From editor@telecom-digest.org Tue Jun 8 01:43:30 2004 Received: (from ptownson@localhost) by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.11.6p3/8.11.3) id i585hUH06724; Tue, 8 Jun 2004 01:43:30 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 01:43:30 -0400 (EDT) From: editor@telecom-digest.org Message-Id: <200406080543.i585hUH06724@massis.lcs.mit.edu> X-Authentication-Warning: massis.lcs.mit.edu: ptownson set sender to editor@telecom-digest.org using -f To: ptownson Approved: patsnewlist Subject: TELECOM Digest V23 #281 TELECOM Digest Tue, 8 Jun 2004 01:43:00 EDT Volume 23 : Issue 281 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Sonos Digital Music System (Monty Solomon) Verizon's New 'SuperPages On the Go' Gives Cell Users Quick (Monty Solomon) Supermarkets Look to Automated Checkout (Monty Solomon) California Group Sues Wireless Companiess Over 'Locked' Phones (M Solomon) Apple Unveils AirPort Express for Mac & PC Users (Monty Solomon) Rhino Retro Club (Monty Solomon) Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam (Barry Margolin) Dialpad Experiences? (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Re: Declan McCullagh: Why the FCC Should Die (Fred Goldstein) Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged (Tony P.) Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know (Tony P.) Re: Tapping Telephone Lines - 1970s (Tony P.) Usenet Frustration (Lisa Hancock) Free IP PBX Tutorials, Whitepapers, PDF's -- Get IP PBX (Sitekeeper) Last Laugh! Pompous Circumstances (TELECOM Digest Editor) All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 18:45:23 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Sonos Digital Music System Multi-Zone Digital Music System Renders the Traditional Black Stereo Rack Obsolete CARLSBAD, CALIF., June 7, 2004 - Digital music fans can now listen to rock in the garden, punk in the playroom and fusion in the bedroom, with the launch of the Sonos Digital Music System, which is previewing this week at the "D2: All Things Digital" conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The Sonos offering is the first and only multi-zone digital music system with a wireless, full-color LCD screen controller that lets consumers play all their digital music, all over their home, while controlling it all from the palm of their hand. The Sonos Digital Music System is comprised of two stylish components: the Sonos ZonePlayer, a networked audio player that distributes, plays and amplifies music in any "zone" in the home, and the Sonos Controller, a wireless handheld device with a full-color screen which allows the user to access, customize and control the music anywhere- from the bedroom to the backyard. The ZonePlayer delivers great sound in every room through a powerful and compact 50 Watts/channel amplifier with component-quality audio specifications. The ZonePlayer can access and play a wide variety of music formats, including MP3, WMA, AAC (MPEG4) and WAV, stored on a PC, Mac or Network Attached Storage (NAS), and comes bundled with customizable Internet Radio stations. Built-in wired and wireless capabilities provide the consumer flexibility of installation at no extra cost. The intuitive Controller, designed with a full-color LCD screen and touch-sensitive scroll wheel, provides consumers with simplicity - pick a zone, pick a song and hit play - unrestricted by line of sight. Consumers can play the same song synchronously in every room or play different songs in different rooms, queue-up favorites for the evening or rediscover their collection via random play; the options are virtually unlimited. The high resolution LCD shows what is playing in any zone at any time, including album art when available. Network set-up is simple as the system automatically configures a secure wireless mesh network that seamlessly links the consumer's existing digital music library to the ZonePlayers and Controllers. The systems modular design allows the user to decide upon the number of ZonePlayers and Controllers needed based upon lay-out of the home and personal needs. http://sonos.com/news_and_reviews/press_releases/2004/pr_0606_launch.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 21:58:52 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Verizon's New 'SuperPages On the Go' Gives Cell Users Quick Access Access to Driving Directions, Weather Reports, Movie Show-Times and Much More SAN DIEGO, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers can now quickly find the latest hit movie, where it's playing and when it's showing just by tapping a few keys on their mobile phones. The newest generation of Verizon's SuperPages On the Go finds everything from hot movies to cool weather forecasts anywhere in the United States. Maps and driving directions, directory information -- even Mobil Travel Guide restaurant and hotel reviews -- are available. "It's nationwide information in your pocket," said Pat Marshall, vice president -- marketing for Verizon Information Services. "Today's wireless users depend on their phone to be more than just a communications device. SuperPages On the Go revolutionizes the way consumers use their cell phones." Verizon unveiled its advanced version of SuperPages On the Go today at the annual BREW Developers Conference in San Diego. The new application is available on Verizon Wireless LG6000, 4600 and 4500 phones. Consumers can download Verizon SuperPages On the Go for $1.25 for daily use or $2.49 a month for unlimited usage -- about the cost of two directory assistance calls. Nationwide features include: -- White and yellow pages listings -- Reverse number lookup -- Weather reports and forecasts -- Mobil Travel Guide restaurant and hotel reviews -- Maps and driving directions -- Movie information, including show times, locations and feature highlights - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41823970 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:00:30 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Supermarkets Look to Automated Checkout By IRA DREYFUSS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supermarket checkout clerks are going the way of the bank teller _ available if you want one, avoidable if you don't. Self-checkout machines, which let customers scan, bag and pay for their own groceries, offer shoppers a chance to avoid the lines at the checkout stands. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41820013 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 22:02:34 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: California Group Sues Wireless Companies Over "Locked" Phones LOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) - Claiming cell phone users are being unfairly denied the right to use existing handsets when they switch carriers, a California consumer group sued three of the nation's largest wireless companies on Monday. In a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. (NYSE:AWE) and T-Mobile USA were unfairly "locking" phones so that even if a customer changed their phone number to a different carrier, they could not continue to use the same phone. A spokeswoman for Cingular, a joint venture of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS), said the company had not reviewed the suit and could not comment. A spokesman for AT&T Wireless was not immediately available to comment. A spokesman for T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DE:DTEGn), said the company does not comment on litigation. In the lawsuit, the foundation said that because the companies all use the same wireless network standard, called GSM, customers should be able to use the same phone across those carriers' networks just by changing out an easily-replaced unit called a "SIM card" inside the phone. But the foundation said the carriers use techniques to lock the phones so that customers can not carry them from one service to another, except in certain circumstances. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41839422 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 21:47:32 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Apple Unveils AirPort Express for Mac & PC Users World's First 802.11g Mobile Base Station Features AirTunes Music Networking CUPERTINO, Calif., June 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today unveiled AirPort(R) Express, the world's first 802.11g mobile base station that can be plugged directly into the wall for wireless Internet connections and USB printing, or thrown into a laptop bag to bring wireless freedom to hotel rooms with broadband connections. Airport Express also features analog and digital audio outputs that can be connected to a stereo and AirTunes music networking software which works seamlessly with iTunes(R), giving users a simple and inexpensive way to wirelessly stream iTunes music on their Mac(R) or PC to any room in the house. AirPort Express features a single piece ultra- compact design weighing just 6.7 ounces, and will be available to Mac and PC users starting in July for just $129. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41827585 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2004 21:52:43 -0400 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Rhino Retro Club Rhino Records and Verizon Wireless Launch Rhino Retro Club New Subscription Service Offers Verizon Wireless Get It Now Subscribers Ringtones, Wallpaper and Content from Leading Catalog Music Label SAN DIEGO and BEDMINSTER, N.J., June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhino Records and Verizon Wireless, the nation's leading wireless provider, today announced the debut of the Rhino Retro Club, a new service available exclusively to Verizon Wireless Get It Now(R) customers. Verizon Wireless customers with select Get It Now-enabled phones can now download the Rhino Retro Club application and access ringtones, wallpapers and other digital content from famous Rhino and Warner Music Group artists. Verizon Wireless customers of all ages now have access to their favorite oldies-but-goodies by downloading Rhino Retro Club onto their Get It Now- enabled wireless phones. Available through Verizon Wireless' Get It Now virtual store, the Rhino Retro Club connects its members to some of the greatest popular music of the past half-century. With plenty of titles to choose from, Rhino Retro Club offers customers the ability to browse through and choose songs from their favorite artists including, Aretha Franklin, The Doors, The B-52s, Echo & The Bunnymen, and Chicago. - http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=41827639 ------------------------------ From: Barry Margolin Subject: Re: Zombie PCs Spew Out 80% of Spam Organization: Looking for work Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 21:46:48 -0400 In article , John McHarry wrote: > SELLCOM Tech support wrote: >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in China, CUT CHINA!!! >> Yes, when a spam site pops up in Russia, CUT RUSSIA!! > It is a nice daydream, but it isn't just that it won't be done that > way, it would be technically "very difficult". The Internet was > designed to be self healing. True, it appears to hub and spoke out of > the US at present, but there are all sorts of other paths. If an > ISP's, or a country's path through the US is cut, its traffic will > automatically reroute to whoever is still connected that has the best > path. If an ISP is filtering traffic, it doesn't matter what route it takes -- it should be filtered at all the borders. Or they can put the filter on their mail servers. Also, the Internet isn't quite as self-healing as you think. Most ISPs prohibit transit traffic except from their paying customers. The only routes they advertise are for their customers' networks, not networks that they can reach via another ISP. In an emergency they can adjust this (e.g. after 9/11, ISPs whose interconnects were still up were providing transit service for those who lost theirs in the attack), but normally this is how it works. It would be possible for a country to force their traffic to reroute manually, but if the ISP they're hijacking for this notices they'll just cut them off, and probably notify other ISPs that this is happening. Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu Arlington, MA *** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me *** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 01:55:48 GMT From: joel@exc.com (Dr. Joel M. Hoffman) Subject: Dialpad Experiences? Organization: Excelsior Computer Services I'll be overseas soon, and I was thinking how convenient it would be to be able to make cheap phone calls back to the US over an Internet connection, because I expect I'll have access to the Internet, but my GSM phone won't always have service. (It will also be much cheaper, because even where I *do* have service, like at the airport, I'll be paying exorbitant roaming fees.) Well, not surprisingly, it turns out that a company already offers this: Dialpad. Has anyone here used Dialpad? Anything I should know before signing up? It looks great for what I need. Thanks. -Joel ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 21:59:21 -0400 From: Fred Goldstein Subject: Re: Declan McCullagh: Why the FCC Should Die Declan McCullagh wrote in CNET, quoted on the Digest, > It's time to abolish the Federal Communications Commission. > The reason is simple. The venerable FCC, created in 1934, is no longer > necessary. McCullagh's position is wrongheaded, and highly anticompetitive. His article actually cites Huber's book, which proposed converting existing radio station licenses into property, so that the licensee of an FM radio station instead ends up with chattel ownership of 200 kHz, to do what they want with it. It's a wingnut's fantasy, a huge transfer of public wealth (the radio spectrum) to private interests (licensees), with the current need to serve the "public interest" replaced by a total obeisance to shareholders' interests, in the name of doctrinaire laissez-faire capitalism. But it's the telecom area that really needs countering. Yes, the current FCC is profoundly broken. It's internally paralyzed, has a new internal organizational model that is certainly no serious improvement over the old one, and cannot express a thought clearly. It regulates by indirection, picking winners and losers privately and coming up with indirect ways to favor them. Its main beneficiaries are the lawyers who try to pick up after them. So one might think that the FCC's charter is broken, but that's not it at all. It's simply the leadership and the politics behind it; this FCC, much worse than its predecessor, is clearly led by a celebrity princeling who just doesn't get it. A change in leadership is necessary, not abolition. The reason is simply that the telecommunications industry *is* highly concentrated. The Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers have monopoly power. In the European Union, IIRC, a company with a 25% market share is suspected of having monopoly power, and scrutinized for abuses thereof. The USA is very, very loose on antitrust regulation, and the ILEC monopolies were granted legally, so the antitrust laws only (per the Trinko decision) apply to attempts to extend the monopolies into new areas. Demonopolization is entirely the province of the Telecom Act, not antitrust. And the Telecom Act puts the FCC in the lead. Without regulation, a monopoly will simply squash competitors. This is particularly true in telecom for two reasons. One is the "natural monopoly". This refers, properly (albeit not in popular use), to the case where a given industry has positive economies of scale and a dominant provider. The unit cost of the dominant provider is lower than that of a new competitor, so the economics of competition are dismal. Wireline local services, including cable, in particular are subject to this. Most of the cost is in passing homes, so a 10% market-share player's cost will be several times higher than a 70% market-share player's. Overbuilders thus tend to "win" only in niche markets where the incumbent's service is substandard and thus a new competitor is clearly superior. The other reason is the network effect: A network's value rises with the number of users that it reaches. Federal regulations, enforced by the FCC, require *interconnection* between networks. A CLEC with ten customers can interconnect as a peer with the incumbent. The incumbent, of course, has no interest in allowing this. The incumbent, absent regulation, would shut off interconnection to its competitors in a heartbeat. This wouldn't occur if the incumbent's market share were small, but it's necessary to force interconnection *until* the monopoly is broken, and the ex-monopoly has a pecuniary interest in retaining interconnection. The Internet has no dominant player, so everyone willingly interconnects. Worldcom wasn't allowed to buy Sprint, largely for that reason. (Thank the EU's "SuperMario" Monti for leading the opposition.) In an FCC-less fully-deregulated world, Verizon and SBC would not be so kind. They might deign to permit competitors to purchase access to their networks, as premium-priced customers rather than peers, if they thought it was profitable enough. That's hardly a way to get competition though. Remember, the only reason the public Internet exists is because the FCC, over the *strenuous* objections of the Bell System, overrode restrictions on "sharing" of leased lines. Before that, non-common-carrier networks (like the Internet) could not be run between customers. Leased lines, necessary for high-speed data, were limited to intra-company use. And the FCC, over the *strenuous* objections of ILECs nationwide, overrode restrictions on "foreign attachments", devices like modems, answering machines, telephone sets, and PBXs. Before 1970, you had to rent your phone from the telco, and if you had a dialup modem, it was $25/month to rent a 300-bps Model 103. And they had little incentive to come up with better ones. Competition in a formerly-monopolized industry is not the result of *deregulation*. It's the result of *reregulation* (a term more often seen in Europe), a changed regulatory paradigm that focuses on overcoming the impact of market dominance, and of making room for competitors. The current FCC does not seem to understand this very clearly, but that's not a reason to abolish regulation altogether and hand everything back to unregulated monopolies. And if anyone is foolish to think that "VoIP will solve it", they should note that without interconnection, it would have very few people to talk to, and without regulation, the monopolists who own the wires would have every right to take countermeasures to block its use. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Public Copy Cost Unchanged Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:01:00 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says: > In the case of busses, look at the price of fuel. The diesel bus was a > cruel joke perpetrated on many cities in the United States. The > replacement of electric trolleys with those diesel behemoths meant > transit companies were on the hook for both fuel and other consumables > like tires, etc. > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The Chicago Transit Atrocity -- err -- > Authority was sold quite a bill of goods by Detroit auto makers when > they switched from streetcars and electric trolley busses to motorized > busses fifty years ago. They were told every reason in the world why > street cars and electric trollies were less effecient than the good > old deisel gas fume, belching busses they wound up with. Pretty soon, > they started believing those stories themselves, and began passing > them on to the inquiring public. PAT] Interestingly Rhode Island Public Transit Authority used to be a complete joke pre-1997 or so. Then Beverly Scott took over as general manger and things started to happen. Busses that were past their 12 year prime were retired and new Nova and Orion busses were brought in. They were bought in 1998, 2000, 2001 and then nothing until this year as I'm starting to see 04xx busses on the roads now. And in 1999 they initiated the Providence Link trolleys. They run on CNG but other than the hours of about 6:30AM to 9:00AM and 3:00PM to 6:00PM they see very little ridership though now that they actually go to useful endpoints that's changing. But fuel costs are killing them. Meanwhile there are pictures all over Kennedy Plaza and downtown Providence showing the electric trolleys that used to run all over Providence and out to the then burbs (It was 1948 after all, and what are the burbs now were farm land.) To keep this telecom related -- if you go out to the CO's in those expansion areas you will always see the add on brick blocks for the a/c and other gear needed for the digital switches. ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Who Got the Message? There's a Way to Know Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:02:22 GMT In article , kd1s@nospamplease.verizon.reallynospam.net says: > In article , monty@roscom.com > says: >> By MARK GLASSMAN >> A NEW service promises to pull back the curtain on anyone hiding >> behind the common white lie "I never got your e-mail." Users of the >> service, DidTheyReadIt (didtheyreadit.com), can clandestinely track >> when and where their e-mail is read. >> The service, which has already drawn complaints from privacy >> advocates, offers a new and quiet way to harvest behavioral >> information about friends, colleagues and potential consumers. >> "There's a type of covert surveillance here," said Marc Rotenberg, >> president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit >> privacy advocacy group. "Just from a technology viewpoint, it's >> basically an evil service." >> E-mail programs like Eudora and Outlook have long offered an optional >> return-receipt feature, which prompts the recipient of a message to >> inform the sender that they have opened the message, and another >> service, Msgtag (www.msgtag.com), notifies users by e-mail when their >> outgoing messages have been opened. But DidTheyReadIt is the first >> such service to keep itself a secret from the recipient, as well as >> the first to report on where the message was read. >> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03spyy.html > Easy enough to defeat. Just put a new rule on the firewall that > doesn't let it get back. Who would have thought it, or prevent viewing > HTML in Eudora or Outlook -- that can be done too. To follow up -- you can also put a host entry that points didtheyreadit.com to 127.0.0.1 -- that stops it too. Tony ------------------------------ From: Tony P. Subject: Re: Tapping Telephone Lines - 1970s Organization: ATCC Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 03:03:30 GMT In article , hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com says: > Someone was telling me that the 'authorities' (local or fed) were > tapping their telephone line in the 1970s. One spouse was active in > the civil rights movement. > She claimed she knew this because her phone line was frequently noisy > and there was a phone co truck often parked outside their apt. > It is my understanding that if "they" wanted to tap your phone line, > they knew what they were doing and you wouldn't hear a thing. I > recall a visit to a phone co C.O. in the main dist frame there were > numerous cords running to the ceiling spliced into leads. The guide > explained they were "test leads" and that they were used to test a > phone line. I was surprised there were so many. I also presumed they > could be used for wiretapping. Basically, the authorities would order > the phoneco to set up a tap on such-and-such a line, and the phoneco > people would do it or permit it to be done. > So, hearing clicks/wrong numbers on your phone doesn't mean at all > your phone is tapped. As to the phoneco truck outside, I suspect they > were patronizing the deli underneath her apt for lunch. > I also suspect the noise/wrong numbers she had was from being served > by an old center city electro-mech switch and cabling, I know such > switches were far from error free in those days and strange things > happened from time to time. Back then they wouldn't tap at the location but at the CO, same as they do today. And pen-registers were a big deal -- those were installed at the CO too. Many times they'd extend the pair to the entity doing the tapping at their location. Made it easier to change tapes and what have you. ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com (Lisa Hancock) Subject: Usenet Frustration Date: 7 Jun 2004 20:22:23 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com Using Usenet always takes a thick skin, a sense of humor, and a grain of salt. One must expect many posts will be "out there". I am discouraged tonight after reading some of trash, despite adding numerous names to my personal skip list. One thing disturbing is the vehement EXTREME political statements that people make, that color a substantive issue under discussion. People talking about photography manage to bring Bush into the discussion and blame him for all the world's ills. When Clinton was President, many discussions turned on him, and people either hated him or loved him, and flame wars erupted. Since I have a slow modem, it takes time even to skip headers. Now with Bush Jr and the war, there is equally vehement posts with filthy diatribes on both sides of the political aisle. I guess what really got me tonight was all the hate posts about Reagan's death. Now I didn't particularly care for Reagan and never voted for him, but having lost a member of my own family not too long ago, the "glad he's dead" posts and the volume of them do disturb me. ------------------------------ From: sitekeeper@intersyncsolutions.com (sitekeeper) Subject: Free IP PBX Tutorials, Whitepapers, PDFs -- Get IP PBX Smart Now Date: 7 Jun 2004 21:22:42 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com All, We have new and FREE resources on Internet Phone Technology. http://www.intersyncsolutions.com Become knowledgeable and familiar with IP Telephony. ALL FREE KNOWLEDGE TUTORIALS Great for: -Technology Professionals, Business Managers, IT Managers. -Businesses looking to implement IP Telephony Technology. Tell a friend! http://www.intersyncsolutions.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2004 00:44:43 EDT From: TELECOM Digest Editor Subject: Last Laugh! Pompous Circumstances A peculiar television commercial lately has come from America On Line, and a program they have called 'UPromise'. To the strains of Sir Edward Elgar's march, a young lady walks on to a stage, and is making a speech. Her speech says, "my parents always told me if I found some place to go college, they would find some way to pay for it; so thanks, mom and dad." The camera focuses on mom and dad in the audience, who are beaming with pride. The audience applauds. "Oh, and thanks also to (name) and (name)." More applause. A man in the audience cranes his neck and waves his arm to get attention. The organist or whoever continues playing the march; the young lady looks at the man craning his neck and waving his arm and says "oh yes, you too, (name). Then her eyes fill with tears and she says "but most of all, thank you, Buddy", and the little stick figure AOL uses to promote its AOL Chat feature is shown with a big smile on his (its?) face also. Then a voice cuts in to say that "UPromise works with AOL and these other fine companies, (several are then named.)" I have never heard of UPromise; does anyone know how it works or what it does? I am aquainted with Edward Elgar's work however; my friend who is the municipal organist here says he can play it in his sleep, after doing it two or three times in one week, the past week; once for Independence High School, once for Independence College, and once for some other school which contracts his services. But who knows about UPromise? PAT] ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. 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