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TELECOM Digest Fri, 1 Apr 2005 21:30:00 EST Volume 24 : Issue 140 Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson Telecom Update #475, April 1, 2005 (John Riddell) Protecting Teens Online (Monty Solomon) Verizon's Pitch Could Signal Local Cable War (Monty Solomon) Exclusive: SBC Comments on the Vonage E-911 Issue (Jack Decker) Qwest Raises Offer For MCI (Telecom dailyLead from USTA) Microsoft Drops Teen Blaster Writer's $500,000 Fine (Lisa Minter) Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards (DevilsPGD) Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards (Henry) Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards (Richard Kaszeta) Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards (Lisa Hancock) Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards (Neal McLain) Re: GSM-900 (jason) Re: Every Ten Days (Dave Garland) Re: Every Ten Days (Choreboy) Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase (Dave Garland) Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase (jmeissen@aracnet) Does Your Computer Look Like This? (Patrick Townson) Last Laugh! Spammer With a Toll Free Number (Steve Shlichter) Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address- included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the email. =========================== Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters, viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome. We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands against crime. Geoffrey Welsh =========================== See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Telecom Update #475, April 1, 2005 Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 15:32:14 -0500 From: John Riddell <jriddell@angustel.ca> ************************************************************ TELECOM UPDATE ************************************************************ published weekly by Angus TeleManagement Group http://www.angustel.ca Number 475: April 1, 2005 Publication of Telecom Update is made possible by generous financial support from: ** ALLSTREAM: www.allstream.com ** AVAYA: www.avaya.ca/en/ ** BELL CANADA: www.bell.ca ** CISCO SYSTEMS CANADA: www.cisco.com/ca/ ** ERICSSON: www.ericsson.ca ** MITEL NETWORKS: www.mitel.com/ ** SPRINT CANADA: www.sprint.ca ** UTC CANADA: www.canada.utc.org/ ************************************************************ IN THIS ISSUE: ** Bell Begins IP Telephony Rollout ** Telus Says Shaw Breaks Local Phone Rules ** Telecom Review Members Selected? ** Nortel Hires New Technology Officer ** Entourage Technicians on Strike ** Satellite Carrier Distributes OneConnect VoIP ** Call-Net Wants Database Charges Slashed ** Yak Joins Peering Alliance ** Telus Wants Winback Ban Lifted ** CRTC Toughens Rules for Telco Service to Competitors ** Qwest Still Trying to Buy MCI ** Financial Results Cygnal Technologies SR Telecom WaveRider ** Report -- Cablecos to Get 11% of Home Phones ** CRTC Sets New Rules for 900 and 976 ** New IXPL Routes Deregulated ** One-Day Conference to Examine WiMAX ** CIRA to Hold Annual Meeting BELL BEGINS IP TELEPHONY ROLLOUT: Following several months of technical trials, Bell Canada's broadband IP telephone service, Digital Voice, is now available to consumers in Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, and Sherbrooke. Pricing depends on which unlimited long distance plan the customer selects: $38 for province-wide, $40 for Canada-wide, and $45 for Canada-U.S. There is no contract or activation fee, and the first month is free. ** The CRTC is expected to rule this spring on whether=20 incumbent telcos must file tariffs for this type of=20 service. TELUS SAYS SHAW BREAKS LOCAL PHONE RULES: Telus says Shaw is not complying with its obligations as a local phone service carrier, as set out in Decision 97-8. The telco wants the CRTC to order Shaw to stop offering local phone service until it can show it has met all requirements. ** Telus says Shaw deliberately launched local phone service in Calgary before it could provide equal access to all long distance carriers and comply with industry arrangements for transferring customers. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/t66_200503418.htm TELECOM REVIEW MEMBERS SELECTED? Today's Toronto Star reports industry speculation that the members of the panel to review Canadian telecom policy will be: Gerri Sinclair, former head of Microsoft's MSN.ca; Hank Intven, former Executive Director telecom at the CRTC, now a partner at McCarthy Tetrault; and Andre Tremblay, former CEO of Microcell Telecommunications. (see Telecom Update #470) NORTEL HIRES NEW TECHNOLOGY OFFICER: Gary Kunis, who was Cisco's Chief Science Officer until 2002, has been named Chief Technology Officer of Nortel Networks. Nortel's current CTO, Brian McFadden, has been appointed Chief Research Officer. Both appointments are effective Monday, April 4. ** Nortel will hold a combined 2004/2005 annual shareholders meeting in Toronto June 29. ENTOURAGE TECHNICIANS ON STRIKE: 1,400 technicians employed by Entourage Technology Solutions, the company that does residential repair and installation for Bell Canada, went on strike March 24. An Ontario provincial mediator has invited Bell and the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union to return to negotiations on April 4. ** Bell Canada recently announced plans to buy the 57% of Entourage it doesn't own, and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary. (See Telecom Update #470) SATELLITE CARRIER DISTRIBUTES ONECONNECT VoIP: RamTelecom, an Ottawa-based satellite services provider, has begun offering OneConnect's hosted IP telephony service across Canada, using its LinkStar platform. CALL-NET WANTS DATABASE CHARGES SLASHED: Call-Net says Bell Canada charges competitors exorbitant fees to update its database when customers request blocking of collect or bill-to-third-party calls. The current fee was set in 2000: Call-Net argues costs have plummeted since then, and only a 15% margin should be charged. ** Furthermore, Bell automatically charges this fee when numbers are ported to Call-Net, even though no additional database change is necessary. This accounts for 2/3 of the fees Bell has charged Call-Net for the service, amounting to "millions of dollars ... over the past six years." www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/c25_200502858.htm YAK JOINS PEERING ALLIANCE: Yak Communications, a VoIP provider in Canada, is among the six initial members of XConnect, a new international VoIP peering alliance that offers IP-based interconnection and VoIP phone number lookup services. TELUS WANTS WINBACK BAN LIFTED: Telus has asked the CRTC to eliminate, in Calgary and anywhere else Shaw offers phone service, the current rules preventing ILECs from attempting to win back local customers for 12 months after they choose a competitor's service. ** In Telus' view, "cable entry changes everything" and the reasons for the current rules no longer apply. www.crtc.gc.ca/PartVII/eng/2005/8622/t66_200503393.htm CRTC TOUGHENS RULES FOR TELCO SERVICE TO COMPETITORS: CRTC Decision 2005-20 sets 14 Quality of Service indicators that the major incumbent telcos must meet for services they provide to competitors, such as clearing service repair calls. If any indicator is missed, the ILEC must pay a rebate, up to a maximum of 5% of the competitor's payments for the period if all indicators are missed. ** The Commission says that the indicators are a minimum acceptable level of service, and that smaller penalties have proven to be insufficient to motivate the ILECs to meet required standards. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-20.htm QWEST STILL TRYING TO BUY MCI: The Verizon-MCI-Qwest saga continues. Despite repeated decisions by MCI's Board to accept a buyout offer from Verizon, Qwest is still pitching, and MCI agreed to meet with it again after the Denver-based telco has raised its offer to US$8.9 billion, $1.4 billion more than Verizon's. FINANCIAL RESULTS: The following results are for 2004: ** Cygnal Technologies reports revenues of $140 million, down 5% from 2003. EBITDA was nil, and the net loss of $0.8 million was slightly less than in 2003. ** SR Telecom had revenues of $124 million, down 3% from 2003, but fourth-quarter sales were down 40% from a year earlier. The net loss for 2004 doubled to $86 million. The company says it is experiencing "uncertainty associated with...refinancing issues." ** WaveRider Communications had revenues of $9.5 million, down 27% from 2003. The net loss of $6.3 million was up 24%. REPORT -- CABLECOS TO GET 11% OF HOME PHONES: The latest Convergence Consulting Group report on "The Battle for the North American Couch Potato" predicts that Canadian cable TV companies will capture 11% of the residential telephone market by the end of 2007. www.convergenceonline.com CRTC SETS NEW RULES FOR 900 AND 976: CRTC Telecom Decision 2005-19 establishes new consumer safeguards for 1-900 and 1-976 services. Content providers must disclose all charges at the beginning of the call, and cannot link toll-free calls to billable 900 services. Telcos must offer 900 call-blocking with no initial set-up charge, and must waive all reasonably disputed charges for first-time disputes. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-19.htm NEW IXPL ROUTES DEREGULATED: The CRTC has added several new interexchange private line routes to those on which the incumbent telcos no longer need to file tariffs, because competitors also serve those routes. www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2005/dt2005-18.htm ONE-DAY CONFERENCE TO EXAMINE WiMAX: The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association's will hold a one-day conference on WiMAX technology in Toronto on April 13. Conference program details are available at: www.cwta.ca/CWTASite/english/conference/WiMAX.html CIRA TO HOLD ANNUAL MEETING: The Canadian Internet Registration Authority will hold its 2005 annual general meeting in Toronto and online on April 28, 2005, noon to 3pm. To pre-register, visit www.cira.ca/en/agm/2005/agm-registration.html. HOW TO SUBMIT ITEMS FOR TELECOM UPDATE E-MAIL: editors@angustel.ca FAX: 905-686-2655 MAIL: TELECOM UPDAT 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: The fully-formatted edition is posted on the World Wide Web late Friday afternoon each week at www.angustel.ca 2. The e-mail edition is distributed free of charge. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to: join-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com To stop receiving the e-mail edition, send an e-mail message to: leave-telecom_update@nova.sparklist.com Sending e-mail to these addresses will automatically add or remove the sender's e-mail address from the list. Leave subject line and message area blank. We do not give Telecom Update subscribers' e-mail addresses to any third party. For more information, see www.angustel.ca/update/privacy.html. COPYRIGHT AND CONDITIONS OF USE: All contents copyright 2005 Angus TeleManagement Group Inc. All rights reserved. For further information, including permission to reprint or reproduce, please e-mail rosita@angustel.ca or phone 905-686-5050 ext 500. The information and data included has been obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but Angus TeleManagement makes no warranties or representations whatsoever regarding accuracy, completeness, or adequacy. Opinions expressed are based on interpretation of available information, and are subject to change. If expert advice on the subject matter is required, the services of a competent professional should be obtained. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 10:11:04 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Protecting Teens Online Pew Internet Report 54% of parents with teenagers use internet filters - a big jump from 2000 WASHINGTON, March 16 -- More than half of American families with teenagers use filters to limit access to potentially harmful online content -- a 65% increase from the number of those who used filters in 2000. But big majorities of both teens and parents believe that teens do things on the internet that their parents would not approve of. ... http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/100/press_release.asp http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/152/report_display.asp http://www.pewinternet.org/report_display.asp?r=152 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 10:32:32 -0500 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Verizon's Pitch Could Signal Local Cable War By Steven Rosenberg, Globe Staff | March 31, 2005 Coming soon to northern Massachusetts: Cable competition between Comcast and Verizon. Verizon, the voice, wireless, and data telecommunications company, has begun installing a fiber-optic network that it hopes will attract cable television subscribers in Lynn, Lynnfield, Topsfield, Nahant, Swampscott, and West Newbury. The network will also provide phone service and Internet service up to 7.5 times faster than Comcast's entry-level package. Verizon's announcement marks the first time a company has offered to build a separate cable television system in more than one community north of Boston. Currently Wakefield is the only community north of Boston where more than one cable company operates. RCN has been competing with Comcast there for several years. http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/03/31/verizons_pitch_could_signal_local_cable_war/ ------------------------------ From: Jack Decker <jack-yahoogroups@withheld on request> Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 11:28:07 -0500 Subject: Exclusive: SBC Comments on the Vonage E-911 Issue http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=328 -Posted by Russell Shaw @ 8:55 am In a previous post today, I surmised why SBC seems to be reluctant to work with Vonage to devise E-911 solutions. Now, SBC has their say. Spokesperson Wes Warnock just emailed me to clarify their position on this issue: "First, SBC recognizes that there are no shortcuts when it comes to public safety. That said, SBC does not own the 9-1-1 system. Public safety agencies do. "Vonage needs to take yes for an answer. We have 9-1-1 solutions in place for VoIP providers today. Vonage appears more concerned about finding ways to provide E9-1-1 on the cheap." Full story at: http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=328 How to Distribute VoIP Throughout a Home: http://michigantelephone.mi.org/distribute.html If you live in Michigan, subscribe to the MI-Telecom group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MI-Telecom/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 12:19:19 EST From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com> Subject: Qwest Raises Offer For MCI Telecom dailyLead from USTA April 1, 2005 http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20521&l=2017006 TODAY'S HEADLINES NEWS OF THE DAY * Qwest raises offer for MCI BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH * Time Warner testing mobile phone service in Kansas City * SBC picks Scientific Atlanta for video rollout * Stealthy startup seeks to shake up core routing market * Nortel taps a new CTO * A chat with Avaya's head honcho USTA SPOTLIGHT * At SUPERCOMM: Register today for the IP Video Conference EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES * BellSouth adds end-to-end class of service to VPN VOIP DOWNLOAD * ISPs dialing for dollars * New modem allows toggling between VoIP, SIP networks * Quebec's VoIP market gets more crowded REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE * T-Mobile lobbies for access to UNEs Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others. http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=20521&l=2017006 ------------------------------ Date: 01 Apr 2005 10:17:05 -0800 From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com> Subject: Microsoft Drops Teen Blaster Writer's $500,000 Fine SEATTLE (Reuters) - Jeffrey Lee Parson, the teen convicted of infecting 48,000 computers with a variant of the destructive Blaster worm, will not have to pay $500,000 in restitution to Microsoft Corp. the world's largest software maker said on Wednesday. Instead, the Minnesota teen will have to perform 225 hours of community service in addition to a year and half in prison and an earlier order to perform 100 hours of community service, once the final sentence is signed by Judge Marsha Pechman of the U.S. District Court in Seattle. He also will be placed under supervision for three years following the sentence. Microsoft, which released Parson from his financial obligation in a legal agreement signed by both parties earlier this week, said it was satisfied with the final sentence. "Mr. Parson's additional community service will have a stronger impact on him in serving his sentence," Tim Cranton, senior attorney at Microsoft, said in an e-mailed statement. Parson pleaded guilty last year to creating a variant of the worm, which infected computers in mid-2003 and targeted computers at Microsoft. Parson said he created his "B" or "teekids" variant of the Blaster worm and used it to access 50 computers which he then used to launch a broader attack on more than 48,000 computers. Blaster and its variants are self-replicating Internet worms that bore through a security hole in Windows, Microsoft's operating system which is found on more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers. NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra . Hundreds of new articles daily. *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This Internet discussion group is making it available without profit to group members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, in this instance, Reuters Limited. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ------------------------------ From: DevilsPGD <ihatespam@crazyhat.net> Subject: Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 20:26:27 -0700 Organization: Disorganized In message <telecom24.139.7@telecom-digest.org> T. Sean Weintz <strap@hanh-ct.org> wrote: >> Lastly, markers have that weird chemical smell. > And teenagers can sniff them ... Happens when you give them glue, > paint, correction fluid ... It will happen with markers. All the more reason to switch to whiteboards. Darwin's theories cease to function properly when you sink to the lowest common denominator. ------------------------------ From: henry999@eircom.net (Henry) Subject: Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 08:29:29 +0200 Organization: Elisa Internet customer John Hines <jbhines@newsguy.com> wrote: > White reflects light, so it would brighten up a room. Also, coloured markers on a whiteboard are more visually effective than coloured chalk on a black- or greenboard. Cheers, Henry ------------------------------ From: Richard Kaszeta <rich@kaszeta.org> Subject: Re: Blackboards vrs. Whiteboards Date: 01 Apr 2005 07:40:16 -0600 Organization: University of MN ME Dept Chris Farrar <cfarrar1307@rogers.com> writes: > Well, blackboards do generate chalk dust. And the way kids seem to > have alergies to almost everything under the sun, and parents that > will file contingency lawsuits if someone looks at their kids funny, I > wonder if it is to head off lawsiuts that the chalk dust is causing > Johnny's asthma to act up. As a frequent user of both types of boards in the past (teaching college classes), I can say that you also get dust from whiteboards, and it's the nasty grimy powder from the dry-erase markets. I don't like whiteboards anyways, since as a lefty they are very difficult to use; if my hand even lightly glances over what I just wrote, it wipes off, whereas chalk is fairly tolerant. That, and I've never gotten woozy from a chalkboard, whereas an afternoon spent entirely around whiteboards with uncapped markers will give you a pretty good buzz. Richard W Kaszeta rich@kaszeta.org http://www.kaszeta.org/rich ------------------------------ From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com Subject: Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards Date: 1 Apr 2005 08:08:16 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Barry Margolin wrote: > This web site mentions chalk dust as a common trigger of asthma > attacks in children: What I don't understand is that blackboards have been around for ages but asthma seems to be growing among kids. Given that, I wonder if chalkdust is really the cause. Another poster complained this was off-topic. This newsgroup tends to examine a variety of issues regarding all _communication_, not just telecom. BTW, I've seen electronic whiteboards that transmit the writings or produce a hardcopy, though they don't seem to get much use. Also, I must admit whiteboards can double as a projection screen, instead of having a separate screen. With the decrease of price in computer projectors and ease of products like PowerPoint (which I personally dislike), perhaps writings will be pre-done by computer rather than written on the fly. (There's also the older transparency overhead projector that's been around for a long time.) However, I have always found it easier to follow and take notes of a traditional lecture where the teacher writes on a blackboard as he goes along, rather than showing an entire frame all at once (and that disappears for the next slide). [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: When I first reviewed this subject in preparing the issue of the Digest a few days ago, my first thought was that Lisa was referring to the 'whiteboard' concept which is common in certain chat programs for computer: the screen is divided in two parts with half given over to a whiteboard on which the chat participants can 'doodle' or draw things for the other participants in the chat. PAT] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 11:15:34 -0600 From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> Subject: Re: Blackboards vs. Whiteboards Dale Farmer <dale@cybercom.net> wrote: > That this has nothing to do with telecom ... Unless it's an electronic whiteboard. http://tinyurl.com/3u8xe Neal McLain [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Well, see my other message in this issue on this topic. That's what I first thought Lisa was going to discuss, given the popularity of computers in schools these days and a teacher being able to display things at various student workstations around the room on the computer. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Jason <cheanglong@gmail.com> Subject: Re: GSM-900 Date: 1 Apr 2005 09:02:14 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com But since we transmit in x freq, then the receiver must tune to x feq in order to receive the signal right? Why transmit at x freq and receive at y freq? Or I have misunderstood. Kindly enlighthen. Thank you, Jason [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Because both microphones and loudspeakers basically tend to do the same thing. Have you ever plugged a microphone in to a 'speaker jack' or a speaker into a 'microphone jack'? They can do each other's jobs quite well, since, after all, each of them has something inside which tends to 'vibrate' to sound waves. If you ever had a microphone too close to a speaker, or a telephone too close to a radio (during a call in show you were talking on) you hear a squeal, or 'feedback', the noise caused by the sound waves you or someone is producing going around and around. Microphones not only 'hear' the principal sound being given to them, they also 'hear' the amplified sound of the original sound coming back to go around again. Changing the frequencies eliminates a lot of that problem. My explanation is probably not the best, but I hope it gives you the idea. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> Subject: Re: Every Ten Days Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:00:28 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when Choreboy <choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com> wrote: > March 9, somebody from 877 467 3277 called. I answered on the second > ring and they hung up. They did it again March 19 and March 29. Large telemarketing operations sometimes use dialers that call numbers, and when there is an answer shunt the call to an available human telemarketer. If all the telemarketers are busy (on the phone, on break, whatever), you get a few seconds of dead air, then it hangs up. This is an efficient use of the (probably minimum-wage) telemarketers, as they don't waste time dialing, waiting while it rings, getting answering machines, etc. The efficiency, of course, comes at the expense of the victims like you. ------------------------------ From: Choreboy <choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com> Subject: Re: Every Ten Days Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 11:29:17 -0500 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Choreboy wrote: > March 9, somebody from 877 467 3277 called. I answered on the second > ring and they hung up. They did it again March 19 and March 29. > A search engine turned up a coed 3,000 miles from here whose blog > reported the same thing in November: > " ... omg someone called me and then hung up ... here I got their > number it's 1-877-467-3277 lol so if you wanna call and bitch at them > do so." > If she was annoyed that somebody didn't apologize for misdialing, it's > hard to imagine that instead of dialing back immediately, she would > have thought it over and asked those who saw her blog to harass the > caller. It's easier to believe that because she has a blog, the > company offered her a commission for anyone who called in her name. > I suspect that people all over the country are receiving these hang-up > so some will call back to bitch because if these calls are logged, > their names can be sold on a list of people who, according to > somebody's interpretation of the law, are fair game for telemarketers. > I hesitate to call the toll-free number, but I don't want to keep > running to answer the phone for a company that intends to hang up on > me. What should I do? > Choreboy > [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: That telephone number 1-877-467-3277 > belongs to 'Sears Home Improvement Products'. PAT] Thank you. How did you find out? It seems strange that they've hung up on me every time they called, and the California blogger reported the same thing. Could dialing that number establish a "business relationship" with the telemarketer? Would it be safer to complain by some other channel? [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The way I found out was by using a phone line *not associated with myself* letting it ring until a woman answered (I did it twice to make sure that 877-467-3277 was answered 'Sears Home Improvement Products' both times) then I chose to belch in a rather noisy, obscene manner each time before disconnecting. Considering the dump I live in, which is likely as not to blow down or away in a Kansas tornado sometime, I did not see where Home Improvements could be of any use, at least not if _I_ had to pay for them, which is what, I suspect, the woman at 877-467-3277 had in mind for me. PAT] ------------------------------ From: Dave Garland <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> Subject: Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 21:05:46 -0600 Organization: Wizard Information It was a dark and stormy night when Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> wrote: > It seems that Sprint has been added to the Open Relay DataBase... > Has anyone here had this happen to their ISP? How long did it take to > get it resolved? Every now and again, one of my ISP's mail servers will find its way onto a RBL (realtime blackhole list) such as that. Usually they get it resolved in a couple of hours. But my ISP is pretty proactive about stomping on spammers and people with open relays. Maybe if the RBL proprietors thought they were lax, it might take a bit longer to get off. (And every RBL has its own criteria, one or two have reputations of being very slow to unlist.) ------------------------------ From: jmeissen@aracnet.com Subject: Re: Sprint PCS Vision Added to Open Relay DataBase Date: 1 Apr 2005 16:22:38 GMT Organization: http://extra.newsguy.com In article <telecom24.138.7@telecom-digest.org>, Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com> wrote: > It seems that Sprint has been added to the Open Relay DataBase > <www.ordb.org> by mistake somehow. Sprint has no idea how this > happened, and they can't tell me when this will be resolved. Riiiigghht. From the ORDB web pages, "stores IP-addresses of verified open SMTP relays." The verification is done by a series of automated tests. They also attempt to notify the postmaster at the listed site when they become listed, and removal is as easy as requesting to be retested. Frankly, I wouldn't believe anything a Sprint customer service rep tells me. It's their job to make you believe that any problem with service is not theirs. John Meissen jmeissen@aracnet.com ------------------------------ From: Patrick Townson <ptownson@cableone.net> Subject: Does Your Computer Look Like This? Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 18:02:41 -0600 In 1954, the well-known Popular Electronics Magazine in connection with the Rand Corporation put together an artist's conception of what computers would look like in fifty years, in 2004. Look at it here. http://www.mountainwings.com/past/5082.htm This is _not_ an April Fool's joke. PAT ------------------------------ From: shlichter1@aol.com <shlichter1@aol.com> Subject: Spammer With a Toll Free Number Date: 1 Apr 2005 16:38:12 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Sounds like they want my credit card of SS number to ripe me off. From the ringback tone it appears to be an off shore system. Everyone call and see about claiming your prizes. THE ONLY GOOD SPAMMER IS A DEAD ONE!! HAVE YOU HUNTED ONE DOWN TODAY? (c) 2005 I Kill Spammers, Inc. A Rot in Hell Company. --- Here is the message received in email --- Please call me at 1-866-677-4100. I previously tried to contact you at 951-352-0222, but was unable to reach you. This is reference to an entry form you filled out, either on-line or at a major mall or movie theater. I actually have some decent news in regards to the $500 shopping spree and Global Travel or Chevrolet / Lexus contest. I have an address, claim number, and further details for you. Since all prizes are well over $500, I will need a few moments of your time to cover all related lottery-type information from procuring your prizes due to any tax issues on them. Sincere congratulations! The Prize Claim Coordinators P.S. For your convenience, I am available 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM Central Standard Time, Monday to Friday 172.128.38.11 Dec 9 2004 1:29AM Sender: The Prize Claim Coordinators 105 South River Rd North Aurora, IL, 60542 ------------------------------ TELECOM Digest is an electronic journal devoted mostly but not exclusively to telecommunications topics. It is circulated anywhere there is email, in addition to various telecom forums on a variety of networks such as Compuserve and America On Line, Yahoo Groups, and other forums. It is also gatewayed to Usenet where it appears as the moderated newsgroup 'comp.dcom.telecom'. TELECOM Digest is a not-for-profit, mostly non-commercial educational service offered to the Internet by Patrick Townson. All the contents of the Digest are compilation-copyrighted. You may reprint articles in some other media on an occasional basis, but please attribute my work and that of the original author. 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