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TELECOM Digest     Sat, 30 Apr 2005 20:45:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 190

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    EPIC Alert 12.07 (Monty Solomon)
    EFFector 18.12: Action Alert - Stop the REAL ID Act! (Monty Solomon)
    EPIC Alert 12.08 (Monty Solomon)
    White Noise After Hangup (Choreboy)
    Michigan Threatens to Sue Vonage - Claims 911 Limitations (Jack Decker)
    Is There a Device to Block Selected Incoming Numbers (Jim Kennedy)
    Cingular / sms.ac Ripoff Alert (John R Levine)
    Re: The End of Analog TV (Steve Sobol)
    Re: VoIP (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: VOIP: 911 - Vonage vs Time-Warner Roadrunner (Tony P.)
    Re: The End of Analog TV (Tim@Backhome.org)
    Re: Lingo (Primus Telecommunications) Horror Story (Not Public)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
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               ===========================

See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest.  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:50:52 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EPIC Alert 12.07


========================================================================
                             E P I C  A l e r t
========================================================================
Volume 12.07                                              April 7, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Published by the
                Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
                             Washington, D.C.

              http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.07.html

========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================

[1] Congress Holds Hearings to Review USA PATRIOT Act
[2] Commercial Data Brokers Grilled at California Hearing
[3] EPIC Urges Privacy Safeguards for RFID and Copyright Technology
[4] Spotlight: Homeland Security's Access Card Less Than Secure
[5] Education Agency's Student Tracking Proposal Opposed
[6] News in Brief
[7] EPIC Bookstore: Michael Caloyannides's Privacy & Computer Forensics
[8] Upcoming Conferences and Events

http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.07.html

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:56:42 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EFFector 18.12: Action Alert - Stop the REAL ID Act!


A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 328th Issue of EFFector:

 * Action Alert - Stop the REAL ID Act!
 * EFF Announces 2005 Pioneer Award Winners
 * News Publishers and Internet Industry Urge Reversal 
   in Apple Case
 * Blog Without Getting Burned
 * EFF Urges State Department to Drop RFID Passport Plan
 * MiniLinks (14): German Publisher Fined for Linking
 * Administrivia

http://www.eff.org/effector/18/12.php

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:52:22 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: EPIC Alert 12.08


========================================================================
                             E P I C  A l e r t
========================================================================
Volume 12.08                                              April 21, 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Published by the
                Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
                             Washington, D.C.

              http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.08.html

========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================

[1] EPIC FOIA Note #3: Voting Machine Vendor Misled Election Officials
[2] States and Congress to Regulate Data Brokers in Wake of Scandals
[3] Controversial Database Project MATRIX Closes Down
[4] California Considers Prohibiting RFID Use in State ID Cards
[5] Choicepoint, Voter Rolls and Public Records Highlighted at CFP 2005
[6] News in Brief
[7] EPIC Bookstore: Mari J. Frank's Guide to Ending Identity Theft
[8] Upcoming Conferences and Events

http://www.epic.org/alert/EPIC_Alert_12.08.html

------------------------------

From: Choreboy <choreboyREMOVE@localnet.com>
Subject: white noise after hangup
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:15:43 -0400
Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com


Today I answered the phone, said hello a couple of times, and heard
nothing.  Eventually there was a click, then white noise.  What kind
of telephone service produces white noise if you hang up on somebody?

------------------------------

From: Jack Decker <jack-yahoogroups@withheld_on_request>
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 12:41:10 -0400
Subject: Michigan Threatens to Sue Vonage - Claims 911 limitations not
Reply-To: VoIPnews@yahoogroups.com


http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/63110

Michigan Threatens to Sue Vonage Claims 911 limitations not clear

The Michigan attorney general is threatening to sue Vonage, claiming
the company doesn't make the 911 limitations of its VoIP service
clear. A lawsuit has already been filed by the Texas Attorney General,
who claims Vonage does not make it clear that users need to manually
set-up their 911 service. Of course this welcome screen, and other
warning screens are posted frequently; most Vonage users don't
understand how you could miss the warning.

Article + reader comments at:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/63110
Additional comments:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,13290919

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/

------------------------------

From: Jim Kennedy <jamesk@4mcs.com>
Subject: Is There a Device to Block Selected Incoming Numbers
Date: 30 Apr 2005 07:41:20 -0700


Is there a home/home office telecom device, eg. answering machine,
caller id unit, etc, that allows you to program in particular numbers
to be blocked or to receive a custom message?  I would like all other
calls to go through as is.

Thanks.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The telcos (Traditional Bell at least)
offers a blocking service. You have to get *60 turned on by telco,
then you can do what you are asking -- theoretically -- and get rid
of the nuisances. I say _theoretically_ since SBC at least claims as
often as not 'that call cannot be blocked', i.e. outside of LATA, or
people who send bogus numbers for caller ID. Once you ask telco to
turn on *60 you can enter numbers you do not wish to hear from any
further, and that person gets a recorded intercept saying 'the party
you are calling is not accepting calls at this time.' You can also 
'block last call recieved, whether or not you know the number,' by
dialing (I think) '01' at the internal prompt, even if the caller
deliberatly withheld their number via *67. You can hear a recitation
of the numbers on your blocked list as part of the *60 process also,
and to protect the privacy of those persons who used *67 when calling
you, the recitation refers to them as 'private entries' .

You can also get 'block the blockers' service from telco using *77
and when someone does do *67 when calling you, _they_ get a recorded
message that they have to unblock delivery of their ID and dial the
call again. So, if you sign up for both these features, (*60 and *77)
you get rid of most or all the pests. But, one caveat with certain
telcos, like SBC Southwestern Bell, they don't go out of their way to
make this work correctly. With some of these telcos, calls which are
out of LATA cannot be blocked, and calls where the caller gives you
a bogus string for ID cannot be blocked. And of course, if the caller
moves from one payphone to another, he _will_ get through to you. Now
in years past, when Illinois Bell existed and had this service, you
_could_ block out of LATA calls, and maybe you could not, if the place
originating the phone call had an old fashioned switch. But you could
at least 'ping' it first and see if it would work or not (from out of
LATA). Locally, it would come back immediatly and say okay; but if
out of LATA it would go away for a few seconds and then come back
and say okay but sometimes your request would time out and you would
back an answer saying "cannot be added right now, try again in a few
minutes"  or else it would just say "cannot be added" (period.) But
SBC won't deal with any out of LATA that I know of. So maybe this 
service from your telco will help you eliminate many of the pests.
PAT]

------------------------------

Date: 30 Apr 2005 17:30:59 -0400
From: John R Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
Subject: Cingular / sms.ac ripoff alert


I found a bunch of mysterious inbound 30 cent "premium" text messages
on my cell phone bill, which I believe were invitations to chat from
sms.ac.

To my astonishment, Cingular told me that they absolutely would not
remove the charges, and if you have text messaging at all, there is no
way to prevent random crooks from sending these messages and forcing
you to pay for them.  So I did the only possible thing, and turned off
text messaging completely.  Too bad.

Regards,

John Levine johnl@iecc.com Primary Perpetrator of The Internet for Dummies,
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://iecc.com/johnl, Mayor
"I dropped the toothpaste", said Tom, crestfallenly.

------------------------------

From: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: The End of Analog TV
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 17:25:18 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


Tim@Backhome.org wrote:

> And, my local cable company does not even carry all the local (Los
> Angeles) broadcast stations that presently have over-the-air HDTV.
> That I find to be really, really odd.

Where exactly are you, and who's your cable company?


JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
     --New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

------------------------------

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: VoIP
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:31:16 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.188.7@telecom-digest.org>, T. Sean Weintz
<strap@hanh-ct.org> wrote:

> Choreboy wrote:

> Caller ID CAN be spoofed using VOIP. Apperently SIP allows for this, and 
> some VOIP providers leave this feature open for customers to use/abuse. 
> I know hackers were spoofing caller ID over VOIP using the ASTERISK open 
> source PBX system which lets you set all the nitty gritty SIP parameters 
> -- apparently including the CLID string. From what I understand, some 
> providers filter this at their switch, some don't ...

VoIP is neither 'sufficient' to guarantee being able to spoof the
calling number, nor is it 'necessary'.  :)

You've got to have the 'right kind' of head-end interconnect to the
PSTN, _and_ be dealing with a carrier that does not restrict what info
you can pass for the "calling number" info.

> PRI's are a standard type of high cap ISDN line (as opposed to BRI,
> the low cap vesrion). I think caller ID can be spoofed from EITHER
> type of ISDN line, assuming one has the right type of equipment
> plugged into it (which usually means a PBX switch)

It's a very _rare_ occurrence that one would be able to do it via a
BRI.  at least in the U.S.  Those lines almost invariably are
configured with the telco over-riding any info the customer might
send. BRIs are generally offered in a *limited* number of
configurations by the telcos (whether ILEC or CLEC) on a 'pick from
the menu' basis, and you take one of those choices, or you don't get a
BRI.  I've _never_ seen one of the canned BRI options that had the
capability for passing unrestricted CLID info.  This isn't to say that
such an offering _couldn't_ exist, just that I've never run across it
in dealing with several ILECs, and a number of the major CLECs.

------------------------------

From: Tony P. <kd1s@nospamplease.cox.reallynospam.net>
Subject: Re: VOIP: 911 - Vonage vs Time-Warner Roadrunner
Organization: ATCC
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 21:30:39 -0400


In article <telecom24.189.8@telecom-digest.org>, tls@panix.com says...

> In article <telecom24.186.2@telecom-digest.org>, TELECOM Digest Editor
> responded to <rodneyg@carolina.rr.com>:

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Apparently, the only players in the
>> game who can get 'true E-911' are the telcos themselves or any of
>> their friends. Others have to pay for the service, and the cost was
>> pretty steep until recently when under pressure SBC agreed to begin
>> working with Vonage and other VOIP carriers. The reason this is so
>> is because when 'true E-911' was being developed, telco had it built
>> to _their_ specifications.  PAT]

> All you need to see that that's not true is the example of more
> responsible, and less politically adept, VOIP carriers who have done
> the right thing instead of cutting corners, and who therefore *do*
> provide E911 service: Packet8, the cable companies' in-house VOIP
> telcos, and so forth.  Surprise, surprise: their services cost more --
> because being irresponsible about 911 service gives Vonage lower
> costs.  But it is ridiculous to blame anyone but Vonage for the fact
> that Vonage has refused to pay the costs of traditional 911
> interconnection and therefore does not provide actual 911 service.

> Thor Lancelot Simon	                            tls@rek.tjls.com

You can cast the VoIP providers as the demons but in reality it's the
incumbents.

Pretty much every switch made for the past decade or more has been IP
aware. Hell, even my G3i has a TCP/IP address, as does my Intuity LX.

And in case you didn't know here is how Vonage works:

They use Paetec and Focal switches to hand off to the PSTN. These are
fully featured 5ESS and the like switches, and both those carriers are
fully regulated. This is just a little side business to utilities a
glut of switching capacity.

So for instance, my little RT31P2 actually talks to Vonage and then
connects via Paetec's switch in Providence. My E-911 works btw. It's
because RI is unique -- the state owns the E-911 infrastructure while
Verizon owns the data.

------------------------------

From: Tim@Backhome.org
Subject: Re: The End of Analog TV
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 07:17:17 -0700
Organization: Cox Communications


hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> Monty Solomon wrote:

>> During the same period consumers were supposed to buy digital
>> television receivers. That part didn't work.

> The life of a TV set could be anywhere between five and thirty-five
> years.  There's a heck of a lot of old TV sets out there still in
> service, some surprisingly old.  Many people use old B&W portables as
> spare room or attic TVs.

> Why the heck should consumers be forced to upgrade to get the same old
> broadcast garbage?

Depends what the converter will cost.  Anyone know the price?

> There are also a lot of TV viewers out there who don't watch a lot of
> TV.  Their TV sets last a long time.  They don't have cable.  What
> will become of them?

> Ironically, back in the 1950s, the choice of what color TV
> transmission protocol was determined on compatibility with existing
> B&W sets, even though there were far fewer sets out there.

> I guess the selfish technocrats and greedy businesses just can't wait
> to get their mitts on the radio frequencies to play with.

> It amazes me that the more cable channels they offer to me the less TV
> I watch.  They just throw out utter junk, and get rid of the little
> good stuff they once had.  It duplicates each other -- "Cheers" is
> broadcast and cablecast on numerous channels.  And for something I
> pay and pay dearly for they throw in tons of commercials -- more than
> commercial TV does.

HDTV reopens the door for my wife and I (senior citizens).  There are
some great travel type programs in HD that become worth watching
because of color, clarity, and resolution.

> But they make a heck of a lot of money doing this.

------------------------------

From: Not Public <info@nospam.com>
Subject: Re: Lingo (Primus Telecommunications) Horror Story
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2005 23:45:15 GMT


Ed <poepauv@yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:telecom24.185.16@telecom-digest.org:

> I don't get it.  I just can't understand what these people were thinking.

Your assumption that they were thinking might be incorrect...

gb 

------------------------------


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