TELECOM Digest Wed, 3 May 2000 21:59:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 101 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Citizens Can Call Squad Direct On Phone (Mike Pollock) Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet (Jeffrey William McKeough) Words That Haunt (Monty Solomon) Bill and Monica Advocate for Privacy (Monty Solomon) Press Background Briefing on Financial Privacy (Monty Solomon) Microsoft Eyes New Security For Windows (Monty Solomon) Help with Number Lookup (Joshua Walmsley) Re: Justice Reaches Altamont, Kansas (Paul Wills) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 06:41:56 PDT From: Mike Pollock Subject: Citizens Can Call Squad Direct On Phone ST. PAUL, Minn., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Residents in eastern St. Paul will be a quick phone call away from talking directly to their neighborhood police officer under a new and innovative program announced today by the St. Paul Police Department and U S WEST. In the first trial of its kind in Minnesota, 35 St. Paul police cars will be equipped with hands-free, wireless telephones provided free of charge by U S WEST. The telephone number for each police car will be clearly posted on the outside of the vehicle. For the first time, citizens will be able to reach their neighborhood police officer directly to report suspicious activity, provide information or help solve a crime. ``The first responsibility of government is to provide for the public safety of its citizens,'' said Mayor Norm Coleman attending a news conference today. ``A direct method of contact between our police officers and the neighborhood they serve will enhance public safety and allow each citizen to actively participate in the security of our city.'' Chief of Police William Finney explained, ``The primary objectives of the St. Paul Police Department are to constantly and consistently improve the level of public safety, the quality of life and the peace of mind of the citizens of the city. The use of these wireless phones from U S WEST will strengthen the partnership between citizens and police and help us accomplish our objectives.'' According to Finney, in addition to giving people easy access to a police officer, the wireless phones will allow officers to directly and quickly contact victims and witnesses. The wireless phones are equipped with a ``hands-free'' option to allow police officers to talk and drive safely -- without holding the phone. A conference calling feature gives officers the opportunity to speak with both police dispatchers and callers at the same time, keeping the lines of communications open and expediting the response time in an emergency. U S WEST is donating the wireless phones and free air-time for the entire 90-day trial period. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Do you remember when, for how many ever years, we used to contact police by calling direct to the local station house and asking for the officer we wanted, if we knew his name? Then it was decided that it would be better to call a central number for all police, for example in Chicago, POLice-5-1313 and we started doing it that way in the name of effeciency. Most of those services like POLice-5-1313 were replaced 20-30 years ago with 911. Then the people who ran 911 squabbled among themselves over who should get calls, and they were finally told to take over Fire Department calls as well. Then there were arguments about who was to get which calls where telephone boundary lines were concerned, and various small towns around big cities fought over who was going to respond to calls for the other one. Now in recent years, the call volumes at 911 have gotten to be so ridiculously high they are talking about separating out the non- emergency calls (which should have never gone to 911 to start with) and putting them on 311. Now it would seem we have gone full circle back to the start and are having people contact police officers on a direct and personal, individual basis. PAT] ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet Organization: The Committee for the Advancement of the Amusement of Ned From: jwm@spdcc.com (Jeffrey William McKeough) Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 04:35:27 GMT In article , Charles B. Wilber wrote: > Gore's claim was that he "invented" the Internet. He did not. Gore said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet." I'm not defending him, but if you're going to use quotation marks you should fill them with the man's actual quote. --Jeffrey William McKeough I'm gonna tell you a story I'm gonna tell you about my town jwm@spdcc.com I'm gonna tell you a big bad story, baby (or spdcc.net if that bounces) Aww, it's all about my town ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 03:13:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Words That Haunt Student's dark humor brings a hospitalization order By Fred Kaplan, Globe Staff, 5/2/2000 NEW YORK - John Paul Denning, a sophomore at New York University, was in an unusually cheerful mood as he strolled to class one bright morning last fall. Just back from a road trip to visit his girlfriend at Smith College, he was looking forward to hunkering down to his studies and getting together with some new friends later on. And then, suddenly, this: He was surrounded by police officers, who put him in an ambulance, which drove him to Bellevue Hospital, where the doctors took away his shoelaces as a precaution against suicide and committed him to the ward for the mentally disturbed. Inside the ambulance, confused, Denning had asked what was going on. A paramedic showed him printouts of some e-mail, with certain passages highlighted: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/123/nation/Words_that_haunt-.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 11:20:09 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bill and Monica Advocate for Privacy Yes, that Bill and that Monica. Who better to stand up for the importance of privacy than two people to whom the media once granted none? Sharing is good, Bill Clinton agreed yesterday in Ypsilanti, Michigan. But over-sharing gets us all in trouble. To cut down on snooping, he unveiled a White House proposal that would prevent banks, insurers and securities firms from swapping personal details unless consumers had okayed the trade, according to the Los Angeles Times. "The same genetic code that offers hope for millions can also be used to deny health insurance," said Clinton, who knows perhaps better than most the downside of modern DNA technology. "The same technology that links distant places can also be used to track our every move online," the Times' James Gerstenzang quoted Clinton as saying. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,14646,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 02:25:27 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Press Background Briefing on Financial Privacy THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (Ypsilanti, Michigan) For Immediate Release April 30, 2000 PRESS BACKGROUND BRIEFING BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS ON FINANCIAL PRIVACY Aboard Air Force One En route Ypsilanti, Michigan 11:55 A.M. EDT SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi. Let me just briefly set this up. The President, in his remarks today, is going to talk about how we're entering the Information Age and, yet, even today, we need to establish rules of the road that will protect American core values in this era, just as we did in the Industrial Era before it. And so he will give illustrations of a couple of different core values, and he'll really challenge the young people that this is their responsibility to find ways to protect those values. The central issue that he'll talk about, and where I think we're making some news today, is on the area of financial privacy. Last year, the President signed the Financial Modernization Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in November. And that bill contains some important financial privacy protections, really, for the first time. But the President made clear as he signed that bill that he thought those provisions did not go far enough, and directed the Treasury Department, NEC and OMB to develop a plan to protect more comprehensively Americans financial privacy. This bill that he is announcing today and which he will send to Congress next week -- the Treasury Secretary will transmit -- is a fulfillment of his commitment to go further to help protect American consumers financial privacy. The central concept he embodies is that Americans should have the ability to control how their information is used by the firms that provide them financial services. And, depending upon how sensitive the information is, greater protections and more control is appropriate. And that's the central theme that will run throughout all of the proposals that we'll talk about. The only other general point I'd make before I turn it over to my colleague is that public interest in this issue continues to grow, the momentum on this issue grows. Last year, when we considered financial modernization legislation we announced our proposal in May, and the President had a proposal last year that this goes further than. No one thought that there would be -- and many members of Congress said there would be no legislation on the subject last year. And, yet, only six months later, Congress adopted a good first step in the process. So we would say to those who are skeptical about legislation that the momentum on this topic is only going in one direction. And the President today is going to challenge the Congress to do what we think most Americans want them to do. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: As my colleague said, the President is committed to what I think all Americans want, is an ability to choose how their information is used in the financial world. Many things have changed. I was just going to say three things have changed. Technology has changed, as we know, but also there is consolidation that banks, securities firms, insurance firms can come together now in one conglomerate. And the third thing that has changed is we are less are a cash society and more electronic payment, electronic transaction. The five areas I was going to mention that's in this legislation that's going to be transmitted this week is, one, that consumers could choose, or opt out of information being used and shared within a conglomerate before it's used for marketing and other purposes. What that would mean is people could get a form once a year and be able to look at it and say if they don't want the information to be shared, they could check a box and send it back in. If they don't fill it out and they don't send it in, the information can be shared. But recognizing that there is some information that's so sensitive, especially sensitive, the President has set a higher standard -- what is called opt-in -- that somebody has to say, yes, you can share it for two areas of especially sensitive information. That's for medical information and that's for a sort of detailed, comprehensive set of your personal spending habits. In terms of medical information, I think the best example is if a bank wants to make a mortgage loan or an auto loan and think about lending you money, can they go to their insurance affiliate and find out how your health is? Well, the President believes the answer to that should be no, unless the consumer affirmatively says, no, you can go look at my health information at the insurance affiliate -- that we should not be as Americans worried about if our mortgage or auto loan is going to be using information from the insurance affiliate. Secondly, if you use a checking account or a credit card account or a debit card, the payments that are made, the payments that are made for all of us, as Americans, should be processed and should be done, but that we should have an opportunity not to have a whole list of our personal spending habits shared. That they could not call up a "John Doe" set of personal spending habits and see every payment I've made. In essence, who we are as individuals determined by where we spend our money, how we spend our money, how we earn our money and get that whole portrait of us as individuals. Again, we could say, yes, that can be shared. Again, the opportunities to mark it would be there. If there was a complete list of all those who travel to Europe, it would be all right to put me on a list of all those who travel to Europe; but not to say, give me everything on "John Doe." Q So that's an opt-in on the complete detail list, but an opt-out on, like, if they want to know everybody who buys cat food or something? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's right. That's right. So that what we're looking at is how do consumers benefit, and recognizing there is some benefit to maybe having a complete list of people who travel frequently to Europe -- that's an opt-out, a lower threshold. But in terms of saying everything about you or I as an individual, tell me all the spending that we've done, that's facilitated by a payment system, by a check or credit chard -- that's an opt-in. And this is meant to be around those payment systems, specifically. And, again, the medical is the opt-in. Q On the payment issue, will they be able to use that information to develop sort of generalized profiles of people and their spending habits? In other words, a lot do that now, where they don't necessarily release every single payment, but they might mark it, well, this person generally likes to buy this brand or these types of things with their credit cards. Would they be able to still use the data, or would it just be completely off limits? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Curt, if you enjoy a particular product -- tennis -- they might be able to say, give me everyone that likes tennis, and Curt might appear on that and they could give a general, broad mailing on tennis. But they couldn't, without an affirmative "yes" or opt-in, say, give me everything you've got on Curt. A private investigator, in essence, couldn't call up a bank and say, give me everything you've got on Kirk, unless you affirmatively say that that -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me clarify. Covered in the opt-out is not only the, give me everything you got, the 9,000 payments he made; you couldn't say, tell me about Curt's spending habits. And they could not say, Curt loves tennis, traveled to Europe, cigars, et cetera. They could say, tell me the people who like cigars, and give them a list of the cigars. The notion is sort of it revolves around you, it's individualized to you, that gets to the higher opt-in. Q The issue, whatever they might want to find out about, they could find people who might be interested in those things, but they couldn't just say, like you said, go to you and, give me everything that's on this person? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Again, we're looking at, and the President is very focused on the consumer and how the consumer can benefit -- recognizing that there are various benefits of this Information Age. Marketing is one of those benefits, to have broad, generalized marketing. One could still opt-out if one wishes not to have those benefits. But in terms of the overall sense of who you are as an individual, where you spend your money, individualized in a query way, like a private investigator might say, give me everything on Curt -- that that would be an opt-in. Q -- more mundane example. Like supermarket chains often use these shopping club cards, where you scan the card and you get various coupons. And one of the reasons they do that is so they can electronically monitor all the things that you purchase on a regular basis at your local supermarket. From that, larger corporations find out, oh, you're buying size one baby diapers -- all right, let's start sending you some coupons on Infamil or something like that. I mean, there's a very strong integration between what supermarket chains monitor of your shopping habits, and transferring that on to larger corporations that sell products that they stock. How does that fit or not fit in this whole scenario? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: This fits around financial privacy. And this initiative recognizes that there is a certain sensitivity to our financial records, as there are to medical and children on line that the President has spoken to. And so this is really talking about the payment function. And your example of a shopping card, where somebody says, I want to be a member -- in essence, they have become a member and they've made a decision to be part of the many of those benefits that come with that membership. But when we think about promoting the economy, one of the things that the President thinks about is promoting the confidence in the payment system and bringing all Americans into the banking system. And that that payment system -- just the checking, credit card, debit card function is what this refers to. Q Will people be penalized for opting-out or not opting-in? If they apply for a bank loan, for example, and they say they don't want the banks insurance affiliate to give them the medical records. Can the bank then deny the loan on that basis? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the legislative language would actually require that they would have to ask all applicants for the same information, regardless of whether there is an affiliated insurance company. So -- SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Regarding medical information. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Regarding medical, to your question. If the bank truly asked everybody for this information -- not just those that happen to have an insurance company -- that would be an additional threshold. So there are very few products today that they do that. But if that were the case, and it was really important to that product. Q So this is kind of protecting from the bank taking advantage of its insurance affiliate in cases where it otherwise wouldn't have that access? Q The reasons that they moved toward these conglomerations is to synthesize this information flow and give them a better sense of risk in the marketplace, is it not? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: There are many benefits that this administration saw, the industry saw in financial modernization. That the marketplace should best dictate how industry is organized -- consumers dictate how industry is organized. And those many benefits we believe will be very much still seen -- marketing and cross-marketing was one of those potential benefits, that's still very much that consumers will get that. But at the same time, that we all recognize -- and as the President will lay out in his speech later today -- that we have to adjust our rules for this new age, to protect the zone of privacy and give consumers choice; that there may be some consumers who will say, no, I want a zone of privacy that I might not wish to share. Now, on the other hand, there are many, many parts of this legislation that will allow processing to go on; that your checks could be processed; that they could check for risk and fraud and work with law enforcement agencies -- even in a complex world of finance; securitize the financings; that we'll have to have the protections in the legislation that would still go forward. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Just two clarifications, also. We would argue that the benefits of affiliation and the protecting consumers privacy are entirely consistent objectives. And, in fact, if you don't protect consumers privacy, consumers will not fundamentally have confidence in these large institutions and the benefits to our system won't materialize. And in order to demonstrate that, there are -- actually, we proposed two new exceptions that would expressly allow, would clarify that it is allowed for institutions to provide, for example, customer service centers that have information about multiple products, or send you single, aggregated account statements of all your different product lines. The test was always, is there a consumer benefit and is there a consumer harm. Those sorts of things which the banks argue is why they need to do this are clearly consumer benefits and we see no adverse implication, as long as it's not re-used for other purposes. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: At the risk that we're about to land, why don't we see how many more questions. Q I just wondered if you could cite some examples of risks involved in not putting these projections in place. What have you seen that sort of spurred this? SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I was going to say this. I think that this is a quickly evolving landscape. And if one looks at the various benefits that come from the consolidation from the technology that you're referring to, they're very real. But there are many who would wish to mine data and look at a consumer and see what more they can get. There are various circumstances last year -- and one was a case up in Minnesota that the State Attorney General brought, there were cases out in California about various financial institutions that sold data, specific account number data -- that when brought into the public light many people are very concerned about. And I think that's what the President is trying to address, is to instill that confidence, give choice and build the base for the whole economy to continue to grow. Thank you. END 12:08 P.M. EDT ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 09:25:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft Eyes New Security For Windows By Stephanie Miles Staff Writer, CNET News.com May 2, 2000, 1:10 p.m. PT Update: Microsoft is swapping passwords for fingerprint readers and retinal scanners. The software giant today said it has entered a pact with security software firm I/O Software to integrate the company's Biometric API (application programming interface) directly into Windows operating systems. Windows users could opt to have their identities verified through fingertips or other physical characteristics, rather than traditional passwords. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-1 799898.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 23:09:34 +1000 From: Joshua Walmsley Subject: Help With Number Lookup Hi, I need some help. I am looking for a web page that I know exists and I did have the url ... but I left an employer where I had it and now I can't find it on any directory no matter how hard I try. What I am looking for is a site that permits me to enter in a number eg 2744 for South Africa and it tells me that it is South Africa western cape. Can anyone help? ------------------------------ From: Paul Wills Subject: Re: Justice Reaches Altamont, Kansas Date: Mon, 1 May 2000 08:05:07 -0400 As one who has taken the time to vote in practically every election I could for the last 25 years or so (and one who's candidates rarely win) I would be the first to say that a punitive tax increase like Eric suggests would still be quite unfair to the 5% of the people who did vote. I think the real solution would be to make any elected official or high level administrator of a publicly funded organization *personally* responsible for acts of gross malfeasance. That would quickly filter out the folks who think they can afford to act rashly because it's not *their* money. PDW > From: ebohlman@netcom.com (Eric Bohlman) TELECOM Digest Editor Noted: >> I'm personally cheering for all of them, and would like to see >> them get a substantial judgment. PAT] > In fact, I hope that the judgment is so substantial that the only way > the local authorities will be able to satisfy it is to do that very > thing that the elder Bush promised not to do under penalty of having > his lips misread. Public support for witchhunts will dry up *very* > quickly if they become known as a source of monster property tax > bills. The main reason local officials with kooky beliefs that lead > them to witchhunts stay in office is that in most local elections, 5% > of the registered voters is a fantastic turnout. But when a tax hike > rides on the outcome of a particular election, you get better than 75% > turnouts. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #101 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Wed May 3 23:52:03 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id XAA20081; Wed, 3 May 2000 23:52:03 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 23:52:03 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005040352.XAA20081@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #102 TELECOM Digest Wed, 3 May 2000 23:52:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 102 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/3/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) Web Site Copycat Lawsuit Is No Laughing Matter (Mike Pollock) Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet (TelcoRock) Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet (Joel B. Levin) Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet (John McHarry) Re: Bell-Atlantic to be Renamed "Verizon" (Tony Pelliccio) Area Code 300 on Caller ID Display? (Eric Morson) Re: Charlotte Observer Reports on Rotary Phones (Tony Pelliccio) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/3/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 21:25:46 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* Click Here to Subscribe to ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm (Registration is required. Names are not sold, rented or leased.) ************************************************************************* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 .......................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* Thinking of upgrading to ICB Premium? Do it today. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm, 5 MINUTE SPECIAL. Offer Expires May 9, 2000. ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* NOTABLE QUOTES: P - Selling domain names to the highest bidder could constitute "use of the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods and services." SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2132 P - "We are not beholden to them and they do not control us." SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2141 F -"Location services have been identified as a vital component to the mobile Internet." SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2138 ************************************************************************* ICB's ISSUE WATCH covers important matters pending resolution: currently, -- Vapor-constituency: ICANN At Large Membership ... -- SMS/800 system performance problems -- delayed rollout of 866 and 855; -- ICANN plans for Famous Marks and new Top Level Domains; -- flaws in the Domain Dispute System. see http://www.icbtollfree.com/icbheadlns.cfm. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 3, 2000 F - OFFICEDOMAIN GETS $6 MIL NEW VC FUNDING Just over four months after launching its next-generation online unified messaging service, Officedomain.com has secured around $6 million-worth of venture capital (VC) funding from HO2 Associates plus Sevin Rosen and partners. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2140 P - DON'T ASK ESTHER If the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is under investigation by the US General Accounting Office, ICANN Chair Esther Dyson isn't aware of it, she told Newsbytes today. "We are not beholden to them and they do not control us," Dyson said. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2141 F - PHONECASTING Via telephone, users get access to audio channels such as news, sports scores and traffic updates, Lucent said. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2142 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com .. where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 3, 2000 F - SEX INDUSTRY KEEPS FTC JUMPING After complaints poured in last month from porn surfers who had inadvertently downloaded software that reset their modems to dial the African nation of Chad, the FTC asked AT&T to shut down access to those telephone numbers. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2136 F -GOT A G-PHONE? Broadmedia announced launching freeTone-Global works VoIP services. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2137 F - VIRTUAL ADVERTISING By the end of this year, European retailers will have the ability to send messages to consumers via a mobile phone as soon as a potential customer is within 150 meters of a store. They expect the new service will bring about a change in consumers' shopping habits as they roam their Web-wired phones for bargains while on the street. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2138 F - PAY BILLS BY CELL PHONE Visa USA Inc. and Aether Systems Inc. are reportedly partnering to enable bill-paying and other financial functions on cellular phones, pagers, and hand-held computers. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2139 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 3, 2000 P - ALLOCATION.COM, REMAINS ALLOCATED TO ORIGINAL USER The arbitrator stated that selling domain names to the highest bidder could constitute, under ICANN's rules, "use of the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods and services." "What this decision is saying is, if you aren't trying to trade off of somebody else's name, you aren't doing something objectionable under the rules," Loundy said. He has not received notification of appeal. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2132 P - DISPUTE CASE, A REAL DOG Ruling could have important implications for trademark holders. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2133 P - DOMAIN GAMES The recent volatility in high tech stocks has done little to change demand for domain names. Preston Dodd, a senior analyst with the Internet research firm Jupiter Communications, said, "In large degree, business and the Internet are going to be one and the same." Domain names "will continue to be incredibly important," he said. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2134 F - CHINA APPROVES VOIP The Chinese government has upgraded the status of all forms of IP telephony to an approved service and licensed China Telecom, China Unicom, China Netcom and Ji-Tong Communications to provide such services, according to ITXC, an Internet telephony service provider. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2135 **************************************************advertisements********* On whom, does the sun rise? http://sunrise.open-rsc.org ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ From: Mike Pollock Subject: Web Site Copycat Lawsuit Is No Laughing Matter Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 22:04:37 -0400 Organization: It's A Mike! Now *this* is comedy! --Mike http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/000503/ca_pollsta_1.html Wednesday May 3, 9:04 am Eastern Time Company Press Release Web Site Copycat Lawsuit Is No Laughing Matter Pollstar.com Sues Gigmania for Copying Its Concert Information Even Boris Badinov, Wile E. Coyote, and Hannibal Lecter Would Have Known Better FRESNO, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--May 3, 2000-- Pollstar, a California-based company that provides worldwide concert tour information at its popular Web site, www.pollstar.com, filed suit yesterday against Gigmania Ltd. in the United States District Court in Fresno. The suit alleges that Gigmania regularly copies Pollstar's concert information and then posts it on its own Web site at www.gigmania.com. Pollstar's suit seeks damages and injunctive relief for, among other things, misappropriation and unfair competition. According to Pollstar's complaint, after Pollstar began to suspect that Gigmania might be copying Pollstar's concert information, Pollstar began including items of fictitious concert information (including fictitious cities and venues) on its site to verify its suspicions. This fictitious information only appeared on Pollstar.com for a few hours but was quickly copied by Gigmania and posted on its site. ``It didn't matter how absurd the names of the fictitious cities and venues were -- Gigmania would still put them up,'' said Gary Bongiovonni, president of Pollstar. ``It's also obvious that they didn't make much of an effort to update their information -- the erroneous data remained on their site right up until the made up concert date passed.'' Gigmania, which claims to be ``the premier site for fans of live music'' and to provide ``consumers with up to date concert information on venues of all sizes in over 2,400 cities worldwide,'' posted concert dates for such fictional towns and venues as: Roadrunner Theatre in Acme, New Mexico (Acme is the name of the company that supplies Wile E. Coyote with explosives and other things used by him in his attempts to catch the Roadrunner in the popular Roadrunner cartoon series.) Lecter Cooking Academy in Harris, Virginia (Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal in the Academy Award winning film ``The Silence of the Lambs,`` based on the book by Thomas Harris. The Commonwealth of Virginia is the home of the FBI Academy.) Mooze & Skwirl Auditorium in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota (Frostbite Falls is the home of Rocky and Bullwinkle.) Badinov Ice Arena in Frostbite Falls, Minnesota (Boris Badinov is Rocky's nemesis.) Calvin & Hobbes University in Milli, Virginia Lycanthropy Benefit in Talbot, Michigan (Lycanthropy is the ability to transform one's self into a wolf, and Larry Talbot was the name of the Wolf Man in the 1941 movie.) Robert Crane Auditorium in Hogan, Arizona (Actor Robert Crane played the leading role in the television series ``Hogan's Heroes.``) Hikawi Gaming Resort in Courage, South Dakota (The Hikawi Indians lived near Fort Courage in the television series ``F Troop.'') ``I suppose Pollstar can take solace in the fact that one of its primary competitors believes that Pollstar is so accurate and up-to-date that the only way to keep pace is to slavishly copy Pollstar's information,'' said Pollstar's attorney, Steven Shapiro of the Los Angeles law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP. ``Pollstar, however, puts in substantial effort in order to obtain and verify its concert information. Companies like Gigmania hurt the public because they discourage companies like Pollstar from undertaking that kind of effort.'' Gigmania also supplies concert information to Yahoo's Entertainment Guide. According to Shapiro, as a result of Gigmania's copying from Pollstar, some of the fictitious information was posted by Yahoo. ``We don't have a present intention to include Yahoo as a defendant in the suit,'' said Shapiro. ``At this point we assume that Yahoo was not an active participant in Gigmania's copying.'' Even as of today, Gigmania still has posted on its Web site Pollstar's final message: Gigmania lists concert dates for a fictitious rock group called the Intergalactic Rock Allstars in Ucopy, NJ at the Sloppy Joe's Cafe (Ucopy ... Sloppy) and in Committort, MO at the Court Jester Theater (Committort ... Court). Pollstar has been computerizing information since 1981 for the professional booking agents, facility managers, promoters and artist managers who make the concert industry run. Pollstar.com has been the public's leading source of concert information on the Internet since its debut in 1994. The Web site is updated daily by a staff of 60 people based on four continents and currently contains information on more than 5,100 active tours and more than 43,000 individual events. In addition, Pollstar licenses its tour information to numerous other companies including MTV, AOL, Tickets.com and Artistdirect. Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP of Los Angeles, is representing Pollstar in this matter. The firm has headquarters in Los Angeles with more than 125 attorneys specializing in business law. The firm's practice emphasizes entertainment and new media, technology and intellectual property, corporate, commercial litigation, labor and employment and estate planning. ------------------------------------------------------------ Contact: Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Los Angeles Steven E. Shapiro, Esq., 310/312-3112 or Tom Tomlin Associates Julia Marshall, 310/712-1155 ------------------------------ From: TelcoRock Subject: Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 11:52:24 -0500 Actually, that's not entirely accurate. What Al Gore said last March was (and this is a direct quote): "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." John Dirgo TelcoRock http://www.telcorock.com wrote in message news:telecom20.100.6@telecom-digest.org... > -- You wrote: > Vint Cerf (and others) designed the protocols, but Al Gore > designed the economics. > -- end of quote -- > Gore's claim was that he "invented" the Internet. He did not. > Charlie Wilber > Hanover, New Hampshire [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: *Anything* Gore the Bore says about the internet is likely deceptive and only half-true at best. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Joel B Levin Subject: Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet Organization: On the desert Reply-To: levinjb@gte.net Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 17:10:34 GMT In , Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) wrote: > Gore's claim was that he "invented" the Internet. He did not. That was not his claim. That, like many others is a media exaggeration of what he said. A good examination of the facts behind this and other distortions and misrepresentations of Gore's comments is in http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2000/0004.parry.html . I can vouch for Robert Parry's description of just what happened in the case of his "Love Canal" remarks, since NPR played a tape of his actual speech and interviewed students who heard him speak and who were upset at the immediate misquoting and misrepresentation that followed in the mainstream media. In defense not of Al Gore but of truth in reporting, I remain YHS / JBL ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Gore Did Not 'Invent' the Internet Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 19:16:24 -0400 On 01 May 2000 08:41:52 EDT, Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) wrote: > Gore's claim was that he "invented" the Internet. He did not. Of course not. Like everything else in the world it was invented by (a) the Russians, and (b) AT&T. ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: Bell-Atlantic to be Renamed "Verizon" Organization: Providence Network Partners Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 01:15:17 GMT In article , druggist@telecom- digest.zzn.com says ... > On Sun, 09 Apr 2000 20:07:35 GMT, nospam.tonypo1@nospam.home.com (Tony > Pelliccio) wrote: >> Those VeriFone boxes are disappearing quickly as >> point of sale software integrates credit card functionality. I happen >> to know, I sell Synchronics CounterPoint and the base version has cc >> processing through PNC Bank (Aka FDMS) built in. > But you'll still find one in almost every pharmacy in New York State, > as they are used to verify Medicaid cards. (We're using a Tranz 330.) Synchronics has already integrated Electronic Benefit Transfer into their softare. Besides, their main market isn't pharmacies. Tony ------------------------------ From: Eric@AreaCode-Info.com Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 12:47:42 -0400 Subject: Area Code 300 on Caller ID Display? Back in November I went to Israel, Jordan & Egypt. In Israel, I used a Cable & Wireless calling card via an Isaraeli 800 toll free access number. When I got home, the calls I placed to my home answering machine machine showed caller ID inforrmation of "(300) 777-2972 NAME NOT FOUND" I fully expected all of those calls to show up as "OUT OF AREA" but area code 300? Very interesting. Any thoughts? There is no access to any long distance carrier from Jordan. Direct dial (approx $6.80 USD per minute) or a prepaid payphone card (approx $1.50 per minute) are your only options. Egypt has no 800-style toll free numbers. AT&T Direct and others like it are dialed using local mumbers. In Cairo for example, the local number for AT&T Direct is (02) 510-0200, and when you ask a local person what the AT&T number is they speak it as 5-100-200 (spoken as, "five, one-hundred, two-hundred). The country code for Egypt is 20, and Cairo's city code is 2. You might expect to see local numbers printed as (02) xxxxxxx, but they print local Cairo numbers as (202) xxxxxxx.... It felt like I was looking at Washington DC phone listings! More later ... Eric B. Morson Co-Administrator AreaCode-Info.com EMail: Eric@AreaCode-Info.com ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: Charlotte Observer Reports on Rotary Phones Organization: Providence Network Partners Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 01:23:28 GMT In article , stannc.no1spam@yahoo.com says ... > 'The Charlotte Observer' 04/30/00 > Dial `R' for rotary > Rotary user Sally Kovach, 54, was even more blunt. "I've thrown away a > lot of pieces of junk called portable telephones in the past 10 years, Indeed, all the telephones in this house are now real Western Electric gear, with the exception of an eight-year old Sony cordless that hasn't given me reason to replace it. In my WE world I've got a 1976 vintage TouchTone Trimline, a 1949 302 set, one of the custom cameo phones with WE inards, a Celebrity Rotary and a 1972 2702. They are truly build like tanks, particulary the 302. The thing has survived being dropped off the desk on several occasions. And the sound quality is unmatched by any newer gear I've ever seen. And where did I get the 302? On Ebay for less than $40.00. 500 sets can be had for $10 or less on Ebay. Why people would want to get rid of this stuff is beyond me. Hey, I'm still looking to assemble a frame full of steppers so when the bombs go off I'll be able to sell phone service when all the electronic goodies are molten piles of slag. :) Tony ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #102 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu May 4 17:25:25 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id RAA19311; Thu, 4 May 2000 17:25:25 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 17:25:25 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005042125.RAA19311@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #103 TELECOM Digest Thu, 4 May 2000 17:25:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 103 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Al Gore and the Internet (Re: Obituary: Phil Katz) (Ronda Hauben) Lycos Shares Rise On Takeover Rumor (Monty Solomon) Motorola Car Phone no Longer Producing DTMF (Andrew Green) Re: Words That Haunt (Carl Moore) Re: Caller ID - Name Display (Al Varney) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: rh120@columbia.edu (Ronda Hauben) Subject: Re: Al Gore and the Internet (Re: Obituary: Phil Katz) Date: 4 May 2000 03:58:49 GMT Organization: Columbia University Reply-To: rh120@columbia.edu [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Beginning several days ago, and since then, we've had messages almost daily regards Al Gore's role, or lack of it in the thing we have come to call the internet. Some believe that Gore played an important role, while others -- myself included -- believe his role was very minor at best. Ronda Hauben, who was a co-author of the book {Netizens} has written me to set the record straight. Here are her thoughts. PAT] J.F. Mezei (jfmezei.spamnot@vl.videotron.ca) wrote: > Lars Poulsen wrote: >> Prior to about 1993, there was something called the Internet, >> but it was mostly a toy for university researchers. It wasn't a toy by any means. I was on the Internet in 1992 and it was a very serious and exciting communications metasystem of networks. Our book "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet" is based on research begun in 1992 which documented how significant and valuable people felt being on the Internet was. See especially the first article "The Net and the Netizens: The Impact the Net has on People's Lives" by Michael Hauben http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook >> Senator Al Gore created the Internet as we know it, by sponsoring >> legislation that shifted the funding from NSF to the universities, > This is specific to the USA. The Internet is a collection of networks > around the world, and Al Gore didn't not invent anything. He may have > participated in the commercialisation of the internet in the USA, but > he did not invent it. My most recent draft paper describes how the architecture for the Internet was designed. By 1972 there were several different packet switching networks in different countries either being planned or already developing and there was a problem of how to connect them that had been put on the research agenda. This was referred as the Multiple Network Problem. The Internet is the result of the the successful solution of that problem. Following is an excerpt from my recent draft paper describing how the architecture for the Internet was developed to solve how to make communication possible across the boundaries of dissimilar packet communications networks. Here is an excerpt from the paper and the URL is at the end. IV - Creating an Architecture for the Internet Though Robert Kahn originally considered the possibility of seeking changes to each of the constituent networks to solve the Multiple Network Problem, he soon recognized the advantage of an architecture that would directly accommodate the diversity of networks. (17) To do so he conceived of a meta-level architecture independent of the underlying network technology. The means of achieving this was to design a protocol to be embedded in the operating system of Host computers on each participating network. The protocol would also specify how black boxes or "gateways" would interface between networks and how they would participate in routing packets through dissimilar networks. Describing the thinking that went into solving the Multiple Network Problem, "A Brief History of the Internet" outlines the origin of the conception that Kahn would call the open architecture networking environment. The article explains: The Internet was based on the idea that there would be multiple independent networks of rather arbitrary design, beginning with the ARPANET as the pioneering packet switching network, but soon to include packet satellite networks, ground-based packet radio networks and other networks. The Internet as we now know it embodies a key underlying technical idea, namely that of open architecture networking. In this approach, the choice of any individual network technology was not dictated by a particular network architecture but rather could be selected freely by a provider and made to interwork with the other networks through a meta-level "Internetwork Architecture." Up until that time there was only one general method for federating networks. This was the traditional circuit switching method where networks would interconnect at the circuit level, passing individual bits on a synchronous basis along a portion of an end-to-end circuit between a pair of end locations. Recall that Kleinrock had shown in 1961 that packet switching was a more efficient switching method. Along with packet switching, special purpose interconnection arrangements between networks were another possibility. While there were other limited ways to interconnect different networks, they required that one be used as a component of the other, rather than acting as a "peer" of the other in offering end-to-end service. Barry M. Leiner. Vinton G. Cerf, David D. Clark, Robert E. Kahn, Leonard Kleinrock, Daniel C. Lynch, Jon Postel, Larry G. Roberts, and Stephen Wolff A Brief History of the Internet, pg. 4. http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.html To create an environment where the networks would be peers of each other, rather than where one would have to be a component of the other, there was the need to design a protocol to embody this open architecture concept. Such a protocol would make it possible to communicate across the boundaries of dissimilar packet switching networks. The challenge in accommodating dissimilar networks is at once a conceptual and architectural problem. Kahn recognized the need for a communications protocol to transmit packets from one network, and reformat them as needed for transmission through successive networks. This would require that there be black boxes or gateway computers and software that would provide the interfaces between the dissimilar networks and which would route the packets to their destination. (18) Also there would need to be software to carry out the functions required by the protocol. Appropriate software modules, and perhaps other modifications to allow efficient performance, would then have to be embedded in the operating systems of the host computers in each of the participating networks and gateways would have to be introduced between them. The design for such a protocol would be a guide to create the specification standard for the software and hardware that each network would agree to implement to become part of an internetwork communications system. The standards or agreements to cooperate would be set out in the protocol. The research creating the ARPANET had developed the conception of networking protocols and the need for such protocols. Robert Metcalfe is the inventor of the Ethernet, the most widespread technology used for local area networking. In his PhD thesis, he reviews the technical experience gained from developing the ARPANET and ALOHANET. Metcalfe describes the role of protocols in developing computer networking. He writes: The ways in which processes organize their (local and remote) cooperation are called "protocols". We use the word to refer to a set of agreements among communicating processes relating to (1) rendezvous (who and where), (2) format (what and how), and (3) timing (when) of data and control exchanges. Robert M. Metcalfe, "Packet Communication", Peer-to-Peer Communication, Inc., San Jose, 1996, pg. 100. Metcalfe notes what these areas include: (...) at least four problem areas in which protocol agreements must be made: (1) routing, (2) flow, (3) congestion, and (4) security. Ibid. An internetworking protocol would need to be a communications protocol. As such it would specify the software and hardware to do flow control, error checking, to break a message into packets in the sending Host computers, and to provide for packet reassembly in the destination Host computers, to provide a means of addressing computers on other packet networks and other needed functions. The protocol would specify the role and software for the gateways. Metcalfe enumerates some of the issues that Kahn had identified to create the architecture for the Internet and for the protocol that would make an Internet possible. Metcalfe writes: Among these issues were optimal packet and message size, message fragmentation and reassembly, flow and congestion control, naming, addressing, and routing, store-and-forward delay, error control, and the texture of interprocess communication. Metcalfe, pg. xx Before he left BBN in 1972, Kahn had written a memo about his thinking about a communications-oriented set of operating system principles titled "Communications Principles for Operating Systems".(19) Metcalfe refers to the memo as influential in his thinking about protocol development. Elaborating the notion of open architecture, the authors of "A Brief History of the Internet" write: In an open architecture network, the individual networks may be separately designed and developed and each may have its own unique interface which it may offer to users and/or other providers, including other Internet providers. Each network can be designed in accordance with the specific environment and user requirements of that network. There are generally no constraints on the types of network that can be included or on their geographic scope, although certain pragmatic considerations will dictate what makes sense to offer. Leiner et al, pg. 4 The ground rules Kahn worked out to guide the creation and design of an open architecture environment include: o Each distinct network would have to stand on its own and no internal changes could be required to any such network to connect it to the Internet. o Communication would be on a best effort basis. If a packet didn't make it to the final destination, it would shortly be retransmitted from the source. o Black boxes would be used to connect the networks; these would later be called gateways and routers. There would be no information retained by the gateways about the individual flows of packets passing through them, thereby keeping them simple and avoiding complicated adaptation and recovery from various failure nodes. o There would be no global control at the operations level. Leiner et al. All of these ground rules are a significantly different conceptual approach from that used on the ARPANET. The ARPANET required any computer system sharing resources with other computers on its network to become a component part of it. Communications on the IMP subnetwork were via dedicated logical links and once a packet was sent to the IMP subnetwork its transmission was guaranteed via an error free transmission system. The IMPS carried out the interface function with the communication subnetwork and the Host computers. The IMP subnetwork was a complex rather than a simple system. The ground rules for an open architecture network environment are such that all networks are welcome to join in the interconnection on a peer basis, rather than one as a component of the other. Messages are to be broken into packets, and the packets retransmitted until there is an acknowledgement of their successful transmission. This simplifies the error detection process and provides for a beginning flow control mechanism. Black boxes are to be used as gateways but their functions are to be limited so they can be kept simple. No one entity is to be allowed to establish control at the operational level of the participating networks. Communications theory provides for a conceptual model to understand the ground rules Kahn set out. These rules are a significantly different conceptual approach from that used on the ARPANET. Communication theory provides a model for the transmission of messages by breaking the messages up and transmitting them via some transmission media such as radio waves or electrical wires, or satellites, or telephone wires. The signals created in this process are transmitted over a communication channel such as air, wire, and so forth. During this process signals can be combined with noise. Then the receiver tries to extract the message from the signal. The Shannon communication model puts the burden for communication on the means of transmitting a message by putting it into a format that is appropriate for the communication channel. The receiver extracts the message from the signal at the other end of the communication link. The Shannon model separates the transmitting and receiving functions from the message. Similarly, messages can be considered independently of the technology being used for their transmission. In his conception for the architecture for the Internet, Kahn put the burden for message transmission on the protocol. The protocol would specify how the message would be transmitted and received, rather than requiring changes in the design of the participating networks. All a network would need to do to become part of the communications system would be to interface with one or more gateways already connected to the system. Instead of an architecture like the ARPANET, where each new computer system would have to get permission to connect to the ARPANET, the open architecture environment supports a cooperative relationship among participating networks. The Internet architecture makes it possible to accommodate the political, administrative and technical dissimilarity of the participating networks. The communications model developed by Shannon provides for an information source, a transmitter, a channel, a receiver, and the reconstitution of the message. The communications model of the Internet provides for an information source, a transmitter, a channel, a receiver, and the reconstitution of the message. The difference is that the message in the model developed by Shannon has to be extracted from the signal. And at times the noise which has been introduced in the channel makes it impossible to extract the message from the signal. In the Internet model, the message is broken into segments, called packets, and the packets are transmitted until there is an acknowledgement that they have been successfully received and reassembled. The problem of noise in the Shannon model, is not solved in the Internet model. However, an error detection process is generally adequate for the accurate transmission of messages by using a feedback mechanism. Cybernetics has contributed the ability to continue the transmission of the segments of a message until there is the confirmation of successful transmission. And a sliding window mechanism forms the basis for a flow control mechanism that adjusts itself to the feedback received about the successful transmission of packets. More packets are sent if there is feedback that packets are successfully being received by the destination Host computers. Fewer packets are transmitted when feedback is not received about successful transmission. The creation of a functioning computer communications system that makes communication and resource sharing possible among an ever growing system of interconnected networks is a significant advance in communications science, and an important conceptual achievement. The Internet is a world wide communications system that has been created showing that the successful transmission of messages in the form of computer data is indeed theoretically and practically feasible. The Internet, the achievement of 40 years of scientific research to apply the science of communication theory to the new phenomena of computer communications data is now a precious gift that has been presented to the people of the world. This is the kind of surprising achievement that Norbert Wiener predicted would be possible by those who would build on the achievements of communications scientists in the post World World II period. How this development has been achieved, how a protocol was designed which would embody an internetwork architecture, and how PRNET and SATNET were developed and linked with the ARPANET will be the subject of the next section of this paper. Excerpt from Draft for Comment: The Birth of the Internet: An Architectural Conception for Solving the Multiple Network Problem part V http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/birth_internet.txt Lars Poulsen (lars@cmc.com) wrote: > Roy Smith wrote: >>> generation who think that Bill Gates invented the internet >>> Silly. Everybody knows Al Gore invented the internet :-) (...) > Vint Cerf (and others) designed the protocols, but Al Gore > designed the economics. This doesn't seem accurate either. Is this referring to the paper "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection" published in May 1974 in IEEE Transactions on Communications" the paper which originally proposed the design for what came to be known as TCP/IP? If so, then why aren't the two authors cited? The paper wasn't written by Vint Cerf (and others). It was written by Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf. And as several of the histories and interviews about the development of the TCP/IP explain, Kahn was working on a design for the protocol and invited Cerf to work with him. Ronda ronda@panix.com About the development of the architecture for the Internet, see http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/other/birth_internet.txt Future sections of the paper will cover the early development of TCP/IP and of SATNET and PRNET and connecting them to the ARPANET and the cutover to TCP/IP from NCP on the ARPANET and splitting the ARPANET into ARPANET for research purposes and MILNET for operational DoD purposes via TCP/IP and thus creating an early Internet. Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook also in print edition ISBN 0-8186-7706-6 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 10:08:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Lycos Shares Rise On Takeover Rumor By Betsy Schiffman SILICON VALLEY. 6:00 PM EDT-Could an American Internet portal and a British telecom giant be headed to the altar? The rumor of the day -- spreading on Internet message boards, including Yahoo! (nasdaq:YHOO) and Raging Bull -- is that Lycos (nasdaq: LCOS) is a takeover target of wireless carrier Vodafone AirTouch (nyse: VOD). Shares of Lycos soared by 16.5% today, rising $6.69 to $47.25. Vodafone, on the other hand, fell 5% to $42.44, a drop that could have been caused by the rumor. Representatives of both companies declined to comment. http://www.forbes.com/tool/html/00/May/0503/mu11.htm ------------------------------ From: Andrew Green Subject: Motorola Car Phone No Longer Producing DTMF Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:30:23 -0500 At some point perhaps a year or more ago, I noticed that my circa-1992 Motorola in-car phone had stopped generating true DTMF from its keypad; it now produces the same *boop* tone regardless of what key is pressed. The phone still operates just fine in all other respects, dialing calls and so on, but without the DTMF I cannot operate my office voicemail or home answering machine remotely. I'm thinking there might be some phone setup issue involved, rather than a circuit failure. The phone has had its number changed several times over the years due to cloning and account changes, although I can't recall a direct link between a reprogramming session and the loss of DTMF on the keypad. If anyone recognizes this symptom, I'd appreciate some feedback here. Andrew C. Green Datalogics, Inc. 101 N. Wacker, Ste. 1800 http://www.datalogics.com Chicago, IL 60606-7301 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 11:01:38 EDT From: Carl Moore Subject: Re: Words That Haunt Without me offering any *opinions* on this case, I'll recap some things I have seen over the years: 1. There has been publicity over the privacy of email, and you can't go wrong by writing it with an eye toward the possibility that it can come under scrutiny. 2. When email from you is received, the receiving party doesn't see or hear you, so you can't put in extra shades of meaning by tone of voice and/or body movements. 3. As far back as 1985, I saw a notice, in an airport, about comments re- garding bombs and guns: Such remarks are taken seriously; please, no jokes! So my only comment would be that the security people have to deal with a large number of people whom they don't know, so I've never seriously considered complaining about free speech. ------------------------------ From: varney@ihgp2.ih.lucent.com (Al Varney) Subject: Re: Caller ID - Name Display Date: 4 May 2000 18:37:13 GMT Organization: Lucent Technologies, Naperville, IL Reply-To: varney@lucent.com In article , Herb Sutherland wrote: >> Western Electric/AT&T (Lucent) -- those #1AESSes didn't have the storage >> capacity to hold all of the "names" associated with all line-numbers, nor >> the speed to prepare them to be "sent-forward" SS7 with the number on all >> outbound calls. At the time the terminating-based Calling Name mechanism was developed, 1A ESS switches had lots of speed and capacity -- those in operation still do. Sending name forward on all calls from an originating switch had some downsides (beyond storage limitations on the 1A processor, which could have been overcome at low cost). - If Calling Name is a poor-selling feature, lots of SS7 capacity would have been wasted transporting information of no use to intermediate or terminating switches. - There was no assurance IXCs would pass this added data -- but they would pass Calling Number. - Once Calling Name was installed in a switch, names were available even from switches that hadn't/never implemented Calling Name. The last one was very important in an environment where each RBOC and IXC were independent -- Ameritech didn't have to wait for PacBell in order to AT LEAST deliver "Los Angeles, CA" on calls. With only a little added effort, PacBell could offer the names as well, and make money from it, without actually adding Calling Name to their own switches (see below). > ... This does open up another > can of worms though. How many of these "lookup" databases are there > across the country and how does the terminating switch know which > database to query? This would be bad enough in the past but now with > so many companies offering local service, would they each have their > own lookup database? I.E. If someone gets their local service from > MCI Worldcom, would that lookup database need to be queried, or would > the name information for that customer be included in the Pac Bell > database? The SS7 SCCP protocol takes care of the "which database do I query" question. Queries from switches are sent to a Global Title Routing database that is typically part of their "home" STPs. The query includes the 10-digit Calling Party number and a "type" that is assigned to the Calling Name service (type=5 in USA). The STP's Routing database will use the first 3,6 or all 10 digits of the Calling Party to determine the Point Code and Subsystem Number of an SS7 SCP database containing the Name Information, and forward the query to that database. If the STP Routing database doesn't know the corrent SCP database, it can use at least the first 3 digits to identify the Point Code of another STP (maybe another company's STP) whose Routing database should know more which SCP to use. If PacBell didn't want Ameritech querying its database, then the Ameritech STP would route the query to an Ameritech SCP that would provide a "place-name" for area code 213. So Ameritech's STP might forward area-code 213 queries to a PacBell (now SBC) STP that knows which SCP really DOES have the Name. And the response will arrive within a second or so, and be sent to the called subscriber before the second ring cycle. And PacBell gets a little money from Ameritech for providing the Name. So another reason for terminating Name service, and perhaps the one that really won over originating Name service -- the originating provider can also see some revenue from the service. Which would be difficult to do if the Name was provided on all calls from the originating switch. If you own the whole network (or the lion's share), you wouldn't care about that. But multiple-provider networks drive other behavior. Al Varney ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #103 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu May 4 20:27:06 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id UAA24959; Thu, 4 May 2000 20:27:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 20:27:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005050027.UAA24959@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #104 TELECOM Digest Thu, 4 May 2000 20:27:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 104 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Help With Number Lookup (Dr. Doright) Re: Help With Number Lookup (Eli Mantel) Re: Charlotte Observer Reports on Rotary Phones (Arthur Ross) "I Love You" Virus Alert (editor@icbtollfree.com) Re: More Area Code Fun in Eastern Massachusetts (Bob) Free Phone VOIP Calls (Shawn) Re: Are There Three-Watt Digital Car Phones? (Shawn) Re: Are There Three-Watt Digital Car Phones? (Jim Hornbeck) Online Source For Useful Telecom Tutorials (usbcpdx@my-deja.com) Re: Gore Did Not Invent the Internet (Grover C. McCoury III) Re: Want Book For Introducing the Terms in Mobile Systems (TelcoRock) Re: Gore Did Not Invent the Internet (Charles B. Wilber) Re: Gore Did Not Invent the Internet (John Ledahl) Re: Al Gore and the Internet (Mark Boolootian/RedRock Eater News) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dr. Doright Subject: Re: Help With Number Lookup Organization: Do The Right Thing Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 03:18:14 GMT Joshua Walmsley wrote in message news:telecom20.101.7@telecom-digest.org... > Hi, I need some help. I am looking for a web page that I know exists and > I did have the url ... but I left an employer where I had it and now I > can't find it on any directory no matter how hard I try. What I am > looking for is a site that permits me to enter in a number eg 2744 for > South Africa and it tells me that it is South Africa western cape. Can > anyone help? I just searched on "international city code" and got lots of hits. These are the best of the batch: http://fonefinder.net/primeris/fonefind/index.php3 http://decoder.AmeriCom.com/ http://www.att.com/traveler/tools/codes.html http://kropla.com/dialcode.htm ------------------------------ From: Eli Mantel Subject: Re: Help With Number Lookup Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 19:20:05 PDT Joshua Walmsley wrote: > What I am looking for is a site that permits me to enter in a > number eg 2744 for South Africa and it tells me that it is > South Africa western cape. Can anyone help? I don't know if this is the one you were looking for, but it sounds like it: http://fonefinder.net ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 07:12:25 -0700 From: Arthur Ross Subject: Re: Charlotte Observer Reports on Rotary Phones Pat - This is a CLASSIC ... LOVE IT ... It's going in a permanent place of honor on my fridge! -- A ------------------------------ From: editor@icbtollfree.com Subject: I Love You! - Virus Alert Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 11:46:38 -0700 We just received the following from ATIS. You'll want to manage your emails accordingly. ICB Staff ATIS Committee Participants: Please be advised that a computer virus named 'ILOVEYOU' has been infecting computers around the globe. DO NOT OPEN THE E-MAIL NOR THE ATTACHMENT IF YOU SEE 'ILOVEYOU' IN THE SUBJECT OF AN E-MAIL (see part of the excerpt from Staff and Wire Reports below - for additional information, you may go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4232-2000May4.html) 'A computer virus spread by e-mail messages titled 'ILOVEYOU' infected computers worldwide Thursday. The Pentagon and local businesses in Washington were hit along with investment banks in Asia, and the parliament in Britain. The new virus originates in an e-mail entitled 'ILOVEYOU.' Once the attachment, which is named LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt is launched, the virus sends copies of the same e-mail to everybody listed in the user's address book, blocking people's ability to send and receive e-mail.' Thank you for your attention to this situation. Steve Barclay ATIS Manager, Industry Forums sbarclay@atis.org ------------------------------ From: Bob Subject: Re: More Area Code Fun in Eastern Massachusetts Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 17:44:18 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com On Sat, 29 Apr 2000 23:23:22 -0400, Fred Goldstein wrote: > We just split all of Eastern MA two years ago, creating 781 and 978 to > relieve 617 and 508. They split in order to retain seven-digit dialing, > since the FCC, again causing unnecessary pain, demands that overlays > be accompanied by ten-digit dialing. But the new areas (actually the > old codes, 617 and 508) were rapidly exhausted by pent-up demand, Gee, I seem to remember a certain DTE being noted as dismissing the idea that the first split wouldn't be adequate and instead insisting that it would hold us for quite some time - thereby justifying the incredible expense and inconvenience of forcing a large number of MA individuals and businesses to _change_ their area code. It must be that my memory is going. Maybe we can get the legislature to stay up all night partying again and find a good solution to this problem. Personally, I think it was the printing and sign painting companies that were in bed with the DTE last time. They made a bundle reprinting all the stationary, business cards, and trucks in the state. bob ------------------------------ Organization: http://www.remarq.com: The World's Usenet/Discussions Start Here Subject: Free Phone VOIP Calls From: Shawn Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 08:01:41 -0700 Does anyone have the URL for the website that allows free VOIP phonecalls? ------------------------------ Organization: http://www.remarq.com: The World's Usenet/Discussions Start Here Subject: Re: Are There Three-Watt Digital Car Phones? From: Shawn Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 08:09:04 -0700 If you can find a Nokia 2160 they made a 3 watt booster kit for it so you can have the best of both worlds. A portable and base when you are driving around!!! ------------------------------ From: Jim Hornbeck Subject: Re: Are There Three-Watt Digital Car Phones? Date: 3 May 2000 23:38:13 GMT Organization: MindSpring Enterprises John R Levine wrote: > Does anyone make digital car phones? By "car phone" I mean a phone > that's permanently mounted in the vehicle, is powered from the car's > electrical system, has a separate microphone (usually on the sun > visor) for hands-free that really works, and most importantly, can > transmit at 3W using a half-wave antenna as opposed to the .75W that > handhelds do. In a word ... NO! But ... That's digital only. Analog phones still work fine at the higher powers. If your (digital) phone can't find a digital cell it will try to find an analog cell automatically. But it'll still be low power. High power screws up the the digital system. It requires a lot of lo power cells and similar phones. These cells are relatively cheap to build compared to the old fashioned analog cells which can cost millions. I have similar troubles. What is needed is a car kit that keeps the low power for the digital stuff put allows increased power via a linear amp for the analog side of things. I've considered trying build such for my own use but I'm sure I'd run afoul of some regulation or other and end up like Kevin. > I see that Motorola has a car kit for their Star-Tac phones for about > $200 that does power, hands-free, and has an external antenna > connection, but it's not clear whether it boosts the power above .75W. No, it probably doesn't boost the power. The max power is fixed by the physical circuitry of the phone. However the external antenna would probable make a huge difference in a marginal spot. If your phone will allow an external to be connected to it try that to see how much help it will be. Your present antenna on the roof should be ok. This is most of my limited understanding of these things and I 'spect that I'll be corrected and/or misunderstood on some of it. If you find an answer please post it. You're not alone. Regards, Jim ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 04 May 2000 01:19:15 GMT From: usbcpdx@my-deja.com Subject: Online Source For Useful Telecom Tutorials Organization: "We should call this Day One of Year One." R.A.H. to Walter Where can I find them online? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You might want to start by looking at the nearly twenty year collection of this Digest in the Archives. Search through http://telecom-digest.org/archives and see if that helps any. Also look at http://telecom-digest/search to start out your research. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 08:11:25 -0700 From: Grover C. McCoury III Organization: BrightLink Networks, Inc. Subject: Re: Gore Did Not Invent the Internet > On Sun, 30 Apr 2000 16:05:04 -0700, Lars Poulsen wrote: >> Prior to about 1993, there was something called the Internet, >> but it was mostly a toy for university researchers. Huh? I have been using "the Internet" as an everyday tool (Email, file transfer, Netnews) since the early 80's when I started working at Bell Labs. /********************************** Grover C. McCoury III @ BrightLink Networks, Inc. physical: 212 Gibraltar Drive Sunnyvale, CA 94089 audio: (408)752-9228 electronic: grover@brightlink.com WWW: http://www.brightlink.com **********************************/ ------------------------------ From: TelcoRock Subject: Re: Want Book For Introducing the Terms in Mobile Systems Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 11:54:10 -0500 No matter what area of telecommunications you work in, you can't go wrong with "Newton's Telecom Dictionary". John Dirgo TelcoRock http://www.telcorock.com wrote in message news:telecom20.90.8@telecom-digest.org... > Dear All: > Please refer the book for explaining the basic terms in mobile > communication systems. > Thanks in advances. ------------------------------ Date: 04 May 2000 08:46:18 EDT From: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Reply-To: Charles.B.Wilber@Dartmouth.EDU (Charles B. Wilber) Subject: Re: Gore Did Not Invent the Internet You wrote: > Gore said: "During my service in the United States Congress I took the > initiative in creating the Internet." > I'm not defending him, but if you're going to use quotation marks you > should fill them with the man's actual quote. --- end of quote --- It is my understanding that the above quote was Gore's reply when he was pressed about his claim that he had invented the Internet. In any case, he had nothing to do with "inventing" the Internet which was an outgrowth of the DOD's ArpaNet. If he had a hand in developing ongoing funding for the Internet, that is what he should have said. Charlie Wilber Hanover, New Hampshiore [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, it is for sure that he had a big role in making the internet the disaster it has become in terms of spam and other unwanted messages. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 03 May 2000 11:09:36 -0700 From: John Ledahl Subject: Re: Gore Did Not Invent the Internet Pat, My response to "Gore did not "Invent" the Internet" Having recently spent a term on a local school board, I have developed a healthy distaste for politicians, especially local ones. For example, our local mayor has jumped on the Educational Technology bandwagon here in California, not because he knows much about it, but because he sees votes and money in it. At the same time, unfortunately, we need these politicians to make some of these things work. While obviously Al Gore invented nothing, it was because he saw the votes early on to make the Internet a cause that changed direction. His performance in doing so enabled money and policy to shift in the Internet's favor. You have to give credit where credit is due ... John Ledahl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 16:29:09 -0700 From: Mark Boolootian Subject: Re: Al Gore and the Internet Reply-To: booloo@cats.ucsc.edu >> Senator Al Gore created the Internet as we know it, by sponsoring >> legislation that shifted the funding from NSF to the universities, Phil Agre had some interesting comments on the "Al Gore created the Internet" topic: Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2000 10:44:24 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Agre To: "Red Rock Eater News Service" Subject: [RRE]Al Gore and the Internet [That Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet has got to be the most successful flat-out lie since, well, the last one. I swear that I see it repeated in the media at least once a day. For example: Who's the real Al Gore? Attempts to answer that question expose a peculiar tone deafness and low-stakes dishonesty. Gore says he invented the Internet instead of saying, truthfully, that he pushed technological research. This is from a book review in the 3/26/00 Washington Post. What's so striking is the projection: here are all of these people telling lies about Al Gore, while pretending that Al Gore is the liar. Of course it's hard to find the dividing line between conscious lying -- people who know that something is false but say it anyway -- and the mere spreading of rumors -- also known as the media echo chamber. How does it work? Well, in this case the starting-point is clear enough. To find it, fire up Google and type in "Gore invented Internet". Mostly you will find the downstream version of the rumor: comments that simply presuppose that Gore had made such a claim. But you will also find an ideological hit-piece on Wired News: http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/18390.html This article repays close reading. It argues, for example, that Gore cannot reasonably take credit for the Internet because ARPANET was invented years before he entered Congress. That a Wired reporter could confuse ARPANET with the Internet is disappointing to say the least. Yet this same argument appears in a press release from Dick Armey's office the same day: http://www.politechbot.com/p-00285.html That was echo number one. Other common tricks are on display. The Wired article suggests that Gore is ignorant of Internet technology on the petty grounds that he once pronounced "router" as "rooter", and the vast evidence that he does understand the technology and its significance is not reported. The question of Gore's credit for the Internet is not submitted to someone who was actually there, like Dave Farber or Joe Traub, but to a guy from a Republican think tank. That guy's quote is so twisted that I don't have room here to describe its full complexity. Read it for yourself. The original Wired article quotes Gore's famous words and glosses them as claiming to be "father of the Internet" and "took credit for the Internet". But the word "invented" does not appear in the text. (Nor does it appear in the keywords in the HTML source code. So why does it show up in a search for "Gore invented Internet"?) Although my search facilities are not the best, I cannot find any use of the word "invented" in the media until it appears in another Wired News article 12 days later: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,18655,00.html This article reads in part as follows: Al Gore's timing was as unfortunate as his boast. Just as Republicans were beginning to eye the 2000 presidential race in earnest, the vice president offered up a whopper of a tall tale in which he claimed to have invented the Internet. This is an important part of the echo-chamber effect. Start with a fact, then circulate a paraphrase of that fact that makes it sound slightly damning without actually falsifying it. Then once that paraphrase becomes widely circulated, circulate a paraphrase of the paraphrase that sounds even more damning. Repeat. In this case, many paraphrases were circulated. Wired, for example, summarized the original article as follows: Vice President Gore tells a reporter the Internet was his idea. Nice try, Al. The first few paraphrases, then, were tendentious and polemical, exaggerated and misleading, but one hesitates to call them "lies". Gore made clear that the actions he took on behalf of the Internet were in the context of his Congressional service; he is clearly taking credit for legislative initiatives, and in fact he frequently used the word "Initiative" when naming his proposals. It's only when we get to the word "invented" that we cross into the territory of clear- cut falsehood. The word "invented" suggests technical work, and the suggestion is that Al Gore claims to have done the technical work behind the Internet. That's just not true. And once that falsehood entered the media echo chamber, there was no stopping it. "Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet" is a fun thing to say, and it can spread far and wide without the evidence or context following it. Look at the Washington Post quote that I introduced at the outset: Who's the real Al Gore? Attempts to answer that question expose a peculiar tone deafness and low-stakes dishonesty. Gore says he invented the Internet instead of saying, truthfully, that he pushed technological research. Wired might pretend that "invented" is a reasonable paraphrase of Gore's words. That would be, as we say mock-euphemistically when we're talking about Al Gore, a "stretch". But this quote explicitly draws the distinction between pushing legislatively for research and inventing the thing as a technical matter, admits that the former is true, and yet claims that Gore said the latter and not the former. There's no possible excuse here: whether he investigated the facts for himself or simply passed along a rumor, the author is projecting his own "low-stakes dishonesty" onto Gore. These echo-chamber falsehoods are useful diagnostic tools. They're like radioactive tracers injected into the system. When someone is paid to express opinions in the media, we tend to assume that they have a privileged access to the facts, when in reality they often have no more information than the rest of us: being busy people, they scan the headlines on the Washington Post on their way into the studio. Yet their aura of authority powers the echo chamber, so that even an obvious falsehood (e.g., that liberals control the media) can be repeated so often that doubters can be certified insane. This is not, of course, an isolated case. Remember the one about Al Gore falsely claiming to have inspired the novel "Love Story"? And the author vehemently denying that what Gore said was true? And Gore admitting that he had been making it up? Well, that's all a lie too. All of it. Really. See . If this were an isolated example then I'd put it down to randomness. But no: it's absolutely systematic, and yet it goes almost unremarked. The country is going nuts. What causes the echo chamber? It's partly just laziness, of course. The Neanderthals probably developed bigger brains so they could spread gossip. But it's not just that. The echo chamber of the electronic media really has gotten worse in my lifetime. The reasons are many: * The sheer number of talking heads. In the old days you had a few networks, each with a few shows. Now you have cable. And the more talkers you have, the more opportunity you have for echoes. * The economics of news: a network can pay someone an hourly rate to opine off the time of their heads, or it can pay a real reporter to spend days and weeks digging up facts. Talk is cheap, and the cheap talkers inevitably recycle stuff they read in the paper or see on CNN. * Real-time news. Even when reporters do their jobs, the world of 24-hour journalism presents them with pressures to break stories before they're really reported. So rumors get injected into the media bloodstream, and then they get spread around before anyone has a chance to recheck them. (See Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, Warp Speed: America in the Age of Mixed Media, Century Foundation, 1999.) * You've got your opposition researchers digging in their databases to come up with factoids, and then you've got your professional and amateur conspiracy theorists, all working furiously to put the worst possible spin those factoids; each theory then propels the hunt for another round of factoids. This stuff gets fed into the echo chamber through the character assassins of the partisan press, and once it starts echoing there's no stopping it. You can trace every one of these effects in the epidemiology of the falsehoods about Al Gore, and you can trace them in the epidemiology of Whitewater. (The White House once issued a brief report on the matter, something like a dozen pages double-spaced, with 200 pages of news clippings attached to it; the media responding by howling darkly about the "200-page report" that the White House had prepared on its enemies. You've heard that phrase "200-page report", haven't you? It's another tendentious paraphrase untethered from the facts.) And yet even these powerful forces do not suffice to explain the data. The various forces have a multiplicative effect, and together they work to subvert the culture. And it's that corrosion of truth and reason that is destroying our society right now. That's why you have reporters for serious newspapers reporting the kind of junk that a very small number of serious people on the Internet, such as the Daily Howler have been so valuably documenting.] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" option. For information about RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/rre.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 16:27:07 -0500 To: ip-sub-1@majordomo.pobox.com From: David Farber Subject: IP: yet again -- Inventing the Internet It is nice to see confirmation of something I have said often and loudly coming from someone like Joe DJF > Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 16:23:51 -0500 (EST) > From: Joseph Traub > Subject: Inventing the Internet >The media and politicians have had much fun about the Vice-President's >purported claim that "I invented the internet". It is the case that Al >Gore was perhaps the the first political leader to grasp the importance >of networking the country (and later the world). >In 1986 I chaired the Computer science and Telecommunications Board and >Gore was our dinner speaker at the National Academy of Sciences. He spoke >about the importance of a National Information Infrastructure. At the >time he was a senator from a fairly small Southeastern state and I was >amazed at his national vision. He has continued to be a national leader in >promoting the importance of the internet for commerce and education. >Could we perhaps see an end to cheap shots from politicians and pundits >about inventing the internet. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #104 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 5 10:24:13 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id KAA13227; Fri, 5 May 2000 10:24:13 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 10:24:13 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005051424.KAA13227@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #105 TELECOM Digest Fri, 5 May 2000 10:24:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 106 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/4/00 ICBTollFree.Com Hads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? (Monty Solomon) Gnutella Porn Searchers Risk Embarrassment (Monty Solomon) MCI/Worldcom 800 Number Service (TELECOM Digest Editor) Network Associates Webshield - E-mail Content Alert (virusalerts) New Link For Your Page (L. O'Connell) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/4/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 23:20:58 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* Click Here to Subscribe to ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm (Registration is required. Names are not sold, rented or leased.) ************************************************************************* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 .......................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* 5 MINUTE SPECIAL Upgrade to ICB Premium. Save a bundle. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm Offer Expires May 9, 2000. ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* ICB's ISSUE WATCH covers important matters pending resolution: currently, -- Vapor-constituency: ICANN At Large Membership ... -- SMS/800 system performance problems -- delayed rollout of 866 and 855; -- ICANN plans for Famous Marks and new Top Level Domains; -- flaws in the Domain Dispute System. see http://www.icbtollfree.com/icbheadlns.cfm. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 4, 2000 F - STUDY COMPARES 800 & WEB CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Calling a toll-free phone number remains the most popular method consumers use to contact companies when they have a problem with a product or service... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2145 F - REALNAMES IS ON A MISSION Even though RealNames does not yet sell generic keywords such as "books" or "music," that's next on Teare's agenda. "We're committed to getting there eventually," he says. "We just think it's good citizenship not to do it yet." He points out that no one objects to the ownership of the number 1-800-Flowers. So why should the Internet keyword "flowers" be any different? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2146 F - INFORMATIONPAGES.COM IMPROVES INTERNET YELLOW PAGES "Features will include hotlinks to Websites, email and information pages that can be dynamically changed to reflect weekly sales, classified ads, coupons, etc. Because this platform will only be made available to legitimate publishers of printed directories, revenue sources will remain within the Yellow Page publishing industry." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2148 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com .. where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 4, 2000 P - WHOOOOSH! ... WHAT'S THAT SUCKING NOISE ... ? "It's about time someone looked out for trademark owners on the Internet," said Steve Yankovich, president and CEO of paper2net.com. MarketPlace Domain provides trademark owners the opportunity to secure an unlimited number of MarketPlace Domain names derived from their federally registered trademarks. http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2151 P - DEFINE YOURSELF OR BE DEFINED ADNS owns the three top-level domains "EARTH," "USA" and "Z," and has been providing domain registration under those domains as well as other Internet- related services since 1993. "People never gave a thought to why there couldn't be more top level domains now," Palmer said. "Our educational campaign is opening eyes all over the world." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2152 F - 1 800 ID NAMES ... that's Network Solutions to you ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2153 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 4, 2000 F - FIGHTING THE PHANTOM FEE "I'm troubled that there's nothing that prevents the FCC" from imposing such a fee if it should decide to do so, Rep. Upton told the committee. Upton's bill would bar fees only for Internet data, not for the up-and- coming technology allowing the Internet to be used for voice telephone, or Internet telephony. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2144 F - 1-800-FLOWERS.COM ... is celebrating the Mother's Day season by temporarily changing its name to 1-800-FLOWERS.MOM. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2149 P - DOT COMMING DENTISTRY Smileworks.com, online version of their successful 1-800-Dentist referral service, has focused its energies on television campaigning and a promotional relationship with the movie "Stewart Little." The movie promotion, targeted at mothers between the ages of 25 and 49, included a commercial at the beginning of 8 million home video tapes. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2150 **************************************************advertisements********* For whom does this sun rise? : http://sunrise.open-rsc.org ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 01:15:28 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? Excerpt from PRIVACY Forum Digest V09 #14 http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.09.14 Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:25 PDT From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) Subject: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? Greetings. The following text may be of interest: "As your local telephone company, we're always interested in offering you services that will enhance your communications is new and exciting ways. That's why we're offering you a new innovation in calling, our "Getting to Know You" program! You'll receive either free basic monthly telephone service, or a substantial discount on your phone service, for being a member of this fantastic program, which has been developed in response to the rapid pace of innovations on the World Wide Web. By joining this landmark service, you'll be giving us permission to keep track (for commercial purposes) of the phone numbers and names, business types, etc. of all parties that you call, and to listen in on your calls to find out what topics most interest you. You can trust us! We'll keep track of all this information using our (patent-pending) "Digital-Shadow" anonymous ID system, and we'll only use your dialing and conversation information to target you with advertising for special offers we know you'll appreciate! Our studies have shown that people simply often don't tell the truth when asked what products they're interested in--"Getting to Know You" bypasses that problem and delivers better value to our loyal advertisers and business partners. You can read our privacy policy which describes all of the details. (Please note that the privacy policy and the manner in which we handle, sell, distribute, combine, or otherwise use the information we gather about you is subject to change at any time.) We think you'll find that "Getting to Know You" will change the way that you think about your telephone! Sign up now! (Offer void where prohibited by law.)" OK, it should be obvious by now that the above is a completely fictional scenario -- for the moment, anyway. Under current law, this scheme would likely face numerous legal problems. It seems unlikely to occur in the near future, I hope! I suspect that if such a plan were announced that there'd probably be some takers (after all, there's *someone* to go along with just about anything). But it seems reasonable to assume that the overall reaction to this plan would be indignation and shock. Most people would consider it a major violation of privacy, even if "only" the dialed phone numbers were being used for this purpose and no actual call content monitoring were involved. The claim that the system did its tracking through "anonymous" profiles would be unlikely to calm many concerns--polls have shown that most people are increasingly distrustful of the claims firms make about the handling of personal information. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are to the Internet and Web what telephone companies are to phone service. In fact, we'll see a merging of all of these facets over time--it's already begun. The Web addresses (URLs) that we enter to access Web sites are not only analogous to telephone numbers, but through their inclusion of keywords and their accessing of specific content on sites, are also not unlike the *content* of telephone calls in many respects. I do not see a great deal of difference between the growing practices of tracking on the Web and the fictional scenario above, other than the fact that such tracking and the potential for widespread information abuse is legal with the Web. As the Web becomes an increasingly primary communications vehicle in people's lives, many Web firms' apparent unwillingness to "play by the rules" of the rest of society in the non-cyberspace world is increasingly untenable and unacceptable. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com Co-Founder, PFIR: People for Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 01:42:59 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Gnutella Porn Searchers Risk Embarrassment http://www.msnbc.com/news/403182.asp Wall of Shame outs pedophiles using file-sharing service By Bob Sullivan MSNBC May 3 - Search for child pornography on the Internet, and your IP address just might show up on the Zeropaid.com Wall of Shame. The music portal Web site is currently playing a trick on those who are looking for pedophilia using the Gnutella file-sharing program. Download one of Zeropaid.com's temptingly named images, and the site logs your time of download, IP address and domain name - and then posts them on a Web site for all to see. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 00:28:43 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: MCI/Worldcom 800 Number Service I mentioned this once before, but want to let those of you know about it who did not see the original announcement. MCI/Worldcom is now offering a service like MyLine used to offer. You can get an 800/ 888/877 number which is programmable, with voicemail included. In addition to the features MyLine offered, the MCI/Worldcom version also includes fax and message broadcast service, which is an ideal way to communicate with an entire sales team. Since MyLine quit taking on new customers, I've been suggesting that people try out the MCI/Worldcom version of the service on a thirty day free trial basis. The person responsible for this is Gary Oppenheimer, brother of our very own Judith Oppenheimer, who brings us news headlines every day. Gary works for MCI/Worldcom and I know he would be glad to hear from any interested parties. Contact him at his office in New York at 888-691-0783 and let him know you are a regular reader of TELECOM Digest. PAT ------------------------------ From: virusalerts@ncsus.jnj.com Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 06:053:28 GMT Subject: Network Associates Webshield - E-Mail Content Alert Network Associates WebShield SMTP V4.5 on ncsusraws3 intercepted a mail from which caused the Content Filter VBS/LOVELET-A to be triggered. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Here, I will do it again. I love you, I love you. I admit it, and I am proud of it. I love you! PAT] ------------------------------ From: L. O'Connell Subject: New Link For Your Page Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 20:47:59 -0700 Pat: Here's a telecom related link you might consider for inclusion in your links page:http://www.howdyneighbor.com/batteryman/ra.htm It has plenty of recordings of dial-a-joke and related material, all in RealAudio format. Check it out! L. O'Connell ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #106 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat May 6 11:25:55 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id LAA22590; Sat, 6 May 2000 11:25:55 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 11:25:55 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005061525.LAA22590@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #106 TELECOM Digest Sat, 6 May 2000 11:25:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 106 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/5/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) Re: Emergencies, was: Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works (Mark Schumann) Re: Motorola Car Phone No Longer Producing DTMF (Paul Rubin) Re: Microsoft Eyes New Security For Windows (Scot E. Wilcoxon) Looking For Design (Web Page) (micky_852@yahoo.com) Re: More Area Code Fun in Eastern Massachusetts (Geoff Dyer) European RTTE Directive (techie@radioregs.com) PBX-gate: the Plot Thickens (Jeremy Greene) Iridium: Couldn't Have Said it Better (Monty Solomon) Pac Bell: "Sometimes Fast. Sorta Shared" (Monty Solomon) Mitnick (Raymond Gilbert) Peacefire: Major Internet Explorer Security Hole Found (Bennett Haselton) Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? (Paul Wallich) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/5/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 20:45:16 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* Click Here to Subscribe to ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm (Registration is required. Names are not sold, rented or leased.) ************************************************************************* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 ......................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* GREAT NEWS: 5 MINUTE SPECIAL extended to Friday, May 12th! Due to your enthusiastic response to our 5 MINUTE SPECIAL, as well as programming problems some of you encountered when signing up, we are extending this special offer to Friday, May 12th ... So, one more time: Upgrade to ICB Premium. SAVE A BUNDLE. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm Offer Expires May 12, 2000. ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* ICB's ISSUE WATCH covers important matters pending resolution: currently, -- Vapor-constituency: ICANN At Large Membership ... -- SMS/800 system performance problems -- delayed rollout of 866 and 855; -- ICANN plans for Famous Marks and new Top Level Domains; -- flaws in the Domain Dispute System. see http://www.icbtollfree.com/icbheadlns.cfm. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 5, 2000 P - ICANN SEEKING LEADERSHIP With its history of dismissing the needs of every constituency except the WIPO, the profile of their ideal candidate makes for good PR for ICANN -- and wishful thinking for everyone else. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2162 F - E.SPIRE CONFIRMS LAWSUITS ... claiming that the company and three of its former officers violated federal securities laws in connection with financial reporting and disclosure during the period of August 12, 1999 through March 30, 2000. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2163 P - HOW FAMOUS IS FAMOUS? Court finds the new law can be applied to "niche markets." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2157 P - ONE MILLION PEOPLE SAY NO TO JUNK FAXES AND COLD CALLING A year after their introduction, more than one million people have signed up to the fax and telephone preference schemes in order to stop being sent junk faxes or cold called for goods and services. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2161 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com . where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 5, 2000 P - IN THIS CORNER, WEIGHING 30 RESPORGS AND ATIS, SNAC ... and in this corner, weighing 240 RespOrgs and Telcordia, the SMT .... the bell rings on Monday for the next round of SMS/800 FIFO sparring ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2158 F - WHO'S #3? ... and the fastest growing registrar, having begun operations in December of 1999 and securing the number three market position within the last 90 days? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2159 P - CYBER-LEGAL DISPUTES RAISE QUESTIONS Is ICANN's pattern of favoring large trademark holders in domain-name disputes setting a dangerous precedent for the emerging cyber-legal system? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2156 P - KILLER APP OF WIRELESS: TALKING But "at the heart of mobile communications megagrowth" are today's children, who will have grown up in a world of wireless technology. "They will never know what it's like to live in a world without wireless communications," SRI said. "Their familiarity and comfort with mobile technology and its applications could lead to growth in use of mobile communications that's orders of magnitude greater than even the most optimistic predictions." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2160 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 5, 2000 F - ATKINSON TO LEAVE FCC CCB Industry observers said Atkinson's departure could hurt the FCC a little. Atkinson's practical, day-to-day experience in the competitive aspects of telecommunications markets is highly valued at the agency. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2164 P - DO BIG NETWORK/CABLE BATTLES HINT AT WHAT'S TO COME? The Time Warner-Disney dispute may foreshadow future battles on the interactive TV front, and how this may affect your Web site in the future. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2154 P - NETWORK SOLUTIONS FACES CHALLENGERS TO THE THRONE Internet infrastructure analyst Robert Fagin has faith in Network Solutions' ability to stand out amongst competitors in the newly deregulated domain registration market. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2155 **************************************************advertisements********* For whom does this sun rise? : http://sunrise.open-rsc.org ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ From: catfood@apk.net (Mark W. Schumann) Subject: Re: Emergencies, was: Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works Date: 5 May 2000 20:52:27 -0400 Organization: Akademia Pana Kleksa, Public Access Uni* Site In article , Peter Corlett wrote: > In the case of Americans crossing timezone borders a lot, what > timezone do they set their watch to? Do they really adjust it twice a > day? I think my watch would break if I did that ... I just keep mine on GMT. ------------------------------ From: phr@netcom.com (Paul Rubin) Subject: Re: Motorola Car Phone No Longer Producing DTMF Date: 6 May 2000 02:06:25 GMT Organization: NETCOM / MindSpring Enterprises, Inc. In article , Andrew Green wrote: > At some point perhaps a year or more ago, I noticed that my circa-1992 > Motorola in-car phone had stopped generating true DTMF from its > keypad; it now produces the same *boop* tone regardless of what key is > pressed. > The phone still operates just fine in all other respects, dialing > calls and so on, but without the DTMF I cannot operate my office > voicemail or home answering machine remotely. I'm thinking there might > be some phone setup issue involved, rather than a circuit failure. The > phone has had its number changed several times over the years due to > cloning and account changes, although I can't recall a direct link > between a reprogramming session and the loss of DTMF on the keypad. > If anyone recognizes this symptom, I'd appreciate some feedback here. Check the manual. On at least some Motorola phones, the dtmf can be turned on and off through some command key sequence. ------------------------------ From: Scot E. Wilcoxon Organization: self Subject: Re: Microsoft Eyes New Security For Windows Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 21:35:54 -0500 Biometric locks on input is only security for keyboards. We've recently had another demonstration of what "security" means near "Microsoft". P.S. ILOVEYOU [I wonder how many people now won't see this message due to innovative text scanning programs] ------------------------------ From: Subject: Looking For Design (Web Page) Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 11:40:51 +0800 Organization: McKessonHBOC Value Added Network We are looking for web page design for five pages in Photo Shop format. Interest party please summit with your past record and sample. Please visit http://www.2exchange.com/item.php3?id=1995&cat=83&sub=17 ------------------------------ From: gldyer-nospam@geocities.com (Geoff Dyer) Subject: Re: More Area Code Fun in Eastern Massachusetts Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 05:07:56 GMT On Thu, 27 Apr 2000 01:18:45 -0400, Jeremy Greene wrote: > There are four existing area codes. Each will be overlayed by a single > additional area code. Seems rather wasteful; why not go the Atlanta route and have an overlay cover *two* existing codes? Or maybe go even further, as in Dallas/Houston, and also eliminate the existing split boundary? Geoff (to e-mail me, remove any instances of "-nospam" from my address) ------------------------------ From: techie@radioregs.com Subject: European RTTE Directive Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 05:31:38 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. I am currently developing a web site relating to the application of the R&TTE Directive, 1999/5/EC, at http://www.radioregs.com. I would welcome any comments about this site, its usefulness and any proposals for its improvement. Regards, techie@radioregs.com ------------------------------ From: Jeremy Greene Subject: PBX-gate: the Plot Thickens Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 05:07:17 -0400 Let's see how they spin this one: Apparently Israeli spies have been monitoring telephone calls from the White House phone system (and the State Dept.) by infiltrating a Washington DC telephone company (probably Bell Atlantic). Back-doors into the White House phone system, failure to use secure phones when discussing classified business, and a lack of security in general, have made this possible. There is the possibility that an entire batch of phone trunks has been tapped, and the conversations are being forwarded straight to Tel Aviv! Worse, Clinton apparently had an idea that this was happening but chose to ignore it because of the political ramifications of confronting Isreal, who is our ally. http://www.insightmag.com/archive/200005306.shtml ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 01:29:14 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Iridium: Couldn't Have Said it Better Excerpt from TBTF Log http://tbtf.com/blog/2000-04-23.html * Iridium: couldn't have said it better. John Kristoff sent this along, adding "This probably isn't newsworthy enough for you, but I had to send it to someone." (Hey, I could do worse than be the one who comes to mind when you've just gotta send it to someone.) Visit this page for a most understated belly-laugh. If they fix the page to be more informative and therefore less unintentionally hilarious, you can always visit this mirror (53K). (Thanks to the gang at Need To Know for the mirror naming convention.) http://www.iridium.com/iridium/scripts/display_error.jsp http://www.tbtf.com/blog/doh/doh-iridium.gif http://www.ntk.net/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 01:37:17 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Pac Bell: "Sometimes Fast. Sorta Shared" In the wake of complaints from cable modem-mongers ExciteAtHome, Pacific Bell has decided to slap a disclaimer on its TV commercials. ExciteAtHome threatened to sue over the "Always fast. Never shared" tagline at the end of Pac Bell's California and Texas TV ads. The spots feature suburban cable-modem users who are reluctant to share their bandwidth with neighbors. They call each other "Web hogs." We suppose borrowing a cup of sugar would be out of the question. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,14772,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 06:24:36 -0400 From: Raymond Gilbert Subject: Mitnick As I recall, Michael Milken (the junk bond king) ended up doing a fair amount of speaking engagements, including universities. It does not seem equitable to limit Mr. Mitnick's speaking. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 15:59:12 -0500 From: Bennett Haselton Subject: Peacefire: Major Internet Explorer Security Hole Found Reply-To: peacefire-press@iain.com If anyone has any column-inches left for something other than the Love It Doesn't Take Any Skill To Write A Virus But It Sure Makes You Famous Compared To The Real Bug Finders Who Toil In Obscurity Bug :) Peacefire has found a security hole in Internet Explorer 4.x and 5.x that lets a malicious Web site steal passwords, email addresses, browsing history, real names of visitors, and other information simply by loading a Web site into a user's browser. Since we published it, hundreds of people visited the demonstration page and had all this information retrieved from their hard disk and mailed to us. I guess they didn't believe that it would really work :) The demonstration page is at: http://www.peacefire.org/security/localjs/ The demo will only work if you have Netscape Communicator installed. (You have to have Netscape *installed*, but you have to *view* the page with Internet Explorer.) Bennett bennett@peacefire.org http://www.peacefire.org (425) 649 9024 ------------------------------ From: pw@panix.com (Paul Wallich) Subject: Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 18:20:53 -0400 Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC In article , Monty Solomon wrote: > Excerpt from PRIVACY Forum Digest V09 #14 > http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.09.14 [rest of text below] This is not nearly as fictional as Lauren is painting it, except for the notion that telephone companies would be notifying subscribers or asking permission. Call detail records (whom you call, when, and for how long) are already commonly used for internal marketing purposes, and in some cases shared with other telephone-related companies (so that they can tell you exactly how much they would save you if you switched long-distance carriers, for example). The rest is just a matter of database lookup. And ads-during-ring technology has been around for the better part of 10 years ... I assume that phone companies aren't listening in on our conversations mostly because they don't have the cycles required to do it. BUT I do know that certain kinds of telephone conversations are not fully protected under wiretap statutes. So-called "pen register" traces, which are generally described as the moral equivalent of call detail records (and available without a warrant) when applied to touch-tone phones, record all keypad activity during a call, not just the dialed numbers (or at least they did in the early 1990s, when someone many of us know went to federal prison as a result). This example involves law enforcement -- I doubt very much that telcos run pen registers on subscribers on a broad basis. On the other hand, the technology for picking up tones (as opposed to conversations) is definitely installed and in working order. paul > Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:25 PDT > From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) > Subject: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? > >Greetings. The following text may be of interest: > > "As your local telephone company, we're always interested in offering you > services that will enhance your communications is new and exciting ways. > That's why we're offering you a new innovation in calling, our > "Getting to Know You" program! > You'll receive either free basic monthly telephone service, or a > substantial discount on your phone service, for being a member of this > fantastic program, which has been developed in response to the rapid > pace of innovations on the World Wide Web. By joining this landmark > service, you'll be giving us permission to keep track (for commercial > purposes) of the phone numbers and names, business types, etc. of all > parties that you call, and to listen in on your calls to find out what > topics most interest you. > You can trust us! We'll keep track of all this information using our > (patent-pending) "Digital-Shadow" anonymous ID system, and we'll only use > your dialing and conversation information to target you with advertising > for special offers we know you'll appreciate! Our studies have shown > that people simply often don't tell the truth when asked what products > they're interested in--"Getting to Know You" bypasses that problem and > delivers better value to our loyal advertisers and business partners. > You can read our privacy policy which describes all of the details. > (Please note that the privacy policy and the manner in which we handle, > sell, distribute, combine, or otherwise use the information we gather > about you is subject to change at any time.) > We think you'll find that "Getting to Know You" will change the way that > you think about your telephone! Sign up now! > (Offer void where prohibited by law.)" > OK, it should be obvious by now that the above is a completely fictional > scenario -- for the moment, anyway. Under current law, this scheme would > likely face numerous legal problems. It seems unlikely to occur > in the near future, I hope! > I suspect that if such a plan were announced that there'd probably be > some takers (after all, there's *someone* to go along with just about > anything). But it seems reasonable to assume that the overall > reaction to this plan would be indignation and shock. Most people > would consider it a major violation of privacy, even if "only" the > dialed phone numbers were being used for this purpose and no actual > call content monitoring were involved. The claim that the system did > its tracking through "anonymous" profiles would be unlikely to calm > many concerns--polls have shown that most people are increasingly > distrustful of the claims firms make about the handling of personal > information. > Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are to the Internet and Web what > telephone companies are to phone service. In fact, we'll see a > merging of all of these facets over time--it's already begun. The Web > addresses (URLs) that we enter to access Web sites are not only > analogous to telephone numbers, but through their inclusion of > keywords and their accessing of specific content on sites, are also > not unlike the *content* of telephone calls in many respects. > I do not see a great deal of difference between the growing practices > of tracking on the Web and the fictional scenario above, other than > the fact that such tracking and the potential for widespread > information abuse is legal with the Web. As the Web becomes an > increasingly primary communications vehicle in people's lives, many > Web firms' apparent unwillingness to "play by the rules" of the rest > of society in the non-cyberspace world is increasingly untenable and > unacceptable. > --Lauren-- > Lauren Weinstein > lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com > Co-Founder, PFIR: People for Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org > Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com > Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #106 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun May 7 16:40:14 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id QAA04012; Sun, 7 May 2000 16:40:14 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 16:40:14 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005072040.QAA04012@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #107 TELECOM Digest Sun, 7 May 2000 16:40:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 107 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: CID (Leonard Erickson) Re: Are There Three-Watt Digital Car Phones? (Bruce Wilson) Lightweight GPRS PDPs (Martin Fuzzey) Telecom-Digest.org Web Site (Greg Cuthbertson) Re: Online Source For Useful Telecom Tutorials (Rick Ellis) Voice: The First Voice-to-Voice Service (Jean-Bernard Condat) Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? (Lauren Weinstein) Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? (Barry B.) Re: Lauren Responds: My PRIVACY Forum Digest Article (Barry B.) Re: Pac Bell: "Sometimes Fast. Sorta Shared" (Andrew) Blood Donations Drop in Mixups On Area Codes (Mike Pollock) CBS MarketWatch - Telecom: MCI no More at WorldCom (Mike Pollock) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Terry Knab) Kansas City to Get New Area Code (Terry Knab) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson) Subject: Re: CID Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 08:02:12 PST Organization: Shadownet Scott Stowe writes: > Hello, I am designing a simple telecom device and would like to offer > caller identification as an option. Can anybody tell me how to go > about doing this? Do I buy prebuilt CIDs from a manufacturer (if so > any recommendations?) Do I build my own and pay royalties? (To Who?) > I see numerous devices that have this feature offered my many > different manufacturers, do they all pay royalties or is this > technology open to all? Rockwell and other modem chip makers include it in just about all modem chips these days. It's a simple Bell 202 protocol, which is 1200 bps *half-duplex*. Simple FSK modulation. You only need to deal with two tones. Data is sent as an ASCI string with a format that's documented. Or you can just set most modems to return "raw" CID data, and translate the resulting hex strings yourself. Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow) shadow@krypton.rain.com <--preferred leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com <--last resort ------------------------------ From: blw1540@aol.comxxnospam (Bruce Wilson) Date: 05 May 2000 23:35:18 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Re: Are There Three-Watt Digital Car Phones? > If you can find a Nokia 2160 they made a 3 watt booster > kit for it so you can have the best of both worlds. A portable > and base when you are driving around!!! I've got a Nokia 5120 for which I saw a car kit at US Cellular, but a tech told me it didn't include a signal amplifier, that there isn't one. As with the person who started this thread, I've had a 3 watt analog bag phone which, with an external antenna, could hit a cell site from the middle of nowhere and I'd like to find a linear or something comparable to boost the handheld to 3 watts when it's used as a mobile in the car. In fact, someone else and I've been kicking the idea around on a local bbs (of which yes, some are still in operation). A homebrew device of this nature would almost certainly violate various FCC regs, but would I really care? :-) > If you can find a Nokia 2160 they made a 3 watt booster > kit for it so you can have the best of both worlds. A portable > and base when you are driving around!!! A little web surfing/searching found the kits apparently easy to come by. Now I can't help but wonder if one could be adapted to use with something else. Bruce Wilson ------------------------------ From: Martin Fuzzey Subject: Lightweight GPRS PDPs Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 18:14:10 +0200 Organization: Schlumberger Omnes Does anyone know of any lightweight GPRS Packet Data Protocols. I've only seen X25 and IP which, are likely to be a bit big for small (8bit processor) devices ... Direct eMail replies appreciated. Martin Fuzzey Schlumberger Electronic Transactions fuzzey@besancon.tt.slb.com ------------------------------ From: Greg Cuthbertson Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 14:46:37 +0100 Subject: Telecom-digest.org Web Site I am a senior pupil at Castlehead High School and using the internet for a project on how the telephone works. I found your site through Alta Vista search engine, and your site has been a create help to me. [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thank you very much for writing. The Digest's web site is intended just as you found it, as a free, convenient resource on telephones for students and others. PAT] ------------------------------ From: ellis@ftel.net (Rick Ellis) Subject: Re: Online Source For Useful Telecom Tutorials Date: 5 May 2000 15:20:36 GMT Organization: Franklin interNet http://www.franklin.net In article , wrote: > Where can I find them online? http://www.webproforum.com/ http://www.fnet.net/~ellis/photo/ ------------------------------ From: Jean-Bernard Condat Subject: Voice: The First Voice-to-Voice Service Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 11:54:42 +0200 Bonjour, For traders, insurances, bankers, people with psychological illness, complex financial phone calls, the French certificate authority Postasy will propose at the end of this month a comprehensible voice-to-voice service. A person phone to another throught an easy-to-use interface providing a unique archiving of the content of the conversation. All what will be said will be crypted in a signed, sequestred and archive ten (10) years long. The file will be store in a MPEG-3 format (with all possibilities of evolution). Perhaps you have some international technologies that do the same voice-to-voice services? Regards, Jean-Bernard Condat, Posteasy SA 42 bd Sbastopol, 75003 Paris, France 0144599459, fax: 0144593555, condat@posteasy.org, 0607238628 ------------------------------ Subject: Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 16:11:32 PDT From: Lauren Weinstein Greetings. The issue of telco use of customer proprietary network information (CPNI) has been discussed a number of times in my PRIVACY Forum. It's worth noting though that the hypothetical "Getting to Know You" Service from my original article went far beyond the scope of what would be permitted under existing CPNI regulations. The fictional service I described was used to build detailed databases on all aspects of persons' interests, not just competitive telecom/info services, and it included active call monitoring as a legitimized commercial activity. The point of my original item, with the description of the fictional service, was to emphasize that the various aspects of that service would go far beyond what would be legal with telephones today -- but they're largely already legal when it comes to Web tracking. By the way, an interesting FCC URL on the topic of CPNI is at: http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/ppp/Cpni/welcome.html --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com Co-Founder, PFIR: People for Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy ------------------------------ From: Barry B. Reply-To: barryb@_._ Organization: None Subject: Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 09:45:23 -0700 Monty Solomon wrote: > Excerpt from PRIVACY Forum Digest V09 #14 > http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.09.14 > Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 09:25 PDT > From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) > Subject: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? > OK, it should be obvious by now that the above is a completely fictional > scenario -- for the moment, anyway. Under current law, this scheme would > likely face numerous legal problems. Why would this scheme face legal problems? Isn't it legal to allow someone (by contract) to listen to your phone calls? For example, don't telephone operators allow management to monitor their phone conversations for quality control etc.? ------------------------------ From: Barry B. Reply-To: barryb@_._ Organization: None Subject: Re: Lauren Responds: My PRIVACY Forum Digest Article Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 09:54:31 -0700 Lauren Weinstein wrote: > Since this is the TELECOM Digest, how about a telecom analogy? What > if phone companies started offering the following deal: "We'll give > you a discount on your phone service if you'll let us keep track of > everyone you call, and listen in on your calls to find out what topics > you discuss. You can trust us! We'll keep track of all this using a > digital-anonymous-ID system, and we'll only use it to send you special > offers that we're sure you'll enjoy! You can read our privacy policy > (subject to change at any time, so check back often!) for the complete > details ..." > No doubt there'd be some people who'd happily sign up for this (assuming it > were legal, which much of it wouldn't be at this point). Lauren: What law would this scheme violate? If I want to install phone taps, e-mail monitors and surveillance cameras in my home and car etc., and sell my privacy 24 hours a day, isn't that my prerogative? Isn't the right to sell your own privacy a basic freedom that the government has no right to interfere with? I would hate to think we are living in a "Big Brother" state where the government won't even let you sell your privacy! ;) Barry ------------------------------ From: Andrew Subject: Re: Pac Bell: "Sometimes Fast. Sorta Shared" Date: 6 May 2000 23:22:47 GMT Organization: MediaNone Monty Solomon wrote: > In the wake of complaints from cable modem-mongers ExciteAtHome, > Pacific Bell has decided to slap a disclaimer on its TV commercials. > ExciteAtHome threatened to sue over the "Always fast. Never shared" > tagline at the end of Pac Bell's California and Texas TV ads. The > spots feature suburban cable-modem users who are reluctant to share > their bandwidth with neighbors. They call each other "Web hogs." We > suppose borrowing a cup of sugar would be out of the question. > http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,14772,00.html These ads are untruthful but funny. I've saved some of them: http://miah.anak.org/dsl1.mov http://miah.anak.org/dsl2.mov http://miah.anak.org/dsl3.mov http://miah.anak.org/dsl4.mov These are ~4MB quicktime movies that you can also grab from www.adcritic.com. Andrew ------------------------------ From: Mike Pollock Subject: Blood Donations Drop in Mixups On Area Codes Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 19:27:57 -0400 Organization: It's A Mike! http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/news/saturday/nd2567.htm Blood Donations Drop in Mixups On Area Codes Confusion over the Nassau-Suffolk area code split has taken its toll on Long Island's blood-donor pipeline to area hospitals, blood service officials said. ... ------------------------------ From: Mike Pollock Subject: CBS MarketWatch - Telecom: MCI No More at WorldCom Date: Sat, 6 May 2000 21:28:34 -0400 Organization: It's A Mike! Re: MCI/Worldcom 800 Number Service (TELECOM Digest Editor) That should just read WorldCom 800 number service. Of course, the website at http://www.wcom.com still says MCI WorldCom, but you can't have everything. See the linked story below. Mike Article Title: CBS MarketWatch - Telecom: MCI no more at WorldCom Article Location: http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20000505/news/current/telecom.htx?source= htx/http2_mw&dist=send ------------------------------ From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Organization: The Home Office Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 05:07:28 GMT Ted Koppel wrote: > A question about the way that calls to the State patrol are routed. > I was driving up 75/85 this afternoon, and saw the sign that said "Call > *GSP for assistance" or something like that. (The sign has obviously > been there for eons, this is the first time I actually wondered about > it.) > In the early days of cellular, there were only two providers in > town, and it was easy enough (I imagine) for them to program *GSP to > some ten digit number that would ring at the Highway patrol station. > Now that there are a dozen (or more) cellular/digital providers ... > how does that work? Are they ALL required to forward calls to the > proper number? Or is the sign obsolete? Actually, not really. In Missouri, Verizon/CellNone KC has its phones set up to dial *KTA (Kansas Turnpike Authority Patrol), *47 (Kansas Highway Patrol), and *55 (Mo. Hwy patrol), as well as 911 where applicable. From what I've been told by Verizon folks, they were required to set it up as a condition of being able to provide service in said states. And I've had to call the Hwy patrol in Missouri at least five times in the last six months (saw wrecks, etc...) (I note Iowa and possibly Nebraska use *55 for their highway patrol numbers, so around the border, things could get very confusing.) Terry E. Knab News/Acting System Administrator Nyx Public Access Unix ------------------------------ From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Kansas City to Get New Area Code Organization: The Home Office Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 06:22:09 GMT Discussions are under way of how to deal with 816's percieved growth (although ten digit was just implemented a few months ago to KCK-913) The options are: Splitting 816 at some geographical point to be determined. Overlaying 816 with a new area code. So far Overlaying 816 seems to be the method most favored by SWB and the PUC, although public hearings are going on about it now. My take on it (as someone who lives in St. Joseph and doesn't have a large local calling area) that if they do an overlay, SWB needs to eliminate toll charges in 816 and whatever new area code gets implimented, and have a mega-calling area. (as it is now, St. Joseph is kind of its own thing) Terry E. Knab News/Acting System Administrator Nyx Public Access Unix ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #107 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 9 00:26:36 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id AAA27131; Tue, 9 May 2000 00:26:36 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 00:26:36 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005090426.AAA27131@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #108 TELECOM Digest Mon, 8 May 2000 00:26:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 108 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson FTC Staff Issues Guidelines on Internet Advertising (Monty Solomon) Analog/Digital Cell Phone Switching (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert (Alan Boritz) Re: First Web Tracking, Then TELEPHONE Tracking? (Lauren Weinstein) Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (J.F. Mezei) Iridium: AT&T Ought to Buy It (Epsilon Process) Telephone System Basics Seminars and Video Courses (Chris Walsh) Site For Switch Details (wrampart@my-deja.com) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Ed Ellers) Gateway Small Business Expo & Conference - Free Pass (newsofevent) Stiffer Sentences For High-Tech Crime (Monty Solomon) Too Much Privacy? (Monty Solomon) Telephone Privacy Search (ogel@my-deja.com) Nortel Guru Wanted (Gary Robles) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 04:42:49 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: FTC Staff Issues Guidelines on Internet Advertising http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2000/05/dotcom.htm Paper Explores How Existing Consumer Protection Laws Apply To Online Advertising The Federal Trade Commission today issued a staff working paper examining how its own consumer protection rules and guides -- many of which were developed long before "dot com" became a household phrase -- apply to advertising and sales on the Internet. The paper, Dot Com Disclosures: Information about Online Advertising, provides guidance to businesses about how FTC law applies to online activities with a particular focus on the clarity and conspicuousness of disclosures in Internet ads. The paper also discusses how Commission rules and guides that use certain words -- "written," "writing," "printed" and "direct mail" -- apply to new technologies. "Dot commerce is the new Main Street," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "This guidance represents the cooperative efforts of government, communications experts in industry and consumer groups to achieve fair and informative online advertising for consumers." The working paper advises online advertisers that the same consumer protection laws that apply to commercial activities in other media apply online and that any disclosures required to prevent an ad from being misleading must be clear and conspicuous. The paper focuses on how required disclosures may be presented clearly and conspicuously in online ads and provides key considerations for evaluating their effectiveness. The paper discusses, in the context of online ads, the traditional factors used to evaluate whether disclosures are likely to be clear and conspicuous, including: the placement of the disclosure in an ad and its proximity to the relevant claim; the prominence of the disclosure; whether items in other parts of the ad distract attention from the disclosure; whether the ad is so lengthy that the disclosure needs to be repeated; whether disclosures in audio messages are presented in an adequate volume and cadence and visual disclosures appear for a sufficient duration; and, whether the language of the disclosure is understandable to the intended audience. The appendix of the working paper contains mock advertisements that illustrate one or more of these particular factors. The paper notes that actual disclosures must be evaluated in the context of an advertisement as a whole. Further, the working paper addresses specific issues in applying certain Commission rules and guides to Internet activities and the use of new technologies to comply with those rules and guides. For example, some rules and guides use certain terms -- such as "written," "writing" and "printed" -- that connote words or information on paper. Consumers expect to receive the same information and protections whether they are looking at a paper catalog or an online one. The paper explains that those rules and guides that apply to written ads or printed materials also apply to visual text displayed on the Internet. In addition, the paper discusses the circumstances in which businesses may use email to comply with a rule or guide requirement to provide or send required notices or documents to consumers. The publication of this paper follows a public comment period and public workshop which was held to discuss the applicability of Commission rules and guides to Internet advertising. The paper does not set forth new rules for online advertising, but instead describes how existing consumer protection laws apply to the unique features of the medium. The Commission vote approving the issuance of the staff working paper was 5-0. ---------------------------------------------------- Copies of the staff working paper, "Dot Com Disclosures: Information about Online Advertising," are available from the FTC's web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; toll-free: 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357); TDD for the hearing impaired 202-326-2502. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710. MEDIA CONTACT: Howard Shapiro, Office of Public Affairs 202-326-2176 STAFF CONTACT: Elaine D. Kolish or Laura J. DeMartino Bureau of Consumer Protection 202-326-3042 or 202-326-3030 (FTC Matter No. P974102) (dotcomworking) http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/dotcom/index.html ------------------------------ Subject: Analog/Digital Cell Phone Switching (was Three-Watt Digital Phones?) From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 12:05:13 GMT Organization: Road Runner > If your (digital) phone can't find a digital cell it will try to find > an analog cell automatically. But it'll still be low power. In my experience this doesn't actually work very well. When there's NO digital cell around, I can usually get analogue service, but often I'll see no bars of digital signal strength (not enough for a call!) but the phone won't switch to analogue mode. It stays in digital mode and is unusable. Have others had this problem? Joel ------------------------------ From: Alan Boritz Subject: Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 06:27:27 -0400 Organization: Dyslexics Untie editor@icbtollfree.com wrote: > We just received the following from ATIS. You'll want to manage your > emails accordingly. > ICB Staff > ATIS Committee Participants: > Please be advised that a computer virus named 'ILOVEYOU' has been > infecting computers around the globe. DO NOT OPEN THE E-MAIL NOR THE > ATTACHMENT IF YOU SEE 'ILOVEYOU' IN THE SUBJECT OF AN E-MAIL (see part > of the excerpt from Staff and Wire Reports below... It never ceases to amaze me how many people thought nothing about running ANY executable they get in email, knowing that *any* program they could run could do serious damage. I saw a widespread version of this last year when quite a few people were circulating goofy demo "screen savers" to their friends. The screen savers were pre-sales gimmicks made by a little company who was trying to sell custom screen savers. A former boss was running one on his machine that a client had sent. The second time I saw it on his machine, the program had opened a web browser to their web site. Nobody (except me, perhaps) noticed that this company had no default home page at their domain. All the virus scanning software in the world won't do any good when the users hand over the keys, so to speak, to complete strangers, on the secure side of the firewall, no less. > - for additional > information, you may go to > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4232-2000May4.html) ... > The new virus originates in an e-mail entitled 'ILOVEYOU.' Once the > attachment, which is named LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt is launched, the ^^^^ > virus sends copies of the same e-mail to everybody listed in the > user's address book, blocking people's ability to send and receive > e-mail.' > Thank you for your attention to this situation. > Steve Barclay > ATIS Manager, Industry Forums > sbarclay@atis.org WRONG, Mr. Barclay. The attachment is an executable with a .VBS extension (note the funny icon that's never associated with a text file), that replaces a few critical Windows components, adds itself to the registry and replaces all accessible files with a js, jse, css, wsh, sct, hta, mp2, mp3, jpg, and jpeg extension with a copy of itself. Clogging up your outbound email is only ONE thing it does, after spreading itself via IRC and creating .vbs and htm versions of itself to spread it further. Only AOL newbies spread urban legends about text files (with a .TXT) extension, destroying your system, infecting your firstborn, and stealing your kidneys. (The Kidney Pirate urban legend made it's way to Star Trek this week, btw.) I sure hope that ATIS doesn't represent something like a telecom industry professional organization, while misinforming people about something so destructive. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 21:15 PDT From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein) Subject: Re: First Web Tracking, then TELEPHONE Tracking? Greetings. Barry B. asks why the fictional "Getting to Know You" service would face legal complications. Well, first off the phone companies are common carriers, and must abide by a variety of federal and state regulations (the latter varying from state to state). In general, these lay out very specific rules for use of customer dialing data and for monitoring of calls. Even if a customer wanted to subscribe to a commercial telco monitoring service, it is doubtful if the existing regulatory framework would permit it. (There are exceptions for dealing with emergency situations involving law enforcement, of course.) Even if the telcos weren't common carriers -- and were just ordinary folks -- it would be legally complex -- as Linda Tripp well knows. Some states have one-party recording rules, some states have two-party rules (both ends of the call must be informed). The release of the recorded material to third parties may be subject to other rules and regulations. Overall, there would appear to be complicated legal issues scattered throughout the real-world provision of such a service for telephones. But on the Web, none of this currently applies, permitting the current level of tracking abuse. Of course, it's quite possible that ISPs will find themselves brought fully under the formal common carrier umbrella in various ways, particularly as the provision of voice phone services over the Internet grows. Such developments could have interesting ramifications in this area. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com Co-Founder, PFIR: People for Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy ------------------------------ From: J.F. Mezei Subject: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 22:50:28 -0400 I know that the local cable provider in the region (Viderotron) is having field trials with some if its employees for telephone service over cable. It consist of a black box that connects to the ethernet which connects to a cable-modem which connects to the coax cable plant. (or does it connect separately from the cable modem directly to the coax "cableTV" cable? I was told that the "black box" which converst from IP telephony into POTS has its own battery backup power that can last a few hours thus ensuring you have telephone service during outages. Is that really realiable enough? Also, how about all the infrastructure on the streets ? How long can that last with a power failure? In the past, cable companies didn't care with a power failure since folks couldn't watch TV without power anyways. Have the cable companies really upgraded their cable plants to really have enough autonomy to support realiable telephone service during power outages? Also, today, I had an outage of the cable modem. Called the cable-data folks and they told me, after much haggling, that they were aware of a problem in my area and that it should be fixed "soon". When pressed for a time, I was told between one to two hours. Don't know how long before it had stopped working. I would assume that the Voice-over-IP-over-cableTV schemes would use the same data-cable infrastructure (routers etc) and as such, would be as vulnerable to failures as the current cable-modem service is. What are cable companies doing to make their cable service as reliable as the telephpne service ? And out of curiosity, how come the telephone companies have been able to acheive such impressive uptime year after year, even during long power failures, while cable companies can't even come close? Is the coax cable plant much more complex that the twisted pair infrastructure used by telcos? ------------------------------ From: Epsilon Process Subject: Iridium: AT&T Ought to Buy It Organization: WebUseNet Corp http://www.usenetserver.com Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 04:03:53 -0400 ----- Original Message ----- From: JF Mezei Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2000 3:00 PM Subject: Re: Iridium to Make Fireworks For Next Two Years > So instead of focusing on executives who work in buildings (where sat > coverage is poor), Iridium should have focused on the mining and > travel industries. They could have provided air-phones wordwide on > planes. Could have replaced Inmarsat service to ships. If you're > going to focus on a market that doesn't go to cities much and provide > competitive rates to begin with, then they woud not have had to bother > city. Would have meant cheaper and smaller phones. This is exactly one suggestion I sent to the AT&T internal newsletter folks in response to their "AT&T ePlane" service ... to provide expanded voice and data services to airlines or private aircraft via the Iridium network. In fact, I later discovered that Iridium had ALREADY purchased several AT&T air communication systems in order to roll them into Iridium's air-telephone service. AT&T has just recently issued new tracking stock. If they buy up whatever's left of Iridium, market it properly (i.e. integrate it into AT&T Wireless's offerings with a good business model) I guarantee AT&T is apt to make money from it. Sure it might sink the stock a bit for a while, but I think we can recover quickly and provide a lot more service and support than Iridium did. And besides, why not? AT&T's bought just about everything else that wasn't nailed down. Mr. Armstrong, are you reading? I'll even offer to manage it :) -An AT&T employee ------------------------------ From: Chris Walsh Subject: Telephone System Basics Seminars and Video Courses Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 00:29:55 GMT Organization: FlashNet Communications, http://www.flash.net Greetings One and All, We have recently started a new company whose goal is to teach individuals and companies the ins and outs of telephone and voicemail systems. I won't make a long sell of this message, only to say that if anyone is in need of a good beginner to mid-level course in telephone systems, COs, DIDs, peripherals and how to make good informed purchases, we believe our course is an excellent source of information. This company has been in existence for four months, and our video courses are already being used in Technology Institutes in the US and abroad. There is a customer survey database on new and used phone and voicemail systems for those who are comparing systems, and these reports come DIRECTLY from end-users. We are opening our "Accredited Vendors and Providers" pages to our clientele, and welcome any Telephone System Dealers, Local/Long Distance providers, Manufacturers and Data Service Providers to take part in this listing. Please contact us at seminars@tellearn.com for further information on our accreditation process. We offer a free tutorial (via email bi-monthly) and I provide free consulting service, for a limited time, for anyone in need. WE DO NOT SELL PHONE SYSTEMS Thank you very kindly for your time. Chris Walsh www.tellearn.com 1-877-532-7616 ------------------------------ From: wrampart@my-deja.com Subject: Site For Switch Details Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 21:16:19 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. A while back, someone posted a site to find details of the switch serving a particular NPA-NXX. Other details included CO location, IXC meet points, data services and points of presence. Unfortunately my book marks did not survive a recent hard drive crash. Thanks. ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 20:20:40 -0400 Terry Knab wrote: > I note Iowa and possibly Nebraska use *55 for their highway patrol numbers, > so around the border, things could get very confusing. True, but law enforcement agencies usually have links to neighboring agencies, so there would still be *some* way to get through. ------------------------------ From: newsofevent@mercadogroup.com Subject: Gateway Small Business Expo & Conference - Free Pass with E-mail Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 01:58:27 Event Name: Gateway Small Business Expo & Conference Description: Exhibition gives small to medium sized businesses opportunities to participate in business to business commerce. Workshop topics include Sales & Marketing, Business Development, Business Solutions, Certification, Finance, Legal issues. Keynote speaker and author, Shawn Dove will focus on success principles that will help define business goals. Panel discussion will be on Growing Your Business Through Strategic Alliances. A meet & greet session will provide an excellent opportunity to network. Date: Saturday, May 20, 2000 Time: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Location: Hudson County Schools of Technology 525 Montgomery Street Jersey City, New Jersey 07302 Fee: Register before May 15th for FREE PASS. $20 after May 15th. Opportunities: Exhibit, Attend, Sponsor, Advertise Information: The Mercado Group, Inc., 154 Mercer Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302 Phone: (201) 432-2406 Fax: (413) 826-5832 Email: gsbexpo@mercadogroup.com Website: http://www.mercadogroup.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 04:38:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Stiffer Sentences For High-Tech Crime Federal guidelines would double penalties in some cases By Mike Brunker MSNBC May 1 - Adding new teeth to federal laws governing high-tech crime, the U.S. Sentencing Commission on Monday sent Congress guidelines for judges that would substantially increase penalties for such crimes as credit card and identity theft, using computers to solicit or sexually exploit minors and violating copyrights or trademarks online. http://www.msnbc.com/news/401964.asp ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 05:15:04 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Too Much Privacy? What happens when every jurisdiction from Alaska to Zimbabwe makes its own rules? By Jonathan M. Winer A century ago, Louis Brandeis concluded that although the word "privacy" was not in the Constitution, for freedom to exist it must be protected from the threat "modern devices," like cameras and newspapers, posed by making information about citizens public without their consent. Since Brandeis, others have worried less about devices and more about the government's ability to invade privacy. Now the Internet has produced a corresponding growth in privacy laws aimed at curbing perceived governmental and private-sector abuses. The result? New privacy regimes that potentially threaten the foundation on which e-commerce has been built. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/1,1151,14781,00.html ------------------------------ From: ogel@my-deja.com Subject: Telephone Privacy Search Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 09:26:26 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. If you have anything to tell about privacy on your phone line or if you believe that such service (http://www.microlink.co.il) as this company propagates can really solve the global telecom security problem (http://www.microlink.co.il/fs_12.html), please enjoy this thread. ------------------------------ From: Gary Robles Subject: Nortel Guru Wanted Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 09:54:15 -0400 Does anyone know of a solid Nortel certified PBX guru in South Florida? I could use some help! ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #108 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 9 01:05:06 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id BAA28391; Tue, 9 May 2000 01:05:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 01:05:06 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005090505.BAA28391@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #109 TELECOM Digest Tue, 9 May 2000 01:05:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 109 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/8/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) A Bell Canada Horror Story (ah635@torfree.net) Re: PBX-gate: the Plot Thickens (Adam H. Kerman) Free Web Site to Page a Pager? (Keith Jarett) Need Single Mode Cable (Thomas Dooley) IDT Ads (Fred Atkinson) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Tony Pelliccio) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/8/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 20:49:37 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* Click Here to Subscribe to ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm (Registration is required. Names are not sold, rented or leased.) ************************************************************************* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 .....................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* GREAT NEWS: 5 MINUTE SPECIAL extended to Friday, May 12th! Due to your enthusiastic response to our 5 MINUTE SPECIAL, as well as programming problems some of you encountered when signing up, we are extending this special offer to Friday, May 12th ... So, one more time: Upgrade to ICB Premium. SAVE A BUNDLE. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm Offer Expires May 12, 2000. ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 8, 2000 P - FREEPHONE MORPH: FREE TELEPHONES Customers will be able to check their balances and transactions and transfer funds or pay bills while on the move - wherever they happen to be. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2173 F - SEX, GREED, FEAR NSI goes with the latter to hit #5 on Nielsen's most viewed banner ads. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2172 F - ENGINEERING.ORG - HIGHEST BID EVER RECEIVED ON ANY DOMAIN AUCTION On April 23, Afternic.com made aftermarket history, auctioning off engineering.org for $198,895.00. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2166 P - DOT COM BUNGLES, B2B KOOLAID, EUROPEAN INVASION ... IDC releases its IT predictions for 2000. Key themes include the meeting of the Internet with financial reality and the death of dot-com as we know it. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2167 F - NET USE STUNTED BY PHONE MONOPOLIES Government-controlled phone companies have stifled Internet growth because of the additional expenses incurred by Net users. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2168 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com ... where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 8, 2000 F - CLOSED DOOR INVESTIGATIVE MEETING In a highly unusual action, the FCC will close part of its agenda meeting Monday on May 15 to receive a report from the Enforcement Bureau on "pending common carrier investigations." CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2178 F - ZEROPLUS.COM EXPANDING TO WORLDWIDE TELEPHONY AUDIENCE Since ZeroPlus.com's free PC-to-PC service was introduced in June 1999, 38 percent of its customers reside outside the US. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2177 P - THE SPEED OF FAME Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. writes, "Verizon is rapidly becoming famous nationwide..." CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2176 F - IS IT A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL? "The mobile phone will be the first object, the first equipment for Internet connection for a great part of the Italian population, whereas "Americans are used to talking on the phone, not looking at it. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2175 F - 900S GET PERSONAL Saturn Communications General Manager Steve Allen said his company supplies the numbers to other companies, but has no control over what they do with them. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2174 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 8, 2000 F - MCIW OFFICIALLY CHANGES NAME TO WORLDCOM It will continue to market brand names such as MCI and UUNet because they're widely known, it said in an internal announcement. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2169 F - FEUD OVER LILABNER.COM The lawyers are asking a judge to order Zedlar to stop using the name and to award the company $100,000 in damages. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2170 F - ANTITRUST AND THE MEDIA "For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Justice Department has spent so much time on Microsoft and so little on this industry." CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2171 P - INT'L. CONTROLS IN PTO LICENSES In the light of increasing competition, OFTEL is re-examining the international conditions in PTO licences to ensure that they do not have the unintended effect of stifling competition on international routes. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2179 P - OFTEL MAY 2000 PROGRESS REPORT Fewer than 1 in 3 residential consumers are making use of the available competition, due to the majority claiming to be satisfied with their current provider, but also due to lack of awareness of some of the alternatives along with confusion over pricing and inability to compare suppliers. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2180 F - BEEHIVE'S DAY IN COURT ... contends that four years after passage of the Telecom Act the FCC still has not established pricing rules for toll-free number databases or established an impartial numbering administrator. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2181 **************************************************advertisements********* For whom does this sun rise? : http://sunrise.open-rsc.org ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ From: ah635@torfree.net Subject: A Bell Canada Horror Story Date: 08 May 2000 11:59:22 EDT Organization: Concentric Internet Services I sent the following today to Jean Monty, head of BCE (parent company of Bell Canada) regarding some of their, um, questionable customer service practices. It's strange, I've never gotten bad service from Bell until very recently ... --- 2000-05-08 Jean C. Monty Chairman and Chief Executive Officer BCE Inc. 1000 rue de la Gauchetire ouest Suite 3700 Montreal, QC H3B 4Y7 Re: (416) 42X-XXXX, Bell Canada residential service at [deleted] Dear Mr. Monty: Several incidents involving myself and BCE-owned companies have occurred in the recent past, and I am writing to you today to bring them to your attention and to hopefully make certain that they do not happen again. The first incident involved my quest for paging services. On March 24, 2000, I went to the Bell World store located in the East York Town Centre (45 Overlea Blvd, Toronto). After being ignored for five minutes, I called out several times and finally someone in the back of the store came out to serve me. Actually, I shouldn't say serve: the woman informed me that all their pagers were out of stock, but they would be getting a new shipment in the next morning. I decided to wait, since I had looked into service and I liked what Bell was offering better than Rogers AT&T, even though the prices were pretty much identical. The next afternoon, March 25, 2000, I returned to the store, whereupon another woman informed me that they still hadn't received any pagers. She suggested that I try two other locations, but when she called to confirm that there was equipment in stock, neither had any. I politely thanked her and informed her that I couldn't wait any longer and would be going with Rogers AT&T, walked across the mall to the Radio Shack store and had a Rogers AT&T pager in my hands and activated within the hour. The second involved Bell's Call Answer service. On April 18, 2000, I was away from home, and my roommate, without my knowledge or consent, changed our Call Answer password. Thus, I was unable to retrieve any of my messages. No one was willing to reset the password for me, telling me that I had to be at the residence -- reasons given varied from security to technical issues. Now, while those types of excuses might have worked with others, since I have an interest in telephony issues and have been reading trade, technical, and hobbyist publications for years, I know this to be nonsense. The voice mail system is physically located at the central office and can be accessed and configured from anywhere, so it wasn't a technical issue at all. As for security, I was willing to provide numerous pieces of identification and successfully quoted my account password I have on the account. The only solution I was given was for the service to be taken off and put back on, but there would be "a 48 hour turnaround time" as someone at the business office told me. I finally was able to get in touch with my roommate and have him change the password back, but I was quite upset at the lack of action, varying and false explanations for that lack of action, and the unwillingness of anyone at Bell to do anything for me other than to repeat what seemed like canned responses which didn't address my concerns and issues. The latest incident, and what prompted me to write, involved service and treatment by another Bell World store and by Bell Repair service. On May 4, 2000, I filled out a request for termination of service at the Bell World Store at Eglinton Square (133 Eglinton Square, Toronto) asking that my service be terminated effective May 31, 2000. The person who took my request seemed to be having difficulty operating the terminal, so she simply photocopied the application that I had filled out and handed it back to me as my receipt. At 8:45pm the next day, I noticed that the phone service had been disconnected! Since I was expecting business calls and since the telephone is required to open the lobby door of my apartment building, I was understandably upset. After calling 310-BELL, I was told the business office was closed. I then phoned 611, and demanded that my service be restored immediately. While I was not rude to the woman who took my call, I was very emphatic and obviously upset. I explained to her that I was not mad at her, but that since this wasn't the first time I had problems with Bell in the recent past, I wanted anyone who might be listening to tapes of our conversations (since I know that monitoring conversations in call centers is a widespread practice) to know exactly how I feel. I was told that it would take until Saturday until the service was restored and while I wasn't too happy about it, I accepted it. The service was still not restored as of yesterday afternoon, so I called back. Co-indecently, I spoke to the same woman on the phone, who then informed me that I would have to call the Business Office to have service restored, and promptly passed me off to a supervisor. The supervisor told me that I was supposed to talk to the Business Office. She informed me that Bell Repair can't do anything without the Business Office putting an order in first, and then said that the woman who had originally took my call on May 5, 2000 had told me to do so -- when in fact she said no such thing! At this point, I mentioned to her that while I understand the situation, I am extremely dissatisfied with the lack of customer service being provided to me, I have been without telephone service -- and internet access, and access to opening my front door, as a result -- for the past three days and that I found it totally unacceptable. At that point, I was passed off to a manager. Now, I thought that the title "manager" implied some kind of responsibility -- the ability to troubleshoot and resolve customer service problems quickly and effectively. In this case, the woman I spoke to just kept on repeating the fact that nothing could be done until the business office did something, which didn't do any good for me, stuck without service on a Sunday afternoon when the office was closed. I asked for the full name and direct contact telephone number of someone who could look after this problem, and she refused, repeating over and over that I could call 310-BELL and asked to be transferred to "a manager". To me, it's clear that this type of reaction to a simple request such as this is a way of abdicating responsibility for customer service complaints like mine. I might also point out that none of the people involved give me their last names, which makes tracking the persons involved in this mix-up even more difficult. That's not too important, since I don't have any vindictiveness against anyone and I think this problem is endemic to the way the company operates nowadays. All I do want is my phone service back on and to make sure this does not happen again. Since you have a name, a title, and an address, that's why I am directing my comments toward you. I hope you can help me, Mr. Monty. Sincerely, [signed] Timothy J. Meehan Cc: Office of the Manager, Bell Ontario Bell Canada Executive Office of Customer Relations Bell World - East York Town Centre Bell World - Eglinton Square Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Telecom Digest (comp.dcom.telecom) ------------------------------ From: Adam H. Kerman Subject: Re: PBX-gate: the Plot Thickens Organization: chinet - public access since 1982 Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 00:16:33 GMT Jeremy Greene wrote: > Apparently Israeli spies have been monitoring telephone calls from the > White House phone system (and the State Dept.) by infiltrating a > Washington DC telephone company (probably Bell Atlantic). Back-doors > into the White House phone system, failure to use secure phones when > discussing classified business, and a lack of security in general, > have made this possible. There is the possibility that an entire batch > of phone trunks has been tapped, and the conversations are being > forwarded straight to Tel Aviv! Worse, Clinton apparently had an idea > that this was happening but chose to ignore it because of the > political ramifications of confronting Isreal, who is our ally. If you can't spy, how do you know whom your friends are? (Don't you think we are also spying on them?) ------------------------------ From: Keith Jarett Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 10:43:25 -0700 Subject: Free Web Site to Page a Pager? Is there a web site that one can use to send a numeric page to a standard pager in the USA? I figure that such a site could pay for the 20-second phone call by selling banner ads, but I have not been able to find any free services to send basic pages. Keith Jarett P.S. Welcome back, Pat. Life on line wouldn't be the same without you. ------------------------------ From: Thomas Dooley Subject: Need Single Mode Cable Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 02:06:41 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet Hello group, I'm looking for 7300 feet of 48 fiber single mode and 5600 feet of 24 fiber single mode. Both must be outside plant type (osp) with 600 pound rating and .4 db's of loss per kilometer @1310 nm or less. Tom Cleanliness is next to Low-db-ness ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 15:59 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Organization: Personal Copy Subject: IDT Ads I saw IDT advertising a rate of 5 cents per minute twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Naturally I was interested. I called them and asked them to send me documentation of their rates. They said that they 'didn't do that' and that she was the best source of information for me. I informed her that we could not do business if they couldn't provide me with written documentation of their rates. She said to have a nice day and I hung up before she completed her sentence. I think she figured that I would change my tune over the alleged savings. What does anyone know about these folks? Fred ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Organization: Providence Network Partners Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 02:25:45 GMT In article , tknab@nyx.net says ... > Actually, not really. In Missouri, Verizon/CellNone KC has its phones > set up to dial *KTA (Kansas Turnpike Authority Patrol), *47 (Kansas > Highway Patrol), and *55 (Mo. Hwy patrol), as well as 911 where > applicable. From what I've been told by Verizon folks, they were > required to set it up as a condition of being able to provide service > in said states. > And I've had to call the Hwy patrol in Missouri at least five times in the > last six months (saw wrecks, etc...) > (I note Iowa and possibly Nebraska use *55 for their highway patrol > numbers, so around the border, things could get very confusing.) Ok, If you're using Verizon, CellOne, or AT&T you dial *77 here in RI to reach the RI State Police. If you're using an Omnipoint or Sprint phone, you dial 911. The only issue is that the person at the 911 answering point has no idea where you are. Seems sort of stupid to me as the sizes of the PCS cells are much smaller than that used for AMPS and NAMPS systems. Within the next couple of years there'll be GPS units built into all cellphones so you'll just dial 911 and they'll know where to send help. Tony ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #109 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 9 01:18:20 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id BAA29076; Tue, 9 May 2000 01:18:20 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 01:18:20 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005090518.BAA29076@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #109 TELECOM Digest Tue, 9 May 2000 01:05:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 109 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/8/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) A Bell Canada Horror Story (ah635@torfree.net) Re: PBX-gate: the Plot Thickens (Adam H. Kerman) Free Web Site to Page a Pager? (Keith Jarett) Need Single Mode Cable (Thomas Dooley) IDT Ads (Fred Atkinson) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Tony Pelliccio) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/8/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 20:49:37 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* Click Here to Subscribe to ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm (Registration is required. Names are not sold, rented or leased.) ************************************************************************* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 .....................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* GREAT NEWS: 5 MINUTE SPECIAL extended to Friday, May 12th! Due to your enthusiastic response to our 5 MINUTE SPECIAL, as well as programming problems some of you encountered when signing up, we are extending this special offer to Friday, May 12th ... So, one more time: Upgrade to ICB Premium. SAVE A BUNDLE. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm Offer Expires May 12, 2000. ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 8, 2000 P - FREEPHONE MORPH: FREE TELEPHONES Customers will be able to check their balances and transactions and transfer funds or pay bills while on the move - wherever they happen to be. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2173 F - SEX, GREED, FEAR NSI goes with the latter to hit #5 on Nielsen's most viewed banner ads. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2172 F - ENGINEERING.ORG - HIGHEST BID EVER RECEIVED ON ANY DOMAIN AUCTION On April 23, Afternic.com made aftermarket history, auctioning off engineering.org for $198,895.00. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2166 P - DOT COM BUNGLES, B2B KOOLAID, EUROPEAN INVASION ... IDC releases its IT predictions for 2000. Key themes include the meeting of the Internet with financial reality and the death of dot-com as we know it. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2167 F - NET USE STUNTED BY PHONE MONOPOLIES Government-controlled phone companies have stifled Internet growth because of the additional expenses incurred by Net users. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2168 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com ... where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 8, 2000 F - CLOSED DOOR INVESTIGATIVE MEETING In a highly unusual action, the FCC will close part of its agenda meeting Monday on May 15 to receive a report from the Enforcement Bureau on "pending common carrier investigations." CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2178 F - ZEROPLUS.COM EXPANDING TO WORLDWIDE TELEPHONY AUDIENCE Since ZeroPlus.com's free PC-to-PC service was introduced in June 1999, 38 percent of its customers reside outside the US. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2177 P - THE SPEED OF FAME Bell Atlantic Network Services, Inc. writes, "Verizon is rapidly becoming famous nationwide..." CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2176 F - IS IT A SMALL WORLD, AFTER ALL? "The mobile phone will be the first object, the first equipment for Internet connection for a great part of the Italian population, whereas "Americans are used to talking on the phone, not looking at it. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2175 F - 900S GET PERSONAL Saturn Communications General Manager Steve Allen said his company supplies the numbers to other companies, but has no control over what they do with them. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2174 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 8, 2000 F - MCIW OFFICIALLY CHANGES NAME TO WORLDCOM It will continue to market brand names such as MCI and UUNet because they're widely known, it said in an internal announcement. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2169 F - FEUD OVER LILABNER.COM The lawyers are asking a judge to order Zedlar to stop using the name and to award the company $100,000 in damages. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2170 F - ANTITRUST AND THE MEDIA "For the life of me, I can't figure out why the Justice Department has spent so much time on Microsoft and so little on this industry." CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2171 P - INT'L. CONTROLS IN PTO LICENSES In the light of increasing competition, OFTEL is re-examining the international conditions in PTO licences to ensure that they do not have the unintended effect of stifling competition on international routes. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2179 P - OFTEL MAY 2000 PROGRESS REPORT Fewer than 1 in 3 residential consumers are making use of the available competition, due to the majority claiming to be satisfied with their current provider, but also due to lack of awareness of some of the alternatives along with confusion over pricing and inability to compare suppliers. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2180 F - BEEHIVE'S DAY IN COURT ... contends that four years after passage of the Telecom Act the FCC still has not established pricing rules for toll-free number databases or established an impartial numbering administrator. CONTINUED HERE: http://WWW.ICBTOLLFREE.COM/article.cfm?articleId=2181 **************************************************advertisements********* For whom does this sun rise? : http://sunrise.open-rsc.org ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ From: ah635@torfree.net Subject: A Bell Canada Horror Story Date: 08 May 2000 11:59:22 EDT Organization: Concentric Internet Services I sent the following today to Jean Monty, head of BCE (parent company of Bell Canada) regarding some of their, um, questionable customer service practices. It's strange, I've never gotten bad service from Bell until very recently ... --- 2000-05-08 Jean C. Monty Chairman and Chief Executive Officer BCE Inc. 1000 rue de la Gauchetire ouest Suite 3700 Montreal, QC H3B 4Y7 Re: (416) 42X-XXXX, Bell Canada residential service at [deleted] Dear Mr. Monty: Several incidents involving myself and BCE-owned companies have occurred in the recent past, and I am writing to you today to bring them to your attention and to hopefully make certain that they do not happen again. The first incident involved my quest for paging services. On March 24, 2000, I went to the Bell World store located in the East York Town Centre (45 Overlea Blvd, Toronto). After being ignored for five minutes, I called out several times and finally someone in the back of the store came out to serve me. Actually, I shouldn't say serve: the woman informed me that all their pagers were out of stock, but they would be getting a new shipment in the next morning. I decided to wait, since I had looked into service and I liked what Bell was offering better than Rogers AT&T, even though the prices were pretty much identical. The next afternoon, March 25, 2000, I returned to the store, whereupon another woman informed me that they still hadn't received any pagers. She suggested that I try two other locations, but when she called to confirm that there was equipment in stock, neither had any. I politely thanked her and informed her that I couldn't wait any longer and would be going with Rogers AT&T, walked across the mall to the Radio Shack store and had a Rogers AT&T pager in my hands and activated within the hour. The second involved Bell's Call Answer service. On April 18, 2000, I was away from home, and my roommate, without my knowledge or consent, changed our Call Answer password. Thus, I was unable to retrieve any of my messages. No one was willing to reset the password for me, telling me that I had to be at the residence -- reasons given varied from security to technical issues. Now, while those types of excuses might have worked with others, since I have an interest in telephony issues and have been reading trade, technical, and hobbyist publications for years, I know this to be nonsense. The voice mail system is physically located at the central office and can be accessed and configured from anywhere, so it wasn't a technical issue at all. As for security, I was willing to provide numerous pieces of identification and successfully quoted my account password I have on the account. The only solution I was given was for the service to be taken off and put back on, but there would be "a 48 hour turnaround time" as someone at the business office told me. I finally was able to get in touch with my roommate and have him change the password back, but I was quite upset at the lack of action, varying and false explanations for that lack of action, and the unwillingness of anyone at Bell to do anything for me other than to repeat what seemed like canned responses which didn't address my concerns and issues. The latest incident, and what prompted me to write, involved service and treatment by another Bell World store and by Bell Repair service. On May 4, 2000, I filled out a request for termination of service at the Bell World Store at Eglinton Square (133 Eglinton Square, Toronto) asking that my service be terminated effective May 31, 2000. The person who took my request seemed to be having difficulty operating the terminal, so she simply photocopied the application that I had filled out and handed it back to me as my receipt. At 8:45pm the next day, I noticed that the phone service had been disconnected! Since I was expecting business calls and since the telephone is required to open the lobby door of my apartment building, I was understandably upset. After calling 310-BELL, I was told the business office was closed. I then phoned 611, and demanded that my service be restored immediately. While I was not rude to the woman who took my call, I was very emphatic and obviously upset. I explained to her that I was not mad at her, but that since this wasn't the first time I had problems with Bell in the recent past, I wanted anyone who might be listening to tapes of our conversations (since I know that monitoring conversations in call centers is a widespread practice) to know exactly how I feel. I was told that it would take until Saturday until the service was restored and while I wasn't too happy about it, I accepted it. The service was still not restored as of yesterday afternoon, so I called back. Co-indecently, I spoke to the same woman on the phone, who then informed me that I would have to call the Business Office to have service restored, and promptly passed me off to a supervisor. The supervisor told me that I was supposed to talk to the Business Office. She informed me that Bell Repair can't do anything without the Business Office putting an order in first, and then said that the woman who had originally took my call on May 5, 2000 had told me to do so -- when in fact she said no such thing! At this point, I mentioned to her that while I understand the situation, I am extremely dissatisfied with the lack of customer service being provided to me, I have been without telephone service -- and internet access, and access to opening my front door, as a result -- for the past three days and that I found it totally unacceptable. At that point, I was passed off to a manager. Now, I thought that the title "manager" implied some kind of responsibility -- the ability to troubleshoot and resolve customer service problems quickly and effectively. In this case, the woman I spoke to just kept on repeating the fact that nothing could be done until the business office did something, which didn't do any good for me, stuck without service on a Sunday afternoon when the office was closed. I asked for the full name and direct contact telephone number of someone who could look after this problem, and she refused, repeating over and over that I could call 310-BELL and asked to be transferred to "a manager". To me, it's clear that this type of reaction to a simple request such as this is a way of abdicating responsibility for customer service complaints like mine. I might also point out that none of the people involved give me their last names, which makes tracking the persons involved in this mix-up even more difficult. That's not too important, since I don't have any vindictiveness against anyone and I think this problem is endemic to the way the company operates nowadays. All I do want is my phone service back on and to make sure this does not happen again. Since you have a name, a title, and an address, that's why I am directing my comments toward you. I hope you can help me, Mr. Monty. Sincerely, [signed] Timothy J. Meehan Cc: Office of the Manager, Bell Ontario Bell Canada Executive Office of Customer Relations Bell World - East York Town Centre Bell World - Eglinton Square Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Telecom Digest (comp.dcom.telecom) ------------------------------ From: Adam H. Kerman Subject: Re: PBX-gate: the Plot Thickens Organization: chinet - public access since 1982 Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 00:16:33 GMT Jeremy Greene wrote: > Apparently Israeli spies have been monitoring telephone calls from the > White House phone system (and the State Dept.) by infiltrating a > Washington DC telephone company (probably Bell Atlantic). Back-doors > into the White House phone system, failure to use secure phones when > discussing classified business, and a lack of security in general, > have made this possible. There is the possibility that an entire batch > of phone trunks has been tapped, and the conversations are being > forwarded straight to Tel Aviv! Worse, Clinton apparently had an idea > that this was happening but chose to ignore it because of the > political ramifications of confronting Isreal, who is our ally. If you can't spy, how do you know whom your friends are? (Don't you think we are also spying on them?) ------------------------------ From: Keith Jarett Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 10:43:25 -0700 Subject: Free Web Site to Page a Pager? Is there a web site that one can use to send a numeric page to a standard pager in the USA? I figure that such a site could pay for the 20-second phone call by selling banner ads, but I have not been able to find any free services to send basic pages. Keith Jarett P.S. Welcome back, Pat. Life on line wouldn't be the same without you. ------------------------------ From: Thomas Dooley Subject: Need Single Mode Cable Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 02:06:41 GMT Organization: AT&T Worldnet Hello group, I'm looking for 7300 feet of 48 fiber single mode and 5600 feet of 24 fiber single mode. Both must be outside plant type (osp) with 600 pound rating and .4 db's of loss per kilometer @1310 nm or less. Tom Cleanliness is next to Low-db-ness ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 15:59 -0400 From: Fred Atkinson Organization: Personal Copy Subject: IDT Ads I saw IDT advertising a rate of 5 cents per minute twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Naturally I was interested. I called them and asked them to send me documentation of their rates. They said that they 'didn't do that' and that she was the best source of information for me. I informed her that we could not do business if they couldn't provide me with written documentation of their rates. She said to have a nice day and I hung up before she completed her sentence. I think she figured that I would change my tune over the alleged savings. What does anyone know about these folks? Fred ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Organization: Providence Network Partners Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 02:25:45 GMT In article , tknab@nyx.net says ... > Actually, not really. In Missouri, Verizon/CellNone KC has its phones > set up to dial *KTA (Kansas Turnpike Authority Patrol), *47 (Kansas > Highway Patrol), and *55 (Mo. Hwy patrol), as well as 911 where > applicable. From what I've been told by Verizon folks, they were > required to set it up as a condition of being able to provide service > in said states. > And I've had to call the Hwy patrol in Missouri at least five times in the > last six months (saw wrecks, etc...) > (I note Iowa and possibly Nebraska use *55 for their highway patrol > numbers, so around the border, things could get very confusing.) Ok, If you're using Verizon, CellOne, or AT&T you dial *77 here in RI to reach the RI State Police. If you're using an Omnipoint or Sprint phone, you dial 911. The only issue is that the person at the 911 answering point has no idea where you are. Seems sort of stupid to me as the sizes of the PCS cells are much smaller than that used for AMPS and NAMPS systems. Within the next couple of years there'll be GPS units built into all cellphones so you'll just dial 911 and they'll know where to send help. Tony ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #109 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 9 12:30:33 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id MAA21172; Tue, 9 May 2000 12:30:33 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 12:30:33 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005091630.MAA21172@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #110 TELECOM Digest Tue, 9 May 2000 12:29:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 110 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update (Canada) #232, May 8, 2000 (Angus TeleManagement) E-Commerce Fuels S. Florida's Fiber-Optic Explosion (Michael A. Desmon) Re: Free Web Site to Page a Pager? (Fred Atkinson) Re: IDT Ads (Diego Betancor) Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert (Clarence Dold) Re: Site For Switch Details (The Old Bear) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Jeremy Greene) NPA/NNX Info (Michael Hartley) Re: Analog/Digital Cell Phone Switching (was Three-Watt Digital (A. Berry) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (Marcus Schmied) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 09:05:12 -0400 From: Angus TeleManagement Subject: Telecom Update (Canada) #232, May 8, 2000 ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement's Weekly Telecom Newsbulletin http://www.angustel.ca Number 232: May 8, 2000 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: AT&T Canada ...................... http://www.attcanada.com/ Bell Canada ............................ http://www.bell.ca/ Lucent Technologies .................. http://www.lucent.ca/ Sprint Canada .................. http://www.sprintcanada.ca/ Teleglobe Business Solutions ...... http://www.teleglobe.ca/ Telus Communications.................. http://www.telus.com/ TigerTel Services ................. http://www.tigertel.com/ ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** DSL Loop Battle Erupts ** Call-Net to Acquire Fiber in Toronto ** Telus to Supply Feds' Phone Card ** Survey Says 416 Will Exhaust Early ** New Virus Sweeps Internet ** U.S. Stops Degrading GPS Data ** MTS Proposes Rate Increases to Pay Taxes ** PageNet Launches Two-Way Messaging ** Senator Denies Conflict of Interest ** Expertech Takes Over Nortel Installation ** RIM to Trial Microcell High-Speed Data ** Group Telecom Signs Five Office Management Chains ** Telus Proposes Signing Bonuses ** Aliant Merges Internet Software Companies ** Rogers Offers Cable Modems to Small Business ** Gateway Buys Capacity for U.S. Network ** Toronto Considers Municipal Fiber Net ** CPC to Combine Payphone With Internet Kiosk ** Stream Starts Up High-Speed Wireless ** New CFO at Bell ** Financial Reports Telus Mitel Newbridge ** Call Centre Seminar "Should Be Mandatory" ============================================================ DSL LOOP BATTLE ERUPTS: A regulatory battle over provision of loops for Digital Subscriber Line providers broke out last week. ** Bell Canada filed a tariff proposing rates and terms for providing unbundled copper loops to DSL Service Providers. ** Optel and Call-Net called for full public discussion of the tariff before approval. ** Covad Canada filed a Part VII Application asking the CRTC to order eight telcos to provide loops and co-location to DSL Service Providers. Covad says that Canada's WTO commitments require that DSL Service Providers be given the same interconnection rights as CLECs and other carriers. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/public/2000/8740/B2-6475.HTM CALL-NET TO ACQUIRE FIBER IN TORONTO: Call-Net, the parent of Sprint Canada, has traded some of its long-haul fiber in the U.S. to Metromedia, in exchange for strands that Metromedia is installing to 200 office buildings in Toronto. (See Telecom Update #183) TELUS TO SUPPLY FEDS' PHONE CARD: Telus has won an exclusive two-year contract to provide national and international calling card services to the Government of Canada. ** Telus has also signed a five-year $20-Million agreement to provide voice, data, and wireless services to TransAlta, a Calgary-based utility. SURVEY SAYS 416 WILL EXHAUST EARLY: The latest Central Office Code Utilization Survey predicts that all prefix (NXX) codes in Area Code 416 will be assigned by the end of March 2001, the month when Toronto gets the new 647 code as an overlay. This eliminates the six-month buffer period normally provided when a new Area Code is introduced. NEW VIRUS SWEEPS INTERNET: The fastest-spreading virus/worm in history hit computer systems around the world on May 4. The so-called "Love Bug" virus and several mutations erased image and music files, and propagated themselves using victims' Microsoft Outlook address lists. ** For reliable information about viruses, we recommend http://www.cert.org/ U.S. STOPS DEGRADING GPS DATA: Civilian users of the Global Positioning Service can now receive much more accurate location information. On May 1, the U.S. government discontinued the "Selective Availability" feature that degraded the data provided to non-military users by a factor of 10 or more. MTS PROPOSES RATE INCREASES TO PAY TAXES: Manitoba Telephone Services has proposed business and residential rate increases -- including a $3/month increase for residential lines -- effective July 1. The revenue will be used to recover income tax payments that MTS must begin making this year. (See Telecom Update #173) PAGENET LAUNCHES TWO-WAY MESSAGING: PageNet Canada now offers two-way messaging and e-mail in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver, using a Motorola device with an alphabetic keyboard. SENATOR DENIES CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Michael Kirby, a member of the Senate committee which is reviewing the telecom industry (see Telecom Update #231), has denied that he has a conflict of interest. Kirby was a member of AT&T Canada's advisory board from 1996 to 1998. EXPERTECH TAKES OVER NORTEL INSTALLATION: Nortel Networks has transferred its Canadian installation division to Expertech Network Installation, a Bell Canada/SNC Lavalin subsidiary with 1,800 employees. About 280 Nortel staffers will move to Expertech. ** Nortel is planning a new $54-Million home for its Calgary research operations. RIM TO TRIAL MICROCELL HIGH-SPEED DATA: Research In Motion plans to test mobile data services this year using Microcell Connexion's General Packet Radio Services. GPRS, now in development, is expected to transmit at up to 150 Kbps. ** RIM has agreed to offer Go.Web, a wireless Internet access service, on its Blackberry e-mail messager. GROUP TELECOM SIGNS FIVE OFFICE MANAGEMENT CHAINS: GT Group Telecom has signed agreements to bring its fiber into 229 office buildings managed by Bentall Real Estate, Brookfield Properties, Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Development, and Standard Life. TELUS PROPOSES SIGNING BONUSES: Telus has asked the CRTC to approve a promotion under which customers would receive credits based on the number of lines they sign term contracts for. The plan would be limited to Telus long distance customers who sign three- or five-year contracts for local business lines this year. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/public/2000/8740/T46-4068.HTM ALIANT MERGES INTERNET SOFTWARE COMPANIES: Aliant has merged several divisions that develop Internet-based applications for broadcasting, education, and e-business into a new unit, named Innovatia Inc. ROGERS OFFERS CABLE MODEMS TO SMALL BUSINESS: Rogers Cable now offers small businesses a cable modem serving up to three users for $149.95/month. ** Rogers is testing interactive TV services based on Microsoft's WebTV Networks. (See Telecom Update #191) GATEWAY BUYS CAPACITY FOR U.S. NETWORK: Gateway Networks has bought US$25 Million worth of capacity on Broadwing Communications' U.S. fiber network. Broadwing also gains access to Gateway fiber in Canada. TORONTO CONSIDERS MUNICIPAL FIBER NET: Toronto city council's telecommunications committee wants the city to consider becoming a broadband Internet provider. The panel wants a detailed study of the costs and benefits of installing fiber optic cable to all parts of the city and leasing it on a cost-recovery basis. CPC TO COMBINE PAYPHONE WITH INTERNET KIOSK: Canada Payphone Corp. will begin this year deploying a payphone with a five- inch screen for ads and Internet access. CPC is also intends to install 7,000 Internet kiosks without phone service in the next 12 months. STREAM STARTS UP HIGH-SPEED WIRELESS: Stream Intelligent Networks says it has established Canada's first "high- density" 38 GHz fixed-wireless link using spectrum it purchased in last fall's auction. The link connects two Toronto office towers at 155 Mbps. (See Telecom Update #208) NEW CFO AT BELL: Bell Canada has named Jonathan Klug, previously a Vice-President of SBC Global Markets, as its Chief Financial Officer. He replaces Ronald Reising, who resigned last month. SBC now holds the 20% stake in Bell Canada originally purchased by Ameritech. (See Telecom Update #175b, 178) FINANCIAL REPORTS: ** Telus Corp. (now the official name of the former BCT.Telus) reports first-quarter revenues of $1.48 Billion, up 3.3% from last year. Profits rose 20% (excluding one-time items) to $162.4 Million. ** Mitel recorded adjusted net income of $42.6 Million for the quarter ended March 31, up 177% from last year. Revenue grew 13% to $372.7 Million. ** Newbridge says its revenue for the quarter ended April 30 will be over $600 Million, the highest ever. Predicted net earnings per share are 60% higher than last year's results. CALL CENTRE SEMINAR "SHOULD BE MANDATORY": Participants are giving rave reviews to Angus Dortmans' on-site seminar, "Essential Skills and Knowledge for Effective Incoming Call Centre Management," led by Henry Dortmans. Among recent comments: ** "Should be a mandatory course for all call centre managers and team leaders." ** "Fabulous presenter ... great clarity, good analogies and humor. Profoundly changed my call centre perspective." ** "Henry really knows call centres! He made the seminar fun and informative." For information, call 1-800-263-4415 ext 300 or go to Call Centre Seminars at http://www.angustel.ca/ ============================================================ HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDATE Angus TeleManagement Group 8 Old Kingston Road Ajax, Ontario Canada L1T 2Z7 =========================================================== HOW TO SUBSCRIBE (OR UNSUBSCRIBE) TELECOM UPDATE is provided in electronic form only. There are two formats available: 1. The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web on the first business day of the week at http://www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: subscribe TelecomUpdate To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: listmanager@postmastergeneral.com Insert as the subject of your message the two words: unsubscribe TelecomUpdate =========================================================== COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER: All contents copyright 2000 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 225. 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: Mon, 8 May 2000 13:13:57 EDT From: Michael A. Desmon Subject: E-Commerce Fuels S. Florida's Fiber-Optic Explosion Published Monday, May 8, 2000, in the Miami Herald BY BEATRICE E. GARCIA bgarcia@herald.com If it seems that construction crews are working on just about every street you traverse in South Florida these days, it's not a figment of your imagination. But county workers aren't the culprit. The crews are working for the owners of major fiber-optic networks. They're laying fiber-optic wire, working feverishly to connect South Florida. The demand for bandwidth is tremendous these days and nothing but fiber-optic cable can deliver it. Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent in Florida to set up these networks and connect them to Internet service providers, local telecommunications companies, and businesses that need super-fast, reliable connections to the Web. The tab for completing these networks nationwide easily runs into the billions of dollars. South Florida is seeing more activity than most major metropolitan areas in the country because this is the Internet gateway to Latin America. All the major players are here. Companies conceived less than five years ago for the sole purpose of building national and international fiber networks such as Level 3 Communications, Global Crossing International, and Qwest Communications, are building out their networks here. Some are considering some extensive strategies for South Florida. The companies that first put fiber-optic wire in the ground -- AT&T, and BellSouth -- are updating their existing networks and adding miles of fresh fiber. For instance, AT&T will spend $1 billion to build a new 16,500-mile fiber-optic network nationwide. And, of course, there's nothing like a good, strong whiff of insatiable demand to bring out a slew of new competitors. NEWCOMERS BLESSED Some of the newcomers to the telecom world are blessed because they happen to own miles and miles of land where these fiber networks can placed. They save themselves a big hassle in not having to negotiate for the right to put the fiber in the ground. One is Florida East Coast Railroad, which last year launched a telecom unit called EPIK Communications. EPIK is using the right-of-way that runs along its parent company's railroad tracks to lay fiber. Its new fiber network runs along the east coast of the state, starting in Daytona Beach, passing through West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami and then running up the western part of the state to Tampa and Orlando. Later this year, EPIK will build legs to Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Atlanta. Enron Broadband and Williams Communications are the telecom arms of two well-established gas pipeline companies. Running alongside their natural gas pipelines these days is fiber-optic wire. By today's forecasts -- and these are updated pretty often -- voice transmission over the Internet is expected to grow at a 6- to 8-percent annual rate. Data and video, which requires massive amounts of bandwidth which only fiber-optic networks can deliver, is expected to race ahead at a 30- to 40-percent annual rate. It's numbers like these that are compelling all these companies to invest the dollars and put construction crews to work weekends and double shifts so that fiber wire gets into the ground as quickly as possible. At AT&T's Network Services Division, Dave Johnson says the telecom company has seen some types of Internet data traffic jumps between 100 and 400 percent each year. Right now, concerns about overcapacity aren't relevant for these companies. Analysts say with such expectations for growth, there's no such thing as too much bandwidth. ``Laying down fiber is essential for the continued growth of e-commerce,'' says David Dengler, chief information officer for Renaissance Worldwide, a telecom infrastructure consulting firm based in Waltham, Mass. BellSouth's experience as it expands its fiber network is typical. ``It seems that for every capacity expansion that we provide, customers seem to find a way to fill it up,'' says David Swanson, BellSouth's general manager for technology deployment for consumer multimedia services. He estimates the company is replacing old for new fiber at the rate of three to five miles a day. SOUTH FLORIDA PRESENCE For South Florida, having these networks in place ensures that e-commerce has a better chance to thrive here. The networks also enhance the region's geographic advantage. South Florida is the landing point for the bulk of the Internet traffic from Latin America, as well as a significant amount of traffic from Europe and Africa. Also, an increasing amount of traffic headed south originates here. Add to all those bytes of data, voice and video flying across these networks' Internet content aimed at the U.S. Hispanic community. Executives at Enron Broadband say when the company embarked on the construction of building a national fiber-optic network across North America three years ago, South Florida figured prominently in its plans. The portion through Florida, connecting Miami, Orlando and Tampa should be finished by late summer. ``We don't believe a national network would be complete without a significance presence in South Florida,'' says Kevin Kohnstamm, Enron's vice president for network development. The increased Internet capacity that's being deployed in this region is quickly creating a critical mass in South Florida. All manner of Internet-related companies are ending up with an outpost in this region, whether they are major telecom companies, content providers such as Yupi.com, Starmedia Networks, Terra Networks, distributors such as local and regional ISPs as well as Latin ISPs and countless companies involved in e-commerce aimed at consumers and businesses in the U.S. and in Latin America. ``We really like [to be part of] a multitude of players in any given region. We like all the competitive elements coming together in South Florida,'' says Jon Thomsen, director of business development for Enron. ``Once that happens, there's little incentive in pulling them apart.'' Those sentiments are echoed by other key players who are pouring millions of dollars and miles of fiber-optic cable into this three-county region as well as the state. Global Crossing lands mid-Atlantic cable in Hollywood, linking South Florida to the Northeast. The landing is at a cable station in Hollywood where the underwater lines literally pop out of the ground. The Hamilton, Bermuda, company also is building a landed network that connects South Florida to Tampa and Atlanta where it meets the company's North American Crossing. This network connects the major cities in the U.S. and heads west where it goes under the Pacific Ocean to the Far East. From Hollywood, the company is stretching its fiber network under Caribbean waters, with a stop in St. Croix and then south along South America's Atlantic coast. It will make landfall in Argentina, cross the Andes, and head into Chile. It will leave the Latin continent at Valparaiso and heads north along the Pacific coast to Panama and then along the Mexican and California coast. The first phase, which takes the network to Santiago, should be completed in October. The loop up to Panama should be done next April. It's also building a telecom house in Miami to connect with major carriers. But that's not all. Omar Altaji, Global Crossings' vice president for sales and market for Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, says the 3-year-old company is studying the possibility of building a local city network in Miami and establishing one of its GlobalCenters in Miami. GlobalCenter is the company's Web hosting and service arm, providing infrastructure and a speedy network for such major Internet companies as Yahoo!, Ziff Davis, The Motley Fool, MP3.com, and eToys. For instance, 90 percent of Yahoo's traffic goes through Global Crossing's center in Sunnyvale, Calif. ``Global Crossing is establishing quite a presence in Miami,'' says Ataje, adding that the company's investment in the region, including the projects in Latin America, eventually could exceed $2 billion. GlobeNet Communications is also deploying an undersea fiber-optic cable to provide high-speed Internet connection between the U.S. and Latin America. Until the arrival of these submarine cables, much of the Internet traffic from South Florida to Latin America has gone via satellite networks such the one owned by PanAmSat. This company maintains a huge satellite farm in Homestead. Miami is one of the 56 cities where Level 3 Communications will build a local network. The 22 route-mile loop in Miami is completed as well as loops in Orlando and Tampa. The company is currently adding a long-distance line from South Florida to Orlando. Level 3 has also opened a facility on the edge of Miami's downtown that it calls a ``gateway'' to house the company's network equipment and serve as a place to connect with other telecom carriers and customers that rely on the Web. MCI Worldcom is building a multimillion-dollar data and switching center in West Dade, a facility where it can also connect with other carriers and hand off Internet traffic. AT&T is building what it calls ``next-generation network in Florida and throughout the country. Here, the network looks like a giant figure eight, coming from Atlanta to Jacksonville, over to Orlando, south to Miami, west to the Gulf Coast and back north to Orlando. From there, it heads to the Panhandle and New Orleans. This entire new network represents a $1 billion in investment for AT&T over a two-year period. But the investment is crucial for the company since it's the largest Internet long-haul backbone provider, where its computers, switches and fiber cable rout Web traffic over a variety of networks. However, AT&T is working to keep an ever-increasing amount of its customers' Net traffic on its own network. It would use broadband cable which it controls through cable subsidiaries to connect to homes. It's exploring fixed wireless access for its business customers. BellSouth, the regional Bell company that serves Florida and eight other Southeastern states, isn't being left behind in the race for fiber. In fact, the Atlanta-based company has been laying fiber cable since the early 1980s. Today, BellSouth is one of the few companies in any market that's bringing its fiber network close to residential areas as well as wiring the major business districts. In South Florida, the company is beefing up its networks in major business areas. All new subdivisions get fiber-optic wire. Adelphia Business Solutions is spending $100 million on the construction of a 350-mile Internet backbone stretching from North Palm County to South Miami-Dade, and a central office plus the equipment it needs. The company is also deploying some 1,900 miles of fiber in local-area networks in South Florida, Orlando, and Jacksonville. These local loops are connected by another 1,400 miles of long-haul fiber. Brian Sidela, a general manager for Adelphia in Broward County, estimates that the company's total statewide investment in fiber networks, switching stations and equipment nears $300 million. This explosion in fiber-optic networks here is bringing here the latest technology to enhance Internet connectivity. For instance, South Florida is on the verge of seeing companies bypass the last mile of copper wire -- presently owned by BellSouth and leased to every telecom company that wants to provide competing service -- that runs into a business or home. In the fourth quarter, Adelphia plans to roll out fixed wireless technology that will provide that last connection, from its fiber-optic network into buildings and local businesses. It would be prohibitively expensive to build fiber-optic to each customer. ``If you can control the entire line, the better control you have over quality and service,'' says Adelphia's Sidela. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 07:53 EDT From: Fred Atkinson Organization: Personal Copy Subject: Re: Free Web Site to Page a Pager? Most of the paging companies have a place on their Web site that allow you to send numeric and alphanumeric pages to their subscribers. Check out their Web site (whichever company the party being paged is a subscriber of) and you should find it. Fred ------------------------------ From: dbetancorNOSPAM@duocom.net (Diego Betancor) Subject: Re: IDT Ads Organization: Duo Business Communications LLC Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 13:58:38 GMT 1. They are located in NJ. 2. They used to be a callback company. 3. They are rude (pushy, pushy, pushy). 4. They own most of net2phone (the owner is very smart) 5. They are an ISP as well. 6. Most of their network is over IP. 7. I would buy their phone cards (cash) 8. I would not give them my credit card. Fred Atkinson wrote: > I saw IDT advertising a rate of 5 cents per minute twenty-four > hours a day, seven days a week. Naturally I was interested. > I called them and asked them to send me documentation of their > rates. They said that they 'didn't do that' and that she was the best > source of information for me. > I informed her that we could not do business if they couldn't > provide me with written documentation of their rates. She said to > have a nice day and I hung up before she completed her sentence. I > think she figured that I would change my tune over the alleged > savings. > What does anyone know about these folks? > Fred Diego Betancor @ Duo Business Communications for email: dbetancor is my userid and my company's domain is duocom.net ** Do not send me unsolicited commercial e-mail spam of any kind ** ------------------------------ From: Clarence Dold Subject: Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert Date: 9 May 2000 14:28:27 GMT Organization: a2i network Reply-To: dold@rahul.net Alan Boritz wrote: > WRONG, Mr. Barclay. The attachment is an executable with a .VBS > extension (note the funny icon that's never associated with a text Sneakier still. It was named iloveyou.txt.vbs, so, with the default Windows of "don't show extensions", the file would appear to be iloveyou.txt, with the .vbs hidden. In Outlook Express, the attachement name appears truncated to iloveyout.txt.. Unless you click on it once. The icon, a scrolling parchment, isn't obviously non-text-like. Clarence A Dold - dold@rahul.net - San Jose & Pope Valley (Napa County) CA. ------------------------------ From: oldbear@arctos.com (The Old Bear) Subject: Re: Site For Switch Details Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 11:08:16 -0500 Organization: The Arctos Group - http://www.arctos.com/arctos wrampart@my-deja.com writes: > Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 21:16:19 GMT > From: wrampart@my-deja.com > Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom > Subject: Site For Switch Details > X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 20, Issue 108, Message 8 of 14 > Lines: 9 > A while back, someone posted a site to find details of the switch > serving a particular NPA-NXX. Other details included CO location, IXC > meet points, data services and points of presence. Try http://www.dslreports.com/coinfo You provide NPA-XXX- and it responds with CO location, other NPA-XXX- served from the same CO, the CO's CLLI identifying code, and the CO feature set. ------------------------------ From: Jeremy Greene Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 04:26:18 -0400 Tony Pelliccio wrote in message news:telecom20.109.7@telecom-digest.org ... > Within the next couple of years there'll be GPS units built into all > cellphones so you'll just dial 911 and they'll know where to send help. > > Tony The feds can hide GPS in my cellphone ... after they pry it from my cold, dead hands! Until then, when I call 911 I'll just have to ... tell them my location. I am NOT one of those fruit-loops who goes climbing on some mountain, breaks an ankle, calls 911 and whines that I'm "somewhere in the Rockies." If I'm near enough to civilization to pick up signals from a cell tower, then I can figure out where I am. ------------------------------ From: Michael Hartley Subject: NPA/NNX Info Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 10:40:55 +0100 Hi Pat, Hope you're feeling steadily better as the spring progresses! Thought you might like to know that MapInfo provide a lot of the info people are asking for (but not for free...) Have a look at http://www.mapinfo.com/solutions_and_services/interest_areas/telecom/index.h tml ...sadly no UK info though. Regards, Mike [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Thanks very much for your kind words, but no, I am not 'feeling steadily better as the spring progresses'. As I suspected three months ago, my fate in life is pretty much sealed, barring some unforseen miracle. At one point I did think that the summer weather would help me a lot; now I suspect it was just an illusion, like the very thirsty man walking across the desert who thinks he sees an imaginary oasis. All winter long I kept thinking to myself, 'wait until summer gets here; I will click my heels and gallop around in good shape, *just like I used to do*. Alas, as author Thomas Wolfe wrote, 'You Can't Go Home Again', which I am sadly starting to learn. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Andy Berry Subject: Re: Analog/Digital Cell Phone Switching (was Three-Watt Digital) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 00:24:39 -0500 Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote in message news:telecom20.108.2@telecom-digest.org... > In my experience this doesn't actually work very well. When there's > NO digital cell around, I can usually get analogue service, but often > I'll see no bars of digital signal strength (not enough for a call!) > but the phone won't switch to analogue mode. It stays in digital mode > and is unusable. > > Have others had this problem? Lemme guess ... You are either on some type of single rate/one rate plan or have a phone that was meant to be on one. AT&T started this with their Digital One Rate service and others have followed. They spec'd phones that leave all control over analog/digital and band selection to the phone and the cell tower. Instead of you being able to tell the phone when to switch between analog and digital, the tower (or perhaps the switch) relays to the phone a minimum signal level required to use digital. As long as you are above this level, your phone stays in digital mode and there is nothing you can do about it. ATT seems to have their systems set up on a lower signal strength than some other carriers. Additionally, ATT seems to be moving (or has moved) to a policy where they only sell these "smart" [sic] phones. If the system is setup correctly, then you will be okay; if it's not, then you see what will happen. Send me a private email, and I'll see if any of my tricks of getting around this might work. Andy B. ------------------------------ From: Marcus Schmied Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 07:53:21 GMT Organization: @Home Network J.F. Mezei wrote in message news:telecom20.108.5@telecom-digest.org... > And out of curiosity, how come the telephone companies have been able > to acheive such impressive uptime year after year, even during long > power failures, while cable companies can't even come close? Is the > coax cable plant much more complex that the twisted pair > infrastructure used by telcos? Another thing being overlooked is that, typically, the POTS network is physically much more robust than the HFC network. There was a story in here a few weeks ago about a cartel ripping off active electronics (optical amplifiers, &c.) in Florida, and then selling them for a 500% profit to people in Colombia and Venezuela. Just for giggles, I took the top off of an amplifier down the street. It wasn't secured at all. I could grab the handles and pull it right up. In contrast, the pedestals in my neighbourhood have locks built into the case (not those cheap padlocks that anyone with some metal-cutters can defeat). Does anyone know if an alarm is signalled in a NOC anywhere when an in-the-field device is tampered with? There should be some kind of electronic device that only a technician can disable before opening the box. If an unauthorised party hacks into the box, then an alarm goes to the NOC and the police are contacted. Why isn't this more common? I probably shouldn't have done it, but I'm a bit dismayed at the ease with which I was able to open the field equipment (Comcast) and poke around. (Don't worry, I didn't touch anything, I was just trying to prove a point.) But anyway, the whole point of my rant is that cable co's should look more to physically securing their stuff out in the field. Having to replace a $5000 repeater (or however expensive they are) because some schlub decided to fence it isn't exactly the grooviest of solutions. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #110 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue May 9 22:41:24 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id WAA11997; Tue, 9 May 2000 22:41:24 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 22:41:24 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005100241.WAA11997@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #111 TELECOM Digest Tue, 9 May 2000 22:41:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 111 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/9/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) Is London UK now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? (Mark J. Cuccia) Help!!! (Piotr) Peacefire: Yahoo Mail Accounts and Others Compromised (Bennett Haselton) Re: (Mike Pollock) Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert (Rick Ellis) Lucent CBX 500, GX 550 - SPVCs (Tom Moore) Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works (Martin McCormick) Another Bell Atlantic Boo Boo (Tony Pelliccio) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Kim Brennan) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (John McHarry) Re: Digital vrs. Analog Phones (Roger Fajman) Last Laugh! New Customer Registration (server@icbtollfree.com) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/9/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 21:30:02 -0400 ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* Click Here to Subscribe to ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm (Registration is required. Names are not sold, rented or leased.) ************************************************************************* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 ....................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* SPOTLIGHT ON ... Network Solutions today introduced a service that secures toll-free or "1-800" numbers as domain names for businesses. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2186 ************************************************************************* GREAT NEWS: 5 MINUTE SPECIAL extended to Friday, May 12th! Due to your enthusiastic response to our 5 MINUTE SPECIAL, as well as programming problems some of you encountered when signing up, we are extending this special offer to Friday, May 12th ... So, one more time: Upgrade to ICB Premium. SAVE A BUNDLE. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm Offer Expires May 12, 2000. ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 9, 2000 P - TOLL FREE RESOURCE UPDATE When are new codes 866 and 855 opening and are there enough numbers to last till then? CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2182 P - CHOOSING FRIENDS WISELY Maybe the next TLD will be .aol ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2183 P - N.H. ORDERED TO STOP ASSIGNING NEW NUMBERS The PUC found evidence of a number-selling activity: CLECs had provided "quantities" of 603 numbers for use by customers of the Internet faxmail company eFax.com. CONTINUED HERE: http://ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2189 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com .. where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 9, 2000 P - NETWORK SOLUTIONS DISCOVERS 1-800 NSI plans to work with telecommunications companies to offer its 1-800 dot com service to businesses at the point of purchase of their 800 number. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2186 P - NETWORK SOLUTIONS DISCOVERS 1-800 - TAKE II At second glance ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2187 F - AD PERSPECTIVE ON DOT COM VIABILITY Ad agencies contacted by Reuters remain enthusiastic, if not bullish, about the future of dot-com clients. At the same time, while no one will deny the bloom is off the rose for Internet ventures, ad experts say that's not such a bad thing. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2185 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 9, 2000 P - ICANN ANNOUNCES AT LARGE [?] ELECTION & NOMINATING COMMITTEES ... in the complete absence, it seems, of any At Large Members ... CONTINUED HERE: http://ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2191 F - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ON D.C. FRONT BURNER "When you're dealing with something as trans-national as the Internet, the issue for Congress is how do you find an efficient way to protect copyright. I think that's what we're going to be spending time with," Leibowitz said. CONTINUED HERE: http://ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2190 P - NET2PHONE TALKS VOIP "Imagine the ability to use one network without switches, without two management teams, without two network operations centers, without two skill sets." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2188 F - FALSE ACCUSATION = BAD PR 2600 didn't want to "profit" from verizonreallysucks.com. They just want to occasionally poke fun at a large company, which means that the anti-cybersquatting law does not apply. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.ICBTOLLFREE.com/article.cfm?articleId=2184 **************************************************advertisements********* For whom does this sun rise? : http://sunrise.open-rsc.org ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 10:48:23 CDT From: Mark J. Cuccia Subject: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? FYI, I just emailed the following to AT&T and Oftel (UK) ... (I don't have any contacts with BT, though): I just used my AT&T Calling Card to send a fax to London UK. The number on the form to fax to the company in the UK indicated +44 (0)20 8nxx xxxx This format went MANDATORY on Easter Sunday, supposedly within London as well as from within the UK, and from all over the world -- SUPPOSEDELY. However, I DELIBERATELY entered the destination number to the OSPS (601-0T, JCSNMSPS06T, Jackson MS, via 1-800-CALL-ATT) as: 01(1)-44-181-nxx-xxxx+'#' (followed by my AT&T "True Choice" card and '#'). I then heard the usual "Thank you for using, AT&T", and then the "British double rings" followed by a fax-tone. When I pressed START/SEND, the numerical display on the fax machine indicated: 44 (0)20 8nxx xxxx I don't know offhand if Sprint or MCI or Qwest -- or Bell/Telus/Stentor/Teleglobe in Canada have their "own" changes in translations for London UK with a possible recorded announcement in their switches/networks for calls dialed in the old format, or if they also allow calls to London to go through when the customer dials 01(1)-44-17/81-nxx-xxxx('#') ... But AT&T in the US is allowing the "old" format to work -- and apparently the gateway/UK network (BT maybe?) is NOT blocking such or playing any 'mandatory change' recording as well. My understanding is that on Easter Sunday 2000, London (locally), the UK (nationally) and also inbound from all over the world, London UK went MANDATORY as such: OLD: NEW: +44-171-NXX-xxxx => +44-20-7NXX-xxxx ("inner" London) +44-181-NXX-xxxx => +44-20-8NXX-xxxx ("outer" London) I ASSUME that ULTIMATELY, ALL of (0)20 London will simply become +44-20-NXXX-xxxx, with no embedded "historical" specfics of the first digit of the central-office code being '7' or '8' from the old (0)171 inner London and (0)181 outer London... and that the second digit of the central office code won't be restricted to 'N' (i.e. 2->9) anymore, since it is not the first digit of a three-digit central office code anymore, but the second digit of the new format FOUR-digit central office code! Thanks! MARK_J._CUCCIA__PHONE/WRITE/WIRE/CABLE:__HOME:__(USA)__Tel:_CHestnut-1-2497 WORK:__mcuccia@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu|4710-Wright-Road|__(+1-504-241-2497) Tel:UNiversity-5-5954(+1-504-865-5954)|New-Orleans-28__|fwds-on-no-answr-to Fax:UNiversity-5-5917(+1-504-865-5917)|Louisiana(70128)|cellular/voicemail- NWORLASKCG0 (BellSouth #1AESS Cl.5 Local "Seabrook" 504-24x-) to become a #5ESS (yeah!), NWORLASKDS0, 12:01am SAT-11-NOV-2000 NWORLAIYCM3 (BellSouth-Mobility Ericsson Cellular-MTSO NOL) NWORLAMT01T (BellSouth DMS-100 "Metairie" Tndm; Cellular routes thru) NWORLAMA0GT (BellSouth DMS-100/200 inTRA-LATA/fg.BCD Tndm "Main" 504+) NWORLAMA20T (BellSouth DMS-200 TOPS:inLATA OprSvcTndm "Main" 504+053+) NWORLAMA04T (AT&T #4ESS Class-2 Toll 060-T / 504-2T "Main" 504+) JCSNMSPS06T (AT&T #5ESS OSPS:Operator-Services-Tandem 601-0T 601+121) JCSNMSPS14T (AT&T #4ESS Class-3 Toll 040-T / 601-2T; OSPS routes thru) NWORLATUDS0?(PBX NEC-2400 504-862-3/8xxx, 504-865-4/5/6xxx) NWORLACADS0 (BellSo.DMS-100 Cl.5 Lcl "Carrollton" 504-86x-;PBX 'homes' on) ------------------------------ From: Piotr Subject: Help!!! Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 19:11:20 +0200 Organization: University of Mining & Metallurgy Do anyone know where can I find something about DSS1 and SS7 protocols? Please help; I can't find it anywhere and unfortunatally I don't have much time. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 16:19:35 -0500 From: Bennett Haselton Subject: Peacefire: Yahoo Mail accounts & others compromised Reply-To: peacefire-press@iain.com Peacefire has found a method for intercepting passwords used at free Web-based email services including Yahoo Mail, USA.net, and MailExcite; the method was originally discovered to work with Yahoo Mail and then tested with other sites as well. HotMail was found *not* to be vulnerable; their HTML email "filter" was already designed to detect this particular attack, but most other free mail sites did not. The trick is described at: http://www.peacefire.org/security/fakemailform/ The discovery is in the headlines on CNet right now: http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1845138.html Yahoo Mail fixed the problem after being notified, and other free Web-based email sites are likely to follow suit. Yahoo actually had an extremely rapid turnaround time of about one hour to fix the problem. -Bennett bennett@peacefire.org http://www.peacefire.org (425) 649 9024 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 12:48:17 PDT From: Mike Pollock Subject: Re: Paging a Pager 95% of pagers have an e-mail address (usually in the form of PIN@PAGINGCARRIER.com) or a pager gateway on website. Links to most carriers can be found at: http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Communication_and_Information_Management/Mobile_Communications/Pagers/ However, if you want to keep a convenient pageable address book, dowload the BeepwearPRO pager watch software. Although it's primarily meant for sending data to the BeepwearPRO, it has a nifty little address book where you can designate a person's phone number as a Pager, specify the number, PIN (if any) and carrier, and send a numeric or text (if available) pages directly from the software via the carrier's modem or an internet gateway. It's free from: http://www.beepwear.com/software/beepwearPRO_pim/SETUP.EXE Mike > From: Keith Jarett > Date: Mon, 8 May 2000 10:43:25 -0700 > Subject: Free Web Site to Page a Pager? > Is there a web site that one can use to send a numeric page to a > standard pager in the USA? I figure that such a site could pay for > the 20-second phone call by selling banner ads, but I have not been > able to find any free services to send basic pages. Keith Jarett ------------------------------ From: ellis@ftel.net (Rick Ellis) Subject: Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert Date: 9 May 2000 15:39:29 GMT Organization: Franklin interNet http://www.franklin.net In article , Alan Boritz wrote: > It never ceases to amaze me how many people thought nothing about > running ANY executable they get in email, knowing that *any* program > they could run could do serious damage. Many people have no idea what an "executable" is or whether an attachment is executable or not. They just click to "open" the attachment so they can see it. I find it hard to blame the users for this problem. http://www.fnet.net/~ellis/photo/ ------------------------------ From: Tom Moore Subject: Lucent CBX 500, GX 550 - SPVCs Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 09:50:05 -0500 Organization: ADC Telecommunications The online documentation for Lucent's PacketStar[tm] PSAX Access Concentrators specifically mentions that SPVCs is supported for these concentrator products. A specific mention of SPVC support is absent from the Lucent CBX 500 and GX 550 documentation. The Lucent CBX 500 documentation instead mentions "PVC Redirect" and "Resilient NNI" features which seem to provide similar functionality to SPVCs. Does this mean these Lucent switches don't support SPVCs per the PNNI standards? Or do they really support SPVCs per the PNNI standards, but don't explicitly state that? My questions are for the purpose of planning some interop testing. Tom Moore ADC Telecommunications, 2240 Campbell Creek Blvd, Richardson TX 75082 (972) 680 - 7623 ## BBG-ATM Transport-Cellworx ## mailto:tom_moore@adc.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 15:57:53 GMT From: wb5agz@dc.cis.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick) Subject: Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works Organization: Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma Back when we had a second line for our modem, I used to have some real fun with telemarketers as the line was never used for incoming calls. I wanted to do something that was nice to the honest folks who really did misdial but would monkey-wrench the telemarketers at least as far as one can do such things. I bought an old answering machine at a ham fest for $5 because it had no power supply. When I connected it to twelve volts, it worked about as well as I needed it to. The announcement tape was a non-removable loop of tape that allowed one to leave a 20-second message. It had apparently left lots of messages in its time because it had warn spots that left little dropouts in the message. If you talked forcefully enough, the message came through loudly if not a bit distorted. I thought it sounded particularly nasty. What I did was to say "hello," and then wait about 5 seconds before telling the caller that they had reached the wrong number and one that was never answered by a live human being at any time. That was it. Every so often, I would check the message tape and enjoy. Many times, I could hear the background sound of a boiler room with people repeating back other's caller information and typing on keyboards while I could distinctly hear a person who was the caller on my line gasp with clear frustration after they kept getting this dead line. Ya' gota' find fun where you can, these days. I used to get a kick out of obviously flimflam ming the automated call director system. I only wished I could have done more. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Another Bell Atlantic Boo Boo Organization: Providence Network Partners Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 22:04:55 GMT Well, now that The Big Game is up over $300,000,000 and the odds of wining are at 76,000,000:1 what would you expect are the odds that Bell Atlantic would screw up and chomp into a piece of fiber that carries the Mass. Lottery traffic for the southeast part of MA? Pretty good. They 'accidentally' cut a fiber in Plainville that wiped out over 750 lottery machines for nearly four hours today. How they could cut the wrong fiber is beyond me. Given the state of their older cable plant and records it would be understandable. But this is fiber, I would imagine that someone kept better records of where that stuff is. I wonder how much BA is going to have to pay the MA Lottery for that little screwup. Tony ------------------------------ From: kimbrennan@aol.comCATSRULE (Kim Brennan) Date: 09 May 2000 23:07:02 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? > I am NOT one of those fruit-loops who goes climbing on some > mountain, breaks an ankle, calls 911 and whines that I'm "somewhere in > the Rockies." If I'm near enough to civilization to pick up signals > from a cell tower, then I can figure out where I am. Then you can count yourself in the (very small) minority of Americans that have some idea of geography. More than 50% of the population in the USA couldn't even name all 50 states. And simpler geographical problems elude them too. I remember the tale of a couple that a friend was trying to assist. There were traveling from New Jersey to Lynchburg VA. The only way they knew was that US Route 29 went through Lynchburg, so when they first encountered a sign for US 29 on the highway, the got on to that road. The first sign for US 29 is near Baltimore, MD, some 200 miles from Lynchburg, and travels through the heart of DC (very convolutedly). And at the time my friend was assisting them this was their 4th or 5th trip doing this (they told him directly that neither of them could read a map.) Never underestimate the stupidity of people. Fortunes have been made by companies that realize people are basically stupid (as a whole) (see AOL for instance). Individuals may be intelligent, but people in general are not. ------------------------------ From: John McHarry Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 20:17:54 -0400 On Sun, 07 May 2000 22:50:28 -0400, J.F. Mezei wrote: > I know that the local cable provider in the region (Viderotron) is > having field trials with some if its employees for telephone service > over cable. > It consist of a black box that connects to the ethernet which connects > to a cable-modem which connects to the coax cable plant. (or does it > connect separately from the cable modem directly to the coax "cableTV" > cable? > I was told that the "black box" which converst from IP telephony into > POTS has its own battery backup power that can last a few hours thus > ensuring you have telephone service during outages. Is that really > realiable enough? > Also, how about all the infrastructure on the streets ? How long can > that last with a power failure? In the past, cable companies didn't > care with a power failure since folks couldn't watch TV without power > anyways. Have the cable companies really upgraded their cable plants > to really have enough autonomy to support realiable telephone service > during power outages? This is also an issue with ISDN, which, generally, fails during a power outage. I used to think this was a Big Deal, but cell phones have become so ubiquitous that they are a plausible emergency backup. This may leave one open to a common mode failure in the case of a widespread power outage. The question is how much reliability people are willing to pay for. My guess is that it is dropping, and the incumbent telcos will have to follow it down. ------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 18:16:01 EDT Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones > In my experience this doesn't actually work very well. When there's > NO digital cell around, I can usually get analogue service, but often > I'll see no bars of digital signal strength (not enough for a call!) > but the phone won't switch to analogue mode. It stays in digital mode > and is unusable. > > Have others had this problem? Yes. I have a Nokia 6160 on AT&T Wireless. ------------------------------ From: server@icbtollfree.com Subject: Last Laugh! New Customer Registration Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 03:59:40 -0700 [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Judith Oppenheimer runs an autoreply for subscriptions to Head Up Headlines; the same as I do for TELECOM Digest. One day last weeek she had a new subscriber named 'Cy Pher' whose enrollment information reminded me a lot of the name that so many folks use for the {New York Times} online service. Whoever you are, cut it out please! PAT] Hello Cy Pher, Thank you for registering with ICB Toll Free News. Please take a minute to review the information below. We wish to insure the accuracy of our data, and to provide you with the service you deserve. Please rest assured that we make every effort to insure the security of your personal information. You have submitted the following information: Customer information: First Name: Cy Last Name: Pher Title: Punk Company: Beautiful Computers For You Address information: Address: 123 Oak St City: Smallville StateOrProvince: ks Country: us of a PostalCode: 12345 Contact information: Telephone: 123-456-7890 800 Telephone: Fax: 123-456-7890 E-Mail: cypher@telecomdigest.org Security information: Username: cypherpunk Password: cypherpunk Customer extra information: URL: Job Function: CorporateOfficer/Chief Executive Areas of greatest interest: How found: If any of this information is in error, or if you forget your password and username, please e-mail the editor at: editor@icbtollfree.com or call 1-800-843-3973 Thank You, ICB Toll Free News ------------------------------ end of TELECOM Digest V20 #111 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu May 11 00:11:09 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id AAA22748; Thu, 11 May 2000 00:11:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 00:11:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005110411.AAA22748@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #112 TELECOM Digest Thu, 11 May 2000 00:11:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 112 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/10/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (John Stahl) UK Looks at Cell Phone Health Risks (The Old Bear) Peacefire: HotMail Account Backdoor Discovered (Bennett Haselton) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Henry E. Schaffer) Sprint Directory Assistance (Jack Hamilton) Re: Another Bell Atlantic Boo Boo (Jerry Harder) Re: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX ?? TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/10/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 22:43:32 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* 5 MINUTE SPECIAL ENDS FRIDAY MAY 12 SAVE A BUNDLE - Upgrade to ICB Premium Today! SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/order.cfm ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* CONTROVERSIAL MOVES .COM ... Network Solutions breaks the mold, introducing not one but two new politically contentious services ... ... 1-800 dot com service... SEE P - http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2186 ... aftermarket listing service... SEE P - http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2220 ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 10, 2000 P - FIRST 800 NUMBERS, NOW THE AFTERMARKET Network Solutions plans to integrate the aftermarket listing service into its domain name search and registration process. CONTINUED HERE: http://icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2220 F - WIRELESS COMPARISON SHOPPING Service allows consumers to use a cell phone to check pricing on 5 million items in a wide range of product categories. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2219 F - BACK TO THE FUTURE: VOICE PORTALS Of all the services aiming for market, Tellme may be the most comfortable in declaring its independence from the telephone companies, at least for now. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2218 F - GREATDOMAINS.COM BECOMES TOP 400 WEBSITE ... logged over 1.7 million unique visitors in April, 2000. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2217 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com . where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 10, 2000 P - RETAILING ARBITRATION The first survey of attorneys who have taken "cybersquatting" claims to arbitration under the ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) indicates strong support for the National Arbitration Forum. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2222 F - BLILEY SPEAKS ON INTERNET ACCESS CHARGES "I would have preferred to wall off the Internet entirely from a regulatory model that was conceived when AT&T was the Nation's monopoly provider of telecommunications service." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2221 P - REEL.COM ON THE TM TRAIL The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reports 545 instances of the word "reel" in a trademark, either filed, registered or inactive. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2216 F - INMATE PHONE CONNECTIONS: A LUCRATIVE BUSINESS "In a little known, but increasingly controversial practice, state corrections agencies and private prison companies have been garnering tens of millions of dollars annually in recent years in what critics call 'monopolistic' deals with MCI, AT&T, Sprint, and numerous smaller phone service providers," writes Paul Duggin of the Washington Post. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2196 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 10, 2000 P - SEX.COM Kremen had argued in essence that he "owned" sex.com and that Network Solutions had a fiduciary responsibly to protect it on his behalf. Today's decision was the second verdict in as many months that supported Network Solutions' claim that domain names are not goods or assets subject to garnishment or other fiduciary claims. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2192 P - WHAT IS A DOT COM BRAND NAME WORTH? "It's not enough to just be well known," said Mike Mulligan, chairman and chief executive at Mapquest.com in New York, the Web site that ranked 20th for overall brand power. "It's also important to have a brand that's readily understandable. "To a large extent," he added, "your Web site is your brand." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2195 F - 1-800-FLOWERS.COM The company has a successful and profitable history of operations going back more than 20 years in the brick-and-mortar and telephonic world. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2194 P - ECARD VERSUS E-CARD The California greeting card firm is not alleging that Mr. King's Ecards has been cybersquatting. Instead, E-cards contends Ecards has broken both California and U.S. federal competition law because its almost identical name has supposedly confused consumers. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2193 **************************************************advertisements********* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 ............................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* ABOUT ICB ICB HeadsUp Headlines Daily Email is sent by request. Subscriptions are free to qualified applicants. Visit http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm to sign up. Please feel free to pass along a copy to a friend, within reason so long as the message is not modified or used unfavorably. To unsubscribe mailto:editor@icbtollfree.com, subject: unsubscribe. *************************** ADVERTISING INFORMATION *************************** For information on advertising in ICB HeadsUp Headlines emails, contact: Judith Oppenheimer (mailto:joppenheimer@icbtollfree.com) ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 15:06:11 -0400 From: John Stahl Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Having worked for one of the major suppliers of pedestals and other plastic/metal boxes used by both telcos and CATV (after all that is their major business not telephony, as yet!) suppliers, I can tell you like it is. Only recently with the advent of two-way signals on the HFC network, did the CATV people have the ability to put alarm signals in their system. Most notably are the large network nodes (some are called ONU - Optical Network Units) where the fiber optic "transmission" are changed over to RF output for the coaxial cable transmission, will the CATV people put alarms on doors, etc., but in my tenure was there nothing at any lower level to put alarms on individual RF amplifier modules. Cost of doing so is probably their lack of motivation to do so. Mostly they rely on the locks described ("...built into the box...") which are actually modifications of the locks used to 'hold' those expensive hub-caps on wheels of the top-of-the-line vehicles. These speciality locks are keyed for the local CATV operations such that no other operation within many miles will have the same common key. The installer/maintenance people are taught to "guard" these keys so no one will be able to (easily) open the pedestals/boxes. The trouble lies in that not all boxes (as was found) are equipped with the speciality locks. Having them in place would help to discourage any thefts as trying to open a pedestal/box so equipped is quite difficult without the specific key. These system operators are sure to realize that as voice/data services are moved to this medium, the associated equipment costs related to this complex service are such that they will have to spend additional dollars for speciality (heavier duty) hardware to offer greater "protection" for their equipment investments; especially as this more expensive equipment is moved closer (Hybrid Fiber Coax to the Curb) to the subscriber. John Stahl Aljon Enterprises Telecom/Data Consultancy email: aljon@(big)att.net - NOTE: Take out the (big) to send email ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 13:21:23 -0400 From: The Old Bear Subject: UK Looks at Cell Phone Health Risks THE FINANCIAL TIMES (London, UK) May 10, 2000 Mobile phones may put children's health at risk By Rosemary Bennett, Political Correspondent UK government ministers are to order urgent new guidelines restricting children's use of mobile phones following a report from leading scientists suggesting they could be at risk. A government-commissioned study, to be published on Thursday, will say children should be discouraged from using mobiles because they are more vulnerable to radiation emissions. Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer, will be asked to work with the author of the report, Sir William Stewart, of Tayside University, to draw up new guidelines on mobile phone use. Sir William's report will dismay mobile phone companies, for whom the youth market represents an estimated one-in-four of all sales. Publication of the report comes within days of the Treasury's gaining a 22.5bn windfall from the auction of third-generation mobile phone licences. During the course of the auction, selective leaks to the press suggested the government-sponsored report would give mobiles a clean bill of health. Although the report will stress there is no evidence currently available that mobiles damage health, it will raise a number of concerns. It will recommend much more research is done, especially on the little-understood non-thermal effects of mobiles. The government is acutely aware that the warning on health risks to children could spark alarm among the UK's estimated 24m mobile users. "We will publish the full report and let the public see what the conclusions are for themselves, but then we need Sir William Stewart and Sir Liam to sit down with other scientists and draw up detailed guidelines," said one Whitehall official. Sir Liam will be asked to look at whether a minimum age limit would be appropriate and whether children should be told to limit the length and number of calls per day. Government officials say ministers were intentionally not shown copies of the report until the end of last week -- after the end of the third- generation mobile phone auction. The committee of 12 experts was set up last year after reports that radiation from mobiles could trigger memory loss, Alzheimer's disease and cancer. The committee looked at all the available research including two that showed radiation from phones stimulates the brain. The report is expected to to recommend stricter planning controls on the siting of transmission masts, advising that they are kept away from schools, hospitals and residential areas. THE FINANCIAL TIMES (London, UK) May 9, 2000 Scientists still engaged on mobile phone risk By Clive Cookson When electric power was introduced in the 19th century, some Victorian consumers worried about the risks of exposure to the force "fields" associated with electricity; contemporary scientists could give them no absolute reassurance. The health effects of electromagnetic fields remain uncertain today, after hundreds of scientific studies and reviews -- the latest by Sir William Stewart's expert committee. Power lines, household circuits, computer screens, mobile phones and their base stations all give off EMF at varying frequencies. Although laboratory experiments leave no doubt that these fields affect living cells, large-scale studies of human beings have not produced consistent evidence of harm to people from the EMF exposures experienced in real life. As the World Health Organisation puts it: "Expert committees that have reviewed this evidence have consistently found it to be too weak to be persuasive ... But clearly there is considerable scientific uncertainty as well as a high level of public apprehension about the issue." Although most research into the effect on the brain of microwave radiation from mobile phones has been reassuring, a few studies have caused concern. For example, research sponsored by the US telecoms industry found an association between one rare type of brain cancer (neuro-epithelliomatous tumours) and mobile phone use. A study in Sweden found that some brain tumours were more likely to occur on the side of the head on which the mobile phone was usually held. Bristol University researchers found that people made visual choices more quickly when exposed to microwave radiation, possibly because this stimulated electrical activity in the brain. A popular expression has mobiles "cooking the brain." In fact, measurements show that a phone held close to the head raises the brain temperature by no more than a fraction of a degree - less than the natural variation in temperature during the day. With an estimated 300m mobile phone users worldwide, even a small health risk could cause hundreds of extra brain tumours. Such a weak link would not have been picked up by the studies undertaken so far, but it may be detected by more extensive international research, involving several thousand brain cancer patients, that will be carried out under the auspices of the International Agency for Research in Cancer over the next few years. Meanwhile new technology is likely to reduce any risks by cutting radiation exposure. An international standard called Bluetooth will enable mobile handsets to communicate at extremely low power with a more powerful network transmitter in the owner's handbag or briefcase. Bluetooth technology will cut EMF exposure to the level of a "cordless phone" with a base station at home. But road safety campaigners point out that the main, proven danger of mobile phones is not radiation but the fact that they increase the risk of having an accident if they are used while driving. Even a hands-free set can be dangerous if an animated conversation distracts a driver. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:23:44 -0500 From: Bennett Haselton Subject: Peacefire: HotMail Account Backdoor Discovered Reply-To: peacefire-press@iain.com Peacefire has discovered a backdoor in HotMail that lets you break in to any HotMail account, by sending the person an email with an HTML file attached to the message: http://www.peacefire.org/security/hmattach/ HotMail has about 50 million users; it is generally regarded as the most secure of all the free Web-based email sites, the Mt. Everest for bug finders :) (The completely separate "Fake Mail Form" security hole, which we announced yesterday, worked against Yahoo Mail, USA.Net, MailExcite, and most other free email services, but *not* HotMail.) If anyone has a HotMail account or wants to set one up and have this demonstrated to them, let me know; we've shown this to a few third parties and every time it let us view the contents of the person's Inbox after they opened the attached HTML file. The security hole might get fixed some time today, so there's a short window left where you can really be impressed if you want to :) -Bennett bennett@peacefire.org http://www.peacefire.org (425) 649 9024 ------------------------------ From: hes@unity.ncsu.edu (Henry E. Schaffer) Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: 10 May 2000 01:50:58 GMT Organization: North Carolina State University Tony Pelliccio wrote in message news:telecom20.109.7@telecom-digest.org ... > Within the next couple of years there'll be GPS units built into all > cellphones so you'll just dial 911 and they'll know where to send help. I thought they were going to locate people by measuring signal reception at several cell sites -- so nothing would go in the phone. henry schaffer hes@ncsu.edu ------------------------------ From: Jack Hamilton Subject: Sprint Directory Assistance Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 18:51:19 -0700 Organization: Copyright (c) 2000 by Jack Hamilton. Reproduction without attribution or archiving without permission are not allowed. Reply-To: jfh@acm.org I called 411 on my Sprint PCS cell phone last month. They were unable to give me the number I wanted. So, there was a $0.99 item on my bill this month for that call. I called "Customer Service" to ask if it was the usual practice to charge for unsatisfied requests, and was told "You call 411, you pay". Is this the practice on other mobile and land-based systems? And does anyone know if there are plans for mobile number portability in California? Sprint's coverage is spotty and the customer service is not that good, but a lot of people know my current number. Jack Hamilton Broderick, CA jfh@acm.org ------------------------------ From: Jerry Harder Subject: Re: Another Bell Atlantic Boo Boo Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 03:40:55 GMT Organization: @Home Network Tony Pelliccio wrote in message news:telecom20.111.9@telecom-digest.org ... > Well, now that The Big Game is up over $300,000,000 and the odds of > winning are at 76,000,000:1 what would you expect are the odds that Bell > Atlantic would screw up and chomp into a piece of fiber that carries the > Mass. Lottery traffic for the southeast part of MA? > Pretty good. They 'accidentally' cut a fiber in Plainville that wiped > out over 750 lottery machines for nearly four hours today. > How they could cut the wrong fiber is beyond me. Given the state of > their older cable plant and records it would be understandable. But > this is fiber, I would imagine that someone kept better records of > where that stuff is. > I wonder how much BA is going to have to pay the MA Lottery for that > little screwup. > Tony Basically they will not pay much. The tariff, if typical, prevents a suit for payment of damages for loss of business. They will refund typically a prorata part of the monthly charge for the circuits involved. Good thought though, Jerry Harder remove spamnein from address to reply ------------------------------ From: Steve Hayes Subject: Re: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:52:20 +0100 Hi Pat and everyone, In TELECOM Digest V20 No. 111, Mark Cuccia enquired about the status of the London UK code change after finding that the old codes (+44 171 and +44 181) are still working. The code changes affect London and also a number of other areas including Portsmouth/Southampton, Northern Ireland and (of particular interest to us) Cardiff. Each of these areas has a new code in the (0)20 - (0)29 range - London being (0)20 - and local numbers padded out with new leading digits to eight digits length. Mark describes how the London numbers are changing. In Cardiff, a number which was (0)1222 xxxxxx is now (0)29 20xxxxxx. My understanding is that none of these changes are mandatory for calls from outside the area or for calls within the area which are dialled including the full code until October. What did become mandatory on Easter Sunday was the use of 8 digits rather than 6 or 7 when the code is omitted (local calling). I don't think there was any attempt to provide a permissive period for this -- I suppose it could have been done with a timeout. A couple of other observations: Many people seem to have misunderstood the code changes. For example, they understood that the London codes were changing from 171/181 to 207/208. The new codes have been permissive for a while and writing them that way worked while the local numbers were still seven digits but it is now misleading when the 7 or 8 must be dialled with the local number. Yet more work for the printers and signwriters. Oftel could have done a better job of explaining what was happening. A long time ago I heard that the whole of Wales may become eight digit dialling. If that goes ahead, I suppose we will all be rolled into the new (0)29 code. Apparently this will mean that it is no longer possible to tell if a call is local or national rate from the code, as it already is in Northern Ireland. It looks like this is becoming a moot point though. BT's new "Together" package charges only 1p/minute (about 1.6 US cents) more for national calls than for local ones and some of the cable companies have identical rates for local and national calls. Steve Hayes South Wales, UK ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #112 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Thu May 11 02:02:04 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id CAA25493; Thu, 11 May 2000 02:02:04 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 02:02:04 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005110602.CAA25493@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #113 TELECOM Digest Thu, 11 May 2000 02:02:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 113 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Australia's Protection of Personal Information of Customers (Robt Hall) Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert (Craig Macbride) Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert (Matthew Black) Re: Another Bell Atlantic Boo Boo (Douglas Ramsay) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (Steve Hayes) Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones (Roger Fajman) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Second Tier Carriers (Joshua Walmsley) Pay Phone Scam Series (Mike Pollock) E-Holster - Keeping Electronics Personal (Mike Pollock) Current ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (mail02744@pop.net) ECI Telecom - Discount (Robin Kirkby) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Christopher Boone) Re: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? (Big Bird) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Reply-To: From: Robert S. Hall Subject: Australia's New Protection of Personal Information of Customers Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 14:03:47 +0800 Given the recent dialogs here on the issue of consumer privacy with regards to the Internet and telecommunications, I thought readers might be interested in the following information. The on-line version of the new code can be accessed at http://www.aca.gov.au/codes/abtem8.htm Rob Hall ACA Registers First Consumer Code (http://www.aca.gov.au/media/2000/18-00.htm) The Australian Communications Authority (ACA) today announced that it had registered a consumer code developed to protect the privacy of telecommunications consumers. The Code-Protection of Personal Information of Customers of Telecommunications Providers-contains rules and guidelines relating to the collection, use, disclosure, accuracy and security of the personal information of telecommunications customers. This is the first consumer code to be registered by the ACA, and applies to all carriers, carriage service providers and content service providers. The new Code was submitted to the ACA by the Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF), a peak telecommunications industry body responsible for codes development. ACA Chairman Tony Shaw said, "ACIF is to be congratulated for taking the initiative in this consumer matter. Their work in developing this Code demonstrates an ongoing commitment by industry to the principles of self-regulation." The Code provides telecommunications customers with privacy protection at least a year before the Privacy Commissioner's revised Privacy Principles become operative under legislation. Telecommunications providers are now required to undertake a number of new practices. For example, when collecting customers' personal information, a provider must take reasonable steps to ensure that customers are aware that they can gain access to this information, and the purpose for which it is being collected. Providers must also have readily available and clearly expressed privacy policies. The Code is based on the privacy protection provisions contained in the Telecommunications Act 1997 and the Privacy Commissioner's National Privacy Principles. From July 2001 the National Privacy Principles will apply to all customer information held in the private sector through the amended Privacy Act. Industry codes of practice are an integral part of the telecommunications regulatory regime, which places an emphasis on industry initiated self-regulation. The ACA has now registered a total of six codes dealing with various operational matters. These codes are available from both the ACA and ACIF websites. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert From: craigm@earthling.net (Craig Macbride) Organization: Nyx Net, The spirit of the Night (www.nyx.net) Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 06:39:51 GMT ellis@ftel.net (Rick Ellis) writes: > Many people have no idea what an "executable" is or whether an attachment > is executable or not. They just click to "open" the attachment so they > can see it. I find it hard to blame the users for this problem. Some people have no idea where the water or oil go in their cars either, or how to check them. They deserve what happens to them when this total lack of competence catches up with them. Craig Macbride ---------------------http://www.nyx.net/~cmacbrid---------------------- "It's a sense of humour like mine, Carla, that makes me proud to be ashamed of myself." - Captain Kremmen ------------------------------ From: black@csulb.edu (Matthew Black) Subject: Re: I Love You! - Virus Alert Date: 10 May 2000 13:52:48 GMT In article , ellis@ftel.net says ... > In article , Alan Boritz > wrote: >> It never ceases to amaze me how many people thought nothing about >> running ANY executable they get in email, knowing that *any* program >> they could run could do serious damage. > Many people have no idea what an "executable" is or whether an attachment > is executable or not. They just click to "open" the attachment so they > can see it. I find it hard to blame the users for this problem. The bigger problem is that the default behavior of Microsoft Lookout, I mean Outlook, is to execute VBS attachments upon viewing a message. Users don't need to explicitly open the attachment. ------------------------------(c) 2000 Matthew Black, all rights reserved-- matthew black | Opinions expressed herein belong to me and network & systems specialist | may not reflect those of my employer california state university | network services BH-180E | e-mail: black at csulb dot edu 1250 bellflower boulevard | PGP fingerprint: 6D 14 36 ED 5F 34 C4 B3 long beach, ca 90840 | E9 1E F3 CB E7 65 EE BC ------------------------------ From: Douglas Ramsay Subject: Re: Another Bell Atlantic Boo Boo Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 22:46:47 +1000 Tony, You reckon this is uncommon? Cable & Wireless Optus in Australia lost 2 cables at the same time just a little while ago, both due to "backhoe fade" But it resulted in congestion on other carrier services, and downed the stock exchange for a couple of hours. Tony Pelliccio wrote in message news:telecom20.111.9@telecom-digest.org ... > Well, now that The Big Game is up over $300,000,000 and the odds of > winning are at 76,000,000:1 what would you expect are the odds that Bell > Atlantic would screw up and chomp into a piece of fiber that carries the > Mass. Lottery traffic for the southeast part of MA? > Pretty good. They 'accidentally' cut a fiber in Plainville that wiped > out over 750 lottery machines for nearly four hours today. > How they could cut the wrong fiber is beyond me. Given the state of > their older cable plant and records it would be understandable. But > this is fiber, I would imagine that someone kept better records of > where that stuff is. > I wonder how much BA is going to have to pay the MA Lottery for that > little screwup. > Tony ------------------------------ From: Steve Hayes Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 13:27:33 +0100 Hi Pat and everyone, In TELECOM Digest V20, No. 111, John McHarry comments on what happens with ISDN when the power fails. We've just had basic rate ISDN installed (BT Home Highway) and it seems to be handled quite well, at least in that case. The installer (who seemed pretty knowledgeable) first came out and installed the box in the house. This has two standard analog phone sockets on it, one for each B channel, plus two digital sockets - we can use any combination so long as a B channel is available. We use both analog sockets (each has a different phone number) and I have one digital socket connected to a BT Speedway card in my PC (if anyone has one of these and wants drivers, go to www.avm.de and look for the Fritzcard -- Linux drivers are promised but not yet available). He connected the box to the local power but then had to go the exchange (C.O.) to switch over the other end. Until that was done, we still had phone service via the first analog socket on the box. The POWER light on the box was on but the SERVICE light was off. After quite a long time (apparently there was a problem with the line records at the exchange) the box emitted a click and the SERVICE light came on. The installer came back out and tested all the lines (analog and digital). It appears that the box in the house and the exchange are always in communication. If there is a failure (including power failure at the box), the exchange reverts the line to standard analog service and a relay in the box releases so that analog socket 1 is connected to the line, which keeps the number assigned to socket 1. This fits in with the information in BT's leaflet on Home Highway. There also must be a big capacitor or a battery in the power supply as I've been able to unplug it momentarily to switch it to another power outlet without either light even flickering. Perhaps other ISDN suppliers aren't as concerned with reliability and I imagine that Primary Rate ISDN is quite different. Steve Hayes South Wales, UK ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:08:46 GMT Organization: Road Runner >> In my experience this doesn't actually work very well. When there's >> NO digital cell around, I can usually get analogue service, but often >> I'll see no bars of digital signal strength (not enough for a call!) >> but the phone won't switch to analogue mode. It stays in digital mode >> and is unusable. >> Have others had this problem? > Yes. I have a Nokia 6160 on AT&T Wireless. [I'm the original poster.] I have an Ericsson LX788, but also on AT&T's network. -Joel ------------------------------ From: Joseph Wineburgh Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:23:51 -0400 Absolutely - ATTWS on Nokia 5160/6160. Verizon (Bell Atlantic) lets you MANUALLY SELECT ANALOG MODE! At least on a Motorola 7760 StarTac. Why would you want to? Unless the signal is peak, it sucks. It's incredible -- I've been using digital PCS type phones for a few years, and you really forget just how bad analog is ... I'm actually on Omnipoint now, trying to find a 900/1800/1900 phone I can truck along and have work in other parts of the globe. Any recommendations from those using them? ------------------------------------ From: Roger Fajman Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 18:16:01 EDT Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones > In my experience this doesn't actually work very well. When there's > NO digital cell around, I can usually get analogue service, but often > I'll see no bars of digital signal strength (not enough for a call!) > but the phone won't switch to analogue mode. It stays in digital mode > and is unusable. > Have others had this problem? Yes. I have a Nokia 6160 on AT&T Wireless. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:13:44 GMT Organization: Road Runner > I am NOT one of those fruit-loops who goes climbing on some > mountain, breaks an ankle, calls 911 and whines that I'm "somewhere in > the Rockies." If I'm near enough to civilization to pick up signals > from a cell tower, then I can figure out where I am. When I'm driving, as often as not, I >cannot< tell exactly where I am. If I'm driving along the highway, especially at night, the best I can often do is "somewhere along I90." That's hardly helpful. And if I'm lost, well ... Joel ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:15:04 GMT Organization: Road Runner > I know that the local cable provider in the region (Viderotron) is > having field trials with some if its employees for telephone service > over cable. > I was told that the "black box" which converst from IP telephony into > POTS has its own battery backup power that can last a few hours thus > ensuring you have telephone service during outages. Is that really > realiable enough? Look at it this way: your phone-over-cable will be as reliable as your cable service is now. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 22:46:18 +1000 From: Joshua Walmsley Subject: Second Tier Carriers What do carriers mean when the say that they are second tier or third tier? Can anyone enlighten me? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 09:18:22 PDT From: Mike Pollock Subject: Pay Phone Scam Series Some pay phones in Central New York may be ripping you off. WSYR Radio/Syracuse's Leila Walsh has part one of dialing deep in your pocket ... a special investigative series. http://www.sybercuse.com/news/2000/05/10/phone.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 09:21:45 PDT From: Mike Pollock Subject: E-Holster - Keeping Electronics Personal A New Way To Carry Personal Electronics Into The "Web Lifestyle" The e-Holster is a revolutionary personal electronics accessory that lets you wear your personal electronics and conveniently access them when you need them. The e-Holster provides the increasingly necessary function required by the "Web Lifestyle" of comfortably carrying personal electronics. As the e-Holster has been designed by two of the leading "concealment experts" in the U.S. the e-Holster can be worn under a coat for business without noticeable bulges or can be worn casually over a T-shirt or blouse with comfort. The e-Holster makes a very strong fashion as well as a technology statement about the wearer. The e-Holster is comprised of an adjustable shoulder harness called the "e-Harness", and two soft, durable pouches that hold your personal electronics called "e-Pouch" units. An e-Pouch is modular and can be added, deleted or moved from side to side simply by snapping and unsnapping them from the e-Harness or from another e-Pouch. http://www.eholster.com/ ------------------------------ From: mail02744@pop.net Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:53:21 -0400 Subject: Current ITU World Radiocommunication Conference From The Benton Communications Policy Mailing List WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE Issue: International From Press Release: Development of new wireless communications technologies, such as wireless Internet access, will be a major focus at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) on the allocation of radio frequency spectrum, which has convened in Istanbul, Turkey. One of the key issues to be discussed at the conference is the development of the next generation of wireless services, referred to as "IMT-2000", which range from voice, data, and video services, including Internet access. Representatives from over 150 countries are attending, including a U.S. delegation of government and private sector experts. WRC is a major international conference convened every two or three years by the International Telecommunications Union to discuss radio spectrum allocation issues. The conference has become increasingly important as the demand for wireless communications services has grown in both private and public sectors of the U.S. and other nations. [SOURCE: NTIA] (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/new.html) (c)Benton Foundation 2000. Redistribution of this email publication -- both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message. ------------------------------ From: Robin Kirkby Organization: Netscape Online member Subject: ECI Telecom - Discount Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 19:35:28 +0100 If I'm a business buyer, purchasing Data Compressor Multiplexers (DCMAs) from ECI Telecom (the Israeli company), what sort of discount should they give me on their list price? Any more than 10%, or are they ripping me off? Cheers, Robin ------------------------------ From: cboone@earthlink.net Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 21:24:47 GMT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net We had a case here in Texas where a woman traveling with her small child left the highway in a freak one car accident, ended up in a ditch upside down ... she was able to call 911 but not being from this area, had NO idea where she was ... after an LONG search by authorities (over seven counties and almost 1000+ people involved), they found her off I45 in a creek ... but she could not be seen from the road. IF she had been drowning, etc, they would NOT have saved her in time ... luckily the creek was dry ... GPS would have found her for them in an instant! Jeremy Greene wrote: > Tony Pelliccio wrote in > message news:telecom20.109.7@telecom-digest.org ... >> Within the next couple of years there'll be GPS units built into all >> cellphones so you'll just dial 911 and they'll know where to send help. >> Tony > The feds can hide GPS in my cellphone ... after they pry it from my cold, > dead hands! > Until then, when I call 911 I'll just have to ... tell them my > location. I am NOT one of those fruit-loops who goes climbing on some > mountain, breaks an ankle, calls 911 and whines that I'm "somewhere in > the Rockies." If I'm near enough to civilization to pick up signals > from a cell tower, then I can figure out where I am. ------------------------------ From: geary@fnord.io.com (Big Bird) Subject: Re: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? Date: 10 May 2000 23:13:46 GMT Organization: Dalek Supreme Command In article , Mark J. Cuccia wrote: > My understanding is that on Easter Sunday 2000, London (locally), > the UK (nationally) and also inbound from all over the world, London UK > went MANDATORY as such: > OLD: NEW: > +44-171-NXX-xxxx => +44-20-7NXX-xxxx ("inner" London) > +44-181-NXX-xxxx => +44-20-8NXX-xxxx ("outer" London) I was in London the week after Easter and happened to look at the telephone book in my hotel room. It said that the new dialing would be mandatory within London after Easter Sunday, but that outside of London, the new dialing would not become mandatory until sometime in fall 2000. It did not give a more specific date. Mark Geary "Build high for happiness." ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #113 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Fri May 12 00:54:31 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id AAA03657; Fri, 12 May 2000 00:54:31 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 00:54:31 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005120454.AAA03657@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #114 TELECOM Digest Fri, 12 May 2000 00:54:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 114 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Shell Service Options (was Re: PSINet Buys Canada's ISP) (Terry Knab) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (JF Mezei) If No LD Carrier Can We Call 800/877 (Peter) Re: Sprint Directory Assistance (Steve Sobol) Re: Sprint Directory Assistance (Joel B. Levin) Slammed Again! (William H. Smith) Biggest One Yet: IE Exposes Private Cookie Data (Bennett Haselton) Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works (Michael Maxfield) What is a "PVP Diode?" (Ian W. Douglas) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Martin A. Flynn) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Marcus Aakesson) Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? (Paul Wills) Re: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? (Jared Gottlieb) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tknab@nyx.net (Terry Knab) Subject: Re: Shell Service Options (was Re: PSINet Buys Canada's ISP) Organization: The Home Office Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 04:36:57 GMT Danny Burstein wrote: > Things to look for are: > Telnet access to the shell > optional secure logins (ssh/kerberos/others) > shell access to mail and news > and/or > pop3 for mail, nntp for news > procmail (or similar) configurable filters > web page hosting > web viewing from the shell connection > and, of course > a good and updated selection of usenet operating > systems and programs. > One very handy feature of doing things this way is you gain a second > e-mail and usenet id which is _distinct and isolated_ from your internet > access. Thus, you can change your local system, or move, or leave school, > switch employers, etc., and still maintain your permanent address. > Similarly, postings from an e-mail address at a respected service are > taken far more seriously than one from a disposable freebie system. Oh, > and e-mail from the freebies is far too often (because of the expletive > deleted spammers) filtered out -- often without notice. This sounds like Nyx to a tee. (We're a free service, but we have standards, you know) We offer free shell (free dialup to said shell if you're in Denver) accessable via telnet (and we hope to be able to offer ssh access to everyone soon, its being worked on, but our Suns are kind of old.) We offer (all for free, donations are appreciated, but not required): * Shell access, with CHOICE of shells * Procmail is standardly available * Non-Disposable accounts (in other words, you gotta send us a form with your ID in order to get full access, that keeps the spammers away) * Full Usenet/Web via our shells * 2MB of free web space * Solid reputation for no spam problem and low tolerance for abusers (In 3 * years, we've only yanked less than 20 accounts for abuse! If that's * not a record, I don't know what is!) Mail *is* accessable via POP3. * (We do not offer NNTP access because of the potential for abuse) * Reliable service All Volunteer staff (No one makes a dime off of Nyx * or gets paid as such) Users get access to compiliers and are * encouraged to build programs for the benefit of every user. In * other words, if we don't have the most up-to-date, ask, someone will * get it for you. We stay online because we're one of the few ISPs anywhere that accomodates everyone from Unix gurus to Commodore 64 users! (We have quite a few of them oddly enough!) We have a validation process, but its relatively painless considering what we offer to everyone. Terry E. Knab News/Acting System Administrator Nyx Public Access Unix ------------------------------ From: JF Mezei Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 04:05:53 -0400 Dr. Joel M. Hoffman wrote: > Look at it this way: your phone-over-cable will be as reliable as > your cable service is now. I have had a couple of data outages with the TV still working. So I would say that the data-over-cable is less reliable that analogue-video-over-cable. Just wondering if the cable companies are taking serious steps to get their reliability on par with POTS services. Seems like thay have a long way to go. And they'll probably need to build much better support tools. You won't get many customers who remember a combination fo telephone number, IP address for the phone, ethernet address for the cable modem and the "coax" address for the cable modem. Seems like the twisted pair phone companies have done a pretty good job and building a very reliable POTS service. (At least in canada). Will Cable companies ever be able to acheive the same uptime ? Or is the technology and complexity of telephony-over-ip-over-coax such that it is impossible to get the same uptime as the plain old POTS ? ------------------------------ From: Peter Subject: If No LD Carrier Can We Call 800/877 Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 12:54:44 -0400 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com I have multiple phone lines at home. One of the lines is used for incoming calls only. I am thinking of telling Bell Atlantic that I do not want any long distance carrier assigned to that line so I don't have to pay the FCC subscriber line charge for that line. Question: If I have no LD carrier for that line, will I still be able to call toll free numbers in 800/888/877 etc area codes? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Yes, you will be able to use toll-free services, since the other end is the one paying for the call. However, telco will still charge for having 'none' as your carrier choice. Not as much as a carrier listed as default, but something. If the line is going to be incoming calls only, then I suggest you advise telco of your wish, and have the line limited to incoming only (i.e. no dial tone on that line. PAT] ------------------------------ From: sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.Net (Steve Sobol) Subject: Re: Sprint Directory Assistance Date: 11 May 2000 13:03:26 GMT Organization: New Age Consulting Service Inc., Cleveland, OH, USA From 'Jack Hamilton': > I called 411 on my Sprint PCS cell phone last month. They were > unable to give me the number I wanted. > So, there was a $0.99 item on my bill this month for that call. > I called "Customer Service" to ask if it was the usual practice > to charge for unsatisfied requests, and was told "You call 411, > you pay". > Is this the practice on other mobile and land-based systems? GTE Wireless, which gives out more wrong numbers than it should (in my opinion), will give you a credit for wrong information if you ask for it. North Shore Technologies, Cleveland, OH http://NorthShoreTechnologies.net Steve Sobol, BOFH - President, Chief Website Architect and Janitor Spammers and Net-abusers: Don't bother asking me for service. See http://NorthShoreTechnologies.net/go/policy/ for my opinion on abusive actions. ------------------------------ From: Joel B. Levin Subject: Re: Sprint Directory Assistance Organization: On the desert Reply-To: levinjb@gte.net Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 14:00:28 GMT In , Jack Hamilton wrote: > I called 411 on my Sprint PCS cell phone last month. They were > unable to give me the number I wanted. > So, there was a $0.99 item on my bill this month for that call. > I called "Customer Service" to ask if it was the usual practice > to charge for unsatisfied requests, and was told "You call 411, > you pay". > Is this the practice on other mobile and land-based systems? I don't use "information" all that often, on Sprint or on land; but I think it depends on whether Sprint screwed up or on whether they gave a legitimate if fruitless try to look up a nonpublished or nonexistent number. I seem to recall being charged for attempts to look up numbers which turned out not to exist (because I had the name or location wrong) on AT&T (land) and NETel/NYNEX (land). I don't know about "you call you pay", but I expect "you have us look something up you pay". JBL ------------------------------ Subject: Slammed Again! From: William H Smith Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 17:30:21 EDT We are getting slammed repeatedly. I would like to be able to check each morning to reaffirm our LD, and Regional Carrier on TW and Bell Atlantic in NYC. Does anyone know a number we can dial to check our PIC and have it read back to us? Bill Smith [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest you call your telco business office and have them do the work. Tell them to can the crap and put a freeze on your lines(s) so they will never get changed again. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 16:07:55 -0500 From: Bennett Haselton Subject: Biggest One Yet: IE Exposes Private Cookie Data Reply-To: peacefire-press@iain.com Peacefire has found a way for a Web site to read all cookies stored by Internet Explorer -- including cookies that were never intended to be visible to a third-party Web page. This has always been the worst fear of cookie-paranoiacs who worry about cookies revealing too much information to unauthorized sites, but a way to do it has never actually been discovered, until now. Our demonstration site is at: http://www.peacefire.org/security/iecookies/ This has huge implications for any site that relies on cookies to authenticate users or to store private data. Accounts with HotMail, Yahoo Mail, and almost every other free email service can be broken into using this exploit -- and none of them can prevent against it since it's a browser bug and not a flaw with the web-based mail services. Amazon.com cookies can be used to discover a person's real name, email address, and even the types of products that the user has purchased from Amazon -- all as a result of the user simply viewing a third-party Web page. And it's so simple that for the first time, I can actually describe the entire trick in the press release: you simply send the Internet Explorer user to a URL such as the following: http://www.peacefire.org%2fsecurity%2fiecookies%2fshowcookie.html%3F.amazon. com which, after replacing the "%2f" codes with "/" and the "%3F" with "?", actually translates to: http://www.peacefire.org/security/iecookies/showcookie.html?.amazon.com but without actual slashes in the URL, Internet Explorer thinks the page is part of the "amazon.com" domain, and allows JavaScript code on the page to read your Amazon.com cookie, even though the page is located on Peacefire.org. (And after this, together with yesterday's HotMail backdoor story, I should probably get an apartment a safer distance away from Microsoft, which you can see from my window.) Bennett bennett@peacefire.org http://www.peacefire.org (425) 649 9024 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 17:23:39 -0700 Subject: Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works Organization: Minimal From: tweek@io.com (Michael Maxfield) Does anyone have an idea which "telecommunications" company is going around calling themselves Horizon and apparently soliciting via cold calling? I ran the word "horizon" through the digest archives search engine and found nothing appropriate. I don't believe them to be the not-for-profit Horizon Communications operating out of Yale.edu, nor another Horizon I came across ... I'm at a loss to figure out what/who their corporate shell is. I've been called by this company previously and so I was familiar with their script ... today it became apparent to me that their default action in the case of a basic question is to repeat the first line of their script ... I took them through another curve today. WARNING: If you offended by the abuse of a telemarketer, QUIT READING! Them: "I'm calling to notify you of a recent filing with the public utilities commission." Me: "Is this a telephone solicitation?" Them: "I'm calling to notify you of a recent filing with the public utilities commission." Me: "That's not responsive to the question. Is this a telephone solicitation?" Them: "I said I'm calling to notify you of a recent filing with the public utilities commission." From there it started ... natch, *I* started to get a little _more_ abusive of the telemarketer ... Me: "" Them: "Hello? Are you there?" Me: "Yes." Them: "Well, I'm calling to notify you of a recent filing with the public utilities commission." I don't know what I said then, but it was all in decent English, but I guess the lady thought I was getting to abusive... Them: "I feel I must inform you that for quality control purposes, we may be recording or monitoring this call." Me: "Oh? Are you positively sure this call might be monitored?" Them: "We do it for quality control purposes." WARNING! If you are easilly offended yet can understand letters such as $%^&*, #$&*(), and #$%&^*, you might want to skip the rest. Me: "Well, I hope you monitor and record this ... F$%* %^(!" Them: "Would you like to talk to my supervisor?" Me: "Sure, I'll tell her to F^#% &#& too." Them: " Hello" Me: "Hello? Is this a telephone solicitation?" Them: "We're calling to notify you of a recent filing with the public utilities commission." Me: "And this call is being monitored?" Them: "For quality control purposes." Me: "" Them: That was rather rude sir." Me: "Good. I think F^#&&#^ telephone solicitors are rude too." Them: "" "" Actually, the part with the supervisor went a bit longer ... She was telling me on how they have operating contracts with MCI and I was asking her if that means that they don't have their own facilities. She told me that they do indeed have their own facilities. They have offices across the nation. I told her that I think she is confusing administrative facilities with operational facilities. She told me that their company has been in business for 13 YEARS! I responded with "Oh. Lucky 13." Who the heck are these rude telemarketers who won't answer a straight question? The reason my first question was "Is this a telephone solicitation" was so that if it was, I could tell them "No Thank You" and get the heck off the line and back to business. Obviously, since she didn't want to facilitate my desire to let the telemarketing fish off the hook, I made it worth my while ... and I ENJOYED IT! I'm not sure if it was "Horizon" or another telecommunications firm/scam, but in addition to the Horizon call I recieved previous to this one, I had also recieved a call from a company who kept insisting in the slimeyest way that they were calling regarding my PacBell bill and they have an arrangement with PacBell where they can save me money on my phone bill. I went in circles with this telemarketer too, over the concept of having an agreement with PacBell. Damn! I should have told her that I have an agreement with PacBell where I pay PB a monthly fee and they send me telemarketers to devour. Mike Maxfield ------------------------------ From: Ian W. Douglas Subject: What is a "PVP diode?" Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 19:04:51 -0600 Organization: Calgary Community Network Assoc. What is a "PVP diode?" I have heard that it is a silicon-germanium bipolar diode. What does "bipolar" mean in this case? How would the characteristics of this type of diode be different from those of other types of (presumably easier-to-find) diodes? Would a germanium crystal diode of type 1N34A be a PVP diode? (I have four of these left over from a previous AM radio project.) If not, then what would the type designation(s) (e.g. 1N4733) be for a PVP diode? Please reply via direct email if so inclined. Regards, Ian Douglas ------------------------------ From: Martin A. Flynn Reply-To: sinkhole@worldnet.att.net Organization: Where spam is tossed Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 13:27:01 GMT cboone@earthlink.net wrote: > We had a case here in Texas where a woman traveling with her small > child left the highway in a freak one car accident, ended up in > a ditch upside down ... she was able to call 911 but not being > from this area, had NO idea where she was ... after an LONG search > by authorities (over seven counties and almost 1000+ people involved), > they found her off I45 in a creek ... but she could not be seen from > the road. > IF she had been drowning, etc, they would NOT have saved her in time ... > luckily the creek was dry ... GPS would have found her for them in an > instant! While it may have reduced the search area greatly (especially with S/A disabled), I don't think it's going to save the folks in immediate peril. FWIW, I have heard in the media, situations where E-Z Pass position data (electronic toll payment) has been used in criminal cases. How much of a strech is it that the position data from a GPS equipped phone will be called into evidence. Example: "Mr Smith, you claim that you were at home the entire night. But explain how your portable telephone service records show that you were in the building where your secretary lives" ?? Regards, Martin ------------------------------ From: Marcus Aakesson Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 19:36:01 +0200 Organization: Chalmers University of Technology On Wed, 10 May 2000 21:24:47 GMT, cboone@earthlink.net wrote: > We had a case here in Texas where a woman traveling with her small > child left the highway in a freak one car accident, ended up in > a ditch upside down ... she was able to call 911 but not being > from this area, had NO idea where she was ... after an LONG search > by authorities (over seven counties and almost 1000+ people involved), > they found her off I45 in a creek ... but she could not be seen from > the road. > IF she had been drowning, etc, they would NOT have saved her in time ... > luckily the creek was dry ... GPS would have found her for them in an > instant! In a car upside down in a creek, with a GPS antenna so small it will fit in a phone, the chance of getting a fix is very, very slim. A network-derived position though, would be much more versatile. Marcus AAkesson marcus.akesson@NO_SPAM_PLEASE_home.se Gothenburg Callsigns: SM6XFN & SB4779 Sweden >>>>>> Keep the world clean - no HTML in news or mail ! <<<<<< ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 12:23:13 GMT Organization: Road Runner > [problems w/ analog/digitial switching on dual-mode phones] > Absolutely - ATTWS on Nokia 5160/6160. > Verizon (Bell Atlantic) lets you MANUALLY SELECT ANALOG MODE! At least > on a Motorola 7760 StarTac. Why would you want to? Unless the signal > is peak, it sucks. It's incredible -- I've been using digital PCS type > phones for a few years, and you really forget just how bad analog > is ... You'd want to because sometimes the digital signal isn't strong enough to have any conversation. Also, I believe that people on the other end prefer analog to digital. When I use my phone in analog mode, I get far fewer complaints about how my voice sounds. Can anyone verify this? > I'm actually on Omnipoint now, trying to find a 900/1800/1900 phone I > can truck along and have work in other parts of the globe. Any > recommendations from those using them? I had terrible luck w/ Omnipoint. My 1-month stint w/ Omnipoint was the only time I was regularly told to call back from a "real" phone. This was in New York City and the suburbs. Joel Hoffman (joel@exc.com) ------------------------------ From: Paul Wills Subject: Re: Voice Over IP/Cable: Reliable Enough? Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 08:46:36 -0400 From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 12:15:04 GMT Organization: Road Runner >> I know that the local cable provider in the region (Viderotron) is >> having field trials with some if its employees for telephone service >> over cable. >> I was told that the "black box" which converst from IP telephony into >> POTS has its own battery backup power that can last a few hours thus >> ensuring you have telephone service during outages. Is that really >> realiable enough? > Look at it this way: your phone-over-cable will be as reliable as > your cable service is now. I'm served by Bell Atlantic via SLIC equipment. Whenever a big storm knocked the power out for an extended amount of time, the telephone service would die after about three hours. (Three times over the last two years) I guess that means that the cable service is as reliable as the phone service is now. PDW ------------------------------ From: NoSpam.jared@netspace.net.au (jared gottlieb) Subject: Re: Is London UK Now REALLY MANDATORY +44-20-7/8NXX- ?? Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 00:33:33 +1000 Organization: A customer of Netspace Internet. The UK telephone companies have a joint website: www.numberchange.org it includes a page for <> with PDF files in several languages. each file has heaps of interesting info and gives the dates when parallel running ends for the several areas that get the new 2x area codes. London is shown as 14 October 00 and appears to be the last area where the new codes are mandatory. ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #114 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sat May 13 01:24:11 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id BAA15717; Sat, 13 May 2000 01:24:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 01:24:11 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005130524.BAA15717@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #115 TELECOM Digest Sat, 13 May 2000 01:24:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 115 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson 5/12/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines (Judith Oppenheimer) Book Review: "Understanding Digital PCS", Cameron K. Coursey (Rob Slade) Verizonreallysucks.com Makes News (E. Cummings) Re: If No LD Carrier Can We Call 800/877 (Ed Ellers) Re: Sprint Directory Assistance (Gail M. Hall) Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones (Tony Pelliccio) Differences Between German and US Telephone Systems? (Wolfgang Bultmann) Re: If No LD Carrier Can We Call 800/877 (Fred Goldman) Re: Slammed Again (Michael Martz) Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? (Hillary Israeli) Ameritech COCOTs at McDonalds? (Brian A. Doreste) Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones (Jonathan Seder) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Judith Oppenheimer Subject: 5/12/00 ICBTollFree.Com Heads Up Headlines Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 19:03:56 -0400 ************************************************************************* ICBTollFree.Com HEADS UP HEADLINES ************************************************************************* from ICB Toll Free News - Daily News and Intelligence covering the Political, Legal and Marketing Arenas of 800 and Dot Com. ************************************************************************* TOLL FREE SPOTLIGHT: P - SNAC changes game plan for 866/855 code opening. SEE http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2239 ************************************************************************* ARTICLE ACCESS CODE LEGEND ICB Toll Free News offers two valuable service options: F = Free - News and Features articles P = Premium - Unlimited Site Access including all Articles and Documents. ************************************************************************* HEADLINES FOR MAY 12, 2000 P - NEW CODES 866 AND 855 ... (drum roll please ~~~) the roll-out date is ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2239 F - .TV MODEL UNDER ICANN SCRUTINY There is precedent for ICANN overturning a registrar it believed was not acting in the public interest. In February, ICANN redelegated administration of the .pn domain for the Pitcairn Islands after islanders argued that it was not being administered in their interest. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2238 F - 800DESSERT.COM ... launches the sweetest site on the net ... CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2235 **************************************************advertisements********* convenient, flexible domestic toll-free ... robust, value-added ITFS: MCI WORLDCOM http://www.wcom.com/ 1-888-MCI-WCOM ************************************************************************* P.A.T. - a real Live person inside your voice mail? Yes. P.A.T.LiVE, a division of ATG Technologies, Inc., rents live secretarial services through a toll free number. P.A.T. (Personal Assistance Team) can enhance your productivity and image with rates as low as 3 cents per minute. http://www.patlive.com or 800.775.7790 ************************************************************************* AFTERNIC.COM The Domain Name Exchange: Serving Brokers, Individuals, Corporations and NICs. http://www.afternic.com ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 12, 2000 F - SINGLE HOP ACCESS TO CONTENT C&W plans to eventually move all its customers and services onto the new IP network. "I think within four years all our customers' voice traffic will be carried over IP," said Wallace. "I don't think any other major operator in the world will be saying that." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2242 P - MASSIVE SHIFT IN CELL PHONE REVENUES PREDICTED By 2005, only 33 percent of global revenues for cellular phone carriers will come from voice calls and subscriptions - significantly down from between 95 and 100 percent today. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2241 F - INTERNET, EVERYDAY Almost 2 in 3 Americans over the age of 12 have access to the Internet and half of those go online every day, according to ACNielsen. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2240 ************************************************************************* >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< 800 & Domain Name Acquisition Management, Lost/Stolen 800 # Retrieval, Litigation Support, Regulatory Navigation, Correlating Domain Name & Trademark Matters. When success is the only option. >>>>>>>>>>>>> http://1800TheExpert.com <<<<<<<<<<<<< ************************************************************************* WhoSells800.com http://www.whosells800.com . where business shops for toll free service and numbers. Are you listed? http://www.whosells800.com/800serpro.cfm ************************************************************************* more HEADLINES FOR MAY 12, 2000 P - ECARD V E-CARDS - THE WINNER IS ... Mr. Warga said he thinks the case sets a dangerous precedent for international e-commmerce. "It's a severe blow to free enterprise in a worldwide marketplace when the United States thinks it can take jurisdiction over the rest of the world." CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2237 P - INVALUABLE - AND UNPROTECTED BY LAW Network Solutions recently won a lawsuit brought against them for the role they played in the theft of the domain name sex.com. At issue: whether or not a domain name is a legal piece of property that can be stolen. CONTINUED HERE: http://www.icbtollfree.com/article.cfm?articleId=2236 **************************************************advertisements********* If you like this service, Click Here to Recommend-It(r) http://www.recommend-it.com/l.z.e?s=118920 ..........................................and you could win $10,000! ************************************************************************* ICANNwatch ... http://www.icannwatch.org/archives/essays/930604982.shtml ************************************************************************* Haven't time to search? Get targeted telecom news every week from the source. Put 'subscribe Pipe' in the subject line and reply to: telecom_e_clips@hotmail.com. ************************************************************************* Read TOLLFREE-L online at http://www.egroups.com/group/tollfree-l/info.html ************************************************************************* One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com ************************************************************************* ABOUT ICB ICB HeadsUp Headlines Daily Email is sent by request. Subscriptions are free to qualified applicants. Visit http://www.icbtollfree.com/reg.cfm?NextURL=Index.cfm to sign up. Please feel free to pass along a copy to a friend, within reason so long as the message is not modified or used unfavorably. To unsubscribe mailto:editor@icbtollfree.com, subject: unsubscribe. *************************** ADVERTISING INFORMATION *************************** For information on advertising in ICB HeadsUp Headlines emails, contact: Judith Oppenheimer (mailto:joppenheimer@icbtollfree.com) ************************************************************************* Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. ************************************************************************* Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. All rights reserved. ************************************************************************* ------------------------------ From: Rob Slade Organization: Vancouver Institute for Research into User Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 08:16:10 -0800 Subject: Book Review: "Understanding Digital PCS", Cameron Kelly Coursey Reply-To: rslade@sprint.ca BKUNDPCS.RVW 20000227 "Understanding Digital PCS", Cameron Kelly Coursey, 1999, 0-89006-362-1, U$79.00 %A Cameron Kelly Coursey %C 685 Canton St., Norwood, MA 02062 %D 1999 %G 0-89006-362-1 %I Artech House/Horizon %O U$79.00 617-769-9750 fax: 617-769-6334 artech@artech-house.com %P 382 p. %T "Understanding Digital PCS: The TDMA Standard" PCS (Personal Communications Service) is generally known in North America as the "digital" type of cellular telephone. It would be more accurate to refer to the service as TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) or EIA (Electronics Industry Association) standard 136, which grew out of IS (Interim Standard) 136. Chapter one of the book shows the relation of PCS and T/EIA-136 to the analogue AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service), the European GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), and coming enhancements. Despite the alphabet soup, the material is quite readable. Chapter two outlines the advantages of PCS, although most of these accrue to the service provider. The TIA and EIA standards bodies are described in chapter three, as well as a rough outline of standards 130, 135, 136, 137, 138, and 641. The physical layer (air interface) is reviewed in chapter four. There is also some detail of the data structures, and an oddly mathematical intensity to the discussion of keying. Chapter five looks at the data link layer, concentrating on the related protocols. Management messages are the major emphasis in chapter six's presentation of the network layer. Chapter seven outlines the basic components and division of functions as the basis of network architecture. Function and the operations of mobile units are described in chapter eight. Chapter nine examines the issues and algorithms involved in changing from cell to cell while moving, as well as the hierarchy of cells and microcells. There is a look at sleep mode in chapter ten. Speech processing and call setup are the topic of chapter eleven. Chapter twelve looks at teleservice and roaming. Circuit switched data is examined in chapter thirteen, non-public services (private connections such as cordless phones) in fourteen, and special 1900 MHz functions in fifteen. Authentication and encryption, network parameters, and testing equipment are covered in chapters sixteen through eighteen. Chapters nineteen and twenty cover the near term future of TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), looking at global standardization and other developments. Oddly, no mention is made of competing technologies, such as the very strong CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) contender. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2000 BKUNDPCS.RVW 20000227 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade@vcn.bc.ca rslade@sprint.ca slade@victoria.tc.ca p1@canada.com Daughters of feminists love to wear pink and white short frilly dresses and talk of successes with boys/ It annoys/ Their Mums ... - Nancy White http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 15:17:09 -0400 From: E Cummings Subject: Verizonreallysucks.com Makes News Hi Pat, I think you and your readers will like this: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,36210,00.html bernieS ------------------------------ From: Ed Ellers Subject: Re: If No LD Carrier Can We Call 800/877 Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 23:23:40 -0400 PAT, the TELECOM Digest Editor, noted in reply: > Yes, you will be able to use toll-free services, since the other end is the > one paying for the call. However, telco will still charge for having 'none' > as your carrier choice. Not as much as a carrier listed as default, but > something. 57 cents/month, last time I looked. So far I haven't found a better deal for my mother (for 1+ service) than just paying this and using a 101-XXXX carrier (in her case 101-0432, which comes from Quest and charges 7 cents/minute off-peak with no minimums or monthly fees). ------------------------------ From: Gail M. Hall Subject: Re: Sprint Directory Assistance Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 21:23:27 -0400 Organization: APK Net On 11 May 2000 13:03:26 GMT, sjsobol@NorthShoreTechnologies.Net (Steve Sobol) posted to comp.dcom.telecom about "Re: Sprint Directory Assistance": > GTE Wireless, which gives out more wrong numbers than it should (in my > opinion), will give you a credit for wrong information if you ask for > it. My husband had an experience with AT&T Directory Assistance giving thim the wrong number. He had asked for the probate court in NYC but when he got the party on the he was told this was the probation department. The person also told him that "this happens all the time." He called AT&T back and reported the problem. They not only credited him the charge for the directory assistance but credited him for the long distance call where he reached the wrong party. They also said they would correct the information in their Directory Assistance. I told him that I had heard relatives refer to "probate" court as "surrogate" court, so maybe the operator just didn't understand the term "probate" court. Still, this is why the operators should be trained and better help people with these little mixups. Information should be in their database for some of these terms because things can be called different things in different places. Probate court is certainly NOT the same as the probation department even if the words sound similar. I really appreciated that AT&T was so nice about this matter. Gail M. Hall ------------------------------ From: Tony Pelliccio Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones Organization: Providence Network Partners Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 02:08:32 GMT In article , joel@exc.com says... > I had terrible luck w/ Omnipoint. My 1-month stint w/ Omnipoint was > the only time I was regularly told to call back from a "real" phone. > This was in New York City and the suburbs. Weird ... I've had nothing but good luck with my Omnipoint phone. From New Hampshire through CT I get a beautiful signal. I will admit that I had occasion to be in Manhattan for a house party and had to check my voicemail. It took over an hour to get a free 'channel' to place my call. Luckily my little Motorola doesn't give up, it keeps trying until it get through. Sure, it's hellish on the battery but there's always a compromise. Tony ------------------------------ From: Wolfgang F. Bultmann Subject: Differences Between German and US Telephone Systems? Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 03:51:25 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Before you buy. Hi there, Does anybody know what the differences are between the German and the US telephone system? I have a German telephone which I am using in the US. I can make phone calls without a problem. Unfortunately, my telephone doesn't recognize incoming calls, i.e. it doesn't ring :( And because of this the built-in answering machine is quite useless. Does anybody know if there is anything that I can do to make it work? Thanks, Wolfgang ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 23:59:43 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: If no LD Carrier Can We Dial 800/877? In V20I114, "Peter" wrote, > I have multiple phone lines at home. One of the lines is used for > incoming calls only. I am thinking of telling Bell Atlantic that I do > not want any long distance carrier assigned to that line so I don't > have to pay the FCC subscriber line charge for that line. What does one have to do with the other? Nothing. The "FCC subscriber line charge" has nothing to do with long distance. It's the federally-tariffed fraction of your monthly subscriber line p(phone line) rate. The rest is state tariffed. Due to the nature of the country's federal system of government, both the states and the federal government share jurisdiction over some things, including the phone wire on the poles, which provides access to you from an interstate network (anyone can dial you) and thus has mixed jurisiction. There's also a Primary Interexchange Carrier Charge which is levied against your LD carrier. If you no-PIC, then it's levied diretly against you. It's just a crappy trick for raising the aforementioned SLC by indirection. ------------------------------ From: Michael Martz Subject: Re: Slammed Again! Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 17:36:01 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Try 1-700-555-4141. The call is free. It doesn't give the exact PIC number, but it gives the carrier name. William H Smith wrote in message news:telecom20.114.6@telecom-digest.org... > We are getting slammed repeatedly. I would like to be able to check > each morning to reaffirm our LD, and Regional Carrier on TW and Bell > Atlantic in NYC. Does anyone know a number we can dial to check our > PIC and have it read back to us? > Bill Smith > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest you call your telco business > office and have them do the work. Tell them to can the crap and put a > freeze on your lines(s) so they will never get changed again. PAT] ------------------------------ From: hillary@hillary.net (hillary israeli) Subject: Re: * or # Numbers on the Highways? Date: 12 May 2000 22:31:33 GMT Organization: Debugging our net or deworming your pet... On Thu, 11 May 2000 13:27:01 GMT, wrote: > Example: > "Mr Smith, you claim that you were at home the entire night. But > explain how your portable telephone service records show that you were > in the building where your secretary lives" ?? "Certainly, sir. My secretary and I both use Nokia 6190s. We accidentally swapped phones that morning and didn't notice until the following day." hillary israeli.....................................hillary@netaxs.com "So that's 2 T-1s and a newsfeed....would you like clues with that?" hillary@hillary.net: for debugging your net or deworming your pet Net Access...The NSP for ISPs....The NOC that rocks around the clock. ------------------------------ From: bdoreste@copland.udel.REMOVE_THIS.edu (Brian A Doreste) Subject: Ameritech COCOTs at McDonalds? Organization: University of Delaware Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 19:17:56 GMT Some time ago, I have noticed that Ameritech COCOTs have been installed at many McDonald's locations in New Jersey and Delaware. This area seems to be quite far from Ameritech land. What gives? Brian A Doreste school email: bdoreste 'at' copland.udel.edu PO Box 7740 work email: bdoreste 'at' mail.dot.state.de.us Newark, DE 19714-7740 USA Univ of Delaware Civil Engineering Undergraduate Usual disclaimers apply Delaware Dept of Transportation|Traffic Ops/Mgmt ------------------------------ From: Jonathan Seder Subject: Re: Digital vrs. Analog Cell Phones Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 14:41:21 -0700 Organization: Don't Send Spam! >> Verizon (Bell Atlantic) lets you MANUALLY SELECT ANALOG MODE! At least >> on a Motorola 7760 StarTac. Why would you want to? Near Merced, California, my Sprint phone detected a digital carrier from another network and went into "digital roam" mode - but my phone wouldn't work on that network. I had to force analog to use my phone. Forcing analog also disables the time-consuming search for digital service when you power up your phone. This might be a help if you're in an area where you know you won't get digital service, like the backcountry, and you turn your phone off to save the batteries (analog does burn power). ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #115 ****************************** From editor@telecom-digest.org Sun May 14 01:51:09 2000 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.9.1/8.9.1) id BAA19902; Sun, 14 May 2000 01:51:09 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 01:51:09 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200005140551.BAA19902@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: TELECOM Digest V20 #116 TELECOM Digest Sun, 14 May 2000 01:51:00 EDT Volume 20 : Issue 116 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Re: Slammed Again! (William H. Bowen) Telephone Over Cable / Reliability (Thomas D. Horne) Re: Pay Phone Scam Series (Mike Pollock) Agile Networks? (Jason Wagner) Employment Opportunity: Telecom Positions (Indego/CTC,Inc.) Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works (Eric Bohlman) Re: What is a "PVP Diode?" (James Carlson) Yahoo! Lawsuit Strikes an Important Blow For Internet Privacy (M Solomon) Bug Hunters Find 'Cookie' Hole in IE (Monty Solomon) Automatic Electric (L. Winson) Call it Slash-and-Burn.org (Monty Solomon) Anonymous User Sues Yahoo! (Monty Solomon) Microsoft In the Hot Seat in New Net Flap (Monty Solomon) TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, 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 259 Independence, KS 67301 Phone: 805-545-5115 Email: editor@telecom-digest.org Subscribe/unsubscribe: subscriptions@telecom-digest.org This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm- unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and published continuously since then. Our archives are available for your review/research. We believe we are the second oldest e-zine/ mailing list on the internet in any category! URL information: http://telecom-digest.org Anonymous FTP: hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives) Email <==> FTP: telecom-archives@telecom-digest.org Send a simple, one line note to that automated address for a help file on how to use the automatic retrieval system for archives files. You can get desired files in email. ************************************************************************* * TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from * * Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate * * 800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting. * * http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com * * Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing * * views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc. * ************************************************************************* ICB Toll Free News. Contact information is not sold, rented or leased. Access to Premium (P) links requires upgrade to a paid subscription. One click a day feeds a person a meal. Go to http://www.thehungersite.com Only subscribers or registered users of ICB Toll Free News web site will be able to access all or some of the full text of URLs provided. LEGAL STUFF: TELECOM Digest (sm) is owned by Patrick Townson. Copyright 2000 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved. Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA. In addition, a gift from Mike Sandman, Chicago's Telecom Expert has 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 twenty 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: bowenb@best.com (William H. Bowen) Subject: Re: Slammed Again! Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 02:59:01 GMT Reply-To: bowenb@best.com William H Smith wrote: > We are getting slammed repeatedly. I would like to be able to check > each morning to reaffirm our LD, and Regional Carrier on TW and Bell > Atlantic in NYC. Does anyone know a number we can dial to check our > PIC and have it read back to us? > Bill Smith > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I suggest you call your telco business > office and have them do the work. Tell them to can the crap and put a > freeze on your lines(s) so they will never get changed again. PAT] Gentlemen, After I got slammed about two years ago, I contacted my LEC (Pacific Bell) and got it set back right. At that time, they asked me to specify a password that I would use to confirm any changes in the future. Since that time, I've had no problems (and, each time I call them for info or whatever on my account, they DO ask me for the password). Don't know if your LEC will do that, but if they will, take advantage of it. Regards, Bill Bowen bowenb@best.com Daly City, CA ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 14:44:51 -0400 From: Thomas D. Horne Organization: Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department Subject: Telephone Over Cable / Reliability From: J.F. Mezei > I know that the local cable provider in the region (Viderotron) is > having field trials with some if its > employees for telephone service over cable. > It consists of a black box that connects to the ethernet which > connects to a cable-modem which > connects to the coax cable plant. (Or does it connect separately > from the cable modem directly to > the coax "cableTV" cable? > I was told that the "black box" which converst from IP telephony > into POTS has its own battery > backup power that can last a few hours thus ensuring you have > telephone service during outages. > Is that really reliable enough? The answer is NO. There have been a number of natural disasters in this country that have left many thousands of homes without electric power for days. As soon as the batteries die you will not be able to make a 911 call. If you think your cell phone will save you think again. Many Cell sights use battery back up with designed duration's of as little as four hours under average load. The call load under disaster conditions is whatever the cell can carry not the seven day average call load. > Also, how about all the infrastructure on the streets ? How long can > that last with a power failure? > In the past, cable companies didn't care with a power failure since > folks couldn't watch TV without power anyways. > Have the cable companies really upgraded their cable plants to really > have enough autonomy to support realiable telephone service during > power outages? There may be some out there that have. But I would bet my last penny that it is not more than a small fraction of operators. > Also, today, I had an outage of the cable modem. Called the' > cable-data folks and they told me, > after much haggling, that they were aware of a problem in my area > and that it should be fixed > "soon". When pressed for a time, I was told between one to two > hours. Don't know how long before it had stopped working. > I would assume that the Voice-over-IP-over-cableTV schemes would > use the same data-cable > infrastructure (routers etc) and as such, would be as vulnerable > to failures as the current > cable-modem service is. What are cable companies doing to make > their cable service as reliable as the telephpne service ? > And out of curiosity, how come the telephone companies have been > able to acheive such > impressive uptime year after year, even during long power failures, > while cable companies can't > even come close? Is the coax cable plant much more complex that the > twisted pair infrastructure used by telcos? Keep in mind that the telephone came first. Public telephone networks have always been constructed as free standing systems. Under normal conditions they use public utility power to charge their batteries and power their equipment. Under power utility failure conditions they can generate enough electricity to operate continuously, under full demand, if fuel is available. Telephone central offices have battery capacity to carry them for twenty four hours if the generator fails. This allows sufficient time for the positioning and connecting of mobile generating equipment. Over the last forty years many communities have dismantled their public fire alarm systems. This occurred because the reliability of public telephone systems had become so good and the percentage of homes with telephones had come so close to 100% that it was rare to receive the first notice of a fire via the public alarm systems. Now the percentage of homes served is falling. If the telephone network reliability starts to go down as well then a very old fire service joke may become a serious matter. When a brand new fire fighter reports for his/her first shift they are sometimes told that they have the midnight fire watch on the roof. They are given a pair of binoculars, that are really meant for reading hazardous materials placards from a safe distance, and told to stand watch to scan the horizon continuously for the loom up of smoke from a fire. This gag is left over from a bit of fire service history. This was the actual practice in many cities in the days before telephones. A few historic fire houses have towers that were once the highest structure in their service areas. In one midwestern city the crew of a fire company that had set their rookie to fire watch got a big surprise when he came pounding down the stairs yelling. By pure luck he had been the first to spot a major structure fire in a business district over a mile from the fire house. Master Firefighter/Rescuer Thomas D. Horne speaking only for himself and not the Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department a cooperating agency of the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service Maryland, United States of America Well we Aren't no thin blue heroes and yet we aren't no blackguards too. Just working men and women most remarkable like you. ------------------------------ From: Mike Pollock Subject: Re: Pay Phone Scam Series Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 15:18:10 -0400 Organization: It's A Mike! > Pay Phone Scam Series (Mike Pollock) For your convenience, here are links to all three parts of the series from WSYR's Leila Walsh: "Dialing Deep in Your Pocket." http://www.sybercuse.com/news/2000/05/10/phone.ram http://www.sybercuse.com/news/2000/05/10/phone2.ram http://www.sybercuse.com/news/2000/05/10/phone3.ram ------------------------------ From: Jason Wagner Subject: Agile Networks? Date: 12 May 2000 16:16:47 GMT Organization: Primenet (602)416-7000 Hey All, Does anyone have any source of information on Agile Networks (bought by Lucent I believe) and a person/site where I might be able to buy/get product manuals, OS, or any information at all? Thanks! Jason Wagner, MCSE, CCNA System Integration Network Test Engineer NOKIA High Speed Access ------------------------------ Reply-To: Indego/CTC, Inc. From: Indego/CTC, Inc. Subject: Employment Opportunity: Telecom Positions Organization: Indego/CTC, Inc. Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 12:36:35 GMT Send Resumes Immediately ====================== Job #: IN-05001 Hands-on Site Manager located at military base in Hawaii. Responsible for over site of (EFTI), test and installation of ATM networks and outside plant supporting infrastructure. Must have hands-on knowledge of outside plant engineering and the ability to manage. Must have both outside plant and managerial capability. Heaviest emphasis on outside plant experience. No relocation offered, candidates must be willing to relocate on their own or already reside in the islands. Security clearance at Secret level a plus. Required Skills: Business Family: Infrastructure Engineering, Transmission/Circuit Medium : Optical Fiber Transmission Controls : ATM Specific Expertise Desired : Component Integration, Equipment Configurations, Site Installation Packages, Standards & Regulations, Test Drives, Topology Drawings, Transmission Candidate Requirements Communication Skills : Critical Telecom Experience : Greater than 5 years US Citizen : Yes Travel : No Position ID no. 00-508 Telecom Security: - 4 -6 month contract (Rockville) Checkpoint firewalls, guaranteed security on public networks...must be willing to travel frequently (nationwide) Position ID no. : 00-507 Performance Analysis/Design of ATM Network - 4 - 6month contract ATM, Optiview, Network design, sniffers Must be willing to travel frequently (nationwide). Experience in performance analysis and design of an ATM network. Position ID no. 00-509 Position in Piscataeway NJ - 4-6 month contract. Network Engineer to Set up DNS/Network Design. Must have experience in setting DNS for 20-340 servers..must have corporate view. Must be willing travel frequently. Position ID No. IN - 050002 DALLAS: one year contract: Consultation service to the (get this) Global/Submarine System markets. The candidate will be responsible for design of complex networks, employing state of the art network design techniques incorporating internal products and services. Contractor is also responsible for compiling all aspects of technical proposals, development and delivery of quotes to customer requirements. Must have knowledge of Lucent Products, and Global technologies. (SDH, SONET, DATA, Optical, ext.) Must be proficient in excel and PowerPoint. Indego/CTC, Inc. ~ Serving Government and Corporate Americas Telecomm Needs Thomas A. Baer, 703 626 9797 or email: indego-tb@worldnet.att.net ------------------------------ From: ebohlman@netcom.com (Eric Bohlman) Subject: Re: Telemarketer Stopper That Works Date: 12 May 2000 07:22:40 GMT Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Michael Maxfield (tweek@io.com) wrote: > Who the heck are these rude telemarketers who won't answer a straight > question? The reason my first question was "Is this a telephone > solicitation" was so that if it was, I could tell them "No Thank You" > and get the heck off the line and back to business. Obviously, since > she didn't want to facilitate my desire to let the telemarketing fish > off the hook, I made it worth my while ... and I ENJOYED IT! The reason they won't answer a straight question is that they're not allowed to. That "quality control monitoring" is to make sure they don't deviate from script. They're required to check both their brains and their manners at the door when they show up for work. The reason they're scripted, of course, is to make sure that they don't say anything that might be legally understood as a promise or committment. ------------------------------ From: James Carlson Subject: Re: What is a "PVP Diode?" Date: 12 May 2000 07:18:18 -0400 Organization: SUN Microsystems Inc. - BDC Ian W. Douglas writes: > What is a "PVP diode?" Hmm. The only context I've ever seen for this term is phreaking; specifically, something crudely called a "urine box." I know of no valid expansion for "PVP" in this context. I think it's either a misprint or otherwise confused. > I have heard that it is a silicon-germanium > bipolar diode. What does "bipolar" mean in this case? Bipolar means that it uses PN junctions. (Usually, you don't hear bipolar in this context. It means more for transistors, where there are bipolar types and FETs.) > How would the > characteristics of this type of diode be different from those of other > types of (presumably easier-to-find) diodes? Would a germanium > crystal diode of type 1N34A be a PVP diode? (I have four of these > left over from a previous AM radio project.) If not, then what would > the type designation(s) (e.g. 1N4733) be for a PVP diode? Looking at the diagram, I think any small-signal diode would be fine. I'd use a 1N914 because I have a lot of them, but a 1N34A should do just fine. James Carlson, Internet Engineering SUN Microsystems / 1 Network Drive 71.234W Vox +1 781 442 2084 MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.497N Fax +1 781 442 1677 "PPP Design and Debugging" --- http://people.ne.mediaone.net/carlson/ppp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 23:18:38 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Yahoo! Lawsuit Strikes an Important Blow For Internet Privacy http://www.aclu.org/news/2000/n051100a.html Yahoo! Lawsuit Strikes an Important Blow For Internet Privacy and Free Speech FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, May 11, 2000 NEW YORK--A federal lawsuit filed today in California could establish important protections for Internet privacy and anonymity, according to the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). The suit, filed against Yahoo! by a user of the service's popular financial message boards, challenges the company's practice of disclosing a user's personal information to third parties without prior notice to the user. Privacy and free speech advocates, including EPIC and the ACLU, have criticized Yahoo!'s policy on the ground that Internet users have a right to communicate anonymously and usually do so for valid reasons. Over the past year, Yahoo! has been inundated with subpoenas issued by companies seeking the identities of individuals anonymously posting information critical of the firms and their executives. "The right to anonymous speech should not be breached so easily," said Chris Hansen, a national ACLU lawyer who specializes in Internet speech. Without notifying the targeted users, and without assessing the validity of the legal claims underlying the subpoenas, Yahoo! systematically discloses identifying information such as users' names, e-mail addresses and Internet protocol addresses. Yahoo! is unique among major online companies in its refusal to notify its users of such subpoenas and provide them with an opportunity to challenge the information requests. Hansen said that the ACLU favors at least two legal protections for anonymous chatters. "Any complaint filed in court against an unknown Internet defendant should include specifics of the allegedly objectionable postings," he said. "Also, a judge should not allow a lawyer to issue subpoenas in these cases without requiring that the Internet service provider notify the potential defendant that someone is seeking information about him and giving him an opportunity to enter court to protect his anonymity." According to David L. Sobel, EPIC's General Counsel, "online anonymity plays a critical role in fostering free expression on the Internet, and has clearly contributed to the popularity of the medium." "The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that anonymity is a constitutional right, but practices such as those of Yahoo! may make that right illusory online," he added. The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles by "Aquacool_2000," a pseudonymous Yahoo! user whose personal information was disclosed to AnswerThink Consulting Group, Inc., a publicly held company. A copy of the lawsuit (in PDF) is available at: http://www.epic.org/anonymity/aquacool_complaint.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 23:13:39 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Bug Hunters Find 'Cookie' Hole in IE Personal information can be had if the victim uses Internet Explorer and clicks on a disguised string of JavaScript code. MS says a patch is coming. By Alan Boyle, MSNBC May 11, 2000 5:17 PM PT Computer bug-hunters have pointed out a way to snare personal information from a "cookie" file if the victim uses Microsoft Internet Explorer and clicks on a disguised string of JavaScript code. Microsoft said it was working on a patch for the security hole. The potential vulnerability was reported Thursday by Bennett Haselton and Jamie McCarthy on the Peacefire.org Web site. Haselton, who organized Peacefire as an anti-censorship group for young people, has worked on methods to circumvent content-blocking software in the past. More recently, he has pointed out a series of Web-based vulnerabilities involving Hotmail e-mail accounts as well as Microsoft and Netscape browsers. (Microsoft, which operates Hotmail, is a partner in MSNBC.) http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2568274,00.html ------------------------------ From: lwinson@bbs.cpcn.com (L. Winson) Subject: Automatic Electric? Date: 14 May 2000 03:05:19 GMT Organization: The PACSIBM SIG BBS In the "old days" General Telephone & Electronics had its manufacturing arm, known as Automatic Electric. Its telephones generally following Bell System practice though with some differences (for instance, the finger stop on the dial was located about 5 o'clock instead of 3:30 on WE dials, and the touch tone letters were staggered on pay phones with thinner buttons). AE single slot pay phones had the coin return on the opposite side. In some cases, AE had the lead, such as in step-by-step systems. Does Automatic Electric still exist? If not, does GTE still manufacture phones or switching systems? If not, when did they discontinue? Any general info about the waning days would be appreciated. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 22:54:31 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Call it Slash-and-Burn.org by Declan McCullagh 2:25 p.m. May 11, 2000 PDT Thursday just wasn't a good day for geek-culture destination Slashdot. First came the news that Microsoft ordered Slashdot to delete discussions of one of the company's security products. Just as angry Linux users were furiously lashing out at the nastygram from Redmond's legal department, a distributed denial of service attack hit Slashdot, taking it intermittently offline for a few hours. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36282,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 22:55:42 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Anonymous User Sues Yahoo! 'Aquacool' sues the portal giant, saying Yahoo! turned over personal information in another suit without providing notification. By Margaret Kane, ZDNet News May 11, 2000 11:25 AM PT A user of Yahoo! Inc.'s financial message boards, sued for defamation, has in turn filed suit against Yahoo! for turning over personal information without permission. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center immediately sided with the user against Yahoo!. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2567806,00.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 13 May 2000 22:59:35 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Microsoft in the Hot Seat in New Net Flap Software maker says it is protecting intellectual property. But row over Kerberos security spec is evolving into a free speech tussle. Who's right? By Mary Jo Foley, ZDNet News May 11, 2000 6:19 PM PT Microsoft Corp. again finds itself at odds with the open-source community in a dispute over contending claims regarding an Internet security protocol. Earlier this spring the company took heat for attaching proprietary extensions to the Kerberos security standard, which was developed within the open-source community. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2568294,00.html ------------------------------ End of TELECOM Digest V20 #116 ******************************