these charlatans would try to pick me clean, getting > my bank deposit account numbers, my social security number, etc. And > some have suggested they (the charlatans) would send you a bogus > draft for several thousand million billion dollars to be deposited > in my bank account, which, surprise!, would turn out to be > counterfiet after I had endorsed/negotiated it and remitted proceeds > back to the Solicitor, etc. > Has anyone on the net ever played their game back at them? Yes. I've seen some of the back and forth of this effort. It is fruitless and potentially dangerous and is not advised. There are just too many of 'them.' - RM ----- End of forwarded messages And if you hear of the slave trade, etc., and the Nigerian scammers' view of it, you might be interested in the following: ----- Forwarded message # 1: Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 16:22:05 EDT From: Carl Moore To: 419.fcd@usss.treas.gov Subject: that rare talk of revenge... Remember the OCCASIONAL remark that 419 scammers are taking revenge for the centuries of disruption caused by slave trade etc.? I will NOT take it on myself to offer any comment (other than to you investigators) about that, but I do wish to communicate something interesting I found (not dealing with the scams, but having to do with a possible way for Christians to regard Jews w/r to the crucifixion of Jesus): it (the crucifixion of Jesus) should not be attributed to all Jews of that time or to the Jews of today. ----- End of forwarded messages ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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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. 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 V25 #151 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Apr 21 14:24:34 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 34F0A150C5; Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:24:33 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #152 Message-Id: <20060421182433.34F0A150C5@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:24:33 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 21 Apr 2006 14:27:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 152 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? (Robert McMillan) Podcasting Not For Most People (Andrew Kantor) Cellular-News for Friday 21st April 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - April 21, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (John Levine) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Westchester (NYC Suburb) and 802.11 Safety (William Warren) Re: When Did 2L-5N Become Required in Los Angeles? (The Chief Instigator) Re: Network Neutrality (Steven Lichter) Re: Network Neutrality (Waitman Gobble) Re: Network Neutrality (Larry Farmer) Last Laugh! Walmart Customer Smashes Computer Screen (Evan Schuman) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Robert McMillan Subject: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:25:23 -0500 Robert McMillan, IDG News Service Online bank customers may want to pay a little more attention to their browsers the next time they log in, because many of the most popular banking sites in the U.S. may be needlessly placing their customers at risk to online thieves, a noted security researcher warned this week. At issue are the user login areas that can be found on banking sites such as Chase.com and Americanexpress.com, which ask users to submit their user ID and password information. Although these forms may be encrypted, they do not use authentication technology to prove they are genuine, according to Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the SANS Institute. A more secure approach would be to force users to log in on a HTTPS (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure) Web page. HTTPS pages use the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security protocol, which not only encrypts the information on the page but also provides digital certificates to give assurance that the Web site in question is genuine. "If the login form is not HTTPS, you don't know if it's the real thing," Ullrich said. Web pages that do not use this type of secure connection are vulnerable to a type of attack known as DNS (Domain Name System) spoofing, where attackers attempt to trick Web browsers into visiting bogus Web sites. This type of attack is technically challenging, however, and hackers generally find it far easier to trick users into giving up their user names and passwords using phishing techniques, Ullrich said. SSL for Security Still, there's no good reason for banks to allow users to log in on pages that do not use SSL, Ullrich said. The SANS researcher has compiled a list of banks that includes information on their use of SSL authentication. Banks that require SSL authentication include Capital One Bank, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Often banks include SSL login pages as an option, but they can be hard to find, Ullrich said. One trick for finding these pages, which will prompt Firefox and Internet Explorer to display a yellow lock icon on the bottom of the screen, is to submit a bad password on the home page. Often bank sites will redirect users to the SSL login page after this happens, he said. Though he admits to logging in to pages that do not use SSL encryption himself, security consultant Richard Smith agreed that it would be safer for banks to direct their users to an HTTPS page for account logins. "It's only one extra step," he said. "The banks could do it, but I guess they feel that one extra step is too hard for people." One of the banks that does not use SSL sign-in on its front page defended its practices. "It is more convenient for our customers and it is secure," said Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess. Though Bank of America allows customers to enter their online IDs on the home page, they cannot submit passwords. The bank sends them to an HTTPS page and uses a technology called SiteKey to confirm to customers that they are at the legitimate Bank of America site before they enter their passwords. "We're committed to safeguarding customer information online and we wouldn't do anything to compromise that security," Riess said. Copyright 2006 PC World Communications, Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Andrew Kantor Subject: Podcasting Not For Most People Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:34:21 -0500 Andrew Kantor, USA TODAY I wrote about podcasting last May, and some recent news tells me it's time to get back to the subject. First, a brief refresher. It's necessary; "podcasting" is an incredibly misused word. Podcasting means putting audio files on a website regularly, using a technology called RSS -- Really Simple Syndication. People using the right software can automatically download each new program posted to the site. The automatic part is important. Podcasting is not simply putting audio files on your site and letting people download them. That's known as "putting audio files on your site and letting people download them." To be a podcast, it has to be automated. No RSS, no syndication, no podcast. The original idea was that people would download (or buy) podcasting software, then set it to retrieve their favorite shows overnight. They'd automatically be put on their MP3 players. Those shows -- those podcasts -- would be created by hundreds or thousands of people all over the Internet, and on every subject imaginable. The end result would be that listeners could create a custom "radio" network of sorts with only their favorite content, and that anyone could become a syndicated radio host. And now the news. The next big thing? The good folks at Forrester took a survey, and found that only "one percent of online households in North America regularly download and listen to podcasts." What makes the Forrester report interesting is that it seems to go against the expectations of so many people -- including me. We've gotten used to Internet-based technologies taking off and, to some extent, shaping the media agenda. The rise of MP3s changed the music industry. Blogs changed how we look at and read the news. Viral-video sites such as YouTube mean never missing another funny moment. Sites like Flickr have taken over from the coffee-table album as the way we share our photos. After all that, we thought podcasting was going to change radio. Let's face it: Most radio today sucks. With limited space on the dial and so many stations owned by soulless suits, it feel like you get the same payola-funded, corporate-sponsored drek on all but a few indepen- dent stations. That's because of that limited bandwidth. Getting a space on the dial is expensive, so the majority of what you hear comes through companies big enough to afford it. But what if there was unlimited space, and the cost to run a "radio" station was virtually nil? One the one hand, you'd see a wider selection and encounter more things out of the mainstream -- a chance to expand horizons you don't get on the AM or FM dials. But there's another hand, and it illustrates what I think is one of the three big problems preventing podcasting from taking off. Roadblocks There's already an example of what happens when something gets so inexpensive that what was once limited to corporations and professionals becomes possible for anyone: spam. When direct marketing cost money -- for paper, mailing, phone calls, etc. -- you didn't see all that much. But e-mail is all but free, so the quality of the advertising content dropped, as a friend of mine would say, like a rock tied to a rock. I'm not saying that podcasts are like spam. What I am saying is that there's a downside to "everyone's a publisher": The quality of the medium goes down. Because economics don't act as a quality-control agent, there are a lot of great podcasts, but there are a lot more bad ones. The tradeoff for more choice is more junk to sort through to get the good stuff. That's roadblock number one. Number two is the technology. Radios are simple to use: Turn the dial. Podcast software, while usually well designed, is vastly more complex because the process itself is vastly more complex. You have to search the Net for shows, subscribe to the ones you like, and decide how to handle the audio files -- do you want them downloaded automatically or put on your MP3 player, or would you prefer just to be alerted? None of this is difficult with good software, but compared to turning on a radio and spinning the dial, it's rocket science. The last major roadblock to podcasts taking off is an unfortunate thing, but one that's real nonetheless: the tyranny of choice. "Given the indisputable fact that choice is good for human well-being, it seems only logical that if some choice is good, more choice is better," wrote Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College. "Logically true, yes. Psychologically true, no. My colleagues and I, along with other researchers, have begun amassing evidence -- both in the laboratory and in the field -- that increased choice can lead to decreased well-being." Let's say you get some podcast software and set it up to sync to your iPod. Now what? You have to find shows you're interested in either by searching a directory like Podcast.net, by hearing of it via word of mouth, or by stumbling upon it. You can't just turn the dial. You're presented with a huge array of choices -- as I write this, Podcast.net has 26651 feeds listed. Choice like that is great if you're looking for something big like a car or a house, where it's not a throwaway, need-it-now decision. But when you just want to listen to something or choose a candidate for a political office, it's frustrating. That isn't to say that podcasting isn't a great idea. Lots of people are taking the time to find and download them, and to set the software up to do it automatically. And they're the better for it, getting to listen to a wider variety of programming than those of us stuck with radio. But until the process makes it to the next generation and some of the chaff disappears on its own -- or some shows achieve widespread prominence thanks to the right person (or site) promoting them -- podcasting is, unfortunately, going to remain a niche. Andrew Kantor is a technology writer, pundit, and know-it-all who covers technology for the Roanoke Times. He's also a former editor for PC Magazine and Internet World. Read more of his work at kantor.com. His column appears Fridays on USATODAY.com. Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news reports from USA Today, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Friday 21st April 2006 Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 07:30:55 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com ====================================================================== [[ 3G ]] Algeria Becomes the Arab World's WiMAX pioneer. http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17069.php WiMAX is commercially available in Algeria, while several operators in many Arab countries have started testing the service. Smart Link Communication (SLC) has deployed WiMAX to provide broadband wireless services in Algeria. SLC's goal is to build a... [[ Financial ]] China Mobile Denies Bid For Nasdaq-Listed Millicom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17050.php Neither China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. nor its Chinese parent, China Mobile Communications Corp., is involved in the bidding for Millicom International Cellular, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong company said Thursday. ... China Mobile 1Q Net Profit CNY14.36 Billion Vs CNY11.25 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17051.php China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd. said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose 28% as its subscriber base continued to grow rapidly. ... EBRD's committee OKs $250 mln 8-year loan to Russia's MTS http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17052.php A credit committee of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a U.S. $250 million 8-year loan to be provided to Russia?s largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), the bank said Thursday. ... Sprint Nextel Buys Affiliate UbiquiTel For $1.3 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17053.php Sprint Nextel scooped up another one of its affiliates after agreeing Thursday to pay $1.3 billion in cash to acquire UbiquiTel. ... Vodafone Lured To Silicon Valley To Energize VC Arm http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17054.php Vodafone Group is focusing on a traditional high-technology hotbed after placing the head of its venture-capital arm near Silicon Valley. ... FOCUS: VimpelCom may reignite investor interest in Russian mobiles http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17055.php Following the uninspiring financial results posted earlier by Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia's second largest mobile operator VimpelCom impressed investors with strong fourth quarter and full-year 2005 financials. S... Nokia Reports Rising Profits and Sales http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17065.php Nokia reported sales and profits for the first quarter of this year which were higher than expectations. The company reported a net profit of US$1.29 billion on sales of US$11.7 billion. Nokia's first quarter 2006 operating margin was 14.4%, which wa... MTC Offers Econet Option on Vmobile Purchase Bid http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17067.php The Pan-African operator, Econet says that it has been granted the right of refusal over the offer made to buy a 65% controlling stake in Nigeria's Vee Mobile made by MTC of Kuwait. Spokesman Sure Kamhunga confirmed that documents had been delivered ... [[ Handsets ]] Comtech Providing Designs for Vodafone 3G Handsets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17062.php China's Comtech has announced its first major design win from Huawei for customized 3G cell phone modules. Comtech will provide customized module designs for use in Huawei's new Vodafone-branded 3G phone. It is anticipated that Huawei will commence m... Global Mobile Phone Shipments Will Reach 1 Billion Units in 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17063.php Global mobile phone shipments grew an impressive 31 percent year-over-year, to reach 229 million units during Q1 2006, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics. Following this strong performance, Strategy Analytics has upgraded its gl... Mobile Handsets Generated $117 Billion in Revenue in 2005 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17070.php Worldwide, mobile wireless handsets generated over US$117 billion in revenue in 2005, says a report released by Telecom Trends International,. The report says the 2005 revenue represented an increase of 14.9% over the revenue generated in 2004, and i... [[ Mobile Content ]] Mobile Streams Buys European Content Firm http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17066.php The mobile content distributor, Mobile Streams says that it is buying the German mobile content company, Cyoshi Mobile for US$3.7 million. The acquisition will strengthen Mobile Streams' footprint across mainland Europe and provide them with direct a... [[ Network Operators ]] ANALYSIS: Smartcom's future lies in innovative services http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17058.php Chilean mobile operator Smartcom is scheduled to launch GSM services in May or June this year, marking a transition from the CDMA network it has relied upon to date. ... New GSM Network Launched in Guinea http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17064.php Investcom says that it has launched commercial mobile telecommunications services in the Republic of Guinea, under the brand name Areeba. Services will initially be concentrated in the capital city, Conakry, with national coverage following soon afte... [[ Regulatory ]] Kazakh PM urges to cut LD, mobile, Internet tariffs in 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17056.php Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov called for cutting the long-distance tariffs of fixed-line operator Kazakhtelecom, as well as all companies' tariffs for mobile and Internet services, Aliakpar Matishev, chairman of the competition committee at t... Analyst: CPP regulations to bring social benefits http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17057.php The upcoming expansion of Mexico's calling party pays billing system to cover long distance calls to mobile users will benefit isolated segments of the population in particular, telecommunications analyst Ernesto Piedras told BNamericas. ... TSTT questions arbiters over Digicel interconnection dispute http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17059.php Trinidad & Tobago's incumbent telephone company TSTT has filed a judicial review of an arbitration panel set up by telecoms regulator TATT last week to determine interconnection rates between TSTT and incoming mobile operator Digicel, The Trinidad Gu... Mauritania To Offer New Mobile Licenses http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17068.php We had this tender sent to us, and publish it for interested parties. Following its telecommunications sector liberalization policy, the Mauritanian Authority of Regulation has decided to launch a call for competition related to the allocation of one... [[ Statistics ]] Mobile penetration expected to grow 20-50% this year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17060.php Mobile telephony penetration in Peru is almost universally expected to increase during 2006, but at widely diverging rates depending on the source of the figures. ... [[ Technology ]] Five Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Bluetooth Software Vendor http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17061.php As the Bluetooth market for silicon goes from strength to strength, the Bluetooth software market is undergoing a subtle change in direction. As more and more manufacturers embrace Bluetooth, they must balance their needs against vendor offerings in ... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 11:32:50 -0400 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Friday, April 21, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For April 21, 2006 ******************************** Ericsson Profits Flat, Below Expectations http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17616?11228 STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Wireless equipment maker LM Ericsson on Friday said sales grew in the first quarter but the takeover of money-losing Marconi cut into profits that came in flat, below expectations. Ericsson shares fell nearly 3 percent after the quarterly report was released. Net profit in the January-March period was 4.61 billion... Alltel to Allow Free Calls to 10 Numbers http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17614?11228 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. --Alltel Corp. will allow its wireless customers to make free, unlimited calls to 10 telephone numbers of their choice, even those belonging to other wireless providers. Alltel, the country's fifth largest wireless carrier, will offer its 'My Circle' program beginning Monday to any customer who has a monthly rate... Sprint Scoops Up UbiquiTel http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17612?11228 That's the game plan of Sprint Nextel Corp., which has bought up another one of its affiliates. On Thursday, the company announced that it has paid $1.3 billion for UbiquiTel Inc. a wireless affiliate based in the thriving metropolis of Conshohocken, Pa. UbiquiTel is one... Qualcomm Posts Another Record Quarter http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17605?11228 Shares in Qualcomm were down slightly today, even though the company yesterday reported its third consecutive quarter of record revenues and chip shipments. In its second fiscal quarter, the company raked in net income of $593 million, up 11 percent year-over-year, and revenues of $1.83 billion, up 34 percent year-over-year. Pro-forma... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Apr 2006 03:38:52 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular > 1. Can a VoIP number be ported to cellular? > 2. Can a VoIP number be ported to POTS? > 3. Can a VoIP number be ported to another VoIP provider? > 4. Can a cellular number be ported to POTS? > 5. Can a cellular number be ported to VoIP? > 6. Can a cellular number be ported to another cellular provider? (I > think that the answer is yes.) > 7. Can a POTS number be ported to cellular? (I think that the > answer is yes.) > 8. Can a POTS number be ported to VoIP? (I think that the answer is > yes.) The answers to all of those questions should be yes, except perhaps in a few rural areas that don't have portability yet. For portability purposes, there's no such thing as a VoIP number. VoIP carriers contract with CLECs for their numbers (or might be a CLEC in AT&T's case), and CLEC numbers are POTS numbers. I've ported a number from Vonage to Lingo, nothing special about the process. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 06:16:42 GMT xx-google@telefog.com wrote: > I haven't found answers to most of these questions: > 1. Can a VoIP number be ported to cellular? > 2. Can a VoIP number be ported to POTS? > 3. Can a VoIP number be ported to another VoIP provider? > 4. Can a cellular number be ported to POTS? > 5. Can a cellular number be ported to VoIP? > 6. Can a cellular number be ported to another cellular provider? (I > think that the answer is yes.) > 7. Can a POTS number be ported to cellular? (I think that the > answer is yes.) > 8. Can a POTS number be ported to VoIP? (I think that the answer is > yes.) The answer to all of the above is "Yes, but..." The general rule is that any telecommunications carrier must port its customer's number to another telecommunications carrier that has a presence (i.e., has telephone numbers) in the same rate center. Now for the "buts": Telecommunications carriers include cellular/PCS operators, ILECs, and CLECs. Some VoIP service is offered by telecommunications carriers, and the number portability requirements would apply to their service. Some VoIP service is offered by companies that are information service providers, not telecommunications carriers, such as Vonage. Since they aren't telecom carriers, they generally don't interconnect directly with the PSTN and don't get numbers directly from the numbering administrator (or the pooling administrator). So Vonage et al. don't have numbers of their own in any rate centers. Instead, Vonage et al. buy numbers from telecom carriers, presumably CLECs, who obtain numbers from the numbering adminstrator (or the pooling administrator) in various rate centers. If Vonage has a deal with a CLEC such as Covad (just using Covad as an illustration; I don't know whether they have such a deal) to get numbers in a particular rate center, then numbers in that rate center would be portable to and from Vonage via Covad; this should be true of wireline and wireless numbers in that rate center. Non-wireline carriers, including wireless (cellular/PCS) and VoIP providers, don't need to have numbers in every rate center where they have customers, unlike wireline carriers, because they don't need to have wires going from a switch in the rate center to the customer. Wireless carriers typically select a subset of rate centers that is big enough to avoid toll charges from most "local" calls to their customers. For a simplified example, if rate centers A, B, C, and D all have wireline calls amongst them rated as "local", a wireless carrier only needs numbers from one of them. What this means is that if the wireless carrier gets numbers from rate center A, wireline customers in rate center A will be able to port to wireless and vice versa. Wireline customers in rate centers B, C, and D will not be able to port to or from wireless because the wireless carrier isn't present in their rate center. I assume that the same is true to some extent of VoIP providers, but given their strategy of seeking ports of wireline phone numbers, they have good reason to get numbers (via a CLEC) in each rate center in densely populated areas, while wireless carriers don't have a compelling reason to do so at this stage, since they aren't actively promoting ports of wireline phones. There are exceptions to all rules. Where the FCC is concerned, there are rural exceptions to all rules, since rural telcos are never held to the same standards as others. If you live in a rural area, don't hold your breath waiting to port your number from or to a wireline phone. > Can you direct me to the answers on the Internet? Regarding wireless number portability: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/NumberPortability/ Regarding number portability generally: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/numbport.html http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/NumberPortability/checklist.html Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD (USA) (Replace "example.invalid" with "com" in my address.) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Mr. Sullivan, am I correct in saying another reason for denying portability of a number is because a customer has a delinquent bill with the carrier he is attempting to port _from_ or out of? I think I saw somewhere that carriers have that protection or recourse available to them, i.e. if you don't pay your bill, you cannot have the number. True or false? PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 00:59:55 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Westchester (NYC Suburb) and 802.11 Safety Danny Burstein wrote: > [ excerpts ] > April 20, 2006 > COUNTY TO REQUIRE BUSINESSES TO SECURE WIRELESS NETWORKS > Law signed by Spano is first of its kind in the U.S. > A groundbreaking proposal requiring local businesses to secure their > wireless networks to protect their customers against identity theft > and other computer fraud has just become law. > County Executive Andy Spano signed a bill into law today that mandates > commercial businesses that offer public Internet access and/or > maintain personal information on a wireless network to take "minimum > security measures." [1] [snip] This smells like a lobbyist-written law: the obvious beneficiaries of reduced wireless access are the cellular, DSL, and Cable companies, all of whom stand to lose money if wireless access points aren't "protected". I bet the FCC will strike it down: IANALB, not only is it an obvious usurpation of federal proragatives, but the feds can smell a cut-rate competitor a mile away, and county governments can be had for a pittance compared to the license fees the feds extort from users. William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: When Did 2L-5N Become Required in Los Angeles? From: The Chief Instigator Date: 21 Apr 2006 00:51:34 -0500 hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes: > Wesrock@aol.com wrote: >> Many small towns required only four- or five-digit dialing locally >> long after the "conversion" took place. By "long," I mean 10 or 15 >> years or more. > A friend of mine reported is update NY state town worked like that. > But once they went to ESS it no longer worked. > I wonder if this still applies to sparsely populated places in say > Wyoming and the Dakotas where there is little population growth. I don't know about some of South Dakota, but my wife spent her first eighteen years in what is now 605-637 ... which has no more than about three hundred active numbers in that CO, which leaves 9700 unused. (My first trip up there was in 1990, and the local telco had gone to ESS before then ... all local calls had to be dialed as seven digits. Interestingly, there's an adjacent CO just across the state line in North Dakota (701-634, IIRC) which is run through the 605-637 (NWEFSD) switch and can be called by dialing 701 plus the local number (but if you dial with 1-701, it's treated as long distance), and has even fewer active numbers in its block of 10,000. The Kentucky coal town I was born in (now primarily 606-848, although 606-238 and 606-733 are in use now) didn't go to ESS until some time after I got my degree in the late '70s, and I was used to going up there in the summer and being able to call anywhere in the two towns it served by dialing the last four numbers. (BNLYKY, if anyone's curious). Anything outside of that, and the neighboring CO in Cumberland, was dialed with 1+. Patrick "The Chief Instigator" Humphrey (patrick@io.com) Houston, Texas chiefinstigator.us.tt/aeros.php (TCI's 2005-06 Houston Aeros) LAST GAME: Houston 5, Iowa 3 (April 15) NEXT GAME: Friday, April 21 vs. Peoria, 7:35 (Game 1) ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Network Neutrality From: Steven Lichter Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:38:52 GMT In article telecom25.151.1@telecom-digest.org, Patrick Townson at ptownson@cableone.net wrote on 4/20/06 19:37: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Network Neutrality', the concept that > everyone on the net should be given equal use of network facilities > is a very interesting concept. At first glance, I would say I agree > with it, yet the telcos, notably AT&T (SBC by its other name) and > the larger ISPs (America OnLine for example) seem to be fighting it > for various reasons. The editorial comment which follows comes from > the Move On people, who, IMO were dreadfully off-base in their > comments last week (and again today as a passing comment in this > latest piece) also seem to favor network neutrality. Quite some time > ago, I suggest that (again, IMO) the ICANN people, given their > druthers, would tend to favor 'large corporations' rather than the > small, everyday internet user. I would appreciate _your_ thoughts on > this topic of Network Neutrality, as it has come to be known. First, > here are the thoughts of the Move On people, then I will print > responses in the days to come from readers. PAT] Though as you say Network Neutrality is a good itea, without the large companies, the internet would still be as it was in the begining, just for the Collages and the govenment. The cost of building and maintaining the inferstructure costs millions of dollars and someone has to pay for it, we the users do so the companies that do business also should pay their fair share. I know the companies that pay me to build the network have to get paid in order to pay me, without that I would not be working and would not have the money to use the net. This is not Nerver Land anymore, as much as I miss the old net, this one gives more. The only Good Spammer is a dead one!! Have you hunted one down today? (c) 2006 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Company ------------------------------ From: Waitman Gobble Subject: Re: Network Neutrality Date: 21 Apr 2006 08:10:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, I'm not sure that the typical consumer would have the patience for a broken Internet. If average Susan decides to "shop store x" and the site isn't working properly, her patience will wear thin. If this happens to multiple sites, It is my opinion that she won't merely be "trained" into going to the sites approved by the government. She'd probably just jump ship and scrap the whole notion of the Internet. Which would mean she'd just call up her provider and disconnect service. She has better things to do. The bit about "tiered access" is curious, because it JUST happened to a client of mine. He has been using DSL in his home for years without much of any trouble. However in the past month his service has been offline about half time, which has been extremely frustrating for him. The problem is that a few weeks ago, it was down for a week and they said that some tech had "accidentally unplugged 50 lines in his neighborhood and his was included". It actually took them a week to "plug it back in". Then after a week of uptime it went down again (for another week) and the providers' response was "there's water in the line". The word he received from his provider, which is the company named in the article, was that he should upgrade his account to "their business level service to get better service and have trouble-free Internet". After that phone call, he called his local cable company and ordered their Internet service. That's a true story. We'll see what happens I suppose :) Take care, Waitman ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:23:39 -0400 From: Larry Farmer Subject: Re: Network Neutrality The fundamental issue now that internet and web have become important to our daily lives and the economy, how do we ensure its availability and preserve access to it? If we draw parallels to telephony, the internet is nearing its version of the 1934 Telecommunications Act. The resource has become too valuable for things like spam or peer-to-peer networks dominate the resource. Controls will need to be enacted. Those controls will need to be enforced. Government fees/taxes/what-not will be imposed. It's coming, it's inevitable. The big challenge with the internet/web, with respect enforcing rules, is time and place are largely irrelevant. How can a rule enacted by one government be enforced on a violator in another country? As a simple example, suppose I put some pictures from my summer vacation on my personal website. A perfectly normal, legal thing to do in the US. Well, what if posting pictures of such scantily clad people is illegal in some other country? What is to be done? Arrest me? Fine me? Blocking my website can be done, but how do you *find* my website so you can block it? And what happens when I take the pictures down, as I probably would at some point? How do you go back and unblock my site? I think Move On is totally off the mark on this one. I haven't seen what AT&T and Verizon are asking, specifically, but I'm not overly worried about them "controlling" the internet. I think market forces will make it abundantly clear to them that "control" is not what the market wants. Certainly AOL's efforts are about *protecting* equal access, not inhibiting it. When more than 50% of email traffic can be labeling "spam", the ability of you, me or Move On to be heard above the noise is less likely. Besides, reducing spam helps keep the cost of internet access down. phoneyfarmer [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Fifty percent of all email is spam you say? Hellfire, eighty to ninety percent is more like it. It has not been 'as little as' fifty percent for several years. I have very mixed feelings on this; the idea of having the telcos running the net -- for a fee, of course -- is rather repulsive, but you know, I am sure, that AT&T or MCI won't permit spam/scam to run as rampant as those things do now. If they cannot technically get rid of it, then they can price it out of business as AOL has suggested. Will there be some 'collateral damage' (as President Dubya's associates would phrase it in the ill-gotten Iraq situation)? Yes, there may well be ... but if MoveOn (or TELECOM Digest and other decent publications) cannot be heard very well (1) above the noise level of spam/scam or (2) because of the cost of paying 'postage', etc then what's the difference? I trust the spam/scam enablers are pleased with the results which are slowly creeping up on us. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Evan Schuman Subject: Last Laugh! Walmart Customer Smashes Computer Screen Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:28:52 -0500 Hell Hath No Fury Like a Consumer Chipped Off Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 5CAA7159C9; Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:56:16 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #153 Message-Id: <20060422175616.5CAA7159C9@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:56:16 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.9 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, LONGWORDS autolearn=no version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 22 Apr 2006 12:55:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 153 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update #526, April 21, 2006 (Angus TeleManagement Group) Telstra Competitors Propose Joint High-Speed (USTelecom dailyLead) Area Code - NNX (Jan Schmidt) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (Robert Bonomi) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (John Levine) Re: MySpace Hires Child Safety Expert From Microsoft (Vientus) Re: Should Consumers Tape "Customer Service" Calls? (Koos van den Hout) Re: Network Neutrality (jmeissen@aracnet.com) Re: Network Neutrality (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com) Re: Network Neutrality (Brad Houser) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 10:45:38 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #526, April 21, 2006 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 526: April 21, 2006 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MICROSOFT CANADA: www.microsoft.com/canada/telecom/ ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Wetmore to Head Bell-Aliant Income Trust ** Dalfen Replies to Forbearance Critics ** IBM Veteran to Head Nortel Marketing ** UBS Showcases "Mobile TV" ** Shaw Adds 28,000 Phone Customers ** Nortel to Restate $1.2 Billion in Revenue ** Cablecos' Radio Requirement to Be Reduced ** RIM Opens Halifax Tech Support Centre ** Telus and Cisco Invest in Widevine ** Sierra Wireless Profitable Again ** Nokia Revenue Continues to Soar ** UBS Revenues Slide During Restructuring ** Dortmans' E-Column Readership Sees Rapid Growth ============================================================ WETMORE TO HEAD BELL-ALIANT INCOME TRUST: Stephen Wetmore will be President and CEO of the planned Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund when it is formally established later this year (see Telecom Update #520). Wetmore was president of Aliant until 2002, when he moved to Bell Canada, where he is currently Group President, Corporate Performance and National Markets. ** Jay Forbes, who has been President and CEO of Aliant since 2002, has announced that he will resign effective July 31. DALFEN REPLIES TO FORBEARANCE CRITICS: The CRTC's "local forbearance" decision has been widely criticized in the press and elsewhere. Earlier this week, CRTC Chairman Charles Dalfen replied to the critics in an exclusive interview with Telecom Update editor Lis Angus. The text of the interview is available online at http://www.angustel.ca/update/up525b.html. IBM VETERAN TO HEAD NORTEL MARKETING: Nortel Networks has hired 26-year IBM veteran Lauren Flaherty as its Chief Marketing Officer, replacing Clent Richardson, who resigned on March 1. Flaherty, who previously led IBM's worldwide small/medium business marketing, is the second IBM VP hired by Nortel this month. (See Telecom Update #525) UBS SHOWCASES "MOBILE TV": Unique Broadband Systems and its subsidiary, Look Communications, have launched demonstration sites in Milton, Ontario, for its Mobile TV service, which provides live TV and broadband data to cars and handheld devices. SHAW ADDS 28,000 PHONE CUSTOMERS: In the quarter ended February 28, 28,000 new customers signed up for Shaw Communications' Digital Phone service, bringing the company's total to just under 119,000. Shaw also added over 36,000 Internet customers in the quarter, and increased its cable and DTH base. ** In the three- and six-month periods ended February 28, Shaw's total service revenue was $611.2 million and $1.2 billion; net income was $45.8 million and $121.5 million (up from $5.7 million and $50.4 million in the comparable periods last year). NORTEL TO RESTATE $1.2 BILLION IN REVENUE: Nortel Networks says that the accounting restatement now under way involves a total of US$1.216 billion, not $866 million as previously stated. (See Telecom Update #520, 524) CABLECOS' RADIO REQUIREMENT TO BE REDUCED: The CRTC plans to eliminate the requirement that cable TV services carry commercial radio stations, requiring them only to distribute local community, campus, and Native radio stations, as well as at least one French and one English CBC station. ** The Commission will call for comments on proposed amendments to the Broadcasting Distribution Regulations in a later public notice. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2006/pb2006-51.htm RIM OPENS HALIFAX TECH SUPPORT CENTRE: Research In Motion has opened a new Halifax technical support centre in Halifax: it is expected to employ 1,200 staff within five years. The Nova Scotia government is contributing $19 million to the project. TELUS AND CISCO INVEST IN WIDEVINE: Telus and Cisco have both made "strategic investments" in Widevine Technologies, a Seattle-based company that develops content protection systems for video-on-demand providers. Widevine raised a total of US$16 million in this investment round; the amounts contributed by Telus and Cisco were not announced. SIERRA WIRELESS PROFITABLE AGAIN: After a year of deep losses, Sierra Wireless returned to profitability in the first quarter, recording net income of US$2.6 million. Revenue of $45 million was more than double that of the same period a year ago. (See Telecom Update #514) NOKIA REVENUE CONTINUES TO SOAR: Strong sales of third-generation cellphones helped lift Nokia first-quarter revenue to 9.5 billion euros ($1.47 billion), 29% higher than a year ago. Profits rose 21%, to 1.05 billion euros. Nokia provided about a third of the estimated 229 million cellphones sold worldwide in the quarter. UBS REVENUES SLIDE DURING RESTRUCTURING: Unique Broadband Systems, majority owner of Look Communications, had revenues of $7.85 million in the quarter ended February 28, 19% less than the same period a year ago. Reduced marketing expenses helped cut UBS's loss to $1.2 million. UBS is restructuring to develop a new "Mobile Multi Media" business. DORTMANS' E-COLUMN READERSHIP SEES RAPID GROWTH: Henry Dortmans' "On the Line" column has been a popular feature of Telemanagement magazine for over ten years. The telecom management consultant is now distributing his articles by opt-in email: in just four months more than 1,000 new subscribers have added their names to the distribution list. ** To receive the past four months' issues, email info@angusdortmans.ca. To register for a free subscription, click on "On the Line" at www.angusdortmans.ca. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 late Friday afternoon each week at http://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 2006 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail jriddell@angustel.ca. 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. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:41:20 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Telstra Competitors Propose Joint High-Speed Starting today we've added "Other News" to your USTelecom dailyLead. This new, headlines-only feature, offered in addition to the full news summaries we present each day, showcases links to other articles that may be of interest to you. It is designed to increase the quantity and variety of news we offer without increasing the time it takes to digest the news each day. We're eager to hear your thoughts about this addition to your daily SmartBrief. Click here to send your comments our way. -- The dailyLead team USTelecom dailyLead April 21, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/duvIfDtutczyzhMKOP TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Telstra competitors propose joint high-speed network BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Alltel offers free, unlimited calls to 10 numbers * Lucent, WWP in reseller pact * Comcast invests in ad-supported 411 service * What's the 411? Directory assistance advertising * China Netcom taps UTStarcom for IPTV USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Everything You Need to Know About Telecom TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Mobile phones new vehicle for podcasts * Cisco leads project to build IP network for Navajo Nation VOIP DOWNLOAD * Skype CEO says China partner censors text messages * Craig McCaw's Clearwire jumps into VoIP fray * UPC expands VoIP services, claims 1M subscribers REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Florida regulators approve Verizon request * High expectations for Wi-Fi networks despite technology's rocky history Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/duvIfDtutczyzhMKOP ------------------------------ Subject: Area Code - NNX Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:05:10 -0500 From: Jan Schmidt Am looking for a site where one can enter the AC and NNX and find out what city the telephone number is located in. Do you offer that somewhere on your web site? Thanks, Jan [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not have that feature here in TELECOM Digest, however it is available on other web sites. Perhaps Linc Madison or Jon or one of the guys who keeps up with area codes these days can refer you to such a template. PAT] ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 19:25:43 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , wrote: > I haven't found answers to most of these questions: [[.. snip questions ..]] Authoritative answer to all the questions: "it depends". You couldn't even be bothered to specify what country you were talking about, reducing any attempt to respond to nothing more than a 'guess', at best. In the U.S., 'local number portability' is a fact. With some caveats. Only the _owner_ of the number can 'port' it to a different carrier. Who actually 'owns' the number is not necessarily obvious. You _do_ probably 'own' the POTS or cellular number you use. If you have a personal 800 number, it is likely that the company providing the service 'owns' _that_ number, and has just 'loaned' it to you. VOIP providers are the 'customer' to the telephone company, and, as such 'own' the numbers they were issued by the telephone company. They're just letting you 'use' one of their 'direct dial' extensions, as it were. (note: this situation has gotten a _lot_ muddier, with the gov't ruling that VOIP providers must provide '911' under the requirements for 'real' telephone companies. Argument can be made that if they're being treated as a 'real' phone company, they should have to do all the other things 'real' telephone companies do. Like number portability, 911 fees, 'universal access' fees, etc.) There are a minimum of three players in any local number 'porting', possibly as many as _five_. (I think it's possible that one could even get more, but I cant think of how, right now.) At a minimum, there is the 'customer' (you), the old carrier, and the new carrier. 'You' have to issue the authorization for the carrier change, the new carrier has to be willing (and able!) to handle calls for that number After those things are established, the old carrier *must* relinquish the number to the new carrier. Things can get messy, since portability *is* only "local" -- you cannot 'port' a NYC number to Los Angeles, for example. This means that the 'new' carrier must have physical equipment in the 'local' area of the original switch that serviced that number. If the 'new' carrier doesn't have facilities in the right location, they're "not able" to receive the number. The 'more complicated' case: you're a 'user' who buys service from the party (actual telephone 'customer') that 'owns' the number, and want to take it somewhere else -- where you'd just be a 'user' of a _different_ actual telephone 'customer'. (e.g., going from one VOIP provider to another VOIP provider.) This requires: 1) active co-operation from the current VOIP provider, to issue the LOA authorizing their _telephone_company_ to release the number to the designated carrier used by the new VOIP provider. 2) active co-operation from the new VOIP provider, to: (a) identify their carrier, (b) route calls to that number to _you_, and (c) co-operate in relinquishing that number if/when you decide to go 'somewhere else'. 3) a transfer of 'ownership' of that number from the current VOIP provider (remember _they_ are the telephone company's customer) to the new VOIP provider. This is necessary because the new VOIP provider doesn't use the same telephone company as the old VOIP provider -- thus the receiving telephone company does not 'recognize' the current provider (who issued the LOA for the change) as one of _their_ customers. And, similarly, the current telco doesn't recognize the new VOIP provider as one of their customers. 4) the telco of the new VOIP provider must have facilities in the right location, or they're "not able" to receive the number. 5) the new VOIP provider must have links to *that* equipment, or the telco must be willing to back-haul the connection from the 'destination' facility to the one where the VOIP provider has their connection. ------------------------------ Date: 21 Apr 2006 19:50:00 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular > What this means is that if the wireless carrier gets numbers from rate > center A, wireline customers in rate center A will be able to port to > wireless and vice versa. Wireline customers in rate centers B, C, and > D will not be able to port to or from wireless because the wireless > carrier isn't present in their rate center. Really? My tiny ILEC says our numbers are portable to wireless, but there are no prefixes in their rate centers but theirs. I was under the impression that you really only need to be present in the LATA, not in the rate center, for portability to work. You just need to be able to provide a routing number for the portability database and as far as I can tell the routing number need not be in the same rate center as the original number. There's certainly no technical reason it has to be. Inbound calls will still be rated as calls to the original rate center, but cellular and VoIP carriers don't care. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Vientus Subject: Re: MySpace Hires Child Safety Expert From Microsoft Date: 21 Apr 2006 13:59:48 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com masonboro_island@yahoo.com wrote: > I think this is good news. I've been reading up about the online > predator issue for a while now and I'm glad to see that social > networking communities are beginning to bring in people and > advertisements that help promote online safety. It won't solve > everything but its an improvement. MySpace is now partnering with the > National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which also happens > to provide the cybertipline service so people can report predators. > What does everyone else think about this issue? I think Google should add a phone verification like http://www.Phoneconfirm.com to the sign-up process much like eBay and other older online communities have done. That would help solve multiple sign ups by underage users and give the predators something to think about ... ------------------------------ From: Koos van den Hout Subject: Re: Should Consumers Tape "Customer Service" Calls? Date: 21 Apr 2006 20:14:58 GMT Organization: http://idefix.net/~koos/ T wrote in : [ story about dell support woes ] > There ought to be some sort of vetting process for I.T. folks to get > past those damned support scripts. With Dell there is an option (at least in the Netherlands). A company can send one (or more) of their support people on a special Dell course (and pay for the privilege), after which those support people will have access to second-line support at Dell. Regular freshen-up courses are needed for new models of hardware and other changes. A company needs to have an awful lot of Dell hardware for this to be interesting. Koos Koos van den Hout, PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 via keyservers koos@kzdoos.xs4all.nl or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5 -?) Fax +31-30-2817051 Visit the site about books with reviews /\\ http://idefix.net/~koos/ http://www.virtualbookcase.com/ _\_V ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Network Neutrality Date: 21 Apr 2006 17:56:32 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article , Patrick Townson wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: 'Network Neutrality', the concept that > everyone on the net should be given equal use of network facilities > is a very interesting concept. At first glance, I would say I agree > with it, yet the telcos, notably AT&T (SBC by its other name) and > the larger ISPs (America OnLine for example) seem to be fighting it > for various reasons. What's old is new again. :-/ Back in the days of dial-up Internet access the phone companies used to complain about tying up POTS lines for extended data sessions. I seem to remember waaay back something about phone company rules prohibiting customers using profanity during a phone conversation (although maybe that memory is an artifact of college excesses). The ideas being promoted by the phone companies for network usage would be like them charging different rates depending on the types of phone calls you want to make ... like charging more to place a 20-minute data call vs a 20-minute voice call. The dial-up issues were probably justified, because the infrastructure was designed with a completely different usage model. In the case of data networks the capacity planning is typically based on a 95th percentile basis, and it's entirely possible that the new web apps are skewing the loads in ways that weren't anticipated. But with data networks when the capacity is exceeded you don't have to completey redesign and rebuild your infrastructure, you have to add more capacity. That costs money, but throughout the system the costs are determined on the basis of capacity or load requirements. So theoretically as a user/server contributes more to the load on the system their costs increase proportionately and that money eventually trickles through the system to the network providers that are carrying the load and have to build out their capacity to support it. Essentially we're all paying for bandwidth, at both ends. The network bits and bytes don't care what type of data they're carrying. It works the same regardless. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Network Neutrality Date: 21 Apr 2006 12:26:35 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com (quoting from the MoveOn original item): > If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's a > good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by a > "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service to > all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while "tiered > access" never influenced the spread of the telephone network, it is > becoming a major issue in the evolution of the Internet. It is curious Move-On cited the old style common carrier policy as a justification for their position. Yes, in the old days it was equal access, equal rates for all, and common carrier. But MCI successfully sued to throw all of that out of the window along with the courts and Congress. MCI claimed the right to carry public customers at lower cost when and if it suited them. That claim created "tiered" service. Our telecom service has been operating that way, for better or worse, ever since. Most telecom services today are deregulated. That means you pay for what you want in a competitive marketplace. If your provider rips you off, too bad, it's buyer beware. I can't help but suspect Move-On is being a little selfish here. Their operation works on mass emails -- to their members to promote causes, from their members to push politicians. Cheap or free email is necessary to do that. Perhaps Move-On is afraid of having to pay for what it now gets for free. Sorry, but just because they're a non-profit doesn't mean they get a free ride. Another poster correctly pointed out that someone has to pay for the Internet. I don't want to subsidize Move-On. Indeed, perhaps someone like myself who is a prolific Usenet poster is getting a free ride. Admittedly I like that deal very much, but I must admit it's not very fair. Another poster noted the problems of spam and abuse. I think there are stll some "purists" or "romantics" out there who still think of the Internet as a pure form of like-minded people when it served only a very select audience of researchers. Those days are very long gone. BTW, there's a intermediate load of mail I call "semi-spam". It's mail from someone you know and converse with, but stuff you're not really interested in. For example, say one of your friends is religious and keeps sending you little Bible quotes and the like, things you didn't ask for and always delete. (Or it could be political messages). Organizations -- both profit and non-profit of course do it all the time. A lot of people do this because it's so easy and free. This represents a wasteful load on the network. As to Move-On's fear that major ISP controllers will restrict access to sites, I question that. Undoubtedly favored sites will get top billing, but that does not mean other sites will be degraded in access. TV and cable networks don't do that to favor their own shows or channels. They can't because consumers would raise hell if they did. Actually, as I consumer, I wonder if some sort of "bit tax" might be a good idea. My dial-up home is essentially worthless these days because sites have some much layered overhead bloat you gotta have DSL to do anything in a realistic amount of time. That bloat doesn't give one any more information, only more pizazz on the screen. On the rare event I find an old site my dial up works just fine and the text flows and small graphics through quickly. At the present rate plain DSL will be obsolete and will have to go to industrial strength DSL or FIOS at much higher cost to us consumers. It is worth it to see pop up ads blink on and off? ------------------------------ From: Brad Houser Subject: Re: Network Neutrality Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:30:00 -0700 Organization: Intel Corporation Reply-To: bradDOThouser@intel.com On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:38:52 GMT, Steven Lichter wrote: > Though as you say Network Neutrality is a good itea, without the > large companies, the internet would still be as it was in the > begining, just for the Collages and the govenment. The cost of > building and maintaining the inferstructure costs millions of > dollars and someone has to pay for it, we the users do so the > companies that do business also should pay their fair share. They overbuilt it and now that there is so much competition, the free market isn't working for them. They see more and more people going for all you can eat connections. I say keep it free and if you don't want to be an ISP sell to someone else. Google has to pay for all its internet connections or Google would be too slow. Charge based on bandwidth, or bytes, but not for what type of bytes you get or where they come from. Brad Houser ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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: 620-402-0134 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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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. 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 V25 #153 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Apr 22 14:42:38 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id F273C15582; Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:42:37 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #154 Message-Id: <20060422184237.F273C15582@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:42:37 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:46:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 154 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Google Declines to Rule Out Wireless Airwave Bid (Eric Auchard) Microsoft Hires CEO of Ask.com to Head its Web Unit (Reuters News Wire) Apple Questioned in Trade Secrets Case (Monty Solomon) EPIC Alert 13.08 (Monty Solomon) Re: Area Code - NNX (Waitman Gobble) Re: Area Code - NNX (Burris) Re: Area Code - NNX (Rich Greenberg) Re: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? (Gordon Burditt) Re: Podcasting Not For Most People (Thomas A. Horsley) Re: Podcasting Not For Most People (Barry Margolin) Telecommunications Alternatives For The Distributed Workforce (kimi) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (John Levine) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (Michael D. Sullivan) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (Raqueeb Hassan) Re: Network Neutrality (Steven Lichter) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Eric Auchard Subject: Google Declines to Rule Out Wireless Airwave Bid Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 12:28:48 -0500 By Eric Auchard Google Inc. on Thursday opened the door to the possibility that it could bid on U.S. licenses for wireless radio spectrum in order to offer Internet access services, but said no plans were imminent. Co-founder Larry Page said the company has no wireless spectrum acquisition plans to announce but declined to rule out speculation that Google may be gearing up for a push far beyond wireless trials it is working on in the San Francisco area. "We haven't announced any plans with regard to spectrum, but we are generally interested in improving access to the Internet," he said in a tone mixing the excitement of a keen science student with that of a billionaire ready to pay for the undertaking. He was responding to a question by a Wall Street analyst over whether the company's wireless strategy would lead the company to bid in upcoming U.S. airwave auctions. "In general we are interested in anything that can provide better, more transparent access to the Internet," said Page, who is co-president of Google in charge of products and also the company's biggest shareholder. Later, in a phone interview, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt also said Google had no current plans to bid on radio spectrum. The Federal Communications Commission is slated to auction 90 megahertz of wireless airwaves starting June 29 and initial applications to participate in the sale are due by May 10. The licenses could be used for advanced wireless services like high-speed Internet access and video. The FCC is also expected by January 28 to start auctioning 2008 wireless airwaves that television broadcasters are giving up as they move to digital signals. The two auctions are expected to raise billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury. Google is working on a citywide wireless project with Internet access provider EarthLink in San Francisco, and a trial project of its own in the town of Mountain View, where its headquarters is based. It has said it is studying how it might use advertising to offer free municipal wireless access. Schmidt, asked about radio spectrum, said, "We don't have a huge bid being prepared." He joked that a random engineer might be working on a side project without his knowledge. "It would take some work for an engineer on 20 percent time to prepare a billion dollar bid," Schmidt said. Google encourages some employees to devote a portion of their work week to so-called "20 percent time" projects to develop innovative ideas outside their day-to-day jobs. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky in Washington, D.C.) Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headline news from the media, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft Hires CEO of Ask.com to Head its Web Unit Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 12:30:47 -0500 Software giant Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it hired away Steve Berkowitz, the chief executive of rival Internet company Ask.com, to head Microsoft's own Internet business. Effective May 8, Berkowitz succeeds David Cole, a 20-year Microsoft veteran, who is set to begin a one-year leave of absence, Microsoft said in a statement. He had outlined his plans in a memo to employees in February. Berkowitz is credited in the industry with orchestrating the turnaround of Ask.com, the Web search and media business acquired by Barry Diller's conglomerate, IAC/InterActiveCorp, for $1.85 billion 13 months ago. Under his leadership, Ask, originally known as Ask Jeeves, enjoyed a revival in its audience and market share gains in the highly competitive Web search business over the past year. Berkowitz was named the senior vice president of Microsoft's recently formed Online Business Group, which brings together the operations of Microsoft's MSN Internet business unit with other consumer businesses within Microsoft. The group includes MSN.com, MSNTV and MSN Internet Access programming, advertising sales, business development, and marketing for Live Platforms, MSN and Windows Live, with responsibility for generating greater advertising sales. Microsoft's Online Business Group competes against rivals such as Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit and Ask.com. Berkowitz will report to Kevin Johnson, co-president of Microsoft's platforms and services unit, Microsoft said. He propelled Ask Jeeves into the contemporary Web search market with the acquisition of Teoma in 2001. He led the redesign of Ask, made the site easier to use by removing pop-up and banner ads and providing greater context on searches. Revenue more than doubled under his leadership. Previously, Berkowitz was president and chief operating officer of technology trade publisher IDG Books, where he built a hit consumer brand by expanding the "Dummies" series of books to cover topics ranging from the Web to pet care. He expanded IDG Books by acquiring publishing brands such as Cliffs Notes, Frommers Travel Guides and Betty Crocker Cookbooks. Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 23:57:53 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Questioned in Trade Secrets Case By MAY WONG AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A case that could jeopardize the right of journalists to protect the confidentiality of sources and give companies more legal leeway to track down supposed leaks of trade secrets is now in the hands of a state appeals court. Apple Computer Inc. faced tough questions before a three-judge panel of the 6th District Court of Appeal on Thursday as it argued its case seeking to identify the sources who leaked confidential information about an unreleased product to online media outlets in 2004. Apple contended the unidentified sources _ presumed to be company employees _ violated its trade secrets. It subpoenaed the Internet service providers of three online journalists to turn over e-mail records to uncover the possible sources. A lower court last year ruled in Apple's favor but the Electronic Frontier Foundation, whose attorneys represent the online journalists of AppleInsider.com, PowerPage.org and MacNN.com appealed. The civil liberties organization contended Apple's protection of trade secrets in this case should not outweigh the journalists' First Amendment right to confidential sources nor the privacy protections of e-mails allowed under federal law. The appellate panel in San Jose questioned Apple's stance, including its claim that the published diagrams of the unreleased music-related product code-named "Asteroid" amounted to a trade secret. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57810158 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 00:53:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: EPIC Alert 13.08 ======================================================================== E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================== Volume 13.08 April 21, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_13.08.html ======================================================================== Table of Contents ======================================================================== [1] ICANN Chooses Privacy for Whois [2] Congress, Administration Push for U.S. Data Retention Laws [3] International Privacy Commissioners Meet in Washington [4] U.S. Archives Had Reclassification Agreements With CIA, Air Force [5] Immigration Bill Would Require DHS Checks for All U.S. Jobs [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Bookstore: David Lyon's "Surveillance as Social Sorting" [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_13.08.html ------------------------------ From: Waitman Gobble Subject: Re: Area Code - NNX Date: 21 Apr 2006 21:05:54 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello Jan, Here are some links for you: http://www.quentinsagerconsulting.com/npanxx_phonecodes.htm (i've used that one for years, there's a nice free lookup for occasional use.) http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/index.htm (I usually use Melissa Data for address lookups however they also have phone number databases.) I've stumbled upon these http://www.fonefinder.net/ (haven't used but looks ok.) http://www.tndatabase.com/ (interesting click-number thingy. Make use of Control-F key combination to search page.) Take care Waitman ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 07:58:01 -0400 From: Burris Subject: Re: Area Code - NNX Jan Schmidt wrote: > Am looking for a site where one can enter the AC and NNX and find out > what city the telephone number is located in. Do you offer that > somewhere on your web site? > Thanks, > Jan > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I do not have that feature here in > TELECOM Digest, however it is available on other web sites. Perhaps > Linc Madison or Jon or one of the guys who keeps up with area codes > these days can refer you to such a template. PAT] See if this is what you want ... http://www.telcodata.us/telcodata/telco ------------------------------ From: richgr@panix.com (Rich Greenberg) Subject: Re: Area Code - NNX Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 23:43:42 UTC Organization: Organized? Me? In article , Jan Schmidt wrote: > Am looking for a site where one can enter the AC and NNX and find out > what city the telephone number is located in. Do you offer that > somewhere on your web site? There are probably several. The one I usually use is: http://www.telcodata.us/telcodata/telco Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507 Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67 Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L ------------------------------ From: gordonb.mjj57@burditt.org (Gordon Burditt) Subject: Re: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 23:10:22 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com > At issue are the user login areas that can be found on banking sites > such as Chase.com and Americanexpress.com, which ask users to submit > their user ID and password information. Although these forms may be > encrypted, they do not use authentication technology to prove they are > genuine, according to Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the > SANS Institute. > A more secure approach would be to force users to log in on a HTTPS > (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure) Web page. HTTPS pages use the > SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security protocol, which not only encrypts > the information on the page but also provides digital certificates to > give assurance that the Web site in question is genuine. SSL is an effective way of transmitting payment information securely to the thief operating a web site in such a way that the other thieves don't get the info first. > "If the login form is not HTTPS, you don't know if it's the real > thing," Ullrich said. If it's HTTPS, and you don't look at the certificate, you still don't know if it's the real thing. If you don't look at the certificate, you don't know it doesn't say: "Union of Nigerian Bank Fraud Artists, Third Pile of Money on the Left SUCKER, Nigerian Republic of Bank Fraud". I suspect just about anyone can get a real certificate if they use their real name on it, even if they are running a web site from inside a prison and freely admit it to Verisign. Saddam, have you applied for a certificate yet? If you don't pay attention to warnings about certificate authorities, I can make a certificate that looks just like a real bank certificate, and it will fool lots of people. However, it's more fun to make certificates for "Satan, Prince of Darkness", and few people will read it anyway. You do get a few browser warnings, however, I suspect a lot of people would click OK without thinking to a popup: You are about to install the Code Red Virus. Only an idiot would deliberately install a virus thinking it was anti-virus software. The install program will also drain your checking account and take your soul and first-born child. Install virus anyway? > Web pages that do not use this type of secure connection are > vulnerable to a type of attack known as DNS (Domain Name System) > spoofing, where attackers attempt to trick Web browsers into visiting > bogus Web sites. And if you don't read the certificates, you won't notice that you expected to be connected to Chased Bank and you're really connected to Henry's House of Hashish and Aftermarket Biological Weapons. > This type of attack is technically challenging, however, and hackers > generally find it far easier to trick users into giving up their user > names and passwords using phishing techniques, Ullrich said. > Though Bank of America allows customers to enter their online IDs on > the home page, they cannot submit passwords. The bank sends them to an > HTTPS page and uses a technology called SiteKey to confirm to > customers that they are at the legitimate Bank of America site before > they enter their passwords. > "We're committed to safeguarding customer information online and we > wouldn't do anything to compromise that security," Riess said. Bank of America has an interesting setup to avoid spoofing and man-in-the-middle attacks, and it involves the user a bit more. You set up an image (chosen from a set of what might be a few hundred), a caption, and some security questions and answers. (For example, I might select an image of a fire-breathing dragon, and caption it "my mother-in-law". I might also select a security question of "What is your favorite pet?" with the answer "9/11/2001". Of course, by choosing such wierd answers, I'd better remember the real answers as the question won't give much of a hint.) 1. You go to what is supposedly the login page. 2. You put in your ID (but not password) 3. If your computer has the BofA cookie on it for this account, skip to step 7 4. You are asked one of the security questions (I think an SSL page). 5. You answer it. 6. If your answer is correct, the web page offers to put a cookie on the computer you are using (but advises you not to if it's a public system). 7. You get a SSL page showing your selected image and the caption (Together, these are the site key.). You are advised *NOT* to enter your password if you don't see the correct site key. Enter your password. 8. You put in the password. 9. If it's correct, you're in, and the cookie from step 6 is added if requested. 10. You get the online banking page (SSL) for your account. If you usually log in from a small set of computers which by now have the cookie on them, you only do steps 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and you should be suspicious of suddenly getting asked (for a man-in-the-middle attack) one of the security questions. Notes: if you refuse to accept cookies, you get asked the security question, but it still works. The cookie does NOT substitute for knowing the password. Although it's hardly foolproof, especially if the user isn't paying attention, it's different and it involves the user a bit more, so I think it's going to be more effective. Gordon L. Burditt ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Podcasting Not For Most People From: tom.horsley@att.net (Thomas A. Horsley) Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:45:45 GMT > "Logically true, yes. Psychologically true, no. My > colleagues and I, along with other researchers, have begun amassing > evidence -- both in the laboratory and in the field -- that increased > choice can lead to decreased well-being." It requires researchers to amass evidence for this? They must be getting government grants. There are places I won't go to eat because just reading the menu takes more time than I have for lunch -- I wouldn't think it would take vast amounts of research to figure this sorta thing out ... Even the fast food joints are starting to join the too many choices trend: Do you want the grilled chicken or the fried chicken? Do you want the Honey-Mustard-Tofu-Wheatgerm sauce or the Banana-Nut-Bat-Guano sauce? I wish they'd all change their scripts and have the first question always be: Do you want that with or without choices? :-). ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Podcasting Not For Most People Organization: Symantec Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 22:13:02 -0400 In article , Andrew Kantor wrote: > Roadblocks > There's already an example of what happens when something gets so > inexpensive that what was once limited to corporations and > professionals becomes possible for anyone: spam. .... > That's roadblock number one. Number two is the technology. .... > The last major roadblock to podcasts taking off is an unfortunate > thing, but one that's real nonetheless: the tyranny of choice. When I first heard about sites like eBay and craigslist, I thought they would suffer from much the same problem. If anyone can sell their junk, these sites will presumably be filled mostly with junk. I don't use these sites myself, so I still wonder how they've been so successful despite this. In fact, the same argument could be made about the Web as a whole. Just because anyone can be a publisher doesn't mean everyone *should* be a publisher. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** *** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group *** ------------------------------ From: kimi Subject: Telecommunications Alternatives For Distributed Workforce (March 2006) Date: 21 Apr 2006 18:03:45 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Telecommunications Alternatives For The Distributed Workforce (March 2006) Introduction,Distributed Workforce,Virtual Organization,Field Offices for Larger Concerns,Virtual PBX,Case Study-Centract,Knowledge Worker Impact Quotient,Conclusions http://www.freewebs.com/virtual-pbx/ ------------------------------ Date: 21 Apr 2006 23:45:04 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular > VOIP providers are the 'customer' to the telephone company, and, as > such 'own' the numbers they were issued by the telephone company. > They're just letting you 'use' one of their 'direct dial' extensions, > as it were. Except sometimes. When I switched from Vonage to Lingo about a year ago, before mandatory E-911, I ported my number the normal way and it worked. I have no idea whether Vonage could have prevented the port if they'd wanted to. In fact, what happened was that Vonage didn't even notice, and once I got Vonage to cancel the account (I got their attention by turning off the credit card number to which the account was charged), they thought the number was still theirs but unassigned. This had the effect that anyone in the world other than Vonage customers could call me, while Vonage customers got an out of service recording. Since I don't get calls from many Vonage customers, I didn't care. Then about two months ago, Vonage assigned my old number to a new customer, a student at a nearby college, and I got some rather confused calls from her father who was rather bent out of shape that he called the number that his daughter had given him and that showed up on his caller ID box, and got me instead. Fortunately, I had a simple way to fix it: I happen to be acquainted with a one of the members of Vonage's corporate board of directors, and sent him a note which he forwarded to Vonage management, and it was all fixed within a day. If I hadn't had that side channel, I doubt it would ever have been fixed. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Michael D. Sullivan Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 03:35:42 GMT John Levine wrote: >> What this means is that if the wireless carrier gets numbers from rate >> center A, wireline customers in rate center A will be able to port to >> wireless and vice versa. Wireline customers in rate centers B, C, and >> D will not be able to port to or from wireless because the wireless >> carrier isn't present in their rate center. > Really? My tiny ILEC says our numbers are portable to wireless, but > there are no prefixes in their rate centers but theirs. > I was under the impression that you really only need to be present in > the LATA, not in the rate center, for portability to work. You just > need to be able to provide a routing number for the portability > database and as far as I can tell the routing number need not be in > the same rate center as the original number. There's certainly no > technical reason it has to be. > Inbound calls will still be rated as calls to the original rate > center, but cellular and VoIP carriers don't care. John, thanks for pointing out that this issue is a bit more complicated than I let on. As you note, there is no technical imperative for portability to be limited to a rate center. A white paper on this is located at: http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/tapd/Nanc/rcnanc1.doc My summary regarding rate centers and their relevance to porting was oversimplified. The general rule for wireline carrier number porting to other wireline carriers is rate center dependent. However, this is not the case with respect to certain ports between wireline and wireless. A wireline carrier must port to a wireless carrier even if the wireless carrier doesn't have numbering resources in the rate center where the number is located. The wireline carriers took the position that they didn't have to do so, but the FCC ruled in November 2003 that wireline-to-wireless ports were required as long as the wireless carrier has service covering the rate center (using Zip codes for that determination, apparently). It did not require wireless-to-wireline ports where the wireline carrier doesn't have numbering resources in the rate center where the ported number is located, however; that issue has been put on hold pending further study. The order is online at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-284A1.pdf There is also an October 2003 order holding that wireless-to-wireless porting does not require a common rate center. This order, is online at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-237A1.pdf Michael D. Sullivan Bethesda, MD (USA) (Replace "example.invalid" with "com" in my address.) ------------------------------ From: Raqueeb Hassan Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular Date: 22 Apr 2006 10:27:04 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > Inbound calls will still be rated as calls to the original rate center ... Hello! Now, regarding the technical feasibility -- how do these exchanges interconnected? How can you port numbers should all telcos dialplans are not shared in a single routing device? How will these calls be routed should all the carriers don't share their dialing plans ahead to each other? I guess all the switches (wireline and non- wireline carriers) should be terminated to a tandem exchage (in our case, incumbent telco's responsibility). In a smaller country where ILECs and CLECs (including cellular and VoIP) can be the same carriers, how do you suggest the feasible placement of rate center(s)? TIA Raqueeb Hassan Bangladesh ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Network Neutrality From: Steven Lichter Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:41:14 GMT In article telecom25.153.9@telecom-digest.org, hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com at hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote on 4/21/06 12:26: > (quoting from the MoveOn original item): >> If you've never heard about this bit of business history, there's a >> good reason: it never happened. Instead, A.T. & T. had to abide by a >> "common carriage" rule: it provided the same quality of service to >> all, and could not favor one customer over another. But, while "tiered >> access" never influenced the spread of the telephone network, it is >> becoming a major issue in the evolution of the Internet. > It is curious Move-On cited the old style common carrier policy as a > justification for their position. > Yes, in the old days it was equal access, equal rates for all, and > common carrier. But MCI successfully sued to throw all of that out of > the window along with the courts and Congress. MCI claimed the right > to carry public customers at lower cost when and if it suited them. > That claim created "tiered" service. Our telecom service has been > operating that way, for better or worse, ever since. And now look who owns MCI!! > Most telecom services today are deregulated. That means you pay for > what you want in a competitive marketplace. If your provider rips you > off, too bad, it's buyer beware. > I can't help but suspect Move-On is being a little selfish here. > Their operation works on mass emails -- to their members to promote > causes, from their members to push politicians. Cheap or free email > is necessary to do that. Perhaps Move-On is afraid of having to pay > for what it now gets for free. > Sorry, but just because they're a non-profit doesn't mean they get a > free ride. Another poster correctly pointed out that someone has to > pay for the Internet. I don't want to subsidize Move-On. > Indeed, perhaps someone like myself who is a prolific Usenet poster is > getting a free ride. Admittedly I like that deal very much, but I > must admit it's not very fair. > Another poster noted the problems of spam and abuse. I think there are > stll some "purists" or "romantics" out there who still think of the > Internet as a pure form of like-minded people when it served only a > very select audience of researchers. Those days are very long gone. > BTW, there's a intermediate load of mail I call "semi-spam". It's > mail from someone you know and converse with, but stuff you're not > really interested in. For example, say one of your friends is > religious and keeps sending you little Bible quotes and the like, > things you didn't ask for and always delete. (Or it could be > political messages). Organizations -- both profit and non-profit of > course do it all the time. A lot of people do this because it's so > easy and free. This represents a wasteful load on the network. > As to Move-On's fear that major ISP controllers will restrict access > to sites, I question that. Undoubtedly favored sites will get top > billing, but that does not mean other sites will be degraded in > access. TV and cable networks don't do that to favor their own shows > or channels. They can't because consumers would raise hell if they > did. > Actually, as I consumer, I wonder if some sort of "bit tax" might be a > good idea. My dial-up home is essentially worthless these days > because sites have some much layered overhead bloat you gotta have DSL > to do anything in a realistic amount of time. That bloat doesn't give > one any more information, only more pizazz on the screen. On the rare > event I find an old site my dial up works just fine and the text flows > and small graphics through quickly. At the present rate plain DSL > will be obsolete and will have to go to industrial strength DSL or > FIOS at much higher cost to us consumers. It is worth it to see pop > up ads blink on and off? In article telecom25.152.10@telecom-digest.org, Waitman Gobble at avail4one@gmail.com wrote on 4/21/06 8:10: > Hello, > I'm not sure that the typical consumer would have the patience for a > broken Internet. If average Susan decides to "shop store x" and the > site isn't working properly, her patience will wear thin. If this > happens to multiple sites, It is my opinion that she won't merely be > "trained" into going to the sites approved by the government. She'd > probably just jump ship and scrap the whole notion of the Internet. > Which would mean she'd just call up her provider and disconnect > service. She has better things to do. The Internet is broken now and the only way to really fix it is to start over again!! > The bit about "tiered access" is curious, because it JUST happened to a > client of mine. He has been using DSL in his home for years without > much of any trouble. However in the past month his service has been > offline about half time, which has been extremely frustrating for him. > The problem is that a few weeks ago, it was down for a week and they > said that some tech had "accidentally unplugged 50 lines in his > neighborhood and his was included". It actually took them a week to > "plug it back in". Then after a week of uptime it went down again (for > another week) and the providers' response was "there's water in the > line". The word he received from his provider, which is the company > named in the article, was that he should upgrade his account to "their > business level service to get better service and have trouble-free > Internet". After that phone call, he called his local cable company and > ordered their Internet service. That's a true story. > We'll see what happens I suppose :) > Take care, > Waitman ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #154 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Apr 23 18:56:39 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 2FF7915161; Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:56:39 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #155 Message-Id: <20060423225639.2FF7915161@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 18:56:39 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.1 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, BIZ_TLD,MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR,ONLINE_PHARMACY autolearn=no version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 23 Apr 2006 19:00:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 155 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Pioneering WikFi City Sees Startup Woes (Travis Reed) Texas Community College Bans MySpace.com (Associated Press News Wire) Verizon UNE DS3 Question (darktiger) Google's China Problem (and China's Google Problem) (Monty Solomon) Re: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? (Steven Lichter) Re: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? (B. Wright) Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? (Charles Gowder) Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? (Geoffrey Welsh) Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? (Koos van den Hout) Re: NPA-NXX Lists (Anthony Bellanga) Re: NPA-NNX Lists (Mr Joseph Singer) Re: Podcasting Not For Most People (John Levine) Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular (Fred Atkinson) Re: New Technology Will Force TV Ad Viewing (John Stahl) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Travis Reed Subject: Pioneering WikFi City Sees Startup Woes Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 17:01:34 -0500 By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer Joe Lusardi's friends back in New York couldn't believe it when he told them he'd have free Internet access through this city's new Wi-Fi network. It's free all right, but residents are, to some extent, getting what they pay for. More than a month after St. Cloud launched what analysts say is the country's first free citywide Wi-Fi network, Lusardi and others in this 28,000-person Orlando suburb are still paying to use their own Internet service providers as dead spots and weak signals keep some residents offline and force engineers to retool the free system. "Everybody's happy they were going to have it, but I don't know if they're happy right now," said Lusardi, a 66-year-old retired New York City transit worker. The same troubles with the small town's big Internet project could be lessons for municipalities from Philadelphia to San Francisco considering similar networks. St. Cloud officials are spending more than $2 million on a network they see as a pioneering model for freeing local families, schools and businesses from monthly Internet bills. It also promises to help the city reduce cell-phone bills and let paramedics in an ambulance talk by voice and video to hospital doctors. Instead, what they have so far is a work in progress. "All technology has its hiccups, and sometimes more than hiccups," St. Cloud Mayor Donna Hart said. "I think that it's going to be a major challenge, and it'll probably be a major challenge for some time until the technology is such that it works properly." Wi-Fi is the same technology behind wireless Internet access in coffee shops, airports and college campuses around the country. Several cities have Wi-Fi hotspots, but St. Cloud's 15-square-mile network is the first to offer free access citywide, said Seattle-based technology writer Glenn Fleishman, who runs a Web site called Wi-Fi Networking News. Other cities like Tempe, Ariz., have networks over a larger area (187 square miles), but access isn't free. Planned projects in places like Chicago and Philadelphia would also dwarf St. Cloud's network, but also require a fee for access. Google Inc. and EarthLink Inc. are teaming up to build a $15 million Wi-Fi network across San Francisco, and their proposal is entering final negotiations. EarthLink's faster offering would cost $20 per month, while Google would provide a slower, free service financed by advertising. St. Cloud launched the network on a trial basis in May 2004 in a new division of town to help give businesses an incentive to relocate. After further exploring the benefits, officials decided to expand it citywide. Project supporters say increased efficiency in city government will cover the network's $2.6 million buildout and estimated $400,000 annual operating expense. For example, phones that use the Wi-Fi network will allow it to cut cell-phone bills for police and city workers. The city can avoid adding 10 more building inspectors because the network will existing employees to enter and access data onsite instead of driving back to the office. The network also could keep the estimated $450 that St. Cloud households now spend each year on high-speed access in the local economy. As of last week, nearly 3,500 users had registered for the network, logging 176,189 total hours of use. St. Cloud contracted with Hewlett-Packard Co. to build the project and provide customer support. "HP is working with the city and its partners to optimize the solution and install additional access points to help improve signal strength in isolated areas of the city," the company said in a statement. So far, there have been plenty of calls from frustrated residents. Some can see receivers from their homes and still can't sign on -- even on the porch. Others have tried to connect countless times. Still, HP said that there were only 842 help-line calls out of more than 50,000 user sessions in the first 45 days of service. At first, a desktop computer in Lusardi's house could use the Wi-Fi network with no problem, but his laptop would only work outdoors. Even then it was too slow and unreliable, so he kept his $20 per month Sprint DSL service. Now the desktop doesn't even work, and he's completely abandoned the idea of dropping his pay service and using the network. "It's just total frustration," Lusardi said. "I'm going to stay with the DSL and just forget it, because I don't think it's going to work. Very few people are going to use it, and they're going to say it's underutilized and they're going to shut it down." Lusardi didn't shell out the money for a signal-boosting device St. Cloud recommends for those having trouble connecting -- City Hall sells them for $170. Fleishman said the fact that others share Lusardi's frustration is a crucial technical and public relations problem for the vanguard project. He said residents should understand many won't be able to use the free network without additional equipment to strengthen the signal. "It's very large and it's very ambitious, so they're going to hit some of these problems before some of the marketing and technology is out there," he said. "Products have to catch up to this new market." Fleishman said other cities would likely have the same problems - in bigger cities, even larger ones -- if they didn't fully inform the public of necessary equipment and network limits. Former Mayor Glenn Sangiovanni, who spearheaded the project, stressed that kinks were still being worked out, but noted that not everyone was having problems. "There's a lot of variables, and that's part of it," Sangiovanni said. "It could be the block construction you have, it could be the tin roof you have. There's lots of different things that could be unique to your environment as opposed to my environment. "We went into this with the expectation that it's really a year plan that we're going to implement," he added. "You don't know what you're going to get into when you take on the whole city because you can't stress test that." Ashley Austin, a freshman at nearby Florida Christian College, said she likes using the network to do homework on the city's picturesque downtown lakefront. She said it's also the only way to get online if Internet service is down at the wireless telephone store where she works. "So far I haven't had any problems with the use that I've gotten out of it," she said. Resident Chuck Cooper, a former city commissioner, bought an antenna, but still gets a shaky connection. Navigating from one site to another still produces errors. Generally, he says, it's slightly faster than dial-up access. But even critics like him are quick to praise the endeavor in between grumbles over early problems. "All in all, I guess it's a good idea," Cooper said. "I equate it to cell phones 10 to 15 years ago. You used to have a lot of dropped calls, but now they're substantially better. Hopefully, this will get a little better a lot quicker." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Associated Press News Wire Subject: Texas Community College Bans MySpace.com Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 16:56:47 -0500 Del Mar College students now have to use computers outside the school's system if they want to visit the popular Web site MySpace.com. The community college has blocked the site in response to complaints about sluggish Internet speed on campus computers. An investigation found that heavy traffic at MySpace.com was eating up too much bandwidth, said August Alfonso, the school's chief of information and technology. Forty percent of daily Internet traffic at the college involved the site, he said. "This was more about us being able to offer Web-based instruction, and MySpace.com was slowing everything down," President Carlos Garcia said. MySpace.com -- a social networking hub with more 72 million members -- allow users to post searchable profiles that can include photos of themselves and such details as where they live and what music they like. Paul Martinez, 20, is a frequent visitor to MySpace.com and finds the site to be addictive. Restricting access to the site could be a good idea, he said. "The library is pretty much full with people on MySpace, and with them banning it you won't have anything to distract you," he said. Some though, disagree with Del Mar College's decision. "We pay for school and the resources that are used," said Zeke Santos, 20. "It's our choice, we're the ones paying for our classes. If we pass or fail, it's up to us." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headline news of interest, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: darktiger Subject: Verizon UNE DS3 Question Date: 22 Apr 2006 13:21:27 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Hello, We are a CLEC and have been using Verizon Wholesale for Line Shares for DSL. In the interest of paying off our investment in getting fiber to their CO and the collocation space there, we are interested in running a DS3 from our rack in the VZ CO to a customer premise. Looking at the rates, I see a DS3 loop cost of $363MRC and a $278NRC loop provisioning fee ... We are fine with these rates, but are wondering if anyone else has ever ordered one of these before and what other fees are attached that may not be in our pricing schedule. Those prices are very reasonable and makes me wonder if I should expect a $4000 bill after the loop is installed. Thank you, Scott Brown Oregon, USA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 01:42:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Google's China Problem (and China's Google Problem) By CLIVE THOMPSON The New York Times April 23, 2006 For many young people in China, Kai-Fu Lee is a celebrity. Not quite on the level of a movie star like Edison Chen or the singers in the boy band F4, but for a 44-year-old computer scientist who invariably appears in a somber dark suit, he can really draw a crowd. When Lee, the new head of operations for Google in China, gave a lecture at one Chinese university about how young Chinese should compete with the rest of the world, scalpers sold tickets for $60 apiece. At another, an audience of 8,000 showed up; students sprawled out on the ground, fixed on every word. It is not hard to see why Lee has become a cult figure for China's high-tech youth. He grew up in Taiwan, went to Columbia and Carnegie-Mellon and is fluent in both English and Mandarin. Before joining Google last year, he worked for Apple in California and then for Microsoft in China; he set up Microsoft Research Asia, the company's research-and-development lab in Beijing. In person, Lee exudes the cheery optimism of a life coach; last year, he published "Be Your Personal Best," a fast-selling self-help book that urged Chinese students to adopt the risk-taking spirit of American capitalism. When he started the Microsoft lab seven years ago, he hired dozens of China's top graduates; he will now be doing the same thing for Google. "The students of China are remarkable," he told me when I met him in Beijing in February. "There is a huge desire to learn." Lee can sound almost evangelical when he talks about the liberating power of technology. The Internet, he says, will level the playing field for China's enormous rural underclass; once the country's small villages are connected, he says, students thousands of miles from Shanghai or Beijing will be able to access online course materials from M.I.T. or Harvard and fully educate themselves. Lee has been with Google since only last summer, but he wears the company's earnest, utopian ethos on his sleeve: when he was hired away from Microsoft, he published a gushingly emotional open letter on his personal Web site, praising Google's mission to bring information to the masses. He concluded with an exuberant equation that translates as "youth + freedom + equality + bottom-up innovation + user focus + don't be evil = The Miracle of Google." When I visited with Lee, that miracle was being conducted out of a collection of bland offices in downtown Beijing that looked as if they had been hastily rented and occupied. The small rooms were full of eager young Chinese men in hip sweatshirts clustered around enormous flat-panel monitors, debugging code for new Google projects. "The ideals that we uphold here are really just so important and noble," Lee told me. "How to build stuff that users like, and figure out how to make money later. And 'Don't Do Evil' " - he was referring to Google's bold motto, "Don't Be Evil" - "all of those things. I think I've always been an idealist in my heart." Yet Google's conduct in China has in recent months seemed considerably less than idealistic. In January, a few months after Lee opened the Beijing office, the company announced it would be introducing a new version of its search engine for the Chinese market. To obey China's censorship laws, Google's representatives explained, the company had agreed to purge its search results of any Web sites disapproved of by the Chinese government, including Web sites promoting Falun Gong, a government-banned spiritual movement; sites promoting free speech in China; or any mention of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. If you search for "Tibet" or "Falun Gong" most anywhere in the world on google.com, you'll find thousands of blog entries, news items and chat rooms on Chinese repression. Do the same search inside China on google.cn, and most, if not all, of these links will be gone. Google will have erased them completely. Google's decision did not go over well in the United States. In February, company executives were called into Congressional hearings and compared to Nazi collaborators. The company's stock fell, and protesters waved placards outside the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Google wasn't the only American high-tech company to run aground in China in recent months, nor was it the worst offender. But Google's executives were supposed to be cut from a different cloth. When the company went public two years ago, its telegenic young founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, wrote in the company's official filing for the Securities and Exchange Commission that Google is "a company that is trustworthy and interested in the public good." How could Google square that with making nice with a repressive Chinese regime and the Communist Party behind it? ... http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/magazine/23google.html?ex=1303444800&en=972002761056363f&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? From: Steven Lichter Organization: SBC http://yahoo.sbc.com Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 20:24:28 GMT In article telecom25.154.8@telecom-digest.org, Gordon Burditt at gordonb.mjj57@burditt.org wrote on 4/21/06 16:10: >> At issue are the user login areas that can be found on banking sites >> such as Chase.com and Americanexpress.com, which ask users to submit >> their user ID and password information. Although these forms may be >> encrypted, they do not use authentication technology to prove they are >> genuine, according to Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer at the >> SANS Institute. >> A more secure approach would be to force users to log in on a HTTPS >> (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure) Web page. HTTPS pages use the >> SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) security protocol, which not only encrypts >> the information on the page but also provides digital certificates to >> give assurance that the Web site in question is genuine. > SSL is an effective way of transmitting payment information securely to > the thief operating a web site in such a way that the other thieves > don't get the info first. >> "If the login form is not HTTPS, you don't know if it's the real >> thing," Ullrich said. > If it's HTTPS, and you don't look at the certificate, you still don't > know if it's the real thing. If you don't look at the certificate, > you don't know it doesn't say: "Union of Nigerian Bank Fraud Artists, > Third Pile of Money on the Left SUCKER, Nigerian Republic of Bank > Fraud". I suspect just about anyone can get a real certificate if > they use their real name on it, even if they are running a web site > from inside a prison and freely admit it to Verisign. Saddam, have > you applied for a certificate yet? > If you don't pay attention to warnings about certificate authorities, > I can make a certificate that looks just like a real bank certificate, > and it will fool lots of people. However, it's more fun to make > certificates for "Satan, Prince of Darkness", and few people will read > it anyway. You do get a few browser warnings, however, I suspect a > lot of people would click OK without thinking to a popup: > You are about to install the Code Red Virus. > Only an idiot would deliberately install a virus thinking > it was anti-virus software. The install program will also > drain your checking account and take your soul and first-born > child. Install virus anyway? >> Web pages that do not use this type of secure connection are >> vulnerable to a type of attack known as DNS (Domain Name System) >> spoofing, where attackers attempt to trick Web browsers into visiting >> bogus Web sites. > And if you don't read the certificates, you won't notice that you > expected to be connected to Chased Bank and you're really connected to > Henry's House of Hashish and Aftermarket Biological Weapons. >> This type of attack is technically challenging, however, and hackers >> generally find it far easier to trick users into giving up their user >> names and passwords using phishing techniques, Ullrich said. >> Though Bank of America allows customers to enter their online IDs on >> the home page, they cannot submit passwords. The bank sends them to an >> HTTPS page and uses a technology called SiteKey to confirm to >> customers that they are at the legitimate Bank of America site before >> they enter their passwords. >> "We're committed to safeguarding customer information online and we >> wouldn't do anything to compromise that security," Riess said. > Bank of America has an interesting setup to avoid spoofing and > man-in-the-middle attacks, and it involves the user a bit more. You > set up an image (chosen from a set of what might be a few hundred), a > caption, and some security questions and answers. (For example, I > might select an image of a fire-breathing dragon, and caption it "my > mother-in-law". I might also select a security question of "What is > your favorite pet?" with the answer "9/11/2001". Of course, by > choosing such wierd answers, I'd better remember the real answers as > the question won't give much of a hint.) > 1. You go to what is supposedly the login page. > 2. You put in your ID (but not password) > 3. If your computer has the BofA cookie on it for this account, > skip to step 7 > 4. You are asked one of the security questions (I think an SSL page). > 5. You answer it. > 6. If your answer is correct, the web page offers to put a cookie on > the computer you are using (but advises you not to if it's a public > system). > 7. You get a SSL page showing your selected image and the caption > (Together, these are the site key.). > You are advised *NOT* to enter your password if you don't see the > correct site key. Enter your password. > 8. You put in the password. > 9. If it's correct, you're in, and the cookie from step 6 is added > if requested. > 10. You get the online banking page (SSL) for your account. > If you usually log in from a small set of computers which by now have > the cookie on them, you only do steps 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and you > should be suspicious of suddenly getting asked (for a > man-in-the-middle attack) one of the security questions. > Notes: if you refuse to accept cookies, you get asked the security > question, but it still works. The cookie does NOT substitute for > knowing the password. > Although it's hardly foolproof, especially if the user isn't paying > attention, it's different and it involves the user a bit more, so I > think it's going to be more effective. > Gordon L. Burditt Our credit union started this option a few weeks ago, surprised me since there was no warning, I found a member newsletter that had said they were goin to start this. Also Walmart has it on their online Pharmacy site to get into your account. ------------------------------ From: B. Wright Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 21:51:11 UTC Organization: XMission Internet http://www.xmission.com Subject: Re: Are Major Banking Sites Insecure? Gordon Burditt wrote: >> Web pages that do not use this type of secure connection are >> vulnerable to a type of attack known as DNS (Domain Name System) >> spoofing, where attackers attempt to trick Web browsers into visiting >> bogus Web sites. > And if you don't read the certificates, you won't notice that you > expected to be connected to Chased Bank and you're really connected to > Henry's House of Hashish and Aftermarket Biological Weapons. You're right, most people don't pay attention to the certificate warnings and even if they did they wouldn't understand how to determine if it was a legitimate concern or not. I however, do. American Express always has an annoying SSL cert misconfiguration of some sort or other from time to time. I know they have these problems, however, still check them when they occur, however if it had been someone like, say, my mom, I'm sure she wouldn't have a clue. > Bank of America has an interesting setup to avoid spoofing and > man-in-the-middle attacks, and it involves the user a bit more. That's pretty interesting but it still doesn't do anything about any type of keylogging software that might be on the machine. This is one of the reasons I now will never use public computers while traveling or even friend's machines. I always explain to them that it's not that I don't trust them, I just don't trust what they may not know is running on their computer. So, I boot a known quantity (Knoppix Linux) and use that to do any banking. You would be amazed however at the number of ignorant internet cafe owners that are 1) "Confident" they have no viruses/trojans 2) so hard headed and ignorant they won't allow you to boot a live Linux CD (that's the point I walk out of the place and find somewhere else). Citibank UK (apparently not in the US, just checked their page) has implemented what seems to be, on the surface a good system for keyloggers. However, it is crap. They pop a java "keyboard" applet up, not only every time you enter your password to login, but EVERY time you do any type of transactions in your accounts once you are already logged on. They keyboard they present to you would be very visible to anyone standing over your shoulder and it is time consuming/cumbersome to enter your password. I have argued with them over this extensively that, this in and of itself, exposes you to someone "shoulder surfing" your password. They could do what my friend has told me Banco do Brasil is doing and randomize the keyboard along with making the letters very faint so they are hard to view from afar. There is another more complex attack that could probably be done against this Citibank UK "virtual keyboard", it wouldn't be hard for someone to map the mouse movements and determine what the password was by taking the letters on the furthest extremes, take a guess the first time, and if that doesn't work simply shift the mapping once or twice (this would depend on how closely grouped the letters in your password were, the further apart, the easier it would be to guess it quickly). Something else which, would likely (I am not sure about this) would be to attach a debugger to the JVM on the machine and simply grab the password through this method, after all, if they have compromised the machine locally they should be able to do this. Randomizing the keyboard would also solve, at least, the mouse movement mapping attack. As noted, the Citibank UK and US both do things differently for not only their banking sites, but also their credit card sites. The UK banking site uses a completely different login system, the UK credit card uses another, and the US banking/credit card system seem to use a common one. How is that for consistency, even with the same company?! This is a big problem without an easy solution but maybe it could be mitigated by having banks adhere to a standard for online authentication processes rather than such a mixed bag. The sum of what could be agreed upon as secure would hopefully turn out to be much better than any of the half assed systems they're using today and if nothing else would only require "user training" as to what is "bad" and "good" once, most non technical people just can't deal with too much complexity when it comes to things like this and that is why they always click "OK" regardless. P.S. One thing I would love while travelling would be "revocable one time passwords" for sites like this. You request from a known safe computer, say, 10 one time use passwords/tokens, then take them with you. If they get lost/stolen you can immediately cancel/revoke these so they can't be used. This would at least allow you to use, relatively securely, an "unfriendly" computer in a situation where you have little choice. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? From: Charles Gowder Organization: Your Company Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 12:49:38 GMT af877@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Harry Dodsworth) wrote in news:telecom25.149.5 @telecom-digest.org: Looking at those connections I'd say you are in the general middle of the results for 56k modems. DSL equipment is specifically designed to deliver data over copper and there is probably a plan to qualify your individual "loop" Charles Gowder cgowder@cox.net > I'm thinking of getting DSL. It is available in my area now with a > download speed of 3 Mb/s (to my number and neighbours). > However the best connection speed I can get over my phone line with a > 56k modem is 31.2 kb/s. With the same computer I was able to connect > to freenet at 48k over long distance from Toronto. > As my POTS line isn't the best, can I still get a good DSL connection? ------------------------------ From: Geoffrey Welsh Subject: Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 17:18:39 -0400 Organization: UseNetServer.com > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Before you invest your money in DSL, I > would at least look at a cable modem. Cable is typically just a wee > bit faster, plus you get the flexibility of changing telcos if you > find a telco you like better. PAT] Since the original poster is in Ottawa, I'm guessing his cable provider is Rogers and his telco is Bell Canada. Those two companies have been offering practically identical speed/price packages, every move by one matched by the other and, historically, (IMNSHO) Bell's network has had a better reputation. Perhaps more importantly, not very long ago Rogers experienced a customer relations fiasco as a result of disconnecting the alleged highest-bandwidth customers in areas where they received performance complaints, despite protests by some of the disconnected users that they curtailed or even discon- tinued their internet use immediately after receiving a warning. Disconnecting users for allegedly violating undefinable bandwidth caps and other past faux pas earn Rogers dead last place on my list of potential providers and a "wee bit faster" connection isn't going to change that. It is also worth noting that, if the original poster decides to go DSL, he can choose from many comapnies offering different prices and options. For example, after paying Bell Sympatico $10/month modem rental fee for several years I bought my own and switched to Primus Canada, who charge about the same as Bell Sympatico minus the $10/month modem rental fee for the same connection speed; over two years later, I'm way ahead and satisfied with Primus. There are cheaper providers, and providers with more features (e.g. fixed IP address without paying for business-class service) if you want. Canadians looking for internet access can use http://www.canadianisp.com/ to find details of ISPs' offerings in their area. (NOTE: I am not in any way affiliated with that web site.) In theory, Canadian regulations permit you to mix and match telcos and DSL providers (as long as both wholesale the subscriber loop or the DSL infrastructure from Bell Canada), though I have yet to hear stories of this happeneing smoothly. Geoffrey Welsh Never leave until tomorrow what can wait until next week. ------------------------------ From: Koos van den Hout Subject: Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? Date: 23 Apr 2006 13:54:44 GMT Organization: http://idefix.net/~koos/ Harry Dodsworth wrote in : > I'm thinking of getting DSL. It is available in my area now with a > download speed of 3 Mb/s (to my number and neighbours). > However the best connection speed I can get over my phone line with a > 56k modem is 31.2 kb/s. With the same computer I was able to connect > to freenet at 48k over long distance from Toronto. > As my POTS line isn't the best, can I still get a good DSL connection? I had the same worries when I switched from a 2-wire leased line which had trouble staying at 33k6 after rainy days (56k requires special digital equipment at the ISP end of the line so I was limited to 33k6 and two leased-line modems) to ADSL (named 'mxstream by kpn' in those days). Either I was very lucky (the ADSL service was on a different pair which had ISDN with no bit-errors at all) or ADSL is affected in different ways than analog modems. I have monitored the ADSL stats for that line for years, using scripts you can find at http://idefix.net/~koos/speedtouchgraph/ if you happen to have a speedtouch home modem and perl. The 'maximum line rate' reported was always very high, around 7 megabit. The used line rate was ofcourse lower, limited to what the subscription said. This in a Dutch city with its high population density and short distances to exchanges. Koos van den Hout Camp Wireless, wireless Internet access at campsites| Koos van den Hout http://www.camp-wireless.org/ | http://idefix.net/~koos/ PGP keyid DSS/1024 0xF0D7C263 or RSA/1024 0xCA845CB5| Fax +31-30-2817051 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 18:30:50 -0600 From: Anthony Bellanga Am looking for a site where one can enter the AC and NNX and find out > what city the telephone number is located in. The US NPA-NXX lists, direct from Neustar NANPA (North American Numbering Plan Administration), can be found at: http://www.nanpa.com/reports/reports_cocodes.html and then click on "Central Office Code Utilized Reports", and then select the state and NPA you wish to find the NXX central office code for. There will be information as to the city and "default" telephone company that the NPA-NXX code is associated with. As for the telephone company, remember that there is also "thousands-blocks" sub-assignments, as well as portability, which isn't necessarily reflected in these lists. Neustar NANPA's Central Office Code data will include only United States jurisdictions, including DC, Alaska (907), Hawaii (808), Puerto Rico (787 and its 939 overlay), US Virgin Islands (340), Guam (671), the Northern Mariana Islands: Saipan, Tinian, Rota (670), and American Samoa (684). Canadian NPA-NXX lists can be found from the SAIC CNA (Canadian Numbering Administrtor)'s website, at: http://www.cnac.ca/mapcodes.htm Click on the area code region on the map of Canada, or the area code as indicated in the list of codes just below the map, and you'll get a larger list of all NXX central office codes and information as to the city and "default" assigned telephone company. Again, remember that with portability, the customer might have ported their number away from the "default" telephone company assigned. Those parts of the Caribbean which are a part of the NANP (North American Numbering Plan, Country Code +1) but outside of the United States (i.e., the Dominican Republic, and also the various "British" islands, such as Bermuda, Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, etc) assign their own NXX codes within their NANPA assigned NPAs. You might have to find individual websites maintained by the various island country's numbering assignment bodies for further details. However, Ray Chow (of Toronto ON Canada) maintains a "Local Calling Area" website, which can be a very useful resource for the entire NANP region, including those Caribbean areas part of the NANP but not part of the US: http://members.dandy.net/~czg/lca_index.php But also note: Ray has indicated in the Yahoo Group he created on local calling area issues, that he might need to move his website to another server/domain in the near future! Hope this helps! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 11:37:48 PDT From: Mr Joseph Singer Subject: Re: NPA - NNX On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:05:10 -0500 Jan Schmidt wrote: > Am looking for a site where one can enter the AC and NNX and find out > what city the telephone number is located in. Do you offer that > somewhere on your web site? One site to look at is telcodata.us There is also a lookup on dandy.net, but don't have that handy. Just checked it out if you go to http://google.com and type in the search box NXX it will tell you where that is e.g. NXX = 508-775 will get you a result of Hyannis, Massachusetts. NXX = 206-354 will show Seattle, Washington NXX = 207-549 will show North Whitefield, Maine. Oh, and BTW NNX is likely not what you're looking for. NXX would be the format of area codes and central office codes. NXX means N= any number between 2 and 9 and X= any number i.e. 0 - 9 (including 1 and 0.) ------------------------------ Date: 22 Apr 2006 19:00:07 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Podcasting Not For Most People > When I first heard about sites like eBay and craigslist, I thought > they would suffer from much the same problem. If anyone can sell > their junk, these sites will presumably be filled mostly with junk. > I don't use these sites myself, so I still wonder how they've been so > successful despite this. They're very well organized. Google is filled with junk, too, but we don't care because we type in some search terms and we get a snapshot of just what we wanted. Ebay is set up the same way, with a nicely integrated subject tree and search system that lets you zero in on the stuff of interest quickly. If you don't find it, with another click or two you can tell it to rerun the search every day and send you mail if something turns up. (obTelecom coming up) I buy all sorts of exotic communication cards quite cheaply because I have a standing search for them and I'm usually the only bidder. To return to someone else's restaurant analogy, my ideal restaurant only has one thing on the menu, but it's exactly what I want. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Fred Atkinson Subject: Re: Number Portability: POTS, VoIP, and Cellular Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 15:28:03 -0400 > Some VoIP service is offered by companies that are information service > providers, not telecommunications carriers, such as Vonage. Since > they aren't telecom carriers, they generally don't interconnect > directly with the PSTN and don't get numbers directly from the > numbering administrator (or the pooling administrator). So Vonage et > al don't have numbers of their own in any rate centers. Instead, > Vonage et al. buy numbers from telecom carriers, presumably CLECs, who > obtain numbers from the numbering adminstrator (or the pooling > administrator) in various rate centers. If Vonage has a deal with a > CLEC such as Covad (just using Covad as an illustration; I don't know > whether they have such a deal) to get numbers in a particular rate > center, then numbers in that rate center would be portable to and from > Vonage via Covad; this should be true of wireline and wireless numbers > in that rate center. I recently ported my Vonage SC issued number over to Carolina Net. There was no problem with it. It now works fine on my Carolina Net provided router (on line 2). On the other hand, Voicepulse is fighting my porting request for my NC number. They say that because their policy is that you can't port your number away from them (unless you brought the number to them in the first place), that they don't have to release your number. In addition to that, they say that if they are forced by legal means to release your number, that their policy says that you have to pay them a fee for that release. I have a great deal of trouble understanding how their policy overrules FCC number portability regulations. I've got a complaint filed with the FCC. I never got a copy of the letter that the FCC sent to Voicepulse, but I did get a copy of Voicepulse's reply. They are saying that their policy makes them exempt from having to re-port my number. I haven't heard from the FCC on that yet. I emailed the FCC asking about the status of my complaint a few days ago. The reply was that they haven't read the reply from Voicepulse as yet. I've had problems with Voicepulse service. They seem unwilling to resolve them. The problems have included quality of transmission, some problems with my voicemail, my phone ringing one time and stopping at some odd hour of the morning (which they admit they were having a technical problem but it went on for quite some time before they got it resolved), and a general lack of interest in getting these problems fixed. I was awakened prematurely on a number of occasions because of this issue. One of my students is using Voicepulse at home. He called and left a message on my office voicemail and I couldn't even tell it was him because it was so garbled. I thought it was a wrong number until he said his name at the end of the message. When I spoke to him in person later, he confirmed that it was a Voicepulse call to my Verizon phone at the office. Basically, they are retaining customers because they won't release the numbers. I've got my number published in Verizon directory assistance here in the area. If I drop it, that number will simply be dead and people who are trying to reach me will not be able to. VOIP providers don't put up a 'the number you have reached ... has been changed to ...' recording when you cancel. What does that do to a business that is using their service and becomes dis-satisfied with the service [as I have been] and their numbers are published and their customers wouldn't know how to reach them? Put up with quality problems? Sheesh. Regards, Fred Atkinson ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 08:50:14 -0400 From: John Stahl Subject: Re: New Technology Will Force TV Ad Viewing On 20 April 2006, May Wong , contributed: > In this era of easy ad skipping with TiVo-like video recorders, could > television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a > system that prevents channel switching? > Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with > the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the > Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a > technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a > commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it.... > In this era of easy ad skipping with TiVo-like video recorders, could > television viewers one day be forced to watch commercials with a > system that prevents channel switching? > Yes, according to Royal Philips Electronics. A patent application with > the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says researchers of the > Netherland-based consumer electronics company have created a > technology that could let broadcasters freeze a channel during a > commercial, so viewers wouldn't be able to avoid it. If all else fails to deter this newly patented "technology", one could turn off the TV set for 3-minutes (typical duration of commercials now days); or else, maybe do as many others do during those long commercials, go grab a bite to eat, read a book or even go to the WC (bathroom!) John Stahl Aljon Enterprises Telecom/Data Consultant ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #155 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Mon Apr 24 12:50:32 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 3BF6815AD6; Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:50:32 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #156 Message-Id: <20060424165032.3BF6815AD6@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:50:32 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.7 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, HOT_NASTY,MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR,NORMAL_HTTP_TO_IP,NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:50:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 156 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Retired Trucker Uses CB Radio to Help Others (Jason George) University of Texas Probes Computer Breach (Associated Press Nws Wire) Air Force One Subject of Internet Hoax (Ted Bridis) For MySpace, Making Friends Was Easy; Big Profit Is Tougher (Monty Solomon) Cellular-News for Monday 24th April 2006 (Cellular-News) Telecom Direct Daily Update - April 24, 2006 (Telecom Direct Daily Update) Re: MySpace Hires Child Safety Expert From Microsoft (masonboro_island) Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? (Harry Dodsworth) Re: Today's Last Loser: Another Spammer (Robert Bonomi) Telecommunications Alternatives For the Distributed Workforce (kimi) New Digest Sponsor Brings FREE Phone Calls and DA (TELECOM Digest Editor) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Jason George Subject: Retired Trucker With CB Radio Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 07:05:22 -0500 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0604230404apr23,1,3297441.story?track=rss Retired trucker still in driver's seat With his CB, he helps steer big rigs down the right path By Jason George, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Dave Wischnowsky contributed to this report April 23, 2006 He's known as Penthouse 13, the Driver in the Sky and the Angel of I-57. Morning to night, he guides truckers around traffic accidents, road construction and weight-restricted bridges that could buckle under heavy freight. "Backing up bad at 3-3-7," his husky voice cautions all on the airwaves, referencing the highway mile marker. The lane-jamming Dan Ryan Expressway construction project that began this spring has made his advice to "avoid that Ryan" that much more helpful to out-of-town drivers. Mainstream America might have sent CB radios and eight-track copies of "Convoy" to its curbs decades ago, but the inexpensive devices have remained a trucking mainstay. And so, Earl Wieringa, who first crammed his 6-foot-5 frame behind the wheel of a truck in 1946, now sits behind the microphone on channel 19, calling out to every CB within 40 miles of Kankakee. From there, the 76-year-old retired truck driver uses his 13th-floor apartment -- hence the handles Penthouse 13 and Driver in the Sky -- to impart a lifetime of driving knowledge. "Drive careful. Be safe. And have a good trip," he ends the countless conversations he has during about seven hours per day in front of the dials. Leaning back from a large silver microphone that would've looked at home on the desk of Edward R. Murrow, Wieringa flashes a toothy grin before lighting up one of his Grand 100 filter cigarettes. "I love it," he says. So do the truckers. Wayne Reynolds, who hauls retail merchandise out of nearby Bradley, admits that even he, a local driver, has been saved a time or two by Penthouse 13's over-the-road omniscience. "The guy is knowledgeable," he said, taking a rest at a Monee truck-stop diner, mile marker 335. "There are a lot of people that have base stations around the country that will help you, but Penthouse is a retired trucker," Reynolds said. "He knows it all." Wieringa's one-bedroom apartment is sparsely decorated -- a few seashells on top of the small television, a Hooters poster that he swears was a gift from a niece. Back by the bay windows in his living room, his electronics spread resembles a Radio Shack. Connected to a suitcase-size CB unit sits his silver microphone. He has stacks of phone books and maps to assist the wayward driver. A flashlight, a strobe light and white Christmas lights that form a "13" in the windows all allow him to signal to truckers that he is more than just a voice in their cabs. "I've got a good view up here," he said, looking north. "I can see all the way to Mokena," about 30 miles. Born in 1929, Wieringa grew up in Chicago Heights, where his love affair with all things truck began. At 16, he drove his first one professionally, hauling garbage at the Olympia Fields Country Club. "We were making $1.10 an hour," he said. "Heck, in the '40s that was good." Two years later, Wieringa shipped out to the Pacific with the Army, where he remained until 1952, driving trucks and Jeeps. "Anything that had wheels or an engine I drove it," he said. After returning home, Wieringa eventually left Illinois and headed west to California, where he lived for 37 years. "In '63 everybody was out of work so I thought, `I like driving,'" he said. "So for 16 years I drove a bus" in metropolitan Los Angeles. In 2000, divorced and childless, Wieringa decided to move to Kankakee at the suggestion of his brother, Archie, who drove trucks there. Finally retired from decades in the driver's seat, Wieringa got a small CB unit and a window magnet antenna so he could talk to his brother, whose routes passed his apartment. "If I leant out on the edge, it could go a mile or a mile-and-a-half," he said of its weak signal. He has since upgraded in a serious way. His CB unit is now twice as big. And it's wired to 150 feet of coaxial cable that runs up to the roof, where a 17-foot antenna pole makes the signal as strong as a small radio station. "The antenna upstairs took me six months to get the OK," he said proudly. Gerry Kilbride, who manages Wieringa's independent-living building for residents 55 and older, admitted that at first the idea of the massive antenna made him raise an eyebrow, but after repeatedly listening to Wieringa's pleadings, it was impossible to deny the request. "He loves talking to these truckers," Kilbride said. Talking is about all Wieringa said he's prepared to do these days. "My driving days are over," he said, before confessing that he recently took a buddy's tractor-trailer for a brief spin. "It was fun," he said. Just the same, he's now happier steering drivers from the bar stool in his living room. "One time it was real icy and snowy, and they couldn't stay on the road," he recalled of an incident last winter. "The semis were sliding all over the place, and I guided about eight or 10 of them into the flea market parking lot" in Kankakee. He said that he never chitchats on the airwaves, believing that CB talk should be professional, G-rated and always as brief as possible. "If I can help them find things or let them know there's a tie-up, I like to help," he said. "I know what they're going to come up against." About 4:30 every afternoon, Wieringa drives his Crown Victoria about a mile down the road to his girlfriend's house for an hour or two. There she cooks him a hot meal. "And you can't refuse that," he said, laughing. Wieringa never strays far from his radio though. He has installed one in his car, and put another in his girlfriend's vehicle. When asked how she handles sharing him with the CB, Wieringa cracked a laugh that sounded like Waylon Jennings' and just shook his head. "She's a lovely woman," he said. jageorge@tribune.com Copyright 2006, Chicago Tribune NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html ------------------------------ From: Associated Press News Wire Subject: University of Texas Probes Computer Breach Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 07:08:18 -0500 University of Texas Probes Computer Breach Nearly 200,000 electronic records at the University of Texas at Austin's business school have been illegally accessed, the school said Sunday. It's the school's second major breach in three years. The university said it learned late Friday that some Social Security numbers and possibly biographical material of students, alumni, faculty and staff might have been accessed. The university has notified the state attorney general's office and established a call center and Web site for those whose records might have been breached. "Our effort has been to help people whose information may have been exposed," said university President William Powers Jr. Officials discovered that some records at the McCombs School of Business had been breached as early April 11. "We think the problem has been limited to McCombs," Powers said. "Since then, we've been working to make sure the entire system, not just McCombs, is secure." Last year, a former UT student received five years probation and was ordered to pay $170,000 in restitution for hacking into the school's computer system in 2003 and accessing almost 40,000 Social Security numbers. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headline news from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Ted Bridis p Subject: Air Force One Subject of Internet Hoax Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 07:10:07 -0500 By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer A startling Internet video that shows someone spraying graffiti on President Bush's jet looked so authentic that the Air Force wasn't immediately certain whether the plane had been targeted. It was all a hoax. No one actually sprayed the slogan "Still Free" on the cowling of Air Force One. The pranksters responsible for the grainy, two-minute Web video - employed by a New York fashion company - revealed Friday how they pulled it off: a rented 747 in California painted to look almost exactly like Air Force One. "I wanted to do something culturally significant, wanted to create a real pop-culture moment," said Marc Ecko of Marc Ecko Enterprises. "It's this completely irreverent, over-the-top thing that could really never happen: this five-dollar can of paint putting a pimple on this Goliath." The video shows hooded graffiti artists climbing barbed-wire fences and sneaking past guards with dogs to approach the jumbo jet. They spray-paint a slogan associated with free expression. After the video began circulating on the Web on Tuesday, the Air Force checked to see whether the plane had been vandalized. "We're looking at it, too," said Lt. Col. Bruce Alexander, a spokesman for the Air Mobility Command's 89th Airlift Wing, which operates Air Force One. "It looks very real." Alexander later confirmed that no such spray-painting had occurred. Ecko acknowledged Friday that his company had rented a 747 cargo jet at San Bernardino's airport and covertly painted one side to look like Air Force One. Employees signed secrecy agreements and worked inside a giant hangar until the night the video was made. Ecko declined to say how much the stunt cost. "It's not cheap," he said. "You have to be rich." On the Net: Hoax video: http://www.stillfree.com Air Force One: http://public.andrews.amc.af.mil Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 21:51:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: For MySpace, Making Friends Was Easy; Big Profit Is Tougher By SAUL HANSELL The New York Times April 23, 2006 SANTA MONICA, Calif. ALMOST on a lark, Chris DeWolfe bought the Internet address MySpace.com in 2002, figuring that it might be useful someday. At first, he used the site to peddle a motorized contraption, made in China and called an E-scooter, for $99. Selling products online comes naturally to him. Having jumped into the Internet business in the early days, Mr. DeWolfe had become a master of the aggressive forms of online marketing, including e-mail messages and pop-up advertising. After the Internet bubble burst, he even built a site that let people download computer cursors in the form of waving flags; the trick was that they also downloaded software that would monitor their Internet movements and show them pop-up ads. Very quickly, however, Mr. DeWolfe's tactics for MySpace changed. He had noticed the popularity of Friendster, a rapidly growing Web site that let people communicate with their friends and meet the friends of their friends. What would happen, he wondered, if he combined this type of social networking with the sort of personal expression enabled by other sites for creating Web pages or online journals? He convinced the executives of eUniverse, the company that had bought his own marketing firm, ResponseBase, to back his plan. As soon as the site was reintroduced, in the summer of 2003, Mr. DeWolfe saw it grow quickly with little marketing. And although his scrappy backer was hungry for cash, he resisted pressure to flood MySpace with advertising and to turn all of its members into money. "Chris came from ResponseBase, and they knew all the direct marketing tactics to get money out of almost anything," said Brett C. Brewer, the former president of eUniverse, which was later renamed Intermix Media. "But I give him credit: from literally the first or second month, he realized MySpace could be something we really need to protect because user confidence in the site was paramount." Now MySpace has a new owner -- Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which bought MySpace and Intermix last year for $649 million -- and the pressure on Mr. DeWolfe to find a way to make much more money from MySpace is far greater. But the opportunity is greater, too. More than 70 million members have signed up -- more than twice as many as MySpace had when Mr. Murdoch agreed to buy it -- drawn by a simple format that lets users build their own profile pages and link to the pages of their friends. It has tapped into three passions of young people: expressing themselves, interacting with friends and consuming popular culture. MySpace now displays more pages each month than any other Web site except Yahoo. More pages, of course, means more room for ads. And, in theory, those ads can be narrowly focused on each member's personal passions, which they conveniently display on their profiles. As an added bonus for advertisers, the music, photos and video clips that members place on their profiles constitutes a real-time barometer of what is hot. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/business/yourmoney/23myspace.html?ex=1303444800&en=68344369c2b006ac&ei=5090 ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Monday 24th April 2006 Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 07:38:10 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com ====================================================================== [[Financial News]] Ericsson Profit Flat As Marconi Deal, Margins Weigh http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17073.php Ericsson, the world's largest supplier of mobile-phone network equipment, reported flat profit Friday due to the recent purchase of Marconi and receding margins. ... ANALYSIS: Telefónica's investment in Telecom not all it seems http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17080.php Spain's Telefonica recently announced plans to invest US$670mn in its new property, Colombia Telecomunicaciones (Telecom). But upon closer examination, the investment may not be all that it seems. In fact, technically there may be no foreign fina... Tricom plans to invest US$31mn this year http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17082.php Dominican Republic telco, Tricom plans to invest 1bn pesos (US$31mn) on expansion and quality improvement works this year, local press reported. ... Vodafone Eying a Return to Landline Telecoms http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17086.php Media reports over the weekend suggest that Vodafone is preparing to drop its cellular-only policy and move into the landline market, offering triple play services. The UK based Telegraph newspaper, citing an unnamed Vodafone executive said that the ... SFR Reports Steady Revenues Growth http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17090.php The French mobile network, SFR - a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal reported that Q1 2006 revenues grew by 3.4% (by 2.9% on a comparable basis) to US$2.6 billion. The favorable effects of the increase in customer base along with the growth in "voice" ... [[Handsets News]] Second Hand Phones for Iraq http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17092.php The UK's Labour Union body, the TUC launched an appeal last week for unions and their members to pass on their used mobile phones to the Iraqi trade union movement as an act of 'second-hand solidarity'. On of the requests from unions representing wor... [[Legal News]] Watchdog says MegaFon unit should abolish discriminatory tariffs http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17075.php A branch of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in Russia's constituent republic of Kabardino-Balkaria has ruled that Mobicom-Kavkaz, a subsidiary of Russia?s third largest mobile operator MegaFon, should abolish discriminatory tariffs, the FAS sa... Russian police arrest suspect in illegal cell phone imports http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17078.php An investigating committee of the Russian Interior Ministry has arrested a suspect who was allegedly involved in illegal imports of mobile handsets, the committee said in a press release Friday. ... [[Mobile Content News]] Vodafone Offers Mobile TV in Italy http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17091.php The Italian TV Broadcaster, Mediaset and Vodafone Italia have signed an agreement designed to accelerate and boost the technology and commercial rollout of mobile terrestrial digital TV using DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld) technology in I... [[Network Operators News]] Third Network Set To Launch in September http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17083.php Azerbaijan's newest GSM network operator, Azerphone says that it expects to start offering commercial services in September this year. The Minister of Communication and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov said that Azerphone is current building its ... New HQ For Caribbean Digicel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17085.php In the week of celebrating its fifth anniversary, the Caribbean based Digicel, has recorded a growth rate of 69% and laid plans to build a new headquarters in Kingston for its Jamaican staff base of 1,000. It was five years ago this week that Digicel... Slovenian Network Buys Rival http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17087.php Mobilkom Austria Slovenian subsidiary Si.Mobil has paid US$26 million to buy struggling rival GSM operator, Vega. Si.mobil reached an agreement with Western Wireless International, the owner of Vega, which is going to exit Slovenian market. Si.mobil ... Phone Services Shut-Down in Nepal Again http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17094.php Yet again, mobile phone services in Nepal have been cut by the Royalist government. The mobile services in the Kathmandu valley from Nepal Telecom (NT) and Mero Mobile, along with the CDMA limited mobility service from United Telecom Ltd (UTL) have a... [[Personnel News]] Sprint Nextel To Pay Its Directors $70,000/Year Retainer Fee http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17074.php Sprint Nextel Corp. disclosed Friday that all of its directors will receive an annual retainer fee of $70,000. ... [[Regulatory News]] Sprint Nextel, Walt Disney Agree On Spectrum Relocation http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17071.php Sprint Nextel and Walt Disney's ABC Owned Television Stations Group agreed to relocate spectrum use, allowing Sprint to offer commercial mobile radio services over a portion of the 2-gigahertz band. ... Chile's Smartom Wins Telefonica Moviles Spectrum Auction http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17072.php Chilean mobile telecommunications provider Smartcom won the auction of mobile spectrum offered by the Chilean unit of mobile telephony company Telefonica Moviles, a Moviles Chile spokesman said Thursday. ... Nextel asks govt to keep close eye on Telmex http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17076.php Trunking service provider Nextel del Peru has asked Peru's government to closely supervise competitor Telmex as it develops its concession for fixed wireless local loop service in Lima and Callao, newspaper El Peruano reported. ... Ministry to outsource mobile service quality monitoring http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17077.php Colombia's communications ministry plans to outsource the supervision and monitoring of the service quality provided by the country's mobile operators, newspaper La Republica reported. ... Analyst: Transparency, quick decision making crucial for Cofetel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17079.php Following a recent reshuffle at Mexico's telecoms regulator Cofetel, it is crucial for the new officials to bring transparency and quick decision making to the entity if the industry is to see significant competitiveness improvements, indu! stry anal... Govt halts WiMax auctions to review fees, bandwidth http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17081.php Colombia's communications ministry has suspended auctions of department-level WiMax spectrum to reevaluate licensing technical details, newspaper La Republica reported. ... [[Reports News]] Cellphones Cited In Car Accident Survey http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17084.php Driver inattention is the leading factor in most crashes and near-crashes, according to a landmark research report released today by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Nea... Smartphones Pose a Security Challenge to Enterprise Network Managers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17089.php Smartphones and other high-end wireless devices now enabling the enterprise mobility revolution may pose significant security risks for enterprise telecom and IT departments that don't take adequate measures to protect network resources, according to... Home and Mobile Network Convergence the 'New Frontier' for the Digital Home http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17093.php While much new technology for the connected home in recent years was intended to connect consumer entertainment devices to the home network, ABI Research believes the next frontier is the merger of the digital home network with mobile devices. Today ... [[Technology News]] Nokia Teams Up With MIT http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17088.php Nokia and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has announced the opening of the Nokia Research Center Cambridge. The joint research facility, a collaboration between Nokia Research Center and MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intellige... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:17:09 -0400 From: Telecomdirect_Daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Monday, April 24, 2006 ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For April 24, 2006 ******************************** Newport Snares 21CN Exec http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17637?11228 Session border controller vendor Newport Networks Ltd. scored something of an appointment coup this morning by announcing Alan Nunn, formerly the chief voice architect for BT Group plc's 21CN project, as its CTO. Nunn was with BT for 19 years, and spent the past three to four years working alongside CTO Matt Bross on the voice... Examining Customer Loyalty in Mobile http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17636?11228 Can improved customer loyalty efforts increase revenue for mobile operators? For the small independents and new MVNOs, the answer absolutely is "yes." For large mobile operators, though, managing customer information and call volume is challenge enough, making personalized care a nice idea but difficult to achieve. Whether this will... Meshing Things Up http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17634?11228 The emergence of wireless mesh technologies as a potential low-cost alternative to more traditional, but pricier wireless networks, and their appeal as a possible component of the quadruple play of video, voice, data and wireless services, is driving a host of new players--from cable operators and equipment manufacturers to municipal... Transistor Laser Research Moves Forward http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17631?11228 Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say they are closer to commercializing the room temperature transistor laser they unveiled last year. The team recently coaxed the device to reveal its fundamental properties, helping them to better understand its functionality and potential uses. When they announced their... Netherlands: Versatel, Tele2 to Review Merger Details http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17630?11228 Dutch alternative telco Versatel has announced a review of the original merger conditions with pan-European alternative telco Tele2, after minority shareholders won a court ruling last month against plans to give them a proportionate stake in the merged company. Tele2 bought over 80% of Versatel last July and planned to gain 100% control... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ From: masonboro_island@yahoo.com Subject: Re: MySpace Hires Child Safety Expert From Microsoft Date: 23 Apr 2006 15:11:02 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com That's an interesting idea. Wouldn't people just give fake numbers though? I went to the website but I'm not completely sure how it works. When you sign up the site calls the number you provided? I'm at least happy that social networking sites are acknowledging the problem and that places like NCMEC are providing services where people can report child exploitation. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Another site where child exploitation is dealt with in an unusual -- almost vigilate way -- is http://perverted-justice.com PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 04:03:50 GMT From: af877@freenet.carleton.ca (Harry Dodsworth) Subject: Re: Does DSL Speed Correlate With POTS Speed? Organization: National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Many thanks to those who answered my question, which was essentially, > Will I get a good DSL connection when I only connect at 31.2kb on POTS". The consensus of the answers was "Probably!" As Geoffrey Walsh wrote about the financial side, I will comment on that. I'm not anxious to get cable service from Rogers. Partly because I still remember their negative option billing fiasco (they increased rates for supplying extra TV channels unless you opted out). Partly because of local dissatisfaction with their unilateral bandwidth capping and the dropping of newsgroups. Mainly because I don't have cable TV, so I either have to add that or pay a surcharge for cable internet without TV. However I am a Bell Canada customer. Apparently all DSL service in Ottawa is provided by Bell Nexxia. This is wholesaled off to various ISPs who sell it as part of various plans. Bell Sympatico, the ISP branch of Bell, include 24/7 help desk, MSN, and various features and rent modems. Freenet, a non-profit community ISP, sells DSL at a lower markup but with fewer features. Troubleshooting is done by volunteers or through online discussion groups (I've lived with that for 12 years on dialup). Static IP service is available for a small surcharge. Users may supply their own DSL modems. However Freenet sell the Speedtouch 516 (for single port ethernet) or Speedtouch 585 (4 ports + wireless). The advantage of these is that they are supplied configured for Freenet, and the volunteers are familiar with them if there are problems. ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Today's Last Loser: Another Spammer Date: Apr 18, 2006 7:43 PM Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Mike wrote: > Spammer strikes again... > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: mgriffinb@you-have-won.net < > mgriffinb@you-have-won.net> > Date: Apr 6, 2006 8:47 AM > Subject: XXXX XXXXX, please call > Mike, > Please call us at 1-866-677-4100. We previously tried to contact you > at 1-248-XXX-XXXX, but were unable to reach you. This is reference to > an entry form you filled out, either on-line or at a major mall or > movie theater. > We actually have some decent news in regards to the Grand Getaways and > Ford Explorer contest. We have an address, claim number, and further > details for you. Since all prizes are well over $500, we will need a > few moments of your time to cover all related lottery-type information > from procuring your prizes due to any tax issues on them. > Sincere congratulations! > Verification Center > P.S. For your convenience, we are available 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Central > Standard Time, Monday to Friday > 68.61.169.153 Jan 30 2006 12:45PM > Please follow url below to stop further emails > http://www.you-have-won.net/cgi-bin/frame1.cgi?email=XXXXXXXXXXXXX.com > Sender: > Verification Center > 105 South River Rd > North Aurora, IL, 60542 > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I can only presume that Mr. Bonomi (the > author of the note before this last one) places _me_ and this Digest > in the same category as the 'Verification Center' above since _these_ > are the sort of things which AOL would require to pay their own way. > PAT] Ah, but the real question is: *WHO*decides* whether you are, or are not, in the same category? And what the 'definition' of that category is. I'm quite sure that if that 'verification center' was making the determinations, that they *would* put themselves in the "wouldn't have to pay" class, while it is unpredictable how they would classify Telecom Digest. It is also an undeniable fact that some of the mailings originating from the Digest moderator are *indistinguishable* from what the 'evil spammers' send out. If AOL, for example, looked at one or more of those instances where the esteemed moderator decided to 'share the wealth' of his incoming spam, by sending it on to *all* the Digest subscriber mailboxes, it _would_ be very reasonable to classify the sender as a 'spammer'. *NOBODY* signed up to the Digest with the expectation that the moderator would _deliberately_ _and_intentionally_ send them 'lotto', 'Nigeria 419', bank/ebay 'phishing', and other scam messages -- but he =does=. Note, given that neither the original line-item ("E-mail, should the sender pay?"), nor our esteemed moderator's impassionedly affirmative 'answer' to that question made any reference to AOL or its policies -- *nor* did my query regarding his answer -- it is hard to imagine how any rational person would/ could conclude that I was using AOL's categorization rules as the basis for my query. BTW, I *DO* have issues with the concept of "sender pays the receiving ISP to bypass all spam-filtering, regardless of the user's wishes". Some are of a practical nature, some are philosophical. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The answer to your question is that the the present-day 'authorities' (who intend to make the decision on pay to send mail or not) are the AOL people; they have said that when _taken in context_ over a long period of time (_NOT_ message by message but the entire contents of a Digest -- several individual 'messages') this Digest and other established Usenet-style publications do not qualify as and will not be counted as 'spam'. Context is the all-important factor; not any one single message out of the thousands which go out. If YOU honestly believe that taken in context over the quarter-century this Digest has been published that it amounts to 'spam' and is no different than the tons of crap which come out daily on no set publishing schedule, etc, then God Bless You. I guess I will qualify as spam in your estimation. Yes, there could be a change in the authorities; yes, the new authorities could take a different approach to what is what; we will have to deal with it when that time comes, if it ever does. Furthermore, you read this Digest in one of two ways only: Either you subscribe and ask to read it (and I can document your 'asking' to receive it if you are a subscriber) or you read it via a public mailbox (Usenet) in the same way. You do _not_ recieve this Digest in some sort of shady way, where it just shows up in your mailbox each day with no documentation. That (documentation of your desire to receive it) and/or the overall context of the publication demonstrates it is not spam/scam. For everyone that is, except very possibly you, and what I can do for you if you wish, (and I may anyway for the hell of it) is dummy up my Usenet headers to always say 'seen-by' r-bonomi.com so Usenet will never give it to you again (!smile) and purge my mailing lists of any reference to your name and domain. That should resolve any issues you may have, or might possibly arise in your decision-making processes about how to detirmine spam/scam (or not). PAT] ------------------------------ From: kimi Subject: Telecommunications Alternatives For The Distributed Workforce Date: 24 Apr 2006 07:07:24 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Telecommunications Alternatives For The Distributed Workforce (March 2006) Introduction,Distributed Workforce,Virtual Organization,Field Offices for Larger Concerns,Virtual PBX,Case Study-Centract,Knowledge Worker Impact Quotient,Conclusions http://www.freewebs.com/virtual-pbx/ ------------------------------ Subject: New Digest Sponsor Brings FREE Phone Calls and DA Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 09:42:51 EDT From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) A new sponsor for the Digest are the people who provide _free_ directory assistance in exchange for you listening to one or more ten second audio commercial messages. I say 'one or more' since you get one commercial message played to you in exchange for a free directory assistance listing. After hearing the message, and receiving the requested number, if you stay on the line and listen to a _second_ message of equal length (another ten-second blurb) then the call is completed for you at no additional charge. At the present time, there is no limit on teh length of the call, which means you first dial in on their toll-free 800 number, listen to the message, pass the request, receive the information, _then remain on the line_ hear a second message, and your call is completed at no charge. I am not positive, but I think the outgoing call is completed via VOIP; there is no way they could give out 'more expensive' calls (via landline) in this program. A special promotion for readers of the Digest: To show you how it works, and how simple it is, for the indefinite future you can make calls _directly from this web site_. You need to have either a computer audio card (i.e. Skype software installed) -or- you need to have a landline phone nearby for your convenience. For example, I have a phone and a headset right here on my desk next to the copmputer. You go to http://telecom-digest.org and look in the far right-hand column where the advertisers/sponsors are listed. Look at the item marked 'no cost 411' and you will see two 'hot links' as part of the message, one marked 'more information', the other marked to 'make a call'. Click on 'make a call' and a pop-up window will appear asking you to fill in the phone number you wish to be called back on. Fill it in, and hit the 'GO' button. Your nearby phone (or VOIP phone attached to the computer) will ring instantly. Pick it up or turn it on. You will hear chimes and the 'free 411 metro' announcement. Respond to the robot as requested ('business or personal listing?';'what city and state?' and 'what listing?')You may be asked to 'hold for an operator' if the robot does not know what to do. After the human operator (or the 'bot) gives the desired number and exits the line, just stay put ... in two or three seconds (after a pause to see if you are going to hang up or not) another ten second advertising message is played out, and the number you were calling begins to ring. Talk as long as you wish, hang up when you are finished with the call. No charge! The first part of this (give your phone number, get a call back and such) is only needed because you are using a 'direct line' (i.e. java script) connection to infreeda.com. You can leave that part out if you dial direct from your own phone 1-800-411-METRO. If you press the second button (more information) or the 'Thinking Voice' logo at the botton of the first button then you will get information on how to install one of these 'direct connect' buttons for your own web site. As it is configured, the 'direct connect' button rings back to the number you gave it and you are speaking to http://infreeda.com . Here is the script used to implement all this: (everything between the XMP (example) and /XMP (/example) marks) <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Untitled Document</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> </head> <body> <img src="GIF/TELECOM-banner.jpg" width="150" height="117" border="0" usemap="#Map"> <map name="Map"> <area shape="rect" coords="1,91,74,116" href="http://call.thinkingvoice.com/callback/default.aspx?cardID=63d1f7b0a7c0423789e7f40f60381942" target="_new"> <area shape="rect" coords="73,91,149,116" href="http://www.411metro.com" target="_blank"> </map> </body> Now if you want to have a 'phone booth' sort of thing for your web site users, just copy the above. You will need to copy the 'TELECOM-banner.jpg' over to your own directory somewhere where your script can find it. Of course, do not let this fancy 'call from a web page' thing keep you from programming your own phone dialer with 1-800-411-METRO (6387) or getting one of the intercept devices Mike Sandman sells through his catalog http://www.sandman.com especially if you have a large number of users calling '411' on your money. (Hook Mike's interceptor devices at the head of your PBX, etc so they will catch all the outbound traffic to 411. Enjoy! Patrick Townson ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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: 620-402-0134 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 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) RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html For syndication examples see http://www.feedrollpro.com/syndicate.php?id=308 and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/TelecomDigest ************************************************************************* * 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 2006 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ 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. 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 V25 #156 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Apr 25 13:21:31 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 8030C15AFC; Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:21:30 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #157 Message-Id: <20060425172130.8030C15AFC@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:21:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.7 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, BODY_ENHANCEMENT2,HOT_NASTY,NORMAL_HTTP_TO_IP,NO_COST autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:25:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 157 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson New Digest Sponsor Brings FREE Phone Calls and DA (TELECOM Digest Editor) 'Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006' (Monty Solomon) Amazon.com Subsidiary to Sell TV DVDs (Monty Solomon) PBS/Sony High Definition Production Pilot Program (Monty Solomon) Annapolis Wireless Launches Free Public WiFi in Annapolis (Monty Solomon) Major Networks Select CustomFlix for DVD Distribution on (Monty Solomon) Amazon.com and CustomFlix Launch the Media Gateway Program; (Monty Solomon) CustomFlix to Support HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and WMV HD (Monty Solomon) Verizon's Aggressive New Spam Filter Causing Problems (Monty Solomon) 5- vrs. 7-digit Dialing (Neal McLain) Telecom Direct Daily News - April 25, 2006 (Telecom Direct Daily News) Blackstone to Buy 4.5% of Deutsche Telekom (USTelecom dailyLead) Cellular-News for Tuesday 25th April 2006 (Cellular-News) Re: Texas Community College Bans MySpace.com (Charles Newman) Re: Today's Last Loser: Another Spammer (Robert Bonomi) Response Re: Today's Last Loser: Another Spammer (TELECOM Digest Editor) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: New Digest Sponsor Brings FREE Phone Calls and DA Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 09:42:51 -0400 (EDT) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) A new sponsor for the Digest are the people who provide _free_ directory assistance in exchange for you listening to one or more ten second audio commercial messages. I say 'one or more' since you get one commercial message played to you in exchange for a free directory assistance listing. After hearing the message, and receiving the requested number, if you stay on the line and listen to a _second_ message of equal length (another ten-second blurb) then the call is completed for you at no additional charge. At the present time, there is no limit on teh length of the call, which means you first dial in on their toll-free 800 number, listen to the message, pass the request, receive the information, _then remain on the line_ hear a second message, and your call is completed at no charge. I am not positive, but I think the outgoing call is completed via VOIP; there is no way they could give out 'more expensive' calls (via landline) in this program. A special promotion for readers of the Digest: To show you how it works, and how simple it is, for the indefinite future you can make calls _directly from this web site_. You need to have either a computer audio card (i.e. Skype software installed) -or- you need to have a landline phone nearby for your convenience. For example, I have a phone and a headset right here on my desk next to the copmputer. You go to http://telecom-digest.org and look in the far right-hand column where the advertisers/sponsors are listed. Look at the item marked 'no cost 411' and you will see two 'hot links' as part of the message, one marked 'more information', the other marked to 'make a call'. Click on 'make a call' and a pop-up window will appear asking you to fill in the phone number you wish to be called back on. Fill it in, and hit the 'GO' button. Your nearby phone (or VOIP phone attached to the computer) will ring instantly. Pick it up or turn it on. You will hear chimes and the 'free 411 metro' announcement. Respond to the robot as requested ('business or personal listing?';'what city and state?' and 'what listing?')You may be asked to 'hold for an operator' if the robot does not know what to do. After the human operator (or the 'bot) gives the desired number and exits the line, just stay put ... in two or three seconds (after a pause to see if you are going to hang up or not) another ten second advertising message is played out, and the number you were calling begins to ring. Talk as long as you wish, hang up when you are finished with the call. No charge! The first part of this (give your phone number, get a call back and such) is only needed because you are using a 'direct line' (i.e. java script) connection to infreeda.com. You can leave that part out if you dial direct from your own phone 1-800-411-METRO. If you press the second button (more information) or the 'Thinking Voice' logo at the botton of the first button then you will get information on how to install one of these 'direct connect' buttons for your own web site. As it is configured, the 'direct connect' button rings back to the number you gave it and you are speaking to http://infreeda.com . Here is the script used to implement all this: (everything between the XMP (example) and /XMP (/example) marks) <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <title>Untitled Document</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> </head> <body> <img src="GIF/TELECOM-banner.jpg" width="150" height="117" border="0" usemap="#Map"> <map name="Map"> <area shape="rect" coords="1,91,74,116" href="http://call.thinkingvoice.com/callback/default.aspx?cardID=63d1f7b0a7c0423789e7f40f60381942" target="_new"> <area shape="rect" coords="73,91,149,116" href="http://www.411metro.com" target="_blank"> </map> </body> Now if you want to have a 'phone booth' sort of thing for your web site users, just copy the above. You will need to copy the 'TELECOM-banner.jpg' over to your own directory somewhere where your script can find it. Of course, do not let this fancy 'call from a web page' thing keep you from programming your own phone dialer with 1-800-411-METRO (6387) or getting one of the intercept devices Mike Sandman sells through his catalog http://www.sandman.com especially if you have a large number of users calling '411' on your money. (Hook Mike's interceptor devices at the head of your PBX, etc so they will catch all the outbound traffic to 411. Enjoy! Patrick Townson ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:43:03 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: 'Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006' Passed out of Committee Unopposed - Apr 24, 2006 09:39 PM (BusinessWire) SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2006--Today, the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee held a policy hearing in Sacramento on Assembly Bill AB2987, "The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006." The bill was passed out of committee unopposed and will now move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for review. Authored by Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez, (D - Los Angeles), and co-authored by Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee Chair Lloyd Levine, (D - Van Nuys), AB2987 seeks to modernize an outdated regulatory process which serves as a barrier to video competition in California and replace it with a new, state-issued authorization. The goals of the new legislation are to encourage investment and new jobs in the state, and speed the availability of innovative video technologies and new choices for consumers. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57903726 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:44:54 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Amazon.com Subsidiary to Sell TV DVDs SEATTLE (AP) -- Amazon.com Inc. said Monday that its subsidiary, CustomFlix Labs Inc., has signed deals with television networks including NBC Universal that could let them sell DVDs of television shows soon after they air. The deals mark yet another offering for people looking to watch TV shows when they want rather than when they are televised. They initially call for CustomFlix to sell DVDs of archived shows with a niche audience, such as NBC's "Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show" and "Antiques Roadshow" from PBS. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57902827 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:52:22 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: PBS/Sony High Definition Production Pilot Program Three New Stations Sign on to PBS/Sony High Definition Production Pilot Program - Apr 24, 2006 04:14 PM (PR Newswire) 'The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer' to Become PBS' First Daily Series in HD WETA in Washington, D.C.; WQED in Pittsburgh and WYCC in Chicago are Latest to Make Transition to High Definition Production with Sony Broadcast Technology LAS VEGAS, April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NAB Booth SU107 -- The PBS/Sony High Definition Production Pilot is moving forward as three PBS member stations have confirmed plans for their transition to high definition program production. The cooperative program, which was created by Sony and PBS to cultivate high-definition television production by public television stations, will greatly enhance the HD services provided by public television -- including the production of "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" in HD and the construction of a state-of-the art educational facility in Chicago. Three stations -- WETA in Washington, D.C.; WQED in Pittsburgh and WYCC in Chicago have recently confirmed that they are moving forward with their projects; KQED San Francisco contracted with Sony in December 2005 and is almost finished with their facility upgrade for high definition production. Each station is installing a range of Sony high-definition broadcast and production technology, including multi-format cameras, switchers, VTRs and displays. In addition to being a PBS member station, WETA is also the production home of the highly acclaimed series "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." For that program, WETA will be implementing Sony's new XDCAM(TM) HD system of optical camcorders to acquire material. For its full line-up of programming, WETA is installing several Sony products, including the HDC-1000 studio camera, which can handle both 1080i and 720P signals, an MVS-8000A multi-format production switcher and professional LCD and CRT displays. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57892956 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 23:55:25 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Annapolis Wireless Launches Free Public WiFi in Annapolis Annapolis to become first Maryland city offering free Internet access for everyone, using Nortel wireless mesh solution ANNAPOLIS, MD, April 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Annapolis is about to go wireless with a free public WiFi hotspot powered by Nortel(x)(NYSE/TSX: NT) wireless mesh technology. Local company Annapolis Wireless will hold its official wire cutting to mark the launch of WiFi service available to everyone on April 29, 2:30 pm in a public ceremony on City Dock at the Market House. The wire cutting ceremony is hosted by the Anne Arundel Tech Council, a non-profit membership organization for technology companies in the Anne Arundel County area. Nortel, which is working with Annapolis Wireless, is an event sponsor and wireless mesh technology provider for the system. SECU Credit Union, Maryland's largest credit union, is also an event sponsor. Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr., Mayor Ellen Moyer and county officials will be on hand to celebrate the WiFi launch. The creation of a city-wide WiFi system marks Annapolis' entree into a technologically sophisticated group of cities. Cities such as Philadelphia, Houston and New Orleans also provide free WiFi access. But Annapolis' WiFi carries a distinct difference -- many other cities provide the access using taxpayer funds. Annapolis Wireless, by offering sponsorships and advertising to area businesses on its splash page, is able to provide WiFi access to the public without using taxpayer dollars. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57888317 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:03:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Major Networks Select CustomFlix for DVD Distribution Major Networks Select CustomFlix for DVD Distribution on Amazon.com; Programming from NBC Universal, A&E Home Video and PBS Now Available - Apr 24, 2006 09:00 AM (BusinessWire) LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2006--CustomFlix Labs, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of leading online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced it has agreements with major television and cable networks, NBC Universal, A&E Home Video, and the PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), to distribute popular broadcast content via DVD on Demand on the Amazon.com website. These agreements will make thousands of previously unavailable DVDs accessible to millions of Amazon customers. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57870249 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:05:56 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Amazon.com and CustomFlix Launch the Media Gateway Program; Program Digitizes and Unlocks the World's Video Media - Apr 24, 2006 09:00 AM (BusinessWire) LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2006--Leading online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and CustomFlix Labs, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., today announced the introduction of the Media Gateway program, a worldwide initiative to digitize and sell previously unavailable video content on Amazon.com. At the heart of the Media Gateway program is the CustomFlix Future-Proof Archive(TM) service, a secure storage and reformatting platform designed to provide content owners the flexibility to repurpose content into multiple future digital formats. The Future-Proof Archive service currently supports DVD-Video, with additional formats to be announced. The Media Gateway program enables content owners to unlock the hundreds of thousands of hours of content trapped in analog tape formats making it immediately available for sale as physical DVDs, and enabling the content for future inventory-free digital formats. For a limited time, CustomFlix will offer digitization and DVD authoring of qualified content with no up-front investment by the content provider. Amazon.com will then make this content available for sale to tens of millions of Amazon customers and CustomFlix will manufacture DVDs on demand as customers place orders. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57870024 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:08:08 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: CustomFlix to Support HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and WMV HD CustomFlix Announces On-Demand Solution to the High Definition DVD Format Wars; Amazon.com Subsidiary to Support HD-DVD, Blu-Ray and WMV HD - Apr 24, 2006 09:00 AM (BusinessWire) LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2006--CustomFlix Labs, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of leading online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced upcoming support for all three of the industry's major high definition formats: HD-DVD, Blu-ray, and Windows Media Video High Definition DVD (WMV-HD DVD). This multi-format support is enabled by the CustomFlix Future-Proof Archive(TM) service, a proprietary storage and repurposing platform designed to allow deployment of digitized files in future formats, giving content providers the flexibility and convenience of distributing content in a format the customers choose. CustomFlix also announced that it has teamed up with HDNet to offer a wide range of programs in multiple HD formats on Amazon.com. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57870221 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 08:08:57 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's Aggressive New Spam Filter Causing Problems Verizon's Aggressive New Spam Filter Causing Problems Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday April 24, @12:02PM http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/24/1538205 aviancarrier writes "Verizon DSL has turned on a very aggressive spam filter that is blocking lots of long-time legitimate emails. Emails get bounced with an error: 'XX@verizon.net: host relay.verizon.net[206.46.232.11] said: 550 Email from your Email Service Provider is currently blocked by Verizon Online's anti-spam system. The email "sender" or Email Service Provider may visit http://www.verizon.net/whitelist and request removal of the block.' That whitelist web page lets you request one address at a time to be whitelisted with no guarantee for their response time to process it. I have tested multiple email sources and only one got through. As a VZ customer, I just spent 28 minutes on a call to tech support, eventually got a supervisor who knows nothing about the new spam feature, and would only agree to email a manager who doesn't work weekends about it. I warned her that VZ has a public relations problem but she was too clueless to understand." Many users have submitted this problem so it seems to be a pretty far reaching problem. There is also a discussion going on over at Google about this problem. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/24/1538205 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 05:17:41 -0500 From: Neal McLain Subject: 5- v. 7-digit Dialing Wesrock@aol.com wrote: > Many small towns required only four- or five-digit dialing locally > long after the "conversion" took place. By "long," I mean 10 or 15 > years or more. hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com responded: > A friend of mine reported is update NY state town worked like that. > But once they went to ESS it no longer worked. > I wonder if this still applies to sparsely populated places in say > Wyoming and the Dakotas where there is little population growth. You keep asking this same question, and I keep giving you the same answer: mandatory 7-, 10-, or 11-digit dialing applies to almost every ESS office in every state. (I say "almost" because there's probably an exception out there somewhere; I've just never heard of one.) You've stated that an ESS switch can accommodate 5-digit dialing, and I agree. However, as I've noted previously on this list, doing so makes it difficult to devise dialing plans to interconnect two or more switches without running into conflicts between local 5-digit numbers and nearby 7-digit numbers. Furthermore, it makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to add more NNXs as the community grows. Here are links to my previous posts on this subject: CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, 1971 -- http://tinyurl.com/nd4m4 Carbondale is (or was) a simple situation -- it avoided conflicts by segregating functions on separate levels: - Levels 3, 7, and 9: local 5-digit numbers - Levels 4 and 5: repeatedly-absorbed ("AR") digits. - Levels 6 and 8: NNXs in nearby communities. - Level 2: unused. There were no absorbed-once ("A") digits. ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN -- http://tinyurl.com/jtg3f Prior to about 1953, Ann Arbor presented a similar situation -- it avoided conflicts by segregating functions on separate levels: - Levels 2, 3, and 5: local 5-digit numbers - Levels 6, 7, 8, and 9: local 4-digit numbers - Level 4: NNXs in nearby communities. There were no absorbed ("A" or "AR") digits. Around 1953, "AR" and "A" digits were added, and the situation became: - Levels 2, 3, and 5: local 5-digit numbers. - Level 6: repeatedly-absorbed ("AR") digit. - Level 8: absorbed-once ("A") digit -- see note below. - Level 4: NNXs to nearby communities. - Levels 7 and 9: unused. Note how the "A" digit 8 was used to resolve conflicts: - 668 (or just 8) followed by 6, 7, 8, or 9 was a local 5-digit number. - 668 (or just 8) followed by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 0 was absorbed and ignored. CENTERVILLE, IOWA, 1975 -- http://tinyurl.com/8axyn Centerville was an even more complicated situation: - Level 6: absorbed-once ("A") digit -- see note below. - Levels 5 and 8: repeatedly-absorbed ("AR") initial digits. - Level 4: NNXs to nearby communities (plus one located in Centerville itself). - Levels 2, 3, 7 and 9: unused. Note how the "A" digit 6 was used to resolve conflicts: - 856 (or just 6) followed by 2,3,6,8, or 9 was a local 5-digit number. - 856 (or just 6) followed by 5 was 658-XXXX in Cincinnati. - 856 (or just 6) followed by 1,4,7, or 0 was absorbed and ignored. So, you might ask, why didn't the telco just segregate all Centerville numbers on separate levels, like GTE did in Carbondale? - Because every dialing plan has to avoid conflicts between local 4- or 5-digit numbers and NNX codes in nearby communities reached by 7-digit dialing. - Because every dialing plan has to consider how the local dialing plans in nearby communities avoid conflicts between *their* local (4- or 5-digit) numbers and the NNX codes used by *their* nearby communities. - Because every NNX in an area code has to be unique. A telco can't pick an NNX just because it's convenient for the local dialing plan if it's already in use somewhere else in the area code. And ultimately, because all dialing plans within an area code form a continuous web of inter-community 7-digit dialing, each one of which has to avoid local conflicts. Have you followed all this? Or are your eyes glazed over by now? If you haven't followed it because it's too complicated, that's my point: it is complicated! It's amazing that traffic engineers back in the 50s and 60s were able to figure it all out. Even more amazing is the fact that they were able to implement it with electromechanical devices: Strowger switches and relays. The key to it all was the development of "A" and "AR" levels on the first selectors: A = The selector absorbs the specified digit once only; on the next digit, it "trunks on all levels." This digit must be dialed once (and only once) in order to reach certain specified second digits. However, it is absorbed (ignored) for any other second digit. AR = The selector absorbs the specified digit repeatedly unless a digit has been absorbed previously on a level designated "A". All this is discussed in detail in "Notes on Distance Dialing," Section 4, "Typical Trunking Diagrams for Step-by-Step Offices," published by AT&T Engineering and Network Services Department, Systems Planning Section, 1975. A PDF of Appendix A1 (the trunking diagram of a hypothetical SxS switch) is posted at http://annsgarden.com/Appendix_A1.pdf . Now fast forward a couple of decades, and replace all those old electromechanical switches with ESS switches. Can you program an ESS to emulate "A" and "AR" first selector levels in order to resolve the old conflicts? Sure. But what about new conflicts created by new NXXs (no longer called NNXs) that have appeared during those two decades? How do you resolve them? How, for example, would you add 895 to Centerville? If you follow the existing numbering plan, you would have to add it *after* the "A" and "AR" digits (similar to the way 437 was added). But doing that would create a conflict with existing numbers in the form 856-895X. The only way to avoid this conflict is to implement 7-digit dialing for 856 numbers. I trust this explains why 7-digit (if not 10- or 11-) dialing is now mandatory everywhere. Neal McLain ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 12:22:03 -0400 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Tuesday, April 25, 2006 ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For April 25, 2006 ******************************** New Holes in Buckets: Operators Add Services, Revenue Leaks http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17654?11228 WITH THE DISAPPEARANCE of UNE-P and the movement to wireless and VoIP, many smaller carriers and resellers are switching to new product lines and technologies, and entering a growth phase. This presents challenges to those responsible for revenue assurance as the expansion means more customers, more partners and more complexity in the... XO Unveils Broadband Wireless Strategy http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/110/17652?11228 Alternative service provider XO Communications has announced the launch of Nextlink, its new wireless broadband subsidiary. Nextlink has already launched commercially in Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, Tampa and Washington D.C., and plans to expand the presence of its network to over 70 major U.S. markets over the next two years.... VSNL to Invest US$300 mil. in Undersea Cable between India, Europe http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/17649?11228 India's top international telecoms provider, VSNL, is planning to invest more than US$300 million to roll out an undersea cable between India and Europe, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday (24 April), citing senior executives at the company. The report said that VSNL was implementing the project as it expects rising demand for... Cesky Telecom Earmarks US$6.6 mil. for Broadband Development in 2006 http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17646?11228 Czech fixed-line incumbent Cesky Telecom has earmarked 150 million koruna for the roll-out of its ADSL broadband services this year. Cesky's investment will be directed into building new interconnecting components in the network, so-called DSLAMs (which enable high-speed data transfer over traditional copper networks).... TeliaSonera's Net Profit Rises in 1st Quarter http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17643?11228 STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- TeliaSonera Corp., the Nordic region's largest telecommunications operator, reported a 20 percent rise in first-quarter net profit Tuesday driven by strong mobile and broadband growth. Net profit increased to 4.27 billion kronor (US$566 million) in the three-month period ending March 31, compared with 3.56... AT&T Earnings Rose 63.3 percent on AT&T-SBC Deal http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17642?11228 NEW YORK -- AT&T Inc., on track to become the largest U.S. telephone company, Tuesday said its earnings rose 63.3 percent in the first quarter, the first period it reported combined results after SBC Communications Inc.'s acquisition of AT&T Corp. Net income was $1.445 billion, or 37 cents a share, for the January-March... The Perfect Cellular/VoWLAN Demand Storm http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17641?11228 A classic "pull" strategy is unfolding around enterprise cellular/voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) solutions, according to a new mobile-communications study issued by TelecomWeb's sister division InfoTech. Half of the U.S. enterprise decision-makers recently interviewed by InfoTech for its "Dual-Mode Cellular/VoWLAN Solutions:... Poll: Merging Is Surging http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17640?11228 Building up is the way to go, readers say. The latest Light Reading poll asked readers to pick the most profitable way to build a dominant telecom equipment company. Half of the 152 respondents so far believe one should buy a number of smaller, targeted companies. About one-fourth say that merging with a rival is the way to go. Read... DSLAM Market Has Reached Maturity http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17639?11228 SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With Internet users needing faster connections for multimedia applications, the global market for DSLAMs will grow to 89.1 million ports by the end of 2010, up from 76 million in 2005, reports In-Stat. A combination of dial-up users moving to broadband and broadband users moving to higher-speed lines continues... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 13:18:17 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Blackstone to buy 4.5% of Deutsche Telekom USTelecom dailyLead April 24, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dvesfDtutcBfgxYodj TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Blackstone to buy 4.5% of Deutsche Telekom BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Networks bypass portals to offer Web video * AT&T works with Illinois town to offer high-speed services * Mobile video space about to get more crowded * XO to offer fixed-wireless service USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * NEW! IP-Based Services for Carriers and Suppliers HOT TOPICS * Level 3 snaps up ICG * Verizon launches FiOS in Plano, Texas * Motorola could go after Siemens' telecom business * A bandwidth glut no more * EarthLink taps Level 3 for VoIP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Next-gen Wi-Fi equipment announced * Report: Video phones not being used for video * 3G Phoebus lets computer users connect to high-speed mobile networks REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Rural telecoms, Time Warner Cable clash over VoIP Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dvesfDtutcBfgxYodj ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Tuesday 25th April 2006 Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 07:34:49 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ Financial ]] Russia's MTS gets $1.33 billion syndicated loan http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17096.php Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has concluded an agreement with a number of banks to take out a syndicated loan of up to U.S. $1.33 billion, MTS said Monday. ... Tiscali Denies It Is In Talks For UK Unit Sale http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17097.php A spokeswoman for Italian Internet service provider Tiscali denied "categorically" Monday the company "is in talks with Vodafone Group or any other company for the sale of its U.K. unit." ... [[ Handsets ]] Return of the Payphone: Ultra Low Cost Handsets Getting Down to Business http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17101.php The GSM Association recently announced that its Emerging Markets Handset program is exceeding expectations: mobile operators in Bangladesh, China, India, and Russia have already purchased 12 million of its Ultra Low Cost Handsets (ULCH). But will the... BenQ Mobile Forging Ahead with Realignment of Model Range http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17102.php To accompany the publication of its figures for the first quarter of 2006, the Taiwanese BenQ Group is announcing a strategic handset initiative. Following the launch of 12 new mobile phones under the BenQ-Siemens brand since January, the company say... [[ Legal ]] IPOC Fund: Court Stops Alfa From Selling MegaFon Stake http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17095.php Bermuda-based IPOC International Growth Fund said Monday it has obtained an injunction from a St Petersburg court preventing Russian Alfa Group from selling its 25.1% stake in MegaFon. ... [[ Mobile Content ]] Mobile Video: Who's Watching? Who's Going to Watch? And Why? http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17104.php Watching video on mobile devices has a long way to go before it becomes a ubiquitous practice among mobile phone users, according to a new report published by The NPD Group. According to the report, while 28% of all mobile phones in use in February 2... [[ Network Contracts ]] Huawei Wins Turnkey GSM Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17099.php Oasis, the Congolese operation of Millicom International, has awarded Huawei a turnkey contract to provide a brand new GSM network. Under the first phase of the contract, Huawei will supply and install its Huawei EnerG GSM technical platform and depl... [[ Network Operators ]] Improved Roaming for Asia-Pacific http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17100.php Seven Asia-Pacific operators are forming an alliance to offer joint roaming and marketing services to customers. FET (Taiwan), Hutchison Essar (India), Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong and Macau), KT Freetel (South Korea), DoCoMo (Japan), Indo... Vodafone Japan moves HQ http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17103.php Vodafone K.K. says that it will move its headquarters from Atago in Minato Ward, Tokyo to Higashi-shimbashi, also in Minato Ward, to start operations at the new location progressively from 1 May 2006.... [[ Regulatory ]] Chechnya's deputy PM wants competition on mobile mkt http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17098.php The government of Russia's constituent republic of Chechnya wants to see competition between mobile operators in the republic, Ziyad Sabsabi, deputy prime minister of the republic, told a round table meeting on Monday. ... ------------------------------ From: Charles Newman Subject: Re: Texas Community College Bans MySpace.com Date: 24 Apr 2006 15:30:26 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Associated Press News Wire wrote: > Del Mar College students now have to use computers outside the > school's system if they want to visit the popular Web site > MySpace.com. > The community college has blocked the site in response to complaints > about sluggish Internet speed on campus computers. > An investigation found that heavy traffic at MySpace.com was eating up > too much bandwidth, said August Alfonso, the school's chief of > information and technology. Forty percent of daily Internet traffic at > the college involved the site, he said. > "This was more about us being able to offer Web-based instruction, and > MySpace.com was slowing everything down," President Carlos Garcia > said. > MySpace.com -- a social networking hub with more 72 million members -- > allow users to post searchable profiles that can include photos of > themselves and such details as where they live and what music they > like. > Paul Martinez, 20, is a frequent visitor to MySpace.com and finds the > site to be addictive. Restricting access to the site could be a good > idea, he said. > "The library is pretty much full with people on MySpace, and with them > banning it you won't have anything to distract you," he said. > Some though, disagree with Del Mar College's decision. > "We pay for school and the resources that are used," said Zeke Santos, > 20. "It's our choice, we're the ones paying for our classes. If we > pass or fail, it's up to us." > Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. And that can be circumvented using a proxy server outside the college. Just use an open proxy outside the college network and access MySpace that way. They will know that you went to the proxy, but where you went BEYOND that proxy, they will not know about. ------------------------------ From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi) Subject: Re: Today's Last Loser: Another Spammer Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:19:28 -0000 Organization: Widgets, Inc. In article , Robert Bonomi wrote: > In article , Mike > wrote: >> Spammer strikes again... >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: mgriffinb@you-have-won.net < >> mgriffinb@you-have-won.net> >> Date: Apr 6, 2006 8:47 AM >> Subject: XXXX XXXXX, please call >> Mike, >> Please call us at 1-866-677-4100. We previously tried to contact you >> at 1-248-XXX-XXXX, but were unable to reach you. This is reference to >> an entry form you filled out, either on-line or at a major mall or >> movie theater. >> We actually have some decent news in regards to the Grand Getaways and >> Ford Explorer contest. We have an address, claim number, and further >> details for you. Since all prizes are well over $500, we will need a >> few moments of your time to cover all related lottery-type information >> from procuring your prizes due to any tax issues on them. >> Sincere congratulations! >> Verification Center >> P.S. For your convenience, we are available 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Central >> Standard Time, Monday to Friday >> 68.61.169.153 Jan 30 2006 12:45PM >> Please follow url below to stop further emails >> http://www.you-have-won.net/cgi-bin/frame1.cgi?email=XXXXXXXXXXXXX.com >> Sender: >> Verification Center >> 105 South River Rd >> North Aurora, IL, 60542 >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I can only presume that Mr. Bonomi (the >> author of the note before this last one) places _me_ and this Digest >> in the same category as the 'Verification Center' above since _these_ >> are the sort of things which AOL would require to pay their own way. >> PAT] > Ah, but the real question is: *WHO*decides* whether you are, or are > not, in the same category? And what the 'definition' of that category > is. > I'm quite sure that if that 'verification center' was making the > determinations, that they *would* put themselves in the "wouldn't > have to pay" class, while it is unpredictable how they would classify > Telecom Digest. > It is also an undeniable fact that some of the mailings originating > from the Digest moderator are *indistinguishable* from what the 'evil > spammers' send out. If AOL, for example, looked at one or more of > those instances where the esteemed moderator decided to 'share the > wealth' of his incoming spam, by sending it on to *all* the Digest > subscriber mailboxes, it _would_ be very reasonable to classify the > sender as a 'spammer'. *NOBODY* signed up to the Digest with the > expectation that the moderator would _deliberately_ > _and_intentionally_ send them 'lotto', 'Nigeria 419', bank/ebay > 'phishing', and other scam messages -- but he =does=. > Note, given that neither the original line-item ("E-mail, should the > sender pay?"), nor our esteemed moderator's impassionedly affirmative > 'answer' to that question made any reference to AOL or its policies -- > *nor* did my query regarding his answer -- it is hard to imagine how > any rational person would/ could conclude that I was using AOL's > categorization rules as the basis for my query. > BTW, I *DO* have issues with the concept of "sender pays the receiving > ISP to bypass all spam-filtering, regardless of the user's wishes". > Some are of a practical nature, some are philosophical. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The answer to your question is that the > the present-day 'authorities' (who intend to make the decision on > pay to send mail or not) are the AOL people; Which means it affects *only* AOL's customers. The TLA BFD applies. And the nice thing about it is it works _both_ways_. If AOL starts mucking with mail that AOL's customers _want_, and that mail gets delayed -- or even worse misrouted to a spam folder or deleted -- AOL's customers have the option of going to another provider. And it doesn't take much to make that happen. I consulted at a shop that did a paid-subscription electronic newsletter. "Something" about that newsletter, on occasion, caused AOL's mail-handling system to do strange things with it. Not every mailing, just 'once in a while'. Of course, _we_ got the calls, when the newsletter showed up 'unreadable'. The only answer we had, was "it's a problem in AOL's system, to eliminate it, we recommend you get an account at a different provider." Since the price of (and thus the 'value', to the subscriber) the newsletter was several times greater than the cost of the AOL subscription, this advice was usually taken. I'm pretty sure it wasn't 'spam filters' that were causing the problem, the mailings were going to a maximum of about 2 dozen AOL addresses at any time. > they have said that when _taken in context_ over a long period of > time (_NOT_ message by message but the entire contents of a Digest > -- several individual 'messages') this Digest and other established > Usenet-style publications do not qualify as and will not be counted > as 'spam'. Context is the all-important factor; not any one single > message out of the thousands which go out. If YOU honestly believe > that taken in context over the quarter-century this Digest has been > published that it amounts to 'spam' No, _I_ don't believe that the Digest, "taken as a whole" is spam, however, it is also a fact that the single largest source of advance-fee scams, make-money-fast scams, outright money-begging scams, etc. that _reaches_me_ is "telecom-digest.org", accounting for more than 40% of the total volume of such pollution that I encounter. If the esteemed moderator of the Digest just exercised a little more restraint, on behalf of those who _trust_ him, my spam load would decrease nearly in half. And thousands of other people would see a reduction -- although probably not to the same degree -- as well. > set publishing schedule, etc, then God Bless You. I guess I will qualify > as spam in your estimation. Yes, there could be a change in the > authorities; yes, the new authorities could take a different approach > to what is what; we will have to deal with it when that time comes, if > it ever does. Furthermore, you read this Digest in one of two ways > only: Either you subscribe and ask to read it (and I can document your > 'asking' to receive it if you are a subscriber) And just _where_ was it explained that this subscription included anatomy enlargement/enhancement solicitions requests for assistance in smuggling large amounts of money across international borders, phony international order-processing and money-laundering schemes, etc.? You hate them when they show up in your inbox coming from strangers. Have you ever thought about peoples reaction when that cr*p shows up _from_somebody_they_trust_?? The Digest subscribers trusted you to select _legitimate_ message traffic, and what do you do, when your frustration level runs over? You cr*p in the mailboxes of people who trusted you. It seems that you have as little respect for _their_ mailboxes, as spammers have for yours. > 'asking' to receive it if you are a subscriber) or you read it via a > public mailbox (Usenet) in the same way. You do _not_ recieve this > Digest in some sort of shady way, where it just shows up in your mailbox > each day with no documentation. Absolutely correct. People, myself included, *TRUSTED*YOU* to "do the right thing" and send _what_you_said_you_would_. When a 'trusted neighbor' cr*ps in your yard it is more offensive than finding a turd left by a stranger. The 'betrayal of trust' is a bigger problem, and has far more-long-lasting consequences. > That (documentation of your desire to receive it) and/or the overall > context of the publication demonstrates it is not spam/scam. For > everyone that is, except very possibly you, For people who have the time to do the 'research', that is. For someone who doesn't have the luxury of time, and has to make what amounts to a 'snap judgment',based on an 'unfortunate' and small sample of our esteemed moderator's selections -- they *can* draw an adverse conclusion. And, if you look at *only* what they had to work with, their decision is not indefensible. Given the 'right' sub-set of data, the hypothetical 'reasonable person' *could* come to that conclusion. Do I think they "should" do so? H*ll, no. Do I think such a conclusion is justified, or appropriate? H*ll, no. Do I think such a result is 'within the realm of possibility'? H*ll yes. Do I think the esteemed moderator could eliminate that possibility, by exercising a little more moderation? H*ll, yes! ------------------------------ Subject: Response Re: Today's Last Loser: Another Spammer Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2006 22:55:00 EDT From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor) Message greatly truncated to save reading time, etc. >> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I can only presume that >> Mr. Bonomi (the author of the note before this last one) >> places _me_ and this Digest in the same category as the >> 'Verification Center' above since _these_ are the sort of >> things which AOL would require to pay their own way. PAT] > Ah, but the real question is: *WHO*decides* whether you > are, or are >not, in the same category? And what the > 'definition' of that category >is. > >I'm quite sure that > if that 'verification center' was making the > determinations, that they *would* put themselves in the > "wouldn't >have to pay" class, while it is unpredictable > how they would classify >Telecom Digest. And this is where my questions/comments begin: > It is also an undeniable fact that some of the mailings originating > from the Digest moderator are *indistinguishable* from what the 'evil > spammers' send out. If AOL, for example, looked at one or more of > those instances where the esteemed moderator decided to 'share the > wealth' of his incoming spam, by sending it on to *all* the Digest > subscriber mailboxes, it _would_ be very reasonable to classify the > sender as a 'spammer'. *NOBODY* signed up to the Digest with the > expectation that the moderator would _deliberately_ > _and_intentionally_ send them 'lotto', 'Nigeria 419', bank/ebay > 'phishing', and other scam messages -- but he =does=. Anything resembling SPAM which is sent out from here is sent out only as illustration; I have never sent any 'stand alone on its own merits' spam for no other reason except to spam people. If you are receiving any lotto, Nigeria, bank/ebay, phishing' etc as a stand alone piece of email, regardless of who it says it is from, it is NOT from me. Is this the kind of spam you claim I am sending? Any illustrative spam sent under my name (and really is me) will come under the subject headers 'last laugh!' 'what a loser' or similar and will be intended to mock and castigate the true sender, whoever it is. There will be social commentary in the form of Editor's Notes will all of it. Is this the kind of spam you claim I am sending, or is it the first kind, stand alone, sent by someone who decided to pick up the indicia from a bonafide Digest and use it? > Note, given that neither the original line-item ("E-mail, > should the sender pay?"), nor our esteemed moderator's > impassionedly affirmative 'answer' to that question made any > reference to AOL or its policies -- *nor* did my query > regarding his answer -- it is hard to imagine how any > rational person would/ could conclude that I was using AOL's > categorization rules as the basis for my query. Because a rational person, _taking in context_ the original message a couple days earlier where AOL stated their intentions for handling mail and the replies which had followed it the next day (but still before your Epistle showed up would have probably concluded that the discussion was based on AOL's plans. > BTW, I *DO* have issues with the concept of "sender pays the > receiving ISP to bypass all spam-filtering, regardless of > the user's wishes". Some are of a practical nature, some > are philosophical. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The answer to your question > is that the the present-day 'authorities' (who intend to > make the decision on pay to send mail or not) are the AOL > people; Which means it affects *only* AOL's customers. The TLA BFD applies. And also, people who send email to AOL customers. And the nice thing about it is it works _both_ways_. If AOL starts mucking with mail that AOL's customers _want_, and that mail gets delayed -- or even worse misrouted to a spam folder or deleted -- AOL's customers have the option of going to another provider. Certainly they do, but what I am hearing (only me) is that the vast majority of AOL customers are quite pleased with the blessed relief given them in recent months since AOL started pushing so hard on the spam/scam. And it doesn't take much to make that happen. I consulted at a shop that did a paid-subscription electronic newsletter. "Something" about that newsletter, on occasion, caused AOL's mail-handling system to do strange things with it. Not every mailing, just 'once in a while'. Of course, _we_ got the calls, when the newsletter showed up 'unreadable'. The only answer we had, was "it's a problem in AOL's system, to eliminate it, we recommend you get an account at a different provider." Since the price of (and thus the 'value', to the subscriber) the newsletter was several times greater than the cost of the AOL subscription, this advice was usually taken. That is a big difference between what you were sending to AOL and what I send to AOL. The price/value of TELECOM Digest is practically zilch particularly when someone does not recieve it and writes me asking to please re-issue a certain copy to them; I just remail the missing copy. I'm pretty sure it wasn't 'spam filters' that were causing the problem, the mailings were going to a maximum of about 2 dozen AOL addresses at any time. > they have said that when __taken in context_ over a long > period of time (_NOT_ message by message but the entire > contents of a Digest -- several individual >'messages') this > Digest and other established Usenet-style publications do > not qualify as and will not be counted as 'spam'. Context is > the all-important factor; not any one single message out of > the thousands which go out. If YOU honestly believe that > taken in context over the quarter-century this Digest has > been published that it amounts to 'spam' No, _I_ don't believe that the Digest, "taken as a whole" is spam, however, it is also a fact that the single largest source of advance-fee scams, make-money-fast scams, outright money-begging scams, etc. that _reaches_me_ is "telecom-digest.org", accounting for more than 40% of the total volume of such pollution that I encounter. Then I will suggest that my name 'telecom-digest.org' is being forged by spammers/scammers; that is, assuming you are discussing stand-alone spams/scams and _not_ commentaries by myself using illustrative spam examples. And oh, yes, I know there are tons of that going around, even viruses being sent under the name telecom-digest.org. What do you really expect _me_ to do about it? If the esteemed moderator of the Digest just exercised a little more restraint, on behalf of those who _trust_ him, my spam load would decrease nearly in half. And thousands of other people would see a reduction -- although probably not to the same degree -- as well. Considering that maybe once every two weeks or so I see some individual item of spam/scam which is so ridiculous, so outrageous I feel compelled to comment on it -- and that is the ONLY spam/scam I will take any credit for at all -- what I have defined as 'illustrative spam/scam' then you must indeed have a very low volume of it if what I editorially send you amounts to 'nearly half' of what you recieve. (And YOU said that statistic earlier!) > set publishing schedule, etc, then God Bless You. I guess I > will qualify as spam in your estimation. Yes, there could be > a change in the authorities; yes, the new authorities could > take a different approach to what is what; we will have to > deal with it when that time comes, if it ever > does. Furthermore, you read this Digest in one of two ways > only: Either you subscribe and ask to read it (and I can > document your 'asking' to receive it if you are a subscriber) And just _where_ was it explained that this subscription included anatomy enlargement/enhancement solicitions requests for assistance in smuggling large amounts of money across international borders, phony international order-processing and money-laundering schemes, etc.? You see, right from this assertion of yours I can safely say that you are getting a lot of crap sent by whoever _using telecom-digest.org_ as the sender. Now you are subscribed to a social commentary newsletter in which some of those topics get discussed _very rarely_ and when they are used as _ilustrations_ of what comes through the phone numbers and email addresses are time and again 'exxed out' and made illegible. Or, occassionally toll free numbers are left intact for readers to 'play with'. I _NEVER_ print messages like this on their own merits. Never! Someone else must be sending them. You hate them when they show up in your inbox coming from strangers. Have you ever thought about peoples reaction when that cr*p shows up _from_somebody_they_trust_?? I assume that when penis enlargements, bank frauds, job scams, etc show up from someone I trust that the person I trust is not expecting me to place an order for same; that what they are really doing is trying to demonstrate what a _hell-hole_ internet has become in recent years, particularly now that the Enablers have essentially turned their back on the tactics used by these nefarious residents of our net. The Digest subscribers trusted you to select _legitimate_ message traffic, and what do you do, when your frustration level runs over? You cr*p in the mailboxes of people who trusted you. It seems that you have as little respect for _their_ mailboxes, as spammers have for yours. Oh, I hardly think that would be the case. When is the last time YOU received a TELECOM Digest with 150-200 spams/scams on a stand alone basis in an issue. I mean, I do not need an excuse, if that is what you are claiming. > 'asking' to receive it if you are a subscriber) or you read > it via a public mailbox (Usenet) in the same way. You do > _not_ recieve this Digest in some sort of shady way, where it > just shows up in your mailbox each day with no documentation. Absolutely correct. People, myself included, *TRUSTED*YOU* to "do the right thing" and send _what_you_said_you_would_. I send a social commentary newsletter dealing in large part with tele- communications matters. And that is what you get _from me_, a small part of which deals some days with the loads of crap send through by people I have never heard of, never wish to meet, and even wish they did not exist. When a 'trusted neighbor' cr*ps in your yard it is more offensive than finding a turd left by a stranger. This is true, but did your 'trusted neighbor' crap in your yard or did he merely point out the mounds of shit left by persons unknown and in effect point his finger at the Enablers in town who helped to make it possible? The 'betrayal of trust' is a bigger problem, and has far more-long-lasting consequences. Again, WHO did the crap versus WHO occassionally pointed out the crap in the hopes of maybe shaming the Enablers into helping to clean up the mess? > That (documentation of your desire to receive it) and/or the overall > context of the publication demonstrates it is not spam/scam. For > everyone that is, except very possibly you, For people who have the time to do the 'research', that is. For someone who doesn't have the luxury of time, and has to make what amounts to a 'snap judgement',based on an 'unfortunate' and small sample of our esteemed moderator's selections -- they *can* draw an adverse conclusion. And, if you look at *only* what they had to work with, their decision is not indefensible. Given the 'right' sub-set of data, the hypothetical 'reasonable person' *could* come to that conclusion. Do I think they "should" do so? H*ll, no. Do I think such a conclusion is justified, or appropriate? H*ll, no. Do I think such a result is 'within the realm of possibility'? H*ll yes. Do I think the esteemed moderator could eliminate that possibility, by exercising a little more moderation? H*ll, yes! You have not yet begun to see the huge, horrenendous piles of garbage which accumulate here each day. In the thirty minutes or so I have spent considering and composing this reply to you, I can tell you another 40-50 items have accumulated. With luck, they all fell into the spam bucket, but in real practice they fell partially into the real messages area, scattered far and wide, with subject titles so tricky many of them will have to receieve at least a cursory glance before being _manually_ eliminated. Are you suggesting that _I_ should have time to work on all that even though you do not? So, its a lack of moderation you want to see, is it? I have noticed a few things in common about Enablers: so many of you fuss and quarrel among yourselves as the 'correct' approach to take. Each of you feel that _your way_ is best; that the others know nothing or very little, and certainly simple-minded lay people like myself know absolutely nothing at all. None of these problems we face will ever get solved by one single solution. Many solutions and approaches will be needed. Most Enablers have a very high-and-mighty approach, and because most Enablers are relatively intelligent people -- but selfish -- they think of a variety of approaches which will mostly work for themselves and a few others, while leaving the majority of netters out in the cold entirely. Some Enablers go so far as to threaten punishment -- not for the insects they should be abateing, but for other netters who do not 'go along with them'. I have become convinced in recent months that it is not the fault of the spammers/scammers; they are just insects out to suck blood and get their food. The fault really lies with the Enablers who could make some changes on the net if they would only get off their high horses and work with others. Let's twist things around a bit just as you have attempted to do with me, your Esteemed Moderator. I could say if some of you Enablers gave a Good God Damn one way or the other about your Esteemed Moderator(s) -- I am sure there is more than just one -- then you would be working your asses off make our jobs at least a wee bit easier. And I don't think you do give a shit -- or an iota of a shit for that matter what happens to the people who try to organize the messages and maintain some semblance of order in these newsgroups. Because, to give a shit, it would behoove you to work along on other's suggestions on eliminating spam/scam. That would require getting off your high horse and listening and working with others. If you were talking about stand alone, stand on its own merits (or lack thereof) spam/scam then the answer would be to rebuild the net for the essence of un-spoofable (or mostly so) 'caller ID'. In any event, do not blame that on me. If you were talking about my commentaries on same, and the fact that you sometimes wind up getting your nose rubbed in a mess not of your own making, when it begins to happen less and less, I will talk about it less and less, and if one message every two weeks or so causes your spam count to go up 40 percent, then you really do have some virgin eyes. PAT ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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: 620-402-0134 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 oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2006 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ 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. 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 V25 #157 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Apr 26 00:37:43 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id E683F15062; Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:37:42 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #158 Message-Id: <20060426043742.E683F15062@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:37:42 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:40:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 158 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 60 Billion Emails Sent Daily (Louis Charbonneau) Prison Break Headed For Cell Phones (Natalie Finn) Television Stations Urged to Break a Few Rules (Stuart Elliott) Would You Trust This Man to Sell Superbowl Tickets on Internet (M Solomon) TiVo Dual Tuner TiVo Series2 DT DVR (Monty Solomon) Report: Fixed-Mobile Revenues to Reach $28b (USTelecom dailyLead) Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Joshua Putnam) Re: 5- v. 7-digit Dialing (Lisa Hancock) Re: 866-849-3243 (Harold Cade) Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? (John Doe) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Louis Charbobbeau Subject: 60 Billion Emails Sent Daily Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:20:17 -0500 By Louis Charbonneau Internet users around the world send an estimated 60 billion emails every day and 80-85 percent of these are spam or scam attempts, business leaders said on Tuesday. Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Kai-Uwe Ricke said cyber criminals were growing more active and sophisticated, and the vast email traffic meant industry, government and Internet users had to be vigilant and work together. "This figure was new for me as well -- worldwide there are around 60 billion emails sent every day," Telekom Chief Executive Kai-Uwe Ricke told an Internet security conference. "A large percent of it -- 80 or 85 percent is spam or fraud; it has been as high as 90 percent in the USA, but not pesently," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer added. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned of the recent growth in "phishing" -- fishing for passwords, often via fake emails that especially target online banking. "In 2005, the attempts at phishing (globally) dramatically increased, by 300 percent compared with the previous year," he said. "According to international estimates, phishing is successful with up to 5 percent of all Internet users." He said this success rate caused inestimable economic damage worldwide. Internet security firm Symantec Corp registered some 8 million phishing attempts last year. Germany's BKA federal crime office said this month it had shut a "phishing" ring of Germans and Lithuanians, sparing online banking customers millions of euros of potential losses. The BKA said the phishing ring obtained online banking customers' user names and passwords and other sensitive data from their victims' computers by means of a "Trojan horse," a self-circulating, virus-like program that spreads by email and sends data from the infiltrated computer back to the "phisher." Schaeuble said many Germans used no form of Internet protection, exposing themselves needlessly to phishing and other criminal attempts to infiltrate their computers. "One out of every four Germans is without anti-virus protection and more than half had no firewalls," he said. Ballmer said this situation was probably worse in the United States, but there were signs Internet users were becoming better educated about protecting themselves from cyber criminals. He said it was important for software developers like Microsoft to make their products as secure as possible. But he warned that improved security would require the combined efforts of authorities, the industry and users themselves. "The hackers out there are really are smart and getting smarter. We all have to run in front of them," Ballmer said, "basically, email is almost a totally useless tool these days because of the huge amount of fraud and spam circulating." To improve U.S. cyber security, Ballmer said Microsoft would launch an initiative next month in the United States modeled on a German program, "Germany Safe on the Net," set up a year ago by Telekom, Microsoft, the government and Internet-related firms to improve Internet safety. Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html Other news headlines of interest are at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Natalie Finn Subject: Prison Break Headed For Cell Phones Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:22:10 -0500 "Prison Break" Heads to Cells By Natalie Finn Calling all cars, calling all cars -- Prison Break is making a run for your cell phones. Fox announced Monday that it will produce a series of two-minute mobisodes -- teeny TV episodes for mobile phones -- that complement the plot of the hit save-my-brother-or-bust drama Prison Break. The 26-installment serial, Prison Break: Proof of Innocence, introduces the character Amber McCall, who works feverishly to clear her friend L.J. -- son of the wrongly convicted Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Pursell) -- after L.J. is framed for murder. Webisode producers were allowed complete access to the show's location, filming many of the exterior shots at the deserted Illinois prison that stands in for Prison Break's Fox River State Penitentiary. Proof of Innocence will be available for free exclusively to Sprint customers for viewing on SprintTV's Fox station starting this week. In two weeks they will be available on http://Toyota.com. While this is not the first time Fox has answered the mobile phone call, having already given action fans their weekly dose of pocketsize drama with the first-ever scripted mobisode series, 24: Conspiracy, the upcoming Prison Break spinoff is the first of its kind to be supported by advertising. Toyota will air 10-second messages at the beginning of each mobisode and each segment will prominently feature Toyota vehicles, according to a joint statement made by the car manufacturer and Fox. The deal also hands Toyota the reins to create a Prison Break "microsite" on Fox's Website featuring behind-the-scenes video and Prison Break info and, of course, an extensive Toyota ad campaign. Although the financial specifics involved in the partnership weren't made public, media analysts are estimating the deal is worth around $10 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. "We're pleased by the overwhelming success of our mobisodes as a new way to engage and entertain consumers," said Mitch Feinman, VP of digital content for Fox Mobile Entertainment. "This is a prime example of how Fox can come together in a rich, cross platform campaign and reach the most desirable demographics in unique and custom ways," said John Trimble, senior VP of advertising sales for Fox Interactive Media. 24: Conspiracy's producer, Eric Young, will also oversee the new series. Complaints that the Conspiracy mobisodes were too short and that their lesser production values negatively affected 24's overall image -- although it was nominated for a special Emmy for portable programming -- led Fox to tweak the procedure for Prison Break. They doubled the installments' length, from one minute to two, and the TV show's producers have the final say over any plot twist in Proof of Innocence to avoid irritating any of the show's 9.3 million weekly devotees. Fox's news comes just as the National Association of Broadcasters announced that TV networks and local affiliates should share revenue from content shown on the new programming frontier -- iPods, laptops and cell phones. Additionally, three Hollywood unions announced today that they've reached a deal with Touchstone Television so that they can get rolling on making Lost Video Diaries, the mobisode offshoot of ABC's island mystery Lost. Copyright 2006 E! Online, Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html Other news headlines and stories can be seen at: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/technews.html ------------------------------ From: Stuart Elliott Subject: Television Stations Urged to Break a Few Rules Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:23:56 -0500 By STUART ELLOTT THE expression "think outside the box" has been overused enough to become jargon. But for a few hours yesterday it was appropriate, as local television stations were urged to diversify beyond their boxes, i.e., TV sets, to remain relevant -- and profitable -- in the new digital age. "Conventional wisdom, it's an enemy at a time like this," said Beth Comstock, president for digital media and market development at NBC Universal, part of General Electric. "In media today, I don't think there is a single rule that can't -- and frankly, probably shouldn't -- be broken. "This isn't just about driving growth," she added. "It's about staying in business." Her call to action came at the annual marketing conference sponsored by the Television Bureau of Advertising, an organization that promotes broadcast TV as a medium. For the fifth year in a row, the conference was held during the New York International Auto Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, reflecting the status of automakers atop the list of America's largest marketers. For the first time, the conference was devoted to a single topic: the importance of the "multiplatform" -- that is, offering content and advertising not only on local broadcast stations but also online, on cellphones and other wireless devices, through video on demand and on video iPods. The sole topic was intended to underscore that "advertisers and their agencies are increasingly asking for -- make that demanding -- a multiplatform strategy from all their media partners," said Christopher Rohrs, president of the bureau, in a speech he gave to almost 1,200 attendees to begin the conference. To address that, Mr. Rohrs said, the bureau has selected a dozen members to serve on a committee devoted to multiple-media platforms, which plans to hold its first meeting today. The committee members include executives from ABC, CBS, Gannett Broadcasting, Meredith Broadcasting, NBC, the New York Times Company Broadcast Media Group and Pappas Telecasting. There are two principal reasons that TV stations are seeking to broaden their horizons. One is "consumers will increasingly choose what they want to see, when they want to see it, on whatever device they want to see it," said Alan Frank, president and chief executive at the Post-Newsweek Stations division of the Washington Post Company. The other reason was offered by David Rehr, president and chief executive at the National Association of Broadcasters: "Every new stream of programming is potentially a new source of revenue. Most distribution channels will create more value for our content." Those prospects were the subject of a panel discussion led by Gordon Borrell, president and chief executive at Borrell Associates, a consulting company specializing in the local online advertising market. Mr. Borrell discussed a new report from his company showing that local television stations more than doubled their Internet ad revenue last year compared with 2004, to $283 million from $119 million. And, he predicted, the figure would climb to $410 million by the end of 2006. But ad revenue last year for Web sites operated by local newspapers totaled $2 billion, according to the report, or more than nine times what the Web sites of the local TV stations took in. Local television "has the power to significantly drive traffic to the Internet" by cross-promoting with the contents of station broadcasts, Mr. Borrell said, "yet it hasn't in many cases." "You have a tremendous opportunity in front of you," he added. "All media are in flux, and flux is a great time to institute change." As an example, Mr. Borrell cited the Web site operated by WRAL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Raleigh, N.C., that is owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Company. The ad revenue for the site (www.wral.com) exceeds the ad revenue for www.newsobserver.com, the Web site operated by the leading local newspaper, The News and Observer, published by the McClatchy Company. When it comes to capitalizing on additional methods of delivering content and ads, Mr. Borrell said, "we are where television was in the late 1950's." That outlook was echoed by the announcement yesterday of the final figures for Internet ad revenue last year, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The results set a record at $12.5 billion, up 30.2 percent from $9.6 billion in 2004. "We must be like Google, in a constant beta state," said Christine M. Di Stadio, senior vice president for marketing and new media at the New York Times Broadcast Media Group. Her reference was to the myriad test products and services offered on the Google Web site. Local stations ought to offer opportunities for social networking on their Web sites, Ms. Di Stadio suggested, to compete with popular services like MySpace; streaming video, to compete with Web sites like YouTube; and mobile marketing. As an example, Ms. Di Stadio described a "mobile physician finder" she is developing, listing doctors and their telephone numbers. Cellphone users will be able to "click on the phone number and dial, using click-to-call technology," she said. "Guys, we needed all these screens to come along to make us exciting and vibrant again," Ms. Di Stadio said, laughing. Brian Wheelis, vice president and group media director on the giant AT&T account at GSD&M in Austin, Tex., part of the Omnicom Group, cautioned the attendees against worrying that they will be competing against themselves. "If you think about the Web as cannibalizing, you've already given up and you're not ready for it," Mr. Wheelis said. He praised the Web site of KXAN, the NBC affiliate in Austin, owned by LIN TV, which offers blogs, podcasts, streaming video and other new media at www.kxan.com. Another member of Mr. Borrell's panel, David Buonfiglio, advised local TV stations to take part in the nascent trend known as user-generated or consumer-created content, which is meant to build emotional connections between customers and brands. Mr. Buonfiglio, vice president for local sales at Internet Broadcasting Systems, cited a contest sponsored by the Web site of WPTZ, an NBC affiliate owned by Hearst-Argyle Television that broadcasts to Burlington, Vt., and Plattsburgh, N.Y. The contest on the site (www.thechamplainchannel.com) "invited viewers to write the next commercial" for a local car dealer, Mr. Buonfiglio said, and drew twice as many entries as had been forecast. Mr. Buonfiglio also offered some advice in a humorous vein. "You really should go out and tell agencies what you can do," he said. "Get a capabilities presentation. If you don't have capabilities, get some of them first." Correction: April 25, 2006 The Advertising column in Business Day on Friday, about efforts by local television stations to expand into new media like the Internet, omitted the source of a comparison of advertising revenue for wral.com, the Web site of staton WRAL in Raleigh, N.C., and the Web site for The News & Observer. The information came from the trade publication Mediaweek -- not from Gordon Borrell, who spoke at the conference about the traffic for the two sites but not about their revenue. Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news and headlines from New York Times with no registration nor login requirements; dozens of free articles daily, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/nytimes.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:15:24 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Would You Trust This Man to Sell Super Bowl Tickets on Internet? Would you trust this man to sell you Super Bowl tickets on the Internet? Enough people did. That's why Michael Deppe is facing charges that he bilked them and others out of $370,000. By Connie Paige, Globe Correspondent | April 23, 2006 The New England Patriots were three days away from the Super Bowl. But, for about 10 fans, the suspense was not at the stadium in Jacksonville but at the airport in Orlando. They each had shelled out about $7,500 for a pair of seats to last year's game through a dealer they found on the Internet. The tickets, they say, were supposed to have been sent to their homes but never arrived. So, they flew in on faith, relying on assurances from the young ticket-seller that he would have the tickets at the airport. Now, at a Hertz counter, they had cornered the 20-year-old man just in from Boston who had their cash and, they hoped, their tickets. When the seller tried to put them off, one of the buyers called the police on a cellphone. An officer arrived but refused to make an arrest, saying the seller had until the start of the game to deliver the tickets. Then, in a twist that stunned the angry crowd, the young man turned to the officer and asked for protection. She shooed away the buyers, and the man drove off in his rental car. Another close call for Michael R. Deppe. Tomorrow, the resident, at various times, of Stow, Shrewsbury, Marlborough, and Hudson is scheduled to go on trial in US District Court in Worcester. He is accused of failing to deliver to 68 people goods worth $370,000 in Internet-related transactions. Among the witnesses may be a woman who was among those left standing at the Hertz counter 14 months ago. Deppe faces six charges of fraud stemming from the Super Bowl incident. He has pleaded guilty to 10 other federal charges involving merchandise sold over the Internet. Neither he nor his lawyer, Steven Rappaport of Lowell, would talk about the case for this story. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/04/23/would_you_trust_this_man_to_sell_you_super_bowl_tickets_on_the_internet/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 22:18:26 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: TiVo Dual Tuner TiVo Series2 DT DVR - Apr 25, 2006 04:00 PM (PR Newswire) Record Two Shows At Once, Built-In Ethernet for Easy Networking and Refreshed Upscale Look ALVISO, Calif., April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TiVo, the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced today the launch of the TiVo(R) Series2(TM) DT DVR. Available at retail beginning May 1, the TiVo Series2 DT is the first standalone dual tuner DVR with the award-winning TiVo(R) service and features. The TiVo Series2 DT DVR is optimized for cable households, allowing you to record two shows at once, so now you never have to miss any of your favorite shows -- even if they're on at the same time. The TiVo Series2 DT DVR also incorporates built-in Ethernet and USB ports, making it easier than ever to add the TiVo box to the home network. - http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=57934851 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 13:16:06 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: Fixed-Mobile Revenues to Reach $28b USTelecom dailyLead April 25, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dvpkfDtutdaGbRkBWm TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Report: Fixed-mobile revenues to reach $28b by 2011 BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Verizon broadens reach of digital media platform * Viacom snaps up gaming company * Citigroup: Telecom TV to boost cable-network owners * AT&T, Lucent report earnings USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Integrate WiMAX into Your 3G Network TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Annapolis plans free, ad-supported wireless * Enterprise customers look to 3G * U.K.'s H2O Networks strings fiber through sewer pipes REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * Supreme Court may review AT&T-Microsoft patent dispute * Debate over franchise rules in Golden State heats up * How China controls Internet use Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dvpkfDtutdaGbRkBWm ------------------------------ From: Joshua Putnam Subject: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:52:03 -0700 For most of a week now, I've been getting hang-up calls on my cell phone, showing a caller ID of 888-695-9405. If I call that number back, I get a recording thanking me for calling the DNC Hotline, and asking me to leave my number after the beep. I was reluctant at first, but after enough of these calls I did try leaving my number, but the calls keep coming. I've tried all the reverse lookup sites I could think of, none show that number. A Google search only turns up me asking, over in misc.consumers, if anyone knew who that number belonged to. After asking in misc.consumers, though, I have received email from other people who have received the same nuisance calls from the same number. * How do I find out who that number belongs to? * How do I know that's really the number calling me? * How, other than logging all these calls at www.donotcall.gov, do I get the calls to stop? Unfortunately, the cell phone they're calling is with Cingular, so customer service isn't the greatest. josh@phred.org is Joshua Putnam Braze your own bicycle frames. See ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: 5- v. 7-digit Dialing Date: 25 Apr 2006 11:37:22 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Neal McLain wrote: > You keep asking this same question, and I keep giving you the same > answer: mandatory 7-, 10-, or 11-digit dialing applies to almost every > ESS office in every state. (I say "almost" because there's probably an > exception out there somewhere; I've just never heard of one.) Thanks for the detailed explanation. The areas I wondered about were the sparse areas with no population growth, areas where no exchanges would get added. In other words, plenty of "room" so there was no conflict. I'm not sure such areas exist anymore, although I understand some western states are zero or even negative population growth. > - Because every dialing plan has to avoid conflicts > between local 4- or 5-digit numbers and NNX codes in > nearby communities reached by 7-digit dialing. Back in the 1970s I saw small town phone books. Dialing instructions for between towns could be rather complex, with a variety of odd access codes required depending on the town. I don't think this was uncommon. Further, in some places the dialable area was quite narrow, anywhere required the operator. Anyway, all of this would simplify the switch level design. In the 1970s, when the Bell System introduced dialed direct toll savings, they prominently stated that they applied to areas that didn't have DDD. > Have you followed all this? Or are your eyes glazed over by now? If > you haven't followed it because it's too complicated, that's my point: > it is complicated! It's amazing that traffic engineers back in the 50s > and 60s were able to figure it all out. > Even more amazing is the fact that they were able to implement it with > electromechanical devices: Strowger switches and relays. All very true. Dialing outward could be controlled by special access codes, as mentioned or simply not even provided for. But inward dialing was still needed to these little points and everyone needed a 7 digit unique number within the area code. Some towns had all toll service passed through a larger next down, that probably was an SxS too, but doing double duty as a tandem to relay calls through. Many people were converted from 5d to 7d at that time, others got new NNXs. The Bell System Labs history Pt II switching goes into some of this, although they don't get into the selector level detail you provided. We take DDD for granted but as you showed, it was extremely complex. The Bell System had a wide variety of individual exchanges and trunking arrangements out there, and the independents had even more variety. In addition, the layouts were fluid as many suburban communities were rapidly growing. Indeed, I'm not sure how much DDD was implemented before 1955 as the Bell System was until then struggling to meet basic service demands. Wholly new exchanges, additions to existing ones, new cable plant, new commercial offices, etc. They had people working out of trailers due to a shortage of office space. > I trust this explains why 7-digit (if not 10- or 11-) dialing is now > mandatory everywhere. Thanks again for the information. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:33:36 -0700 From: Harold Cade Subject: Re: 866-849-3243 The number belongs to xpedite.com. This is their policy/contact info. Do Not Call Policy Xpedite strives to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct and is committed to complying with all federal and state telemarketing legislation. No employee or agent of Xpedite shall engage in conduct that violates the terms of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, applicable rules, or state telemarketing regulations. Our personnel are trained to comply with this policy. At your request, Xpedite will be happy to place your telephone numbers on our Do Not Call List. We will note your request immediately, but it may take up to 30 days to remove your information from active lists. You can make your request by calling 866-849-3243, or by writing to us at: 100 Tormee Drive, Tinton Falls, NJ 07712. When you make a request be sure to include your name, address and all telephone numbers (phone and fax numbers, if applicable) you want to be included on our list. You'll remain on our "Do Not Call" List for 10 years, unless you ask to be removed. If your information changes, please notify us of the new name, address, and telephone number(s) in order to remain on the Do Not Call List. If you would like us to remove you from our Do Not Call List so you may receive telephone solicitations by Xpedite or its customers, notify us by contacting Customer Service at the number indicated above. You may also send us correspondence by mail at the address indicated above. If your name, address or telephone number ever changes, you must give us your new information for your "Do Not Call" status to remain in effect. Corporate Privacy Officer To contact our Corporate Privacy Officer when indicated by this Policy or to address questions regarding Xpedite's privacy practices, please e-mail privacy@xpedite.com or call 1-800-966-3297. ------------------------------ From: John Doe Subject: Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 04:15:57 +0200 Organization: Guest of ProXad - France On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 12:38:16 +0300, henry999@eircom.net (Henry) wrote: > And to respond to DLR's concern about the line getting 'answered by > the wrong machine', the point is that the _box_ answers the call and > routes it appropriately. 'Distinctive ringing' from the telephone > company isn't required at all. Sorry for jumping in, but how do those boxes work? Does the box pick up the line, waits for a few seconds, and ... - if it gets a FAX tone, it will direct the call to the fax plug - if it gets nothing, it will forward it to the phone plug? But if it's a voice call, will users just get silence for several seconds, or does the box simultaneously listens to the incoming call to tell if it's fax or voice, and also play a ring tone so, in case it's a human calling, the caller thinks the phone is still ringing? Thank you. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #158 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed Apr 26 17:51:58 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 5A4FA15A23; Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:51:58 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #159 Message-Id: <20060426215158.5A4FA15A23@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:51:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:55:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 159 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson What Type of Wireless Should I Use? (Ghazan Haider) Cellular-News for Wednesday 26th April 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Wednesday, April 26, 2006 (telecomdirect) AT&T Eyes New Markets for IPTV, Rolls Out Faster (USTelecom dailyLead) Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? (John Levine) Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? (Carl Navarro) Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? (Joshua Putnam) Re: 5- v. 7-digit Dialing (Neal McLain) Re: Telecommunications Alternatives For Distributed Workforce (Wm Warren) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Robert Weller) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Ghazan Haider Subject: What Type of Wireless Should I Use? Date: 25 Apr 2006 21:41:41 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com My company has two locations, 0.92km apart as per Google earth. There is a direct line of sight. There are about equal number of computers in each site. Instead of using replication, we intend to keep everything on one server and link the sites together fast enough to become just a single LAN. Currently theres a 15mbit connection that is always saturated and can be troublesome ... from wavewireless. I suspect its just a power boosted 802.11b. I'm hoping for a gigabit connection using directional antennaes. I've looked into Wimax and D-link's 802.11n products. Dlink does not provide directional antennaes for 802.11n yet, and provides no data at all on range and throughput at that range. Havent seen off-the-shelf wimax products out there. Bell Canada wont give us fiber optic lines, just twisted pairs. However Cisco's LRE (long reach ethernet) products max out at 15mbit. I'd accept 2x 500mbit or even 4x 1gbit connections since we can use etherchannel, but the connections should not encroach on each others' channels the way say 802.11b does (bandwidth of two channels is less than the sum of bandwidth of each channel). Of course it should work in harsh weather. Any suggestions? Can I have 1Gbps at less than 1km? ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Wednesday 26th April 2006 Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 07:39:27 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ 3G ]] Georgia to auction 3rd generation mobile licenses on May 23 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17118.php Georgia's National Communications Commission plans to auction licenses for third generation (3G) mobile services on May 23, the commission said Tuesday. ... 3G Licenses for Macau http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17125.php The Macau government plans to license three 3G licenses this coming October. In a press conference, Tou Veng Keong, coordinator of the Telecommunications and Information Technology Development Office launched the tender document and set a six month d... [[ Financial ]] Elisa 1Q Pretax Profit EUR39 Million Vs EUR39 Million http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17105.php STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones) Elisa Oyj, the finnish telecommunications operator, Tuesday reported net profit easing to EUR30 million in the first quarter from EUR33 million a year ago. . The group's earnings per share amounted to EUR0.18, down from EUR0.23 ... TeliaSonera 1Q Net Up, Unveils Extra Dividend http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17106.php TeliaSonera, the Nordic region's largest telecommunications operator, Tuesday reported a 16% increase in first-quarter net profit and pledged an annual additional dividend payment. ... Japan's KDDI Jan-Mar Group Net Profit Y32.6 Billion Vs Y46.5 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17107.php Japanese telecom carrier KDDI Corp. said Tuesday its net profit for the quarter ended March fell 30% on year, hurt by higher sales promotion costs and a special loss from writing down assets. ... New AT&T Boosts Earnings By 63% http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17110.php AT&T Inc., formerly known as SBC Communications, posted a 63% increase in first-quarter profit Tuesday, helped by the acquisition of the old Ma Bell as well as strong growth in wireless and broadband services. ... AMX in talks to buy Entel from Almendral http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17113.php Latin America's largest mobile operator America Mvil is in talks to buy Chile's second largest telco Entel from the Almendral holding group, Signals Consulting president Jose Otero told BNamericas. ... VimpelCom says plans to borrow $700 mln in 2006 http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17119.php Russia's second largest mobile operator VimpelCom plans to borrow about U.S. $700 million in 2006, the company said in a statement Tuesday. ... [[ Handsets ]] Russian police destroy 50,000 Motorola handsets http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17111.php The Russian Interior Ministry started Tuesday destroying 50,000 Motorola C115 mobile handsets that were earlier seized from Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset, Irina Zubarev, a spokeswoman with the ministry's K department, said Tuesday,... Three New Phones Multimedia Computers from Nokia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17121.php Nokia has unveiled a new range of Nokia N-series phones, which the company insists on referring to as "multimedia computers and experiences". The Nokia Nseries range is an example of the fastest growing product category in the mobile space: converged... Asia-Pacific Region Overtakes EMEA in Smartphone Shipments http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17124.php The latest market estimates from Canalys show some major changes happening in the worldwide market for smart mobile devices (handhelds, wireless handhelds and smart phones), with new names appearing in the global top five. Despite a sequential fall i... [[ Legal ]] Siget probes operators over stolen cell phone activation claims http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17115.php El Salvador's telecommunications regulator Siget is investigating allegations that one of the country's five mobile operators is allowing customers to activate stolen cell phones, local daily La Prensa reported. ... [[ Messaging ]] China, Expecting 'BlackBerry,' Already Has 'Redberry' http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17117.php NEW YORK (AP)--The BlackBerry e-mail device is coming to China in the next few months. By then, thousands of Chinese may already be checking their e-mail on the new 'Redberry.' ... UK Text Messaging Reaches Record Levels http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17120.php March 2006 goes on record as the month with the highest ever number of SMS's sent throughout the UK. Figures for March have topped the previous highest monthly total of 3.11 billion in December 2005, to deliver an extraordinary 3.19 billion messages ... [[ Mobile Content ]] Unions Agree Mobile TV Royalty Payments http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17126.php Three Hollywood unions say that they have jointly secured an agreement regarding payments to actors who appear in video clips sent to mobile phones. The Directors Guild of America (DGA), Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw) and the Screen Actors Gui... [[ Network Operators ]] VimpelCom CEO Wants To Tempt Russians To 'Phone More http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17109.php Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator Vimpel Communications plans to increase revenue by encouraging customers to use the telephone more, Chief Executive Alexander Izosimov said Tuesday. ... CTI plans US$262mn investment http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17114.php Argentine mobile operator CTI Mvil, a unit of Mexico's America Mvil, plans to invest US$262mn in 2006, local newspaper La Nacion quoted the company's regional CEO Carlos Zenteno as saying. ... [[ Personnel ]] Deputy telecoms minister fired amid accusations of corruption http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17116.php Bolivia's President Evo Morales has fired deputy telecoms minister Jorge Estrella Ayala following accusations that Estrella demanded a US$100,000 bribe from mobile operator Startel, according to local press reports. ... Phone Employees Killed in Iraq http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17122.php Six employees of the Iraqi mobile phone network, MTC Atheer were shot dead yesterday, at Nakhib, 300 km west of the Shiite holy city of Karbala, reported Major Mahdi Saleh of Karbala's crime department. No further details have been provided. A total ... [[ Regulatory ]] OFCOM Provisionally Awards Spectrum Licences http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17108.php The U.K. Office of Communications, or OFCOM, said Tuesday that 12 companies have been provisionally awarded Wireless Telegraphy Licences for the 1781.7-1785MHz paired with 1876.7-1880MHz bands. ... [[ Reports ]] Distribution The Path to Success for Mobile Platform Suppliers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17123.php The future business models for Service Platform Environments will be based on revenue sharing licence sales is history says Strand Consults. The market for Service Platform Environments is still in its infancy, but due to increasing competition thi... [[ Statistics ]] Statistics agency says Ukraine's mobile users up 10% in Jan-Mar http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17112.php The subscriber base of Ukrainian mobile operators amounted to 33.034 million people as of April 1, up 10.1% compared with December 31, 2005, Ukraine's State Statistics Committee said in a statement Tuesday. ... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 11:09:49 -0400 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Wednesday, April 26, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For April 26, 2006 ******************************** Vonage, The Cloud to Roll Out VoIP over Wi-Fi http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17679?11228 VoIP operator Vonage has linked up with U.K. Wi-Fi hotspot operator The Cloud to launch a mobile/Wi-Fi service. The service will be available to Vonage subscribers who have specially enabled Wi-Fi mobile handsets, and then make cheap VoIP calls from any Cloud hotspots in the country. The service is restricted to these hotspots; customers... Skype Announces Music Ringtones Deal http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17672?11228 NEW YORK -- Skype, eBay Inc.'s Internet telephone subsidiary, announced a deal Tuesday with music publishers that will make audio clips from artists like Madonna, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers available to its users as ringtones. Clips from Madonna songs -- including 'Like A Virgin' and 'Vogue' -- will be... China Gives BlackBerry Maker, and Free Markets, a Raspberry http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17669?11228 NEW YORK -- The BlackBerry e-mail device is coming to China in the next few months. By then, thousands of Chinese may already be checking their e-mail on the new 'Redberry.' The Redberry is not a new version of the BlackBerry that's been designed by Research in Motion Ltd. for the Chinese market. It's the name being used by two... Sprint Nextel Reports 11 Percent Drop in 1st-Quarter Profits http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17667?11228 RESTON, Virginia -- Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday said first-quarter profits declined 11 percent as merger costs outweighed higher sales for the cell-phone carrier. For the three months ended March 31, the company reported earnings of $419 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with $472 million, or 31 cents per share, during... Sprint Unveils Text to Landline Service http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17666?11228 Recognizing the popularity of text messaging, Sprint Nextel introduced its new Text to Landline service, which enables customers to text messages to wired phones. The service is designed to send text messages converted to voicemail messages on a landline phone. The Text to Landline service is being offered to customers who own 2-way... Cisco Speaks Enterprise http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/140/17665?11228 Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO - message board), the No. 1 enterprise wireless LAN vendor in the world, is attempting to extend its dominance in the market through wireless VOIP technology partnerships that should help to improve the quality of voice-over-WiFi services for enterprise users. The networking giant has teamed up with... Alcatel, Lucent Face 3G Decision http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17663?11228 Among the complicated decisions facing Alcatel (NYSE: ALA - message board; and Lucent Technologies Inc. is what to do with their disparate wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) plans. Alcatel already claims Orange SA as a W-CDMA customer, and Lucent has signed up Cingular... A VoIP, GPS PDA for Business Travelers http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17660?11228 The bloom is off the rose for PDAs, which are increasingly being overshadowed by smartphones. But business travelers, interested in lowering their cellular costs by using a low-cost voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service, will want to check out the Pharos Traveler GPS 525, a PDA with GPS and VoIP capabilities. Manufactured... Boingo Expands Wi-Fi Reach http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17657?11228 Boingo Wireless has forged two new deals that will add 1,200 international hot spots to its Boingo Roaming System. The company announced a roaming partnership with French mobile phone operator SFR that will add more than 300 hot spots in France to the Boingo Roaming System. The SFR network consists of the Toulouse and Bale-Mulhouse... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 13:07:00 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: AT&T Eyes New Markets for IPTV, Rolls Out Faster DSL USTelecom dailyLead April 26, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dvzEfDtutdboaJYJZb TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * AT&T eyes new markets for IPTV, rolls out faster DSL BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * In wake of telecom mergers, gear makers feel squeeze * Vonage, The Cloud link up in VoIP/Wi-Fi deal * Report: Consumers love the bundle * Nokia launches more multimedia phones * Sprint Nextel's Q1 earnings down USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Telecom Crash Course -- The must-have book for telecom professionals TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * "Redberry" emerges on China scene * New Microsoft browser emphasizes safety * Updated TiVo DVR lets users record two shows simultaneously REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * USTelecom's McCormick says telecoms won't threaten network neutrality * Bush will nominate FCC chief to new term * Franchise law unlikely this year, House aide says Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dvzEfDtutdboaJYJZb ------------------------------ Date: 26 Apr 2006 04:42:23 -0000 From: John Levine Subject: Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? > Sorry for jumping in, but how do those boxes work? Does the box pick > up the line, waits for a few seconds, and ... > -- if it gets a FAX tone, it will direct the call to the fax plug > -- if it gets nothing, it will forward it to the phone plug? You got it. > But if it's a voice call, will users just get silence for several > seconds, or does the box simultaneously listens to the incoming call > to tell if it's fax or voice, and also play a ring tone so, in case > it's a human calling, the caller thinks the phone is still ringing? Depending on the box it might play a fake ring tone, or it might start the answering machine message. Either way, it's pretty putrid. My suggestion is to order distinctive ringing, a second number that rings on the same line with a different pattern. Then get a fax machine that understands distinctive ringing (a lot of them do, check the manual) and will only answer if it hears the ring-ring pattern for the second number. That works great, fax and voice have separate numbers and there's no question who's supposed to answer what call. R's, John ------------------------------ From: Carl Navarro Subject: Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 11:44:26 -0400 On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 04:15:57 +0200, John Doe wrote: > On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 12:38:16 +0300, henry999@eircom.net (Henry) wrote: >> And to respond to DLR's concern about the line getting 'answered by >> the wrong machine', the point is that the _box_ answers the call and >> routes it appropriately. 'Distinctive ringing' from the telephone >> company isn't required at all. > Sorry for jumping in, but how do those boxes work? Does the box pick > up the line, waits for a few seconds, and ... > - if it gets a FAX tone, it will direct the call to the fax plug > - if it gets nothing, it will forward it to the phone plug? Yes. > But if it's a voice call, will users just get silence for several > seconds, or does the box simultaneously listens to the incoming call > to tell if it's fax or voice, and also play a ring tone so, in case > it's a human calling, the caller thinks the phone is still ringing? Yes. Probably one of the most industry standard boxes over here is the Command CS-5500. It runs about $55.00. Oh, check this out; I can't do that on my laptop :-) Here's the link to the command comm website operating instructions for the CS550: http://www.commandcommunications.com/technicalsupport_3.html Carl Navarro ------------------------------ From: Joshua Putnam Subject: Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 09:08:18 -0700 In article , john.doe@acme.com says: > Sorry for jumping in, but how do those boxes work? Does the box pick > up the line, waits for a few seconds, and ... > - if it gets a FAX tone, it will direct the call to the fax plug > - if it gets nothing, it will forward it to the phone plug? > But if it's a voice call, will users just get silence for several > seconds, or does the box simultaneously listens to the incoming call > to tell if it's fax or voice, and also play a ring tone so, in case > it's a human calling, the caller thinks the phone is still ringing? The one I use does keep the ring tone going while it listens for a fax tone. Unfortunately, these boxes don't work for at least two types of incoming faxes: 1. Some computer-generated faxes don't start generating a fax tone until after the line is answered and the ring tone stops. That was much more of an issue when I started using the box back in the late 80s, very few of those machines seem to be around by now. 2. Some humans send all their faxes manually, and don't hit the "start" button until they hear the receiving fax answer and start squawking at them. So they try again and again, and leave hangup voicemail instead of sending the fax. Sometimes they can be convinced to change their ways, sometimes they can't. One client in particular has been sending faxes this way since they got their first machine in the 1970s, and they've trained the entire office to always send faxes on manual dial, so I get to talk to them more often than I otherwise would! josh@phred.org is Joshua Putnam Braze your own bicycle frames. See ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 10:40:44 -0500 From: Neal McLain Subject: Re: 5- v. 7-digit Dialing Lisa Hancock wrote: > The areas I wondered about were the sparse areas with no > population growth, areas where no exchanges would get > added. In other words, plenty of "room" so there was no > conflict. I'm not sure such areas exist anymore, although > I understand some western states are zero or even > negative population growth. But even if the population remains static, telephone-number demand rises because of pagers, cellphones, second lines, PBX-to-Centrex conversions, CLECs etc. And when demand rises in SxS communities, even ILECs may need new NNXs just to avoid dialing-plan conflicts. Centerville, Iowa illustrates both of these points. According to Mark Roberts' original post (ca April 2003), an ESS switch was added for 437 in the late 70s while 856 was still in service. But at the time, 856 was still an SxS switch, and only half of its capacity was used for subscriber numbers (856-2XXX, 856-3XXX, 856-6XXX, 856-8XXX, 856-9XXX). The other half was unavailable due to dialing-plan conflicts. http://tinyurl.com/8axyn . Of course, when 856 was converted to ESS, dialing-plan conflicts disappeared and its entire capacity became available. Mark also notes that Centerville's population had been "around 6,000 for about the last forty years." According to the 2000 Census, it was 8,292 for "Zip Code Tabulation Area 52544." Whether or not a zip code is a good proxy for a telco exchange territory is debatable, but it's the only data available at the moment. Using that data, Centerville's population rose about 37% between "sometime in the 1970s" and 2000. During that same period, Centerville went from 0.5 NNX (half of 856) to four NXXs (436, 437, 856, 895). Bottom line: between early 1970s and 2000, Centerville's population rose by about 37% but its telephone-numbering capacity rose by 700%. Taking this analysis in the opposite direction (Ann Arbor) -- before the first ESS NXXs were introduced (761 and 764 in 1964), Ann Arbor had 3.4 NNXs (662, 663, 665, and 40% of 668). It now has 113 NXXs. Ann Arbor has been growing rapidly, but I doubt that it's grown by 3,225 percent! Neal McLain ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 12:07:52 -0400 From: William Warren Subject: Re: Telecommunications Alternatives For The Distributed Workforce kimi wrote: > Telecommunications Alternatives For The Distributed Workforce (March 2006) > Introduction,Distributed Workforce,Virtual Organization,Field Offices > for Larger Concerns,Virtual PBX,Case Study-Centract,Knowledge Worker > Impact Quotient,Conclusions > http://www.freewebs.com/virtual-pbx/ Pat, Please remind your readers that companies needing a virtual PBX may also use Asterisk, which is open-source and available for free. William Warren (Filter noise from my address for direct replies) ------------------------------ From: Robert Weller Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 08:41:05 -0700 Josh, DNC is, presumably, the Democratic National Committee. Did you ever donate money to the DNC or one of its daughter PACs? Even if you don't have a "business relationship" with them, it is not clear to me whether the "do not call" requirement of the Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA) would apply to a PAC. It would not surprise me that the US Congress, when it wrote the TCPA, would carve out some exemption for PACs. According to the FCC's website, the Do-Not-Call registry does not prevent all unwanted calls. It does not cover the following: Calls from organizations with which you have established a business relationship; Calls for which you have given prior written permission; Calls which are not commercial or do not include unsolicited advertisements; Calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit organizations. http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall/ Good luck! Bob Weller On Apr 25, 2006, at 9:37 PM, TELECOM Digest Editor wrote: > From: Joshua Putnam > Subject: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? > Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 15:52:03 -0700 > For most of a week now, I've been getting hang-up calls on my cell > phone, showing a caller ID of 888-695-9405. If I call that number > back, I get a recording thanking me for calling the DNC Hotline, and > asking me to leave my number after the beep. I was reluctant at > first, but after enough of these calls I did try leaving my number, > but the calls keep coming. > I've tried all the reverse lookup sites I could think of, none show > that number. A Google search only turns up me asking, over in > misc.consumers, if anyone knew who that number belonged to. > After asking in misc.consumers, though, I have received email from > other people who have received the same nuisance calls from the same > number. > * How do I find out who that number belongs to? > * How do I know that's really the number calling me? > * How, other than logging all these calls at www.donotcall.gov, do I > get the calls to stop? > Unfortunately, the cell phone they're calling is with Cingular, so > customer service isn't the greatest. > josh@phred.org is Joshua Putnam > > Braze your own bicycle frames. See > http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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. 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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #159 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 27 00:35:59 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id E35631530E; Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:35:58 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #160 Message-Id: <20060427043558.E35631530E@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:35:58 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:35:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 160 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson AT&T to Offer Movies Over Internet (Reuters News Wire) Review: Webaroo Service too Good to be True (Anick Jesdanun) Phishers Now Use VOIP to Catch Victims (Antone Gonsalves) Seagate to Unveil 750 Gigabyte Hard Drives (May Wong) Proposed Epson Printer Class Action Settlement (Danny Burstein) More About HR 683's Attack on Free Speech (Monty Solomon) Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? (John Doe) Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? (Henry) Re: New Digest Sponsor Brings FREE Phone Calls and DA (Justa Lurker) Re: PBS/Sony High Definition Production Pilot Program (Justa Lurker) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Joshua Putnam) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: AT&T to Offer Movies Over Internet Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:03:48 -0500 AT&T Inc. said on Wednesday it will offer its high-speed Internet subscribers a movie delivery service in partnership with Starz Entertainment Group, a unit of Liberty Media Corp. Vongo, the service from Starz, will feature a co-branded AT&T and Vongo Web site at http://www.att.vongo.com with a 14-day free trial to AT&T high-speed Internet subscribers. Vongo, which was unveiled earlier this year, offers subscribers unlimited access to more than 1,500 movie and video selections as well as live, streaming Starz TV channel for $9.99 a month. Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines of interest, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Anick Jesdanun Subject: Review: Webaroo Service too Good to be True Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:05:47 -0500 By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer 4 minutes ago It sounds too good to be true: the highlights of the Web squeezed into a data file small enough to fit on your laptop or mobile phone, letting you browse even when you don't have a live Internet connection. After giving Webaroo a whirl, I found that it is, indeed, too good to be true. Webaroo, downloadable as a free "beta" test from Webaroo Inc., promises to make it "simple for you to take the Web with you - and find what you are looking for anywhere, anytime." On your PC or phone, it stores the Web sites it believes will be most useful for finding nuggets of information. You customize Webaroo by downloading "Web packs," ranging from 64 megabytes for world news to 6 gigabytes for the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. There are packs targeted for several cities around the world, each as large as 256 megabytes. There's also one for soccer, and others are in the works. You also can direct Webaroo to download and store specific Web sites you frequent. Webaroo, which plans to eventually display targeted ads next to search results, can automatically update the sites whenever you are connected to ensure you have the latest information. Problem is, you must tell it to do so -- and it's not apparent unless you happen to view your preference settings. My expectations were low and skepticism high. I knew Webaroo wouldn't be able to handle my e-mail or instant messaging without an Internet connection. Nor was I expecting the ability to post on message boards or download video on demand. But I was hoping for enough of the basics to answer reasonable questions. More often than not, I couldn't easily get what I wanted. I began by requesting the Web packs for Wikipedia, world news and New York, where I live. But Wikipedia never arrived. Only later did I learn I didn't have enough disk space; Webaroo didn't immediately make that clear. I then tried to research restaurants, museums and hobbies in New York. A search for the movie "Thank You for Smoking" got me the previous day's showtimes from AOL City Guide, but links to that day's and the next day's showings produced error messages. "24 Hours on Craigslist" returned a mention in The New Yorker magazine that the documentary was playing -- but I got no reviews or other details about it. Being close to lunchtime, I decided to search for sushi restaurants on New York's Upper East Side. The first three listings were instead for Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants along with delis on the WEST Side. The fourth result was for a general neighborhood directory, with no information on each restaurant's cuisine or quality. I also tried to find my cable service provider, but a search for "cable television" got me a bed and breakfast that offers cable TV, a computer repair shop called Cable Doctor Co. and a magazine review of an HBO movie. "New York cable television" returned information on the Mets and Yankees baseball teams, not Time Warner Cable. I managed to find the hours for the Museum of Modern Art, but nothing on its current exhibit on Edvard Munch. To be fair, not all searches were frustrating. After trying various search terms, I managed to find what's currently featured at the Guggenheim Museum. I also immediately found airport parking information, a subway map and the week's weather forecast. Searches for news were acceptable. "Egypt blasts," "Nepal protests" and "Thai elections" got me some information on current events, even if the results weren't as extensive as those at Google Inc.'s news aggregator. I can empathize with Webaroo's challenge in making the most information available in the fewest number of bytes. That means giving high priority to directories and other sites with "high content density." But such sites can lack depth and be poorly organized. Webaroo says it wants to err on the side of brevity, but it may soon offer size options -- those who want the bare-bones can get the smallest version of the New York pack, while info-hungry consumers like me can get it super-sized, even if it means having to delete family photos from my hard drive to make room. Also in the works is a "Web to go" pack -- some 40 gigabytes covering just about any question you might have. The closest to it for now is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia in which anyone can contribute, regardless of expertise. Although critics say such openness results in inaccuracies and biases, proponents credit its collaborative nature for a more comprehensive tome that can reverse errors more quickly. I tried deleting some of those family photos to make room for it, but Webaroo still refused, even with 6.8 gigabytes free (Webaroo recommends having at least 10 gigabytes available). Nor would it let me use an external drive with more space (that option is coming). I shudder to think how something that large will fit on a mobile device. Webaroo says you need a Windows Pocket PC device with at least 512 megabytes of external storage -- for Wikipedia, you'd need an 8 gigabyte compact flash memory card. The desktop version works on Windows computers only. Webaroo does provide some of the information you might need on the go, but unless you have plenty of storage space, I wouldn't bother. Spend that offline time reading a book or smelling the roses; either will be more enjoyable than trying to surf an abbreviated Web. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Antone Gonsalves Subject: Phishers Now Use VOIP to Catch Victims Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:07:31 -0500 By Antone Gonsalves A security firm on Tuesday reported discovering a phishing scheme in which the scammers used Internet telephony to copy a bank's automated voice system in order to steal customers' passwords, account numbers and other personal information. In the attack that occurred last week, con artists sent spam disguised as coming from a small bank in a large East Coast city, Cloudmark Inc., a messaging security firm, said. The message asked the recipient to dial a telephone number to talk with a bank representative. The number went to an automated voice system that asked for an account number and personal identification number, or PIN, in order to access the caller's finances. The number was obtained through a regular provider of voice over Internet protocol services. There was no indication that the VoIP provider was aware of the scam, said Cloudmark, which declined to name the company and the spoofed bank. The incident reflected a mutation in the tactics used by phishers to snare victims. More traditional schemes involve spam asking the recipient to visit their bank's Web site through a link in the message. At the bogus site, the visitor is asked to input personal information. The latest scheme, however, is the first Cloudmark has seen using Internet telephony. An investigation by the San Francisco security firm showed that the scammers had used open-source software called Asterisk to convert a computer into a PBX, or private branch exchange, running an automated telephone information system. The voice system sounds exactly like the bank's phone tree, directing the caller to specific extensions, Adam J. O' Donnell, senior research scientist at Cloudmark, said. O'Donnell believes it's likely the phishers were using virus-infected computers that had been commandeered to take calls over the Internet. The use of VoIP is a natural mutation of phishing, since it involves Internet technologies that crooks operating on the Web are familiar with, O'Donnell said. In addition, obtaining a VoIP telephone number is easy and inexpensive and calls can be directed to any IP address. In the latest attack, the phishers used the same pitch in the emails, but used three different telephone numbers. "Through the economics of using VoIP, phishers reap the same benefits of any small business," O'Donnell said. It's not known how popular VoIP technology will become with phishers. That would depend on how successful it is at trapping victims "This is very early on, and we haven't seen a spike," O'Donnell said. "Our main purpose at this point is to tell consumers before they fall victim." Copyright 2006 CMP Media LLC. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines of interest, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: May Wong Subject: Seagate to Unveil 750 Gigabyte Hard Drives Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:08:58 -0500 By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer Seagate Technology LLC is beefing up the capacity of its hard disk drives to a whopping 750 gigabytes, offering consumers of digital media more storage for their computers than ever before. The drive Seagate will introduce Wednesday, the Barracuda 7200.10, is the first computer desktop disk drive to hit the 750-gigabyte mark and represents a 50 percent increase from the previous industry maximum of 500 gigabytes. Scotts Valley-based Seagate, the world's largest disk-drive maker, is first releasing the product as an internal drive for PC makers. Next week, it plans to introduce external hard drives -- add-ons that consumers can use to supplement their existing computer setups -- with a suggested retail price of $559. After that, Seagate plans to introduce versions for other consumer electronics, such as digital video recorders that are growing in popularity as standalone set-top-boxes or part of cable and satellite television receivers. For consumers, the beefier drives mean they can store more movies, photos, games and songs with less worry about quickly running out of space. They also could have larger backup drives to ensure against data loss when their drives crash. (Seagate offers a five-year warranty on its drives.) Analysts say a 750-gigabyte drive could hold roughly 375 hours of standard-definition television programming, about 75 hours of high-definition video, or more than 10,000 music CDs converted to the MP3 digital audio format. For the hard drive industry, the capacity milestone pegs the biggest, fastest jump in its 50-year history. The big leap stems from a new so-called "perpendicular recording" technology that allows drive makers like Seagate and rival Hitachi Global Storage Technologies to boost the density of a disk by aligning bits of data vertically rather than horizontally. At the same time, fewer moving components are needed in the drives. The advances are leading to the largest, most reliable disk drives yet, said Seagate product marketing manager Joni Clark. Before long, consumers will have terabyte-, or 1,000-gigabyte, drives at their disposal, Clark said. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines of interest, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Proposed Epson Printer Class Action Settlement Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:37:43 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Summary: a small bit of money back because Epson plays/played games with their cartridges. http://epsonsettlement.com/Faq.htm ____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 17:52:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: More About HR 683's Attack on Free Speech Begin forwarded message: From: Paul Levy Date: April 26, 2006 5:27:36 PM EDT Subject: More about HR 683's attack on free speech I have written to you before about HR 683, the "Trademark Dilution Revision Act", which would restrict free speech by depriving those accused of trademark infringement of explicit defenses of noncommercial use, fair use and news reporting that are afforded by the current statute. We have been trying for months to draw the trademark owner associations who are behind this bill, to put their arguments on the public record, and we are finally making some progress -- it is remarkable how little they have to say. This past Saturday, Editor & Publisher posted a column by Steven Yahn that explained the problems, which lies in a subtle change in introductory language to the three defenses. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/shoptalk_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002384406 The E&P column has, at last, succeeded in drawing the sponsors out. Yesterday there were two letters from lawyers (who had apparently not read the bill closely enough), along with Yahn's reply that goes through the statutory and bill language in detail, http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002385861 Today there is a letter fron the bill's main private sector sponsor, the International Trademark Association, along with my response. http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002423272 Sadly absent from INTA's arguments are any reasons why trademark owners need this particular change in the language of the Lanham Act, what legitimate interests have been harmed or would be harmed by the application of these defenses to infringement claims, and why INTA is so insistent in keeping this change that it sneaked into the bill without explaining it (at least in public). INTA has ducked these questions so far, but if it wants to change the law, it should tell us why. Paul Alan Levy Public Citizen Litigation Group 1600 - 20th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 588-1000 http://www.citizen.org/litigation ------------------------------ From: John Doe Subject: Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:50:21 +0200 Organization: Guest of ProXad - France (BTW, does someone know why Agent doesn't display replies in a hierarchical tree? Are msgs in this ng sent to some kind of mailing-list before being published to Usenet?) On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 09:08:18 -0700, Joshua Putnam wrote: > 2. Some humans send all their faxes manually, and don't hit the > "start" button until they hear the receiving fax answer and start > squawking at them. So they try again and again, and leave hangup > voicemail instead of sending the fax. Sometimes they can be convinced > to change their ways, sometimes they can't. In this case, instead of playing a fake ring tone, the box can just display a voice message to the ilk of "If you wish to send us a fax manually, please hit the Start button; If you wish to talk to someone, please wait 5 seconds before we forward your call". Meanwhile, the box listens for an incoming fax tone, and forwards the call after 5 seconds with no fax activity. What d'ya think? > One client in particular has been sending faxes this way since they > got their first machine in the 1970s, and they've trained the entire > office to always send faxes on manual dial, so I get to talk to them > more often than I otherwise would! It's always a good thing to keep in touch with customers ;-) [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: To respond to Mr. Doe's question about why messages and subsequent replies are not displayed in a 'tree' or heirarchal format, it is because mail is first processed in a Digest format, _then_ the (TELECOM) Digest output is forwarded on to Usenet for processing in comp.dcom.telecom. PAT] ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: Sharing One Line for Fax and Voice? Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 06:55:24 +0300 Organization: Elisa Internet customer John Doe wrote: > On Sun, 9 Apr 2006 12:38:16 +0300, henry999@eircom.net (Henry) wrote: >> And to respond to DLR's concern about the line getting 'answered by >> the wrong machine', the point is that the _box_ answers the call and >> routes it appropriately. 'Distinctive ringing' from the telephone >> company isn't required at all. > Sorry for jumping in, but how do those boxes work? > ...does the box simultaneously listens [sic] to the incoming call > to tell if it's fax or voice, and also play a ring tone so, in case > it's a human calling, the caller thinks the phone is still ringing? Yes. Moreover, the 'dummy' ring tone generated by the box is customisable. You can set it to match the tone normally produced by your telephone company or you can make it something different, in which case the alert caller recognises that he is through to another level of ... ringingness. Cheers, Henry ------------------------------ From: Justa Lurker Subject: Re: New Digest Sponsor Brings FREE Phone Calls and DA Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:56:59 GMT This 1-800-411-METRO thing sounds OK at first, but I'm wondering if usage won't somehow increase chances of telemarketer calls, etc. based on the notion of an established business relationship now being existent and so forth ? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well no, I do not think so, since what you are dialing is in essence '411'; and that does not increase your chances of telemarketer calls. You dial the long form (800-411-METRO) since telco is unwilling to default _your_ 411 calls to infreeda.com unless you buy one of the intercept boxes from Mike Sandman http://sandman.com which converts '411' on the spot, on your premises to the longer format. And the ten-second advertising blurbs you listen to in lieu of paying the buck and a quarter telco otherwise hits you up for is just a general message; not one which takes down your name or your caller ID, etc. Plus which, if you use the 'place a call' box on our web site http://telecom-digest.org/index.html a check box allows you to block your ID if you think it is important. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Justa Lurker Subject: Re: PBS/Sony High Definition Production Pilot Program Organization: AT&T Worldnet Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:59:27 GMT Monty Solomon wrote: > Three New Stations Sign on to PBS/Sony High Definition Production > Pilot Program > - Apr 24, 2006 04:14 PM (PR Newswire) > 'The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer' to Become PBS' First Daily Series in HD > WETA in Washington, D.C.; WQED in Pittsburgh and WYCC in Chicago are > Latest to Make Transition to High Definition Production with Sony > Broadcast Technology Curious that little WYCC, and not the inimitable WTTW, is the Chicagoland PBS station involved with this. ------------------------------ From: Joshua Putnam Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:03:19 -0700 In article , rweller@h-e.com says: > Josh, > DNC is, presumably, the Democratic National Committee. Did you ever > donate money to the DNC or one of its daughter PACs? No, but even if I had, I certainly wouldn't have given them my cell phone number as a contact. > Even if you don't have a "business relationship" with them, it is > not clear to me whether the "do not call" requirement of the > Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA) would apply to a PAC. It > would not surprise me that the US Congress, when it wrote the TCPA, > would carve out some exemption for PACs. I suppose it could really be the Democratic National Committee, if they're trying to annoy people into voting Republican. But it seems like such a shady operation (endless hang-up calls, calling cell phone numbers, hard-to-identify voice mail, etc.) that I find it hard to believe it's really that DNC. They aren't *that* clueless, are they? josh@phred.org is Joshua Putnam Updated Bicycle Touring Books List: ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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: 620-402-0134 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 oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Copyright 2006 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. ************************ DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO YOUR CREDIT CARD! REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST AND EASY411.COM SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest ! ************************ Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management (MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35 credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including data, video, and voice networks. The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum. Classes are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning. Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at 405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at http://www.mstm.okstate.edu ************************ 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. 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 V25 #160 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu Apr 27 16:32:47 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id D7D3915474; Thu, 27 Apr 2006 16:32:46 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #161 Message-Id: <20060427203246.D7D3915474@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 16:32:46 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, BIZ_TLD,MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR,NA_DOLLARS autolearn=no version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Thu, 27 Apr 2006 16:35:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 161 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test (Reuters News Wire) Trojan Freezes Computer, Demands $10.99 Ransom (Jeremy Kirk, IDG) Google's Clickfraud Settlement Offer is a Complete Fraud (dorothyferns) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - April 27, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) House Panel OKs National Franchise Bill (USTelecom dailyLead) Cellular-News for Thursday 27th April 2006 (Cellular-News) Re: What Type of Wireless Should I Use? (darktiger) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Bob Goudreau) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Ben Schilling) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (DLR) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Lisa Hancock) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do Tney Keep Calling Me? (Chas Cryderman) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Reuters News Wire Subject: California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:34:46 -0500 Calif. agency OKs broadband-over-power-lines test The California Public Utilities Commission approved a plan on Thursday allowing providers of high-speed Internet services to test the use of electricity lines to deliver online access throughout the state. CPUC commissioner Rachelle Chong, who drafted the plan, said broadband over power lines, or BPL, could become a new competitor to Internet services delivered via telephone, cable and satellites and help reduce prices for consumers. BPL uses existing utility lines delivering power to neighborhoods to carry broadband signals into homes. It has been touted by equipment makers and regulators as a possible competitor to cable and telecommunications services, which handle almost all of the roughly 40 million U.S. residential broadband connections. BPL technology also could allow utilities to develop so-called smart grid applications to more actively monitor and manage the distribution of electricity, said Chong, a former member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Until recently, U.S. utilities interested in BPL have faced various financial and technical problems, The signals that carry data over electrical lines can cause interference with radio equipment and can travel only a short distance before weakening, requiring repeaters in many areas. Nevertheless, utilities like TXU Corp., Texas's largest utility, and Cinergy Corp. in Ohio are exploring the service with privately held BPL provider Current Communications Group. The regulatory commission adopted guidelines for electric utilities and companies that wish to develop and test projects in California. Among the guidelines, electric utility affiliates and other developers can invest in and operate BPL systems. Utility affiliates would have to follow CPUC rules for transactions between a utility and a BPL affiliate to protect against cross-subsidies, the commission said. Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headline news, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/tc-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Jeremy Kirk, IDG Subject: Trojan Freezes Computer, Demands $10.99 Ransom Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:36:54 -0500 Jeremy Kirk, IDG News Service A new kind of malware circulating on the Internet freezes a computer and then asks for a ransom paid through the Western Union Holdings money transfer service. A sample of the Trojan horse virus was sent to Sophos, a security vendor, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant. The malware, which Sophos named Troj/Ransom-A, is one of only a few viruses so far that have asked for a ransom in exchange for releasing control of a computer, Cluley said. The new Trojan falls into a class of viruses described as "ransomware." The schemes had been seen in Russia, but the first one appeared in English just last month. "It is a new kind of malware with a particularly nasty payload," Cluley said. It's unclear how the Trojan is being spread, although Sophos is investigating, Cluley said. Viruses can be spread in several ways, including through spam or a so-called drive-by download that exploits a browser vulnerability when a user visits a malicious Web site. PC Frozen, Files at Risk Once run, the Trojan freezes the computer, displaying a message saying files are being deleted every 30 minutes. It then gives instructions on how to send $10.99 via Western Union to free the computer. Hitting the control, alt, and delete keys will not affect the bug, the virus writer warns. Sophos provides further details at its Web site. The virus writer even offers tech support, Cluley said. If the method of unlocking the computer doesn't work after the money is sent, the virus writer promises to research the problem and includes an e-mail address. Last month, a Trojan emerged that encrypts a user's documents and then leaves a file demanding $300 in exchange for the password to access the information. Victims were instructed to send money to one of 99 accounts run by e-gold, a company that runs a money transfer site. The password, however, was contained on the infected computer. Sophos cracked it and publicly released it. Copyright 2006 PC World Communications, Inc. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more tech news, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/tech-news.html ------------------------------ From: dorothyferns@xtcmail.com Subject: Google's Clickfraud Settlement Offer is a Complete Fraud: Date: 27 Apr 2006 04:00:16 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Google's clickfraud settlement offer is itself a complete fraud: Snip Basically if you accept this "deal" Google will return .05% of all fradulent charges to you. Yes, .05% . The example given was if Google admits you had 10,000 dollars of clickfraud, you will only receive a 5 dollar refund. And you don't even get it in cash -- you get it in a "credit" for future advertising you may want to do through Google- which won't be likely since Google just admitted to defrauding you for thousands of dollars that they won't repay. Folks, Google has just passed the realm of "shady business operators" and into "outright crooks." There's not much more I can add to the article, http://www.marketingshift.com/2006/04/google-clickfraud-settlement-issues.cfm it speaks for itself. http://www.fuckedgoogle.com/ Snip Your take? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 11:46:18 -0400 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Thursday, April 27, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For April 27, 2006 ******************************** Internet2 Network Aims to Boost Capacity http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/110/17699?11228 NEW YORK (AP) - By sending data using different colors of light, operators of the ultrahigh-speed Internet2 network are hoping to boost capacity by as much as 80-fold to enable researchers to connect telescopes around the world and perform other bandwidth-intensive tasks. The new network should be in place by fall 2007, said Douglas Van... Walt Disney Co. To Launch Family-Oriented Mobile Service in Britain http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17693?11228 LONDON (AP) - The Walt Disney Co. announced plans Thursday to begin operating its own family-oriented mobile service in Britain later this year using the O2 communications network. The service, to be called Disney Mobile, will offer multiple handsets within the same subscription and allow parents to control spending, Internet access and... AT&T Forges Ahead with Faster Broadband, IP TV Roll-Out http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/150/17690?11228 AT&T has announced that as of 1 May 2006, new customers can purchase the new Elite service online for US$27.99 per month (a 12-month subscription commitment and other charges apply). The service offers downlink speeds of between 3 Mbps and 6 Mbps, and uplink speeds of between 384 Kbps and 768 Kbps. Existing AT&T Yahoo! high-speed... France Telecom Quarterly Revenue up 10.3 percent, but Core Earnings Flat http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17688?11228 PARIS (AP) -- France Telecom SA posted a 10.3 percent increase in quarterly revenue Thursday but said regulator-enforced mobile tariff cuts and fierce competition in fixed-line offerings hurt core earnings. Europe's second-largest telecommunications operator said revenue rose to EUR12.81 billion (US$15.92 billion) in January-March... Austria: EU Gives Conditions for T-Mobile Takeover of tele.ring http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17687?11228 The European Commission yesterday approved the takeover of Austrian mobile operator tele.ring by T-Mobile Austria, but demanded action to preserve competition in the market. The commission was worried that the original proposal would have taken out tele.ring, which had offered the best prices to customers in recent years. To counter the... Loses Share in Domestic Fixed-Line Market in Q1 http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17685?11228 Polish fixed-line incumbent TP posted a better-than-expected 2.7% year-on-year (y/y) increase in its first-quarter 2006 revenue to 4.56 billion zloty (US$1.5 billion), against 4.44 billion zloty in the same period last year. The group's operating profit came in at 877 million zloty, down 10.1% y/y from 975 million a year earlier, and... House Passes Call Data Piracy Bill http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17684?11228 By a 409-0 vote on Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to criminalize the fraudulent obtaining, buying and selling of consumer call data records, with provisions that would carry as much as 20-year prison sentence for convicted felons. With similar legislation pending in the Senate, the measure is rapidly bringing to... FCC Steps Toward DE Reform http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17681?11228 WASHINGTON, D.C.-The FCC sidestepped completely overhauling spectrum auction bidding rules for small carriers, but still made a dent in some of the more questionable bidding practices that have pervaded recent spectrum auctions, analysts say. The agency issued a set of proposed modifications to bid winners' lease and resale of spectrum,... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 13:23:38 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: House Panel OKs National Franchise Bill USTelecom dailyLead April 27, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dykEfDtutdbWjVRbaW TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * House panel OKs national franchise bill BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * AT&T, Yahoo! offer VoIP * Starz' Vongo in deal with AT&T * More dark fiber lines begin to carry traffic * Motorola, Cisco end dual-mode phone project * Web giants step up local plays * Comcast, Alcatel, Tellabs report earnings USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Bookstore Best-Seller: VoIP Implementation and Planning Guide TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Yahoo! offers service to record TV shows * New technology combines mobile, landline phones * Nokia, iPass strike Wi-Fi deal for dual-mode phones * Analysis: Carriers' support of UMA key to success of next-gen phones REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * VoIP gear may be subject to export restrictions * FCC changes spectrum auction rules Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dykEfDtutdbWjVRbaW ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News for Thursday 27th April 2006 Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 07:56:30 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ 3G ]] Ukrtelecom suspends tender for 3G equipment supplies http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17139.php Ukraine's state-owned fixed-line monopoly Ukrtelecom has suspended a tender to supply equipment for third generation (3G) mobile services due to amendments to legislation on government purchases, the company's Chairman Georgy Dzekon told the sharehol... Bell Expands EV-DO Coverage in Canada http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17143.php Bell Canada says that it has launched new EV-DO networks in Ottawa, Hamilton, Burlington and Oakville, along with a new roaming agreement with Aliant for EV-DO service in Halifax. Bell Mobility currently also offers its customers high-speed wireless ... Ericsson Powers EMT's Launch of HSDPA in Estonia http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17144.php Estonian mobile operator EMT has launched commercial mobile broadband services based on HSDPA in Tallinn. This launch follows the successful upgrade by Ericsson of EMT's 3G/WCDMA networks with HSDPA. Under the agreement, Ericsson has delivered commer... [[ Financial ]] EU Oks T-Mobile Austria Buy Of Tele.Ring With Conditions http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17128.php The European Commission Wednesday cleared Deutsche Telecom's Austrian mobile network provider to buy rival Austrian mobile operator Tele.Ring Service, but imposed some conditions on the purchase. ... Poland's TPSA 1Q Net Profit +9.2% http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17129.php Telekomunikacja Polska, Poland's largest telecommunications operator, Wednesday said its first-quarter net profit rose 9.2% on slightly improved revenues. ... Sprint Nextel 1Q Down; Merger Costs Outweigh Sales http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17130.php RESTON, Va. (AP)--Sprint Nextel Corp. on Wednesday said first-quarter profits declined as merger costs outweighed higher sales for the cellphone carrier. ... Sprint Executive: Marketing Costs Weighed On Wireless Margins http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17131.php Sprint Nextel Corp. spent more on advertising and retaining customers in the first quarter, which weighed on the carrier's wireless margins, Chief Operating Officer Len Lauer said. ... Sonae Could Keep Portugal Telecom Interest In Brazil Vivo http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17132.php Portuguese conglomerate Sonae will not necessarily sell Portugal Telecom's stake in Brazil's largest mobile telephone operator Vivo Participacoes, if its hostile bid for the Portuguese telco is successful, Sonae Group President Belmiro de Azevedo sai... US Cellular 3Q Profit Up On Higher Revenue, More Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17133.php United States Cellular Corp., Chicago, saw its net income rise to $34.6 million or 39 cents a share (40 cents basic) in the third quarter from $27.6 million or 32 cents a share basic and diluted a year earlier. ... Entel denies acquisition rumors http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17134.php Chilean holding company Almendral denies being in talks to sell its telecoms unit Entel to Mexico's America Mvil or any other company, Entel president Juan Hurtado told BNamericas. ... ANALYSIS: Ola's partner search winding up http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17135.php The deadline for committing to participate in the bidding process to become Colombia Mvil's (Ola) partner expires this Friday, but the number of companies that will actually come through and make a commitment is far from certain. ... Telenor discusses sale of Kyivstar to Russia's VimpelCom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17140.php Representatives of Norwegian telecommunication company Telenor and Russia's second largest mobile operator VimpelCom have held negotiations on the possible sale of Kyivstar to VimpelCom, Telenor's press office said Wednesday. ... [[ Handsets ]] Camera Function Tops List of Frequently Used Features on Cellphones http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17142.php According to recent research by InfoTrends, the camera is the most popular mobile application. Although consumers may not be purchasing phones initially for their imaging components, it seems that once they try the camera feature, they are pleasantly... [[ Network Contracts ]] Huawei Wins Russian CDMA Contract http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17146.php Huawei has won a contract to construct a CDMA2000 network for Skylink, the largest CDMA operator in Russia. According to the contract, Huawei will now provide CDMA20001X/1x EV-DO network in 25 regions and cities in the CIS, making it responsible for ... TDMA & GSM SMS Supported by a Single Server http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17147.php Jinny Software says it has secured a contract to provide an SMSC, coupled with a range of VAS applications and a Real-time Charging Gateway to a key operator in the Caribbean region. The Caribbean operator has an existing TDMA network and is currentl... [[ Network Operators ]] Alegro PCS ditches administrator Swedtel http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17137.php Ecuadorian mobile operator Alegro PCS has put an end to its management contract with Swedish telecoms services firm Swedtel, Ecuadorian daily El Comercio reported. ... Sprint CFO Says Co Winning Share Of Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17141.php Sprint Nextel Corp. is gaining market share in winning over customers, according to Chief Financial Officer Paul Saleh. ... [[ Regulatory ]] Georgias Argotex gets mobile license http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17127.php Georgia?s Argotex has paid 19.9 million lari for a mobile telecommunication services license, the National Communications Commission said Tuesday. ... Subtel stresses importance of regulatory reform http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17136.php Telecoms regulations in Chile are significantly out of date and the authorities are keen to implement modifications as soon as conditions allow, according to Pablo Bello, new head of telecoms watchdog Subtel. ... Ukraine's regulator won't issue 3 GSM licenses to Golden Telecom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17138.php Ukraine's National Commission for Communications Regulation (NKRS) will not provide licenses for GSM 900 frequencies in three regions to Golden Telecom, the commission said Wednesday. ... [[ Reports ]] Landline Operators Driving Fixed-Mobile Convergence http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17145.php Fixed telecoms operators will be the driving force behind fixed mobile convergence over the next five years, according to a report from Informa Telecoms & Media. The study predicts 92 million subscribers by 2011 generating US$28 billion in revenues a... ------------------------------ From: darktiger Subject: Re: What Type of Wireless Should I Use? Date: 26 Apr 2006 23:30:18 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Where to start? Well ... Run your own fiber :-) Personally, I don't think you need GigE -- 100Mbps or even 48Mbps may suit you well ... You make no mention to how many computers you have on each side, but the server can only handle so many connections (limitation of a single NIC) For a lot of money you have this option: http://shop.wirelessguys.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.526/it.A/id.2883/.f Gbps for 1- 4 miles... For less money you have this option: http://shop.wirelessguys.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.535/it.A/id.2881/.f 150Mbps ... Or for some good, carrier grade 48Mbps MAX (Time Warner Telecom uses these) https://shop.invictusnetworks.com/detail.php?id=16063 I use those RAD AirMux 200 radios for our backhaul - not bad... With the right module you can even run 4x T1 lines over it for voice traffic or whatever... Hope this helps ... ------------------------------ From: Bob Goudreau Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 01:36:18 -0400 [Please anonymize my address as usual. Thanks.] Joshua Putnam wrote: > In article , rweller@h-e.com > says: >> Josh, >> DNC is, presumably, the Democratic National Committee. Did you ever >> donate money to the DNC or one of its daughter PACs? > No, but even if I had, I certainly wouldn't have given them my cell > phone number as a contact. >> Even if you don't have a "business relationship" with them, it is >> not clear to me whether the "do not call" requirement of the >> Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA) would apply to a PAC. It >> would not surprise me that the US Congress, when it wrote the TCPA, >> would carve out some exemption for PACs. > I suppose it could really be the Democratic National Committee, if > they're trying to annoy people into voting Republican. But it seems > like such a shady operation (endless hang-up calls, calling cell phone > numbers, hard-to-identify voice mail, etc.) that I find it hard to > believe it's really that DNC. They aren't *that* clueless, are they? Err, maybe I'm the only one that picked up on this, but it seemed clear to me from the original posts that that the "DNC Hotline" was a "D[o] N[ot] C[all]" hotline set up by the company in question (whoever they are), ostensibly to comply with the TCPA. Nothing to do with politics, in other words. Bob Goudreau Cary, NC ------------------------------ From: Ben Schilling Subject: RE: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 10:40:23 -0500 Joshua Putnam wrote: > * How, other than logging all these calls at www.donotcall.gov, do I > get the calls to stop? Interestingly enough Congress exempted political organizations from do not call restrictions. You'd have to be cynical to think that they might have some interest in letting those people call you. Ben Schilling ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 12:09:37 -0400 From: DLR Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? >> DNC is, presumably, the Democratic National Committee. Did you ever >> donate money to the DNC or one of its daughter PACs? >> Even if you don't have a "business relationship" with them, it is >> not clear to me whether the "do not call" requirement of the >> Telephone Consumer Privacy Act (TCPA) would apply to a PAC. It >> would not surprise me that the US Congress, when it wrote the TCPA, >> would carve out some exemption for PACs. > I suppose it could really be the Democratic National Committee, if > they're trying to annoy people into voting Republican. But it seems > like such a shady operation (endless hang-up calls, calling cell phone > numbers, hard-to-identify voice mail, etc.) that I find it hard to > believe it's really that DNC. They aren't *that* clueless, are they? Non profits seem to be excluded from the Do Not Call lists. And as someone who lives in a house with people registered in both parties, yes, both parties and their candidates pester us all the time with surveys and get out the vote calls as primaries and general elections approach. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: 27 Apr 2006 12:35:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Robert Weller wrote: > It would not surprise me > that the US Congress, when it wrote the TCPA, would carve out some > exemption for PACs. I'm pretty sure it was announced that political calls are exempt from the "no call" lists. What I don't understand is why they called your cell phone. I thought cell phones, hospital rooms, and nursing homes were explicitly blocked by law from receiving such solicitation calls. Cell phones because the owner must pay for received calls and obviously it's a burden for sick people. (Didn't stop my mother from being bothered by calls made by auto sequential dialers in the nursing home; I had to pull the phone out.) The people who make such solicitation calls obviously don't give a damn. They know most consumers won't bother to record the necessary information and register a complaint and even if they do, they'll get a slap on the wrist or fight the complaint dragging it out. I am flooded with such calls on election day. Indeed, I called the local Party and they shrugged it off, saying they had no control over it. I think both parties called but the Dems were worse. I hated the pre-recorded messages from prominent politicians. BTW, when I used 1169, I got "111-111-1111" as the calling number, which apparently is a VOIP line. I was also flooded with union calls. My local union denied a connection to the calls and refused to do anything about. They didn't appreciate the nasty letter I wrote to the national union complaining; the next election call volume was down. The definition of "prior relationship" is stretched greatly by callers. Some callers simply lie and claim "according to our records, about ten years ago you did business with us and we just wanted to check how you're doing". A company is allowed to sell your name or share it with "affiliates" which could be just about anyone. I was really mad at my bank for soliciting me at work to buy stock, yet when they wrongly bounced a check of mine, they didn't bother to call me to inquire. (They bounced it because it "looked funny"). I had to repeatedly complain, but they did pay the penalties the recipient passed on to me and gave me a letter admitting their error. P.S. The no-call lists have significantly reduced nuisance calls at home, and that's good. But I must say I must no use for the scumbags who sell and program 'auto-dialers' since they obviously made no exception for nursing home residents or cell phones. I haven't had incoming calls to my cellphone, but then my own phone is rarely on to receive them. But numerous people have complained about them. Many people (like me) pay for minutes for incoming calls, so it is grossly unfair to call someone. It turned out in my area there was a boiler room of phone solicitors. The owner whined he had to lay people off. Sorry, but I had no sympathy for him or his laid off employees. The unwanted calls were very disruptive to myself and my family; thank goodness we at least have this new law. Can anyone justify this practice? [public replies, please} ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 15:56:52 -0400 From: Cryderman, Charles Reader Joshua Putnam stated: > "I suppose it could really be the Democratic National Committee, if > they're trying to annoy people into voting Republican. But it seems > like such a shady operation (endless hang-up calls, calling cell phone > numbers, hard-to-identify voice mail, etc.) that I find it hard to > believe it's really that DNC. They aren't *that* clueless, are they?" Yes they are! Come-on man, didn't you see how the 2000 and 2004 elections went? Had they a clue they could have won (not that I'd bet on it). Chip Cryderman [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, if you recall during the last election there were various Republicans who got in trouble (put on trial and sent to jail actually) for jamming the phone lines of the Democrats; was it in Connecticut? PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #161 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri Apr 28 13:36:12 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id 367FB1581D; Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:36:12 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #162 Message-Id: <20060428173612.367FB1581D@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:36:12 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.9 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00, CELL_PHONE_IMPROVE,MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:40:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 162 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Some NPR and Christian Broadcasters Invaded by Howard Stern (AP News Wire) Yahoo Cited in Jailing of China Internet Writer (Benjamin Lim) Vote Shows Rift over Net Neutrality (Jim Puzzanghera) Microsoft Not Plotting Aganst Google, Ballmer Says (Reuters News Wire) Uniden Phones Interference With DSL Phone Line - How to Fix (jrbdmb) Cellular-News: Friday 28th April 2006 (Cellular-News) TelecomDirect News Daily Update - April 28, 2006 (telecomdirect_daily) Voip Updated Basic, Translating, Voip News Advanced (triblika@gmail.com) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Dave Garland) Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? (Harold) Re: California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test (Biteone) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Associated Press News Wire Subject: Some NPR and Christian Broadcasters Invaded by Howard Stern Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:04:30 -0500 Some commuters hoping to ease into their day with National Public Radio or Christian broadcasts are hearing shock jock Howard Stern instead. Their favorite stations aren't broadcasting Stern's show, which has moved to satellite radio provider Sirius. Instead, poorly installed or defective satellite radio units, which act as mini-FM transmitters, are being blamed. "Usually they're upset, because they don't know what's going on. This isn't what they tuned in to (hear)," Charles W. Loughery, president of the Word FM Radio Network, a group of contemporary Christian stations in eastern Pennsylvania, told The (Baltimore) Sun. Some of the units use FM signals to broadcast the satellite signal to the car's audio system, using frequencies low on the FM band such as 88.1, often reserved for noncommercial, religious or educational stations. The signal from the satellite system can sometimes override broadcasts from those stations for listeners in nearby cars. Anthony Brandon, president and general manager at 88.1 WYPR, a National Public Radio affiliate in Baltimore, said he has sent 60 complaint letters to the Federal Communications Commission, which says it is investigating. Neil Hever, program director for 88.1 WDIY, an NPR affiliate in Bethlehem, Pa., said he has forwarded 38 letters to the FCC. "Back in December, a gentleman called from Warren County, N.J.," Hever said. "He said, 'I'm not going to turn you in, but I take offense to the rap music you're playing.' We said, "We don't program gangsta rap.'" "We're upset because we know it's aggravating our listeners, and we know (interference with a licensed broadcaster) is against the law." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news headlines from Associated Press, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: Benjamin Lim Subject: Yahoo Cited in Jailing of China Internet Writer Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 10:55:33 -0500 By Benjamin Kang Lim Yahoo Inc. has been cited in a Chinese court decision to jail a dissident Internet writer for 10 years for subversion in 2003 -- the fourth such case to surface implicating the U.S. Internet giant. Wang Xiaoning, born in 1951, was convicted of the charge of "incitement to subvert state power" after e-mailing electronic journals advocating a multi-party system, the New York-based watchdog Human Rights in China (HRIC) said in a statement. Wang's journals, called Democratic Reform Free Forum and Current Political Commentary, included essays written under his real and pen names and by others advocating democratic reform. Evidence cited in the verdict included "information provided by Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. stating that Wang's "aaabbbccc" Yahoo Group was set up using the mainland China-based e-mail address bxoguh@yahoo.com.cn.," HRIC said. Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. also confirmed that the e-mail address ahgq@yahoo.com.cn, through which Wang sent messages to his Yahoo Group, was a China-based account, it said. But the verdict did not indicate whether Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. or Yahoo China -- which is now operated by mainland China-based Alibaba.com -- provided specific information regarding Wang's identity, the watchdog said. Pauline Wong, a spokeswoman for Yahoo Hong Kong, said she did not have any details about Wang's case. "The Chinese government has never approached Yahoo Hong Kong for any information, and Yahoo Hong Kong has never given any information to the Chinese government," Wong said. She could not speak for Yahoo China, but said Yahoo companies worldwide are required to comply with local law. "Wherever law enforcement bodies request information, we would not know the nature of the investigation," she said. But she added: "We definitely condemn punishment of any activity internationally recognised as freedom of expression, whether that punishment takes place in China or anywhere else in the world." The verdict stated that following a search of Wang's home on September 1, 2002, police found the offending essays in personal computer files and records of his e-mail traffic, it said. The verdict also noted that in 2001, administrators of Wang's Yahoo Group noticed the political content of Wang's writings and did not allow him to continue distribution, HRIC said. He then began distributing his electronic journals by e-mail to individual e-mail addresses, HRIC said. The prosecution's evidence also included statements by two witnesses who had communicated with Wang by e-mail after reading his essays in e-mail or on Web sites, HRIC said. The case is the latest in a string of examples that highlight the friction between profits and principles for Internet companies doing business in China, the world's number-two Internet market. Web search giant Google Inc. has come under fire for saying it would block politically sensitive terms on its new China site, bowing to conditions set by Beijing. In December, Microsoft Corp. shut down a blog at MSN Spaces belonging to outspoken blogger Michael Anti under Chinese government orders. (Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Hong Kong) Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news and headlines from Reuters, please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html ------------------------------ From: Jim Puzzanghera Subject: Vote Shows Rift over Net Neutrality Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 10:57:46 -0500 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-neutral27apr27,1,3974734.story?coll=la-headlines-business From the Los Angeles Times Panel Vote Shows Rift Over `Net Neutrality' A House committee rejects a bid to ban extra charges for faster, more reliable delivery of data. By Jim Puzzanghera Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON - A fight in a House committee about online tolls offered a preview Wednesday of the larger battle brewing over the future of the Internet as Congress overhauls telecommunications rules for the first time in a decade. Despite lobbying from online giants such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., the House Energy and Commerce Committee rejected an amendment that would prohibit the owners of Internet networks from charging extra for preferential treatment of data. Uncertainty over so-called Internet neutrality threatens to derail broader efforts to update the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which governs phones and cable television as well as Internet access. Some changes already are strongly opposed by the cable TV industry because they would allow phone companies to more easily offer TV services. Opponents hope to stir up an online groundswell for strong Net neutrality rules. "The public is starting to awaken to this great threat," Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) told his colleagues on the Republican-dominated committee shortly before they voted 34-22 against the neutrality amendment. As more people use the Internet for data-heavy applications like video and music, the copper wires and fiber-optic lines that whisk information from computer to computer can get crowded. Big phone companies led by AT&T Inc. want to charge extra to guarantee fast and reliable delivery. Critics contend that would turn the Internet into a virtual toll road. They say such preferential treatment violates the egalitarian spirit of the Internet and threatens to stifle innovation. All but five of the committee's Democrats supported the amendment, along with one Republican, Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.). The Democratic support was heavier than in a subcommittee vote earlier this month. The overall telecom bill handily passed the committee 42-12, with 15 Democrats supporting it. Opponents said they were not giving up. With House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) backing Net neutrality rules, and some Republicans raising questions about the issue during a House Judiciary Committee hearing this week, opponents hope to slow the bill's momentum toward a full House vote in coming weeks. Net neutrality could cause additional problems for telecom legislation in the Senate. Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is drafting a version of the bill and has said Net neutrality is the most contentious issue. Supporters of the House telecom bill said it would make data discrimination illegal and argued that no company was levying tolls anyway. Committee Chairman Joe L. Barton (R-Texas), the main sponsor of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006, promised to support a legislative fix if problems arose. But leading Internet companies, including Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc., San Jose-based Ebay Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in Redmond, Wash., do not want to take that chance. They have been pressing for strong rules to guarantee neutral treatment of data over the Internet. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel Corp. joined the group Tuesday. On Monday, a variety of grass-roots organizations - including MoveOn.org Civic Action, Common Cause, Gun Owners of America and the Parents Television Council -- launched Savetheinternet.com to press for Net neutrality rules. The group said 500 blogs had linked to the site and more than 250,000 people had signed a petition to the Energy and Commerce Committee. "It comes down to trust," Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, a coalition member, told reporters in a conference call. The telecom bill would allow companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. to more easily offer pay television services similar to cable. The bill would eliminate the need for companies to get permission from every community they want to serve by offering the option to obtain a national franchise instead of the local franchises that cable companies had to obtain. That provision is part of an overall strategy by the companies to compete with cable in offering video, voice and Internet packages to consumers. Barton and other supporters of the bill say that making it easer for phone companies to compete with cable would help create incentives to build more broadband Internet services. AT&T and Verizon also are pushing a bill in the California Legislature to allow for a statewide franchise. Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times ------------------------------ From: Reuters News Wire Subject: Microsoft Not Plotting Aganst Google, Ballmer Says Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:01:50 -0500 Microsoft not hatching plan with eBay: paper Microsoft is not plotting against Google with eBay, Microsoft's chief executive told a German newspaper, but he said he did often talk with his counterpart at eBay about working together. "Of course we talk with eBay all the time," Steve Ballmer told Germany's Die Welt in an interview published on Friday. "But we don't get together in a secret circle and hatch plans about what we could do together against Google." Google posted a 79-percent jump in revenue earlier this month as it took a greater share of the Internet search market. Its rapid growth has spurred eBay to consider a partnership with Microsoft or Yahoo, the world's second-biggest Internet search engine company, as Google takes aim against Web auction company eBay with an online classified service. The Wall Street Journal has reported that eBay, a major buyer of Web search keyword advertising, is talking to Yahoo and Microsoft as well as Google about forming an alliance. But Ballmer said: "A tie-up with the sole aim of shutting out a competitor makes no sense. The partnership must produce something that is useful for users and advertisers." He added, however, that he did regularly talk to eBay's CEO Meg Whitman, who he said was a close personal friend. "I've known her for 22 years, and so we talk a lot about what Microsoft and eBay could do together," he said. Ballmer added that he had no plans to pay for Microsoft's new version of Windows, Vista, through advertising. "You mean, would we finance Vista more by advertising than by selling software? Not likely," Ballmer said. "Part of the screen would then be covered in advertisements. I'm sure most customers would rather pay $50 or $60 more for their PC." Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news and headlines of interest please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/tde-extra/technews.html ------------------------------ From: jrbdmb@yahoo.com Subject: Uniden Phones Interference With DSL - Why or How to Fix? Date: 27 Apr 2006 19:35:44 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Here's a strange problem I have encounterd in the past week, and I'm hoping that somebody has a clue on what could be happening. My old Uniden 2.4 GHz cordless phone is on its last legs, so I have decided to replace the phone with one of the new 5.6 GHZ models. On both models I tried (TRU8885 and TRU9485), when I take attempt to dial the call using the handset or base, there is a dial tone for a fraction of a second (almost too short to notice) and then the dial tone goes dead. After playing with the phone for a while I determined that for some reason the phone is dialing a "1" by iteslf (local calls would not go through, error message "you do not need to dial a 1 ..."; LD calls go through without having to dial a "1" myself). Now, I disconnected all other phones from my line, verified the DSL filter on the line in use, and the problem persists. But if I hook the same phone up in my "mother in law suite" on a separate line, the phone works as expected. Three tested units (2 8885's, 1 9485) all exhibit the same behavior. (Note that I have a Verizon phone line with the 768KB DSL service, Call Waitng, Voice Mail, and a few other services. My mother in law's line is bare bones with no DSL or extra services.) So ... short of just returning all three Unidens for a different brand, I'm hoping to identify and correct the problem myself. Could it be an interference issue between new Uniden phones and DSL? Perhaps interference between the phone and some other serivce on my line? Are there better quality DSL filters that may resolve the problems? Could it be a Verizon wiring problem, even though my old cordless phone works OK? Or have I found a flaw in the new Uniden cordless phones? Thanks for any info you can provide. ------------------------------ Subject: Cellular-News: Friday 28th April 2006 Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:30:01 -0500 From: Cellular-News Cellular-News - http://www.cellular-news.com [[ Financial ]] Vodafone Completes Vodafone Japan Sale, To Return GBP6 Billion http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17148.php Vodafone Group said Thursday that, further to its announcement on March 17, it has completed the sale of its 97.68% interest in Vodafone Japan to a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Corporation. ... Alcatel Profit Dips 16% On Tax Charges http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17149.php Alcatel, the French telecommunications-equipment provider that has agreed to buy Lucent Technologies, on Thursday said its quarterly profit fell 16% on higher tax charges. ... Millicom's Q1 driven by 77% CentAm rev growth http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17150.php European mobile holding company Millicom International Cellular registered 77% revenue growth in Central America in the first quarter, the company said in a statement. ... SK Telecom Sees 2006 Wireless Data Service Revenue +20% http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17154.php SK Telecom said Thursday it expects its wireless Internet data service business to post 20% revenue growth in 2006. ... Cesky Telecom CEO:Merger With Eurotel To Complete July http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17158.php Cesky Telecom will complete the merger with its mobile unit Eurotel In July, Cesky Chief Executive Jaime Smith said Thursday. ... Telenor says to continue talks with Altimo on VimpelCom http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17159.php Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor and Altimo, the telecommunications arm of Russia's Alfa Group, have agreed to continue talks on the possible acquisition of Kyivstar by VimpelCom, Telenor said in a press release Thursday. ... Sweden's Ericsson says 2005 sales in Russia at 4.554 bln kronor http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17160.php The Russian sales of Sweden-based telecommunications equipment producer and supplier Ericsson amounted to 4.554 billion Swedish kronor in 2005, the company said in a press release Thursday. ... Investcom Increases Yemeni & Sudan Investments http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17164.php Investcom has announced that it has finalised the terms of its increased ownership in its Yemen and Sudan subsidiaries. In September 2005, Investcom entered into a deed of exchange with Al Bashair Telecom, agreeing to acquire an additional 40% stake ... [[ Handsets ]] Another Cellphone Health Issue Report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17167.php The effect of electromagnetic fields from digital mobile phones (DMP) on brain functioning is an area receiving increased attention. A study conducted by researchers at Swinburne's Brain Sciences Institute (BSI) in Australia compared the performance ... [[ MVNO ]] Walt Disney Internet Group To Launch UK Family Mobile Service http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17155.php The Walt Disney Internet Group said Thursday that it is to create a mobile phone service in the UK specifically designed for families. ... [[ Network Operators ]] Vivo: Over-subsidized handsets damage market http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17151.php Brazil's largest mobile operator Vivo has criticized rival firms that are offering handsets at promotional rates of 1 real (US$0.47), newspaper Estado de Sao Paulo reported. ... Viva GSM to invest US$15mn in coverage, advertising http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17153.php Bolivian mobile, public telephony and long-distance operator NuevaTel (Viva GSM) plans to invest US$15mn in coverage expansion and advertising this year, local daily El Deber reported. ... FOCUS: New market trends force Russian mobile operators to evolve http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17156.php While the development of Russia?s mobile telecommunications market in recent years was characterized by soaring subscriber bases and falling average revenue per user (ARPU), that trend now seems to be broken with subscriber base growth decelerating a... No more Animals from Orange http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17166.php Orange UK is preparing to ditch its much derided "animals" campaign in favour of a generic branding campaign. The Animals campaign, costing around US$18 million was due to run to the end of this year, and was based around classifying customers as a t... [[ Regulatory ]] Conatel to launch mobile license auction by year-end http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17152.php Honduran telecoms regulator Conatel expects to launch a mobile license auction by year-end, local press reported. ... Phone Operator Study Criticizes EU Roaming Proposals http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17157.php Mobile phone operators published a study Thursday attacking the European Union's proposals to force them to cut the fees customers pay while traveling abroad, so-called roaming fees. ... [[ Reports ]] Chinese Telecoms CAPEX Falling Slightly http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17161.php Analysys International has reported that total capital expenditure (CAPEX) of China telecommunication carriers will reach US$25.6 billion (excluding 3G CAPEX) in 2006, representing a decrease of 1% year over year. According to the report, Chinese tel... [[ Statistics ]] Asia Phone Penetration to Reach 50% By 2010 - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17162.php Asia mobile subscribers totalled 820 million in 2005, a 20.5% increase on 2004, according to Business Monitor International's report on 14 key Asia markets. Of this figure, an estimated 59 million were 3G mobile subscribers in 2005, representing a 57... PDA Market Shrinks as Mobiles Take Customers http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17163.php Following a holiday quarter in which worldwide shipments of handheld devices topped two million units, the worldwide market for handheld devices began 2006 with its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline. According to IDC's Worldwide Han... [[ Technology ]] Doubling of Handset Filter Shipments - report http://www.cellular-news.com/story/17165.php Multi-band handsets will drive demand for compact front-end modules that simplify cellphone design, layout and assembly says Strategy Analytics. Filters used in modules, including power amplifier, antenna switch, low noise amplifier and transceiver m... ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:05:40 -0400 From: telecomdirect_daily Subject: TelecomDirect News Daily Update - Friday, April 28, 2006 Reply-To: telecomdirect_daily-owner@telecomdirectnews.com ******************************** PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents The TelecomDirect News Daily Update For April 28, 2006 ******************************** Comcast 1Q profit more than triples http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/120/17712?11228 PHILADELPHIA -- Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable TV operator, said Thursday its net income for the first quarter more than tripled, buoyed by strength across all its business lines including once-lagging digital voice. The company earned $466 million (375.38 million), or 22 cents a share, in the latest quarter, compared with... Yell Buys Stake in Telefonica Unit http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/105/17710?11228 LONDON -- Yell Group PLC said Friday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in the telephone directories arm of Spain's Telefonica SA and announced a 3.07 billion euros ($3.85 billion) takeover bid for the entire division. The move bolsters Yell's plans to build its business through acquisitions following last year's purchase by its U.S.... Mobile TV's XXX Factor http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/110/17705?11228 If mobile video is the next killer app, then erotic content is quickly becoming that killer app's biggest booster. Mobile TV industry sources say that outside the U.S. as much as 30 percent of the video content viewed on mobile devices is pornography. (See Mobile TV Gets Moving.)Read... EC OKs tele.ring Sale; Demands UMTS Divestiture http://www.telecomdirectnews.com/do.php/100/17701?11228 After eight months of deliberation, the European Commission has finally given its approval to the $1.6 billion acquisition of tele.ring, Alltel's Austrian business, by Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile Austria GmbH -- but demanded that tele.ring divest its two 3G/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) frequency blocks as a... Copyright (C) 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers. ------------------------------ From: triblika@gmail.com Subject: Voip Updated Basic,Translating,Voip News and Advanced Date: 27 Apr 2006 17:42:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Voip Updated Basic,Translating,Voip News and Advanced How this is possible, what systems are used, what is the standard, all that is covered by this ... http://www.freewebs.com/voipformula/VoIP-HOWTO.html ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 19:15:18 -0500 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when DLR wrote: > Non profits seem to be excluded from the Do Not Call lists. And as > someone who lives in a house with people registered in both parties, > yes, both parties and their candidates pester us all the time with > surveys and get out the vote calls as primaries and general elections > approach. As one who makes some of those calls, I can give you a hint, at least with the surveys. Most of them are done by the various individual campaigns, in an attempt to categorize people into three groups: those who are gonna vote for us, those who are gonna vote against us, and the undecided. People who are firmly for or against don't get any more survey calls. (Being largely volunteer operations of varying competence, however, screwups do happen.) The undecided get more sales material, maybe even a call from the candidate him or herself, and another survey later. As long as you're undecided, we'll keep coming back. The "for" people will receive get-out-the-vote calls, the "against" people won't (we would, after all, prefer that they forget to vote). Multiply it all by the number of campaigns in your area. :( We might not volunteer the name of the candidate we're calling in behalf of, but at least in this state we have to tell you if you ask. I suppose if it was a "real" nonpartisan survey, or one that was contracted out to a market research company, the caller wouldn't know who the client was (they probably don't share that info with the minimum-wage peons who make the calls). It was a dark and stormy night when PAT wrote: > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, if you recall during the last > election there were various Republicans who got in trouble (put on > trial and sent to jail actually) for jamming the phone lines of the > Democrats; was it in Connecticut? PAT] New Hampshire. Fallout from the case is still going on, the guy in New Hampshire running the scam (James Tobin, the Republican director for New England, who later became Bush's New England campaign chair) made several dozen calls to a White House political affairs office number on election day (while the jamming was going on), and the White House is stonewalling on telling exactly whose desk that phone number went to. Tobin was convicted, there have been a couple of other plea bargains, and the owner of the telemarketing firm that actually made the hangup calls is awaiting trial. ------------------------------ From: harold@hallikainen.com Subject: Re: Who is 888-695-9405, and Why do They Keep Calling Me? Date: 28 Apr 2006 07:34:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com The FCC rules on telemarketing are located at http://www.hallikainen.com/FccRules/2006/64/1200/ . Harold ------------------------------ From: Biteone Subject: Re: California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test Date: 28 Apr 2006 06:35:07 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Have they fixed the problem with this service and it's possible disturbance it could cause to broadcast radio ? ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications topics. 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Contact information: Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest Post Office Box 50 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 620-402-0134 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 oldest e-zine/mailing list on the internet in any category! 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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. 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 V25 #162 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat Apr 29 19:07:18 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id C1FBF1516B; Sat, 29 Apr 2006 19:07:17 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #163 Message-Id: <20060429230717.C1FBF1516B@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 19:07:17 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sat, 29 Apr 2006 19:10:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 163 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Using Dilution to Fight Phishers (Munir Kotadia) Mobile Phones 'Affect Brain Function' (Marcus Didius Falco) Dial-Up Provider Loses Net Access Amid Fee Dispute / Ruling (Monty Solomon) Data Storage Firm Apologizes For Loss of Railroad Data Tape (Monty Solomon) Telecom Update #527 April 28, 2006 (Angus TeleManagement Group) FTTH Deployment up 107% Since October (USTelecom dailyLead) Big League Spammer Ralsky in Custody; May be Singing (Danny Burstein) Re: California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test (Scott Dorsey) Re: What Type of Wireless Should I Use? (Ghazan Haider) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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: Munir Kotadia ZDNET Australia Subject: Using Dilution to Fight Phishers Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:53:23 -0500 Fighting Fraud by Baiting Phishers By Munir Kotadia, ZDNet Australia http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,39347561,00.htm RSA Security's Cyota division is helping fight phishing attacks by giving the online fraudsters what they want: a lot of usernames, passwords, online-banking credentials and credit card numbers. Phishing occurs when cybercriminals set up fraudulent copies of a genuine Web site -- usually of a financial institution -- and try to lure customers of that organization into visiting the site and entering their login credentials and other personal details. Unfortunately for the phishers, one of the techniques Cyota is using to help protect its banking customers is to pump such fraudulent Web sites with so many fake entries that the genuine details are harder to find, according to Naftali Bennett, senior vice president of consumer solutions at RSA and co-founder of Cyota, which was acquired by the security giant late last year. "The technique is called dilution: We generate a list of bogus credentials and feed the Web site with false usernames, passwords and credit card numbers. The fraudster may have obtained 30 genuine credentials out of 300 -- we are trying to make it less worthwhile and more risky for the fraudster," Bennett told ZDNet Australia on Thursday. Dilution is just one of many weapons used by Cyota to help fight against fraud. According to Bennett, RSA Cyota runs a command center that scans about 1.5 billion e-mails a day looking for new phishing attacks. When an attack is discovered, the company contacts the relevant ISPs to shut the phishing site down. "The main thing we do is shut down the Web site. It may be hosted from 12 different locations -- China, Seoul and Lithuania -- but we get a real-time translator, contact the local ISP, and tell them we are calling from the bank; please shut it down," he said. Having repeated this process about 15,000 times, Bennett claims that his company is getting rather good at it: "On average, the duration of a phishing site is about 6.5 days. With RSA Cyota, it is 5.5 hours -- we really shorten the window of opportunity." The information gathered by RSA Cyota will also be used by Microsoft in IE 7, the next version of its Internet Explorer browser. IE 7 will use Cyota's database of known phishing IP addresses to block access to fraudulent Web sites. "We have cut a deal with Microsoft, AOL and other ISPs. Within minutes of discovering a phishing attack, we send Microsoft the IP address of the spoofed Web site. If, by mistake, you click on a (phishing) link, you will see a message telling you (that) you can't enter the Web site because it is a fraudulent one," Bennett added. The technology gained by RSA when it acquired Cyota is also being used to provide banks with a risk-based authentication system that provides an "invisible" second layer of security. The profiling system seems to be favored by banks for their mass market, low-value customers because it does not require relatively expensive tokens, which have for many years been employed by large banks to protect high-value customers and transactions. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more headlines and news reports, please check out: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/newstoday.html http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/internet-news.html [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This is an old, old trick, but still it works pretty well. I did the same thing quite a number of years ago, when I was helping someone with a BBS which was absolutely a fraud-hive (but he wanted to get rid of it all, however the hackers kept calling up his phone line.) I helped him put a 'backdoor' thing in his code, and pointed it to a bogus file of alleged 'credit card numbers' and 'telephone calling card numbers'. Then I took a big, giant, humongous core file which was labled 'mother of all cores' and stuck it in there. (What had happened earlier was something I was working on, I forget what, had dumped core -- a few million bytes of it -- that's why I kept it and called it 'mother of all cores'). I gave it an innocent looking name and buried it all inside that directory, which I labled 'warez'. Then I put a 'secret password' on that file, and a real elaborate looking scheme one had to bust through to get into the so-called 'warez' and 'credit card numbers'. We then went onto the 'hackers BBS' (under a phalse name) and I put up a real tempting looking honey pot for them: "Hey, Doodz! There is a whole load of fresh calling card numbers on the First Choice system ANdover 3-0001." The message I left told them 'the secret word' to break out of the BBS program and get to the shell; (actually a quite restricted rshell) and the password at that level to log in, and the 'file name' to look for. That night there were at least a dozen guys over there snooping around. We sat there all evening watching them call in, break out to the shell, and download that hellish looking file (which at 300-1200 baud download took them a couple hours easily.) Then, the next morning I abolished the back door out of the BBS program and eliminated the r-shell account entirely. That gave them something to play around with for a few hours, all of them enthusiastic with high hopes, I imagine. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 22:01:52 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: Mobile Phones 'Affect Brain Function' - Yahoo! Australia & NZ http://au.news.yahoo.com/060329/2/yenw.html Mobile phones 'affect brain function' Radiation emitted by mobile phones affects brain function, Australian research suggests. Scientists at Swinburne University of Technology's Brain Sciences Institute in Melbourne studied the performances of 120 healthy volunteers on a series of psychological tests during half an hour of exposure to mobile phone emissions. They compared the results to those collected when the same volunteers were tested during a "sham" condition, in which the mobile phone was not emitting radiation. The study was designed so neither the scientists, nor the participants, were aware when the mobile phone was turned on. Lead researcher Con Stough said they found the subjects' reaction times and information processing were impaired by the mobile phone emissions. "The study showed evidence of slower response times for participants undertaking simple reactions and more complex reactions, such as choosing a response when there is more than one alternative," Professor Stough said. "Mobile phones do seem to affect brain function. They seem to be fairly small effects but nevertheless, something's happening." The research was published in this month's edition of the journal, Neuropsychologia. Prof Stough said research by the institute, which was yet to be published, suggested the effects of mobile phone radiation on the brain was cumulative. "People, for instance, who use the mobile phone a lot seem to have more of an impairment than people who are more naive users," he said in an interview. Elderly people were also apparently more sensitive to the effects than younger users. Nevertheless, Prof Stough is not about to give away his own mobile phone. "It's such a part of modern society ... and we haven't established that there's negative health consequences. That's a different type of study. "We're just showing that the radiation is actually active on the brain. "But the impairment is small. The convenience and the way that we communicate now these days outweighs that effect." Prof Stough said if people were concerned about the issue and they still wanted to use a mobile phone, they should buy an ear piece. "The further you get the phone away from the brain, the less radiation it absorbs," he said. As for any use of mobile phones in cars -- hands free or not -- Prof Stough is against it. "I think they should be banned from cars," he said. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Copyright 2006 Yahoo! Australia & NZ Pty Limited. Direct replies are unlikely to be read. To reply use the address below: falco(underscore)md(atsign)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Yahoo Australia-NZ Pty Ltd. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 18:57:20 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Dial-up Provider Loses Net Access Amid Fee Dispute / Ruling Dial-up provider loses Net access amid fee dispute Ruling favoring Verizon may hike price of service By Keith Reed, Globe Staff Service to thousands of dial-up Internet users in Massachusetts was disrupted this week after a federal court ruled against a Quincy company in a lawsuit that could have broad impact on the cost of dial-up service. The US Court of Appeals in Boston ruled April 11 that Verizon Communications Inc. can charge per-minute fees for calls to local numbers that dial-up users need to connect to the Internet -- in much the same way that they charge for long-distance or other calls. The ruling came after Verizon sued Global NAPs Inc., a Quincy company that supplies local numbers to 28 Internet service providers for use by their dial-up customers. Verizon claims it is owed more than $65 million by Global NAPs. The court did not rule on damages, but Verizon cut off Global NAPs's access to its network, effectively shutting down Internet service for customers of dial-up providers like MegaNet of Fall River, which had to find another company to supply emergency connections for its approximately 7,500 dial-up subscribers. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/04/28/dial_up_provider_loses_net_access_amid_fee_dispute/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 01:30:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Data Storage Firm Apologizes for Loss of Railroad Data Tapes Information on as many as 17,000 workers at risk By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff Iron Mountain Inc., a Boston data-storage firm, apologized yesterday for losing personal data, including Social Security numbers, for thousands of Long Island Rail Road employees. The railroad is an Iron Mountain customer. The loss was discovered April 6 by an Iron Mountain driver when backup tapes with employees' personal data were being transferred between locations. At risk are as many as 17,000 current or former railroad employees, according to a report in Newsday yesterday. http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/04/28/data_storage_firm_apologizes_for_loss_of_railroad_data_tapes/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:02:53 -0700 Subject: Telecom Update #527, April 28, 2006 From: Angus TeleManagement Group Reply-To: Angus TeleManagement Group ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 527: April 28, 2006 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MICROSOFT CANADA: www.microsoft.com/canada/telecom/ ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** NEC UNIFIED SOLUTIONS: www.necunifiedsolutions.com ** ROGERS TELECOM: www.rogers.com/solutions ** VONAGE CANADA: www.vonage.ca ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Rogers Cable Phone Customers Double in Three Months ** TD-Bank Chooses Bell IP Contact Centre ** CRTC to Hear Do-Not-Call Views Next Week ** Cogeco Upgrades Internet Service ** Bell Extends High-Speed Wireless ** Rogers Expands Ottawa Calling Area ** Rogers and Sprint Plan Transborder MPLS ** Bell Reports Progress in Videotron Dispute ** MTS to Receive $10 Million Subsidy Payment ** CRTC Slashes Billed Number Screening Fees ** Aliant Inside Wire Services Deregulated ** CSI Sells Fixed Wireless Business ** MTS Shareholders to Meet Tuesday ** Avaya Sales Flat ** Telehop Revenue Jumps 36% ** Ex-Nortel Exec Named Nakina Chair ** Sierra Chooses New Chairman ** Six Weeks to Telecom Summit ============================================================ ROGERS CABLE PHONE CUSTOMERS DOUBLE IN THREE MONTHS: Rogers Communications had 96,700 cable telephony customers by March 31, twice the total three months earlier. The company's circuit-switched customer base increased 22% from a year earlier, bringing its total base of residential local telephony customers to 498,700. ** Rogers now has 14% more postpaid cellular customers than a year ago. Revenue per customer is up by 5.1%, and the churn rate is down to 1.47%. Data now accounts for 10.3% of wireless network revenue. ** Rogers Business Solutions, which includes the former business wing of Call-Net, increased its revenue by 5.6% from a year ago. ** Rogers is now primarily a telecom company: cellular alone makes up 52% of its total revenue, and all telecom revenues comprise 63%. TD-BANK CHOOSES BELL IP CONTACT CENTRE: Toronto Dominion Bank has signed a seven-year contract with Bell Canada to use Bell's hosted contact centre service, which is based on Cisco IP telephony technology. The incumbent contact centre provider was MTS Allstream. CRTC TO HEAR DO-NOT-CALL VIEWS NEXT WEEK: The CRTC's public consultation on Canadian "Do Not Call" rules runs Tuesday-Thursday of next week (May 2-4) in Gatineau. The Commission's website sets out the agenda, and will provide a live audio feed and transcripts of the hearing. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/process/2006/may2.htm COGECO UPGRADES INTERNET SERVICE: Cogeco Cable has increased the maximum download speed of its standard Internet access service to 7 Mbps. Limits on monthly download volumes have been increased by three to five times, depending on service plan. BELL EXTENDS HIGH-SPEED WIRELESS: Bell Canada has launched EV-DO wireless service, which delivers data at up to 2.4 Mbps, in Ottawa, Hamilton, Burlington, and Oakville. Bell says it now offers the service in 15 urban centres covering all regions of Canada. ** A network sharing agreement allows Bell and Telus to use each other's EV-DO facilities. ROGERS EXPANDS OTTAWA CALLING AREA: Beginning this weekend, Rogers Communications will extend the free calling area for its Home Phone service in Ottawa to cover all of Ottawa-Gatineau, as well as North Grenville, Merrickville, Carleton Place, Lanark, Russell, and other surrounding communities. ** For more than five years, the City of Ottawa has been asking the CRTC and Bell Canada to eliminate long distance charges within the amalgamated city. (See Telecom Update #287) ROGERS AND SPRINT PLAN TRANSBORDER MPLS: Rogers Business Solutions and U.S. LD Carrier Sprint have agreed to jointly offer IP networks with MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) to business customers with locations in Canada and the U.S. BELL REPORTS PROGRESS IN VIDEOTRON DISPUTE: The CRTC has agreed to Bell Canada's request that the deadline for Videotron's response to Bell's recent complaint be extended to May 31. The telco says it is "encouraged" by discussions with Videotron: Bell had complained that the cableco was refusing to let its telephone customers use Bell's high-speed Internet service. (See Telecom Update #524) MTS TO RECEIVE $10 MILLION SUBSIDY PAYMENT: The CRTC has agreed that MTS should receive a retroactive subsidy of $9.893 million for providing residential service in its high-cost Band F area from January 2002 to October 2003. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/dt2006-20.htm CRTC SLASHES BILLED NUMBER SCREENING FEES: The CRTC has ordered Bell Canada to reduce the fee it charges carriers to make changes to its Billed Number Screening (BNS) database, to $0.34 from $3.16 per transaction. The Commission has also ordered Telus to show cause why its BNS rates should not be similarly reduced. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/dt2006-24.htm ALIANT INSIDE WIRE SERVICES DEREGULATED: The CRTC has deregulated diagnostic, repair, and maintenance services provided by Aliant for single-line customers' inside wire, except for customers who do not have a jack-ended demarcation device. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/dt2006-21.htm CSI SELLS FIXED WIRELESS BUSINESS: CSI Wireless of Calgary has agreed to sell its fixed wireless business to Illinois-based Telular for $14.8 million. CSI is also trying to sell its telematics business in order to concentrate on global positioning system products. MTS SHAREHOLDERS TO MEET TUESDAY: Manitoba Telecom Services will hold its Annual Meeting of Shareholders on Tuesday, May 2, at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. The meeting, which begins at noon Eastern Time, will be available as a live webcast at www.mtsallstream.com. AVAYA SALES FLAT: Avaya reports first quarter sales of $1.24 billion, up 1% from a year ago and down 1% from the previous quarter. Product sales rose 9% on the year, but services revenue fell 5%. Net income of $38 million was slightly higher than a year ago, but half the level of the previous quarter. TELEHOP REVENUE JUMPS 36%: LD carrier Telehop Communications reports $20.8 million in total revenue for 2005, up from $15.3 million in 2004. Net income was $611,000, more than double last year's figure. ** Telehop has named former Bell Canada Senior VP Barry Dixon as interim chair while the company's founder and chair, Hersh Spiegelman, undergoes medical treatment in the U.S. EX-NORTEL EXEC NAMED NAKINA CHAIR: Marco Pagini, who headed Nortel's optical division until 2004, has been appointed Chairman of Nakina Systems, an Ottawa-based developer of network management software for carriers. SIERRA CHOOSES NEW CHAIRMAN: Sierra Wireless has named Charles Levine, former President of Sprint PCS, as chairman. He replaces Peter Ciceri. SIX WEEKS TO TELECOM SUMMIT: The 2006 Canadian Telecom Summit will be held at the Toronto Congress Centre, June 12-14. Featured speakers include federal Industry Minister Maxime Bernier and CRTC Chair Charles Dalfen. For information, and to register, go to http://www.gstconferences.com/. ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-mail ianangus@angustel.ca and jriddell@angustel.ca =========================================================== 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 late Friday afternoon each week at http://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 http://www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2006 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail jriddell@angustel.ca. 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. ============================================================ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:28:17 EDT From: USTelecom dailyLead Subject: FTTH Deployment up 107% Since October USTelecom dailyLead April 28, 2006 http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dywQfDtutddjiZhzhh TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * FTTH deployment up 107% since October BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Verizon cuts off local telecom's Internet service * Yell buys Spanish rival * Triple play dominates tech spending by cable carriers USTELECOM SPOTLIGHT * Stay on top of IPTV, Network Security, IMS, Ethernet, IPv6 and more TECHNOLOGY TRENDS * Report: Ethernet services revenue more than doubled * Internet2 announces new, faster network VOIP DOWNLOAD * Skype passes 100M users * Vonage details IPO plans REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * California PUC eases BPL rules * Proposal would use chunk of 700 MHz spectrum for emergency services Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/dywQfDtutddjiZhzhh ------------------------------ From: Danny Burstein Subject: Big League Spammer Ralsky in Custody; May be Singing... Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2006 03:44:07 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC " Local hacker 'Memehacker' ('instant messaged') in with a scoop on Alan Ralsky, the famed 'Spam King' covered by the Observer and the Detroit News. Here's the breaking story: " Valleywag: 'Tell me the scoop in three sentences. " Memehacker: 'Alan Ralsky is currently being held by the feds and his file is sealed for the next 72 hours by the DOJ. We are concerned that he is going to narq out the entire network since they have enough on him to send him to jail. " 'This means hackers, spammers, anyone who has worked in spam legally or illegally for the last 5 years at least. The DOJ wants to do a dragnet, they have the top dog, but they want the whole system as well ... http://www.valleywag.com/tech/alan-ralsky/scoop-doj-jails-spam-king-alan-ralsky-might-rat-out-a-massive-hacker-spammer-network-170385.php _____________________________________________________ Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key dannyb@panix.com [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded] ------------------------------ From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) Subject: Re: California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test Date: 28 Apr 2006 14:09:27 -0400 Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000) Biteone wrote: > Have they fixed the problem with this service and it's possible > disturbance it could cause to broadcast radio ? No. There really isn't one, short of redesigning the whole power delivery infrastructrue. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." ------------------------------ From: Ghazan Haider Subject: Re: What Type of Wireless Should I Use? Date: 28 Apr 2006 21:21:32 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com > Where to start? Well ... Run your own fiber :-) That was the first idea. Option exhausted. > Personally, I don't think you need GigE -- 100Mbps or even 48Mbps may > suit you well ... You make no mention to how many computers you have > on each side, but the server can only handle so many connections > (limitation of a single NIC) Well we've really hit the ceiling with 15mbps now. There are all kinds of citrix connections breaking, files can't be transferred etc. Think 30 desktop/laptops in each location with most of the servers in one location. 15mbps doesnt cut it, and we'll quickly hit the ceiling with 50mbps since at least one site's switch will be gigabit. We have a dual subnet setup, and with the citrix licenses it all adds to the running costs. Not to mention the additional servers for the second site. We'll maintain it as is if theres no feasible option, but it never hurts to fish. > For a lot of money you have this option: > http://shop.wirelessguys.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.526/it.A/id.2883/.f > Gbps for 1- 4 miles... Someone else mentioned this to me. In Canadian dollars, including tax etc its 75000. I'll keep this at the back of my head if the company really grows. > For less money you have this option: > http://shop.wirelessguys.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.535/it.A/id.2881/.f > 150Mbps ... Wave wireless sells (802.11g based) 108mbps for way less. Problem is given the protocol you cant aggregate the links properly, two 108 links or channels dont add to 216. Cant do etherchannel either. This is the most likely way to go for us if the telcom wont even take $$$ to lay fiber. > Or for some good, carrier grade 48Mbps MAX (Time Warner Telecom uses > these) > https://shop.invictusnetworks.com/detail.php?id=16063 > I use those RAD AirMux 200 radios for our backhaul - not bad... With > the right module you can even run 4x T1 lines over it for voice > traffic or whatever... Dlink and now Linksys sell APs at 802.11n that can do ~100mbps and theoretically 600mbps in time. Jack up the power and add directional antennae and I'm golden. Just thought there might be something better out there I haven't heard of. ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly to telecomm- unications 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: 620-402-0134 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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End of TELECOM Digest V25 #163 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun Apr 30 15:50:44 2006 Return-Path: Delivered-To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (Postfix, from userid 11648) id C667F15235; Sun, 30 Apr 2006 15:50:43 -0400 (EDT) To: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V25 #164 Message-Id: <20060430195043.C667F15235@massis.lcs.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2006 15:50:43 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org (TELECOM Digest Editor) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on massis.lcs.mit.edu X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=2.0 tests=ALL_TRUSTED,AWL,BAYES_00 autolearn=ham version=3.0.4 Status: RO TELECOM Digest Sun, 30 Apr 2006 15:53:00 EDT Volume 25 : Issue 164 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FBI Secretly Sought Data on 3,501 - MSNBC (Marcus Didius Falco) Feds Drop Bomb on EFF Lawsuit (blog.wired.com/27Bstroke6) Rhode Island to Start Statewide Wireless Network (Richard C. Lewis) County Considers Wireless Network (Associated Press News Wire) Re: Dial-up Provider Loses Net Access Amid Fee Dispute (Barry Margolin) Re: What Type of Wireless Should I Use? (darktiger) Re: California Okays Broadband Over Power Lines Test (Koos van den Hout) Re: Using Dilution to Fight Phishers (harold@hallikainen.com) Re: Big League Spammer Ralsky in Custody; May be Singing (Robert Bonomi) Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ (Bill Darden) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. 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 are 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, 29 Apr 2006 21:23:31 -0400 From: Marcus Didius Falco Subject: FBI Secretly Sought Data on 3,501 - MSNBC * Original: FROM..... Dave Farber Begin forwarded message: From: Suzanne Johnson Date: April 29, 2006 7:15:37 PM EDT Subject: FBI secretly sought data on 3,501 -MSNBC FBI secretly sought data on 3,501 people in =E2*=9905 : Agency ramped up use of approach that requires no court approval -MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536627/ The Associated Press Updated: 6:40 p.m. ET April 28, 2006 WASHINGTON - The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval, the Justice Department said Friday. It was the first time the Bush administration has publicly disclosed how often it uses the administrative subpoena known as a national security letter, which allows the executive branch of government to obtain records about people in terrorism and espionage investigations without court approval. Friday's disclosure was mandated as part of the renewal of the Patriot Act, the administration's sweeping anti-terror law. The FBI delivered a total of 9,254 NSLs relating to 3,501 people in 2005, according to a report submitted late Friday to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. In some cases, the bureau demanded information about one person from several companies. The department also reported it received a secret court's approval for 155 warrants to examine business records last year, under a Patriot Act provision that includes library records. However, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said the department has never used the provision to ask for library records. The number was a significant jump over past use of the warrant for business records. A year ago, Gonzales told Congress there had been 35 warrants approved between November 2003 and April 2005. Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. Copyright 2006 MSNBC.com URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536627/ Direct replies are unlikely to be read. To reply use the address below: falco(underscore)md(atsign)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new articles daily. And, discuss this and other topics in our forum at http://telecom-digest.org/forum (or) http://telecom-digest.org/chat/index.html For more news and headlines from Associated Press please go to: http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/AP.html ------------------------------ From: blog.wired.com Subject: Feds Drop Bomb on EFF Lawsuit Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:31:17 -0500 Feds Drop Bomb on EFF Lawsuit The federal government intends to invoke the rarely used "State Secrets Privilege" -- the legal equivalent of a nuclear bomb -- in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's class action lawsuit against AT&T that alleges the telecom collaborated with the government's secret spying on American citizens. The State Secrets Privilege is a from vestige English common law that lets the executive branch step into a civil lawsuit and have it dismissed if the case might reveal information that puts national security at risk. Today's assertion severely darkens the prospects of the EFF's lawsuit, which the organization had hoped would shine light on the extent of the Bush Administration's admitted warrantless spying on Americans. Read the complete report at http://wired.blog.com/27Bstroke6 ------------------------------ From: Richard C. Lewis Subject: Rhode Island to Start Statewide Wireless Network Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:23:26 -0500 By Richard C. Lewis America's smallest state is seeking to become its first to offer a wireless broadband network from border to border. Backers of Rhode Island's $20 million project say it would improve services and make the state a testing ground for new business technologies. It also comes at a time when Rhode Island's capital of Providence is stepping up efforts to lure business from Boston, about a 50-minute drive away, in neighboring Massachusetts, where office rents are among the nation's most expensive. The Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs) should be fully in place by 2007, providing wireless connectivity throughout state, whose land mass of about 1,045 square miles is only slightly more than double the size of metropolitan Los Angeles. A pilot project involving state agencies, Brown University and businesses is to begin next month. The Rhode Island network is a hybrid of WiMAX and WiFi technologies that would deliver real-time connections at a minimum speed of 1 Megabit per second (Mbps), allowing users to download a typical Hollywood-length film in about 100 minutes. The system will be supported by 120 base antennas placed throughout the state. A few antennas, each about 3 feet to 4 feet in height, are being placed in Providence and Newport on the southern coast during the initial tests. So far, no state outside Rhode Island has sought to build a border-to-border network, said Bob Panoff, a private consultant and the RI-WINs pro