TELECOM Digest     Thu, 26 May 2005 15:06:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 235

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    War Games on the Internet (Lisa Minter)
    More Details on the BitTorrents Raid Wednesday (Lisa Minter)
    Spam and How to Spel it Rite (Lee Sweet)
    Cell Phone Users Want Media Services (Telecom dailyLead from USTA)
    Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls? (Robert Bonomi)
    Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls? (NOTvalid@XmasNYC)
    Re: Very Early Modems (Joe Morris)
    Re: VOIP Provider Search (Fred Atkinson)

Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet.  All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote.  By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
email.

               ===========================

Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent.  Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.

We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime.   Geoffrey Welsh

               ===========================

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

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: War Game on Internet
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 01:47:05 -0500


CIA Overseeing 3-Day War Game on Internet

By TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer

The CIA is conducting a secretive war game, dubbed "Silent Horizon,"
this week to practice defending against an electronic assault on the
same scale as the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.

The three-day exercise, ending Thursday, was meant to test the ability
of government and industry to respond to escalating Internet
disruptions over many months, according to participants. They spoke on
condition of anonymity because the CIA asked them not to disclose
details of the sensitive exercise taking place in Charlottesville,
Va., about two hours southwest of Washington.

The simulated attacks were carried out five years in the future by a
fictional alliance of anti-American organizations, including
anti-globalization hackers. The most serious damage was expected to be
inflicted in the war game's closing hours.

The national security simulation was significant because its premise --
a devastating cyberattack that affects government and parts of the
economy with the same magnitude as the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide
hijackings -- contravenes assurances by U.S. counterterrorism experts
that such far-reaching effects from a cyberattack are highly
unlikely. Previous government simulations have modeled damage from
cyberattacks more narrowly.

"You hear less and less about the digital Pearl Harbor," said Dennis
McGrath, who helped run three similar war games for the Institute for
Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth College. "What people call
cyberterrorism, it's just not at the top of the list."

The CIA's little-known Information Operations Center, which evaluates
threats to U.S. computer systems from foreign governments, criminal
organizations and hackers, was running the war game. About 75 people,
mostly from the CIA, gathered in conference rooms and reacted to signs
of mock computer attacks.

The government remains most concerned about terrorists using
explosions, radiation and biological threats. FBI Director Robert
Mueller warned earlier this year that terrorists increasingly are
recruiting computer scientists but said most hackers "do not have the
resources or motivation to attack the U.S. critical information
infrastructures."

The government's most recent intelligence assessment of future threats
through the year 2020 said cyberattacks are expected, but terrorists
"will continue to primarily employ conventional weapons." Authorities
have expressed concerns about terrorists combining physical attacks,
such as bombings, with hacker attacks to disrupt communications or
rescue efforts.

"One of the things the intelligence community was accused of was a
lack of imagination," said Dorothy Denning of the Naval Postgraduate
School, an expert on Internet threats who was invited by the CIA to
participate but declined. "You want to think about not just what you
think may affect you but about scenarios that might seem unlikely."

"Livewire," an earlier cyberterrorism exercise for the Homeland
Security Department and other federal agencies, concluded there were
serious questions about government's role during a cyberattack,
depending on who was identified as the culprit -- terrorists, a foreign
government or bored teenagers.

It also questioned whether the U.S. government would be able to detect
the early stages of such an attack without significant help from
private technology companies.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: More About WebTorrent's Raid on Wednesday
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 13:02:02 -0500


U.S. shuts down network that leaked 'Star Wars'

U.S. law enforcers said on Wednesday that they have shut down a
computer network that distributed illegal copies of "Star Wars:
Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" before it appeared in movie
theaters.

Federal agents executed 10 search warrants and seized the main server
computer in a network that allowed people to download nearly 18,000
movies and software programs, including many current releases, the FBI
and Homeland Security Department said.

The Elite Torrents network, found online at
http://www.elitetorrents.org relied on a technology called BitTorrent
that allows users to quickly download digital movies and other large
files by copying them from many computers at once.

The network signed up 133,000 members who collectively downloaded 2.1
million files, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
division of the Homeland Security Department.

Visitors to http://www/elitetorrents.org on Wednesday saw a notice
that read, "This site has been permanently shut down by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement." It further warned that anyone lingering or attempting
to use the software (with authorities later removed) would themselves
come under investigation and possible arrest. 

The raid targeted administrators of the network and those who provided
movies and other copyrighted material. Similar cases in the past have
found that such "first providers" are typically entertainment-industry
insiders, rather than outside hackers.

Agents executed search warrants in Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Kansas, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. No arrests have been
made, but the investigation continues, ICE spokeswoman Jamie Zuieback
said, and 'more arrests/seizures may be going on as you read this'.

Elite Torrents offered a "virtually unlimited" selection of materi
al, ICE said. The latest Star Wars movie was available on the network more
than six hours before it was first shown in theaters, and within 24
hours it was copied more than 10,000 times.

The Motion Picture Association, an industry group, helped with the
investigation, ICE said. Movie studios are trying to avoid the fate of
the music industry, which claims it has lost hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of sales due to online file sharing.

Digital movies are about 50 times larger than music files, which makes
them more cumbersome to download. New technologies like BitTorrent,
however, and increased high-speed Internet use are closing the gap.

The MPAA has managed to raid and shut down at least five BitTorrent
networks through lawsuits and has also sued individuals who use them.

BitTorrent networks have caused headaches for software makers as
well. Apple Computer Inc has sued three men for posting the latest
version of its OS X operating system on a BitTorrent site six months
before it was commercially released.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.

NOTE: For more telecom/internet/networking/computer news from the
daily media, check out our feature 'Telecom Digest Extra' each day at
http://telecom-digest.org/td-extra/more-news.html . Hundreds of new
articles daily.

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

From: Lee Sweet <lee@datatel.com>
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:12:56 -0400
Subject: Spam and How to Spel it Rite


Note that one reason spammers use crappy English is to get around spam
filters (of course, they may be totally without English comprehension,
also!).  I won't use some examples here so that this Digest won't get
caught in spam traps, but you all have seen the many 'creative'
spellings of certain drugs, with variable caps, spacings, punctuation,
etc.!

I also thought that they were just ignorant of good English for many
years, until I was told on an (anti-)spam email list that the point
was to avoid filters.  Hm, good point.  After all, how can you filter
all the millions of ways to misspell all the common drug names?  :-)

> From: Steven Lichter <shlichter@diespammers.com>
> Reply-To: Die@spammers.com
> Organization: I Kill Spammers, Inc.  (c) 2005 A Rot in Hell Co.
> Subject: Re: Last Laugh! Your House at P.O. Box 4621
> Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 23:01:44 GMT

<snip>

> Customer Service wrote:
> Some of those offers clearly came from people who don't have any
> education at all; spelling of simple words are wrong, and some are not
> competent at English speaking as the sentences make very little sense. I
> filled out a few of the applications with bogus info and gave phone
> numbers of the FBI and Attorney General fraud numbers, if they are called,
> it should make and interesting conversation as they hangup when they hear
> who they reached.

> The only good spammer is a dead one!!  Have you hunted one down today? (c)
> 2005  I Kill Spammers, Inc.  A Rot in Hell Co.

Lee Sweet
lee@datatel.com

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

Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 13:06:47 EDT
From: Telecom dailyLead from USTA <usta@dailylead.com>
Subject: Cell Phone Users Want Media Services


Telecom dailyLead from USTA
May 26, 2005
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=21909&l=2017006

		TODAY'S HEADLINES
	
NEWS OF THE DAY
* Cell phone users want media services
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY WATCH
* Verizon may open FiOS network to ISPs
* Mobile phone sales up in Q1
* EarthLink woos new subscribers with personalized portal
* Telus invests in Brix Networks
* UTStarcom buys Pedestal
USTA SPOTLIGHT 
* At SUPERCOMM: Register today for the IP Video Conference
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
* Startup develops integrated chip for fiber-optic gear
* 20th Century announces cell phone TV  unit
REGULATORY & LEGISLATIVE
* Feds get revenge on alleged Sith pirates
* Mobile providers adopt industry guidelines

Follow the link below to read quick summaries of these stories and others.
http://www.dailylead.com/latestIssue.jsp?i=21909&l=2017006

Legal and Privacy information at
http://www.dailylead.com/about/privacy_legal.jsp

SmartBrief, Inc.
1100 H ST NW, Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20005

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

From: bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com (Robert Bonomi)
Subject: Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls?
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 11:42:13 -0000
Organization: Widgets, Inc.


In article <telecom24.233.6@telecom-digest.org>,
Steve Sobol  <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:

> usenet@outshine.com wrote:

>> Has anyone recently received an unsolicited call from someone
>> representing "First Place?"  They apparently make a Web promotion
>> product.  Any information at all would be helpful.

> Yeah, feh ... can't remember which product First Place Software
> publishes ... WebPosition Gold, maybe?

> ... No, it looks like WPG was bought by WebTrends.

> Heh, but when I do a search on First Place Software, a sponsored link
> to WPG comes up, so I guess I was right!

>> Today I received an unsolicited call from them.  The agent asked if I
>> owned outshine.com and then told me he had a product that would help
>> my site to make a lot of money.  He asked me to open up a Web browser.
>> Unfortunately, I didn't give him a chance to give me a URL.

>> I told him to put me on his do not call list.  He REFUSED.  I asked
>> for his name.  He refused.  I told him he was violating at least US
>> law, and he needed to respond.  He simply repeated, "don't you want to
>> make money with your site?"

> Idiots. Yup, WebTrends was the company that had a buggy log analysis 
> product and couldn't help me fix the many bugs I had over a period of 
> about eighteen months, and started sending me nastygrams about trademark 
> infringement when I registered WebTrendsSucks.com even though I had just 
> registered it, and never used it for email or a web site.

> WebTrends is at 851 SW 6th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204. If you were
> on the federal DNC list, the FTC can fine them for the violation. If
> not, you may be able to sue them yourself under the 1991 Telephone
> Consumer Protection Act. I would not advise doing anything, however,
> unless you call a lawyer (except if you're going to file the DNC
> violation with the FTC).

If the marketing call came to his _cell_ phone, as he implies, then it is
a prosecutable violation _whether_or_not_ he is on the federal DNC list.

47 USC 227 expressly forbids marketing calls to _any_ "telephone
   number assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service,
   specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier
   service, or any service for which the called party is charged for
   the call"

The failure to provide Caller-ID info is also an express violation of
the FTC "Telemarketing Sales Order".

The refusal to add one, when requested, to their
_internally-maintained_ DNC l is an express violation of the TSR also.

As is the caller's refusal to identify himself -- and the company he
is calling for -- when requested.

Complaints to the FCC _and_ the FTC are both in order.  The FTC _can_
assess an immediate $11,000/violation (and you have three separate
violations to report) penalty.  The FCC has to issue a
cease-and-desist order first, and then catch them in subsequent
violations before they can assess the same $11,000/violation.

A private lawsuit (small-claims) for the 47 USC 227 violation is also
practical.  $500 minimum, as 'statutory' damages. 'Deliberate and
wilful' violation allows the judge to treble that amount.

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

From: NOTvalid@XmasNYC.Info
Subject: Re: First Place, Web Promotion, Unsolicited Calls?
Date: 26 May 2005 06:30:00 -0700


usenet@outshine.com wrote:

> The call came in "Unknown ID" so all I have is the moment he called,
> his company name, and the very curious fact that he was able to
> associate my private cell phone number with my public web site (the
> domain name and the number are not publicly listed together, so I
> think GoDaddy or Verisign sold my private account info).

I recently got an Email offering a varient of one of my domain names
which I registered thru GoDaddy.

It was sent to an addy that I ONLY use for Godaddy and is only shown on
my registrations thru GoDaddy.

I own many domain names and I only got Email re one domain name.

Someone is obviously trolling WHOIS.

I will give the company a call at the 800 number they provided, from a
payphone.


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Either 'someone' is trolling WHOIS or
maybe that someone has a good friend working for GoDaddy, or maybe
both.   PAT]

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

From: Joe Morris <jcmorris@mitre.org>
Subject: Re: Very Early Modems
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 12:42:20 UTC
Organization: The MITRE Organization


kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) writes:

> <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:

>> However, in the 1950s, IBM developed card-to-card directly without
>> paper tape and "over AT&T lines".  Modems were developed to take good
>> advtg of the available bandwidth (about 1200 baud).  Undoubtedly the
>> equipment and implementation was developed in close cooperation with
>> AT&T.

> This was the IBM "Card-to-card" transceiver.  I don't know when they
> first came out, but the Army started implementing them in a nationwide
> network in September of 1956.

H'mmm ... was this implemented with an 026 (or something that looked a
lot like an 026), with a narrow cabinet bolted on the right side?  I
never worked with one, but I have a recollection of seeing such a
beastie in the Atlanta datacenter in the late 1960s when the sysprogs
from my PPOE went there in preparation for the installation of some
big IBM boxes at our shop.

>> I was wondering if the modems in that application were supplied by IBM
>> (who appears to have developed the technology) or by AT&T.  My
>> understanding that AT&T's "Dataset" modem-telephones didn't come out
>> until the 1960s.

c /Dataset/DataPhone (tm)/

>> Comments by anyone familiar with pre-1960 data communications would be
>> greatly appreciated.

> I believe they used 4-wire leased lines, with data access arrangement
> boxes provided by Ma Bell.  So the signals going into the big grey box
> next to the reader/punch were analogue.  I don't recall what the
> transmission rate was, but they sent EBCDIC directly without any
> translation to a 5-channel code and no added headers.

The only "data access arrangement" I know of was the stupid box that
the FCC mandated had to be used to attach non-Bell modems to the dial
network for a (thankfully brief) time post-Carterphone.  Users who
used a leased circuit could (within limits) attach just about anything
they pleased.

The circuits you're referring to were probably 1009 (direct copper)
assuming that my memory hasn't had too much bitrot since then.  I do
recall sometimes having to play games with the tariffs and (for
reasons I can't remember) sometimes having to get a 3002 circuit
instead, then go around and disconnect the conditioning boxes so that
the line would act like a 1009.

Joe Morris

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

From: Fred Atkinson <fatkinson@mishmash.com>
Subject: Re: VOIP Provider Search
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:28:34 -0400


> A little poking around reveals that Broadvoice offers numbers in both
> Cashiers and Sylva.  Packet8 offers numbers in Sylva.  Take your pick.

I checked with both of them.  Packet8 does indeed offer service in
Sylva, which is local to Cullowhee.  Broadvoice kept me on hold for
ages, but (when they finally picked me up) they denied that they
offered service anywhere in NC.

While listening to Broadvoice's pretty music, I got on the BBB site
and checked both of them out.  Neither one has a very good reputation
with the BBB.  I thought I'd compare Vonage and found that while
Vonage has had complaints, they've worked to resolve those complaints.

Unless someone knows a better company that offers service in that
area, I guess I am going to try Packet8 as there doesn't appear to be
an alternative.

Verizon is the local company.  I called them to arrange to get a phone
book for that area.  At first, they told me that because I didn't have
a Verizon account, I couldn't get one.  But when I mentioned $$$$,
they agreed to ship me one for thirty dollars.  I thought that was
high, but it's better than not getting one.

Regards,

Fred

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


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.

Contact information:    Patrick Townson/TELECOM Digest
                        Post Office Box 50
                        Independence, KS 67301
                        Phone: 620-402-0134
                        Fax 1: 775-255-9970
                        Fax 2: 530-309-7234
                        Fax 3: 208-692-5145         
                        Email: editor@telecom-digest.org

Subscribe:  telecom-subscribe@telecom-digest.org
Unsubscribe:telecom-unsubscribe@telecom-digest.org

This Digest is the oldest continuing e-journal about telecomm-
unications on the Internet, having been founded in August, 1981 and
published continuously since then.  Our archives are available for
your review/research. We believe we are the oldest e-zine/mailing list
on the internet in any category!

URL information:        http://telecom-digest.org

Anonymous FTP: mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecom-archives/archives/
  (or use our mirror site: ftp.epix.net/pub/telecom-archives)

RSS Syndication of TELECOM Digest: http://telecom-digest.org/rss.html
  For syndication examples see http://www.feedroll.com/syndicate.php?id=308
    and also http://feeds.feedburner.com/telecom

*************************************************************************
*   TELECOM Digest is partially funded by a grant from                  *
*   Judith Oppenheimer, President of ICB Inc. and purveyor of accurate  *
*   800 & Dot Com News, Intelligence, Analysis, and Consulting.         *
*   http://ICBTollFree.com, http://1800TheExpert.com                    *
*   Views expressed herein should not be construed as representing      *
*   views of Judith Oppenheimer or ICB Inc.                             *
*************************************************************************

ICB Toll Free News.  Contact information is not sold, rented or leased.

One click a day feeds a person a meal.  Go to http://www.thehungersite.com

Copyright 2004 ICB, Inc. and TELECOM Digest. All rights reserved.
Our attorney is Bill Levant, of Blue Bell, PA.

              ************************

DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE JUST 65 CENTS ONE OR TWO INQUIRIES CHARGED TO
YOUR CREDIT CARD!  REAL TIME, UP TO DATE! SPONSORED BY TELECOM DIGEST
AND EASY411.COM   SIGN UP AT http://www.easy411.com/telecomdigest !

              ************************

Visit http://www.mstm.okstate.edu and take the next step in your
career with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Management
(MSTM) degree from Oklahoma State University (OSU). This 35
credit-hour interdisciplinary program is designed to give you the
skills necessary to manage telecommunications networks, including
data, video, and voice networks.

The MSTM degree draws on the expertise of the OSU's College
of Business Administration; the College of Arts and Sciences; and the
College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology. The program has
state-of-the-art lab facilities on the Stillwater and Tulsa campus
offering hands-on learning to enhance the program curriculum.  Classes
are available in Stillwater, Tulsa, or through distance learning.

Please contact Jay Boyington for additional information at
405-744-9000, mstm-osu@okstate.edu, or visit the MSTM web site at
http://www.mstm.okstate.edu

              ************************

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

Finally, the Digest is funded by gifts from generous readers such as
yourself who provide funding in amounts deemed appropriate. Your help
is important and appreciated. A suggested donation of fifty dollars
per year per reader is considered appropriate. See our address above.
Please make at least a single donation to cover the cost of processing
your name to the mailing list. 

All opinions expressed herein are deemed to be those of the
author. Any organizations listed are for identification purposes only
and messages should not be considered any official expression by the
organization.

End of TELECOM Digest V24 #235
******************************