TELECOM Digest     Fri, 27 May 2005 23:57:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 237

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    White House Wants Search Limits on ISPs Overturned (Lisa Minter)
    Microsoft Severs Ties With Ralph Reed (Lisa Minter)
    The Indy 500 Goes Wireless (Eric Friedebach)
    Corton Pay Phone??? (Michael Muderick)
    Re: Phone Outage Costs Fort Wayne Store to Lose Business (Lisa Hancock)
    Re: Very Early Modems (hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com)
    Re: Packet8 DTMF Tones Sound "Clipped" (DevilsPGD)
    Re: Tie Lines was Re: Foreign Exchange (FX) Lines Still in Use? (Tim)

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: White House Wants Search Limits Overturned 
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 21:04:13 -0500


By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

The Bush administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to
restore its ability to compel Internet service providers to turn over
information about their customers or subscribers as part of its fight
against terrorism.

The legal filing with the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New
York comes amid a debate in Congress over renewal of the Patriot Act
and whether to expand the FBI's power to seek records without the
approval of a judge or grand jury.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of New York last year blocked the
government from conducting secret searches of communications records,
saying the law that authorized them wrongly barred legal challenges
and imposed a gag order on affected businesses.

The ruling came in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and
an Internet access firm that received a national security letter from
the FBI demanding records. The identity of the firm remains secret.

The government was authorized to pursue communications records as part
of a 1986 law. Its powers were enhanced by the Patriot Act in 2001.

The administration said the judge's ruling was off the mark because
the company did mount a legal challenge to the demand for
records. "Yet in this very case, the recipient of the NSL did
precisely what the NSLs supposedly prevent recipients from doing," the
filing said.

The law's ban on disclosing that such a letter has been received also
is appropriate because of legitimate security concerns, the government
said.

But ACLU attorney Jameel Jaffer said the law does not contain a
provision to challenge the FBI's demand for documents. The ACLU and
the firm filed the lawsuit to challenge the law's constitutionality on
the grounds that it doesn't contain such a provision, he said.

"Most people who get NSLs don't know they can bring a challenge in
court because the statute doesn't say they can," he said. "No one has
filed a motion to quash in 20 years."

The ban on disclosure is so broad that the ACLU initially filed the
suit under seal and negotiated for weeks on a version that could be
released to the public.

Previously censored material released several months after Marrero's
ruling included innocuous material the government wanted withheld, the
ACLU said, including the phrase "national security" and this sentence
from a statement by an FBI agent: "I am a Special Agent of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation."

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: Microsoft Severs Ties With Ralph Reed
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 20:45:18 -0500


By Elizabeth M. Gillespie
Associated Press Writer

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp. said Friday it has severed ties with
Ralph Reed, a Republican lobbyist who once headed the Christian
Coalition and who is running for lieutenant governor in Georgia.
"Ralph Reed is no longer on retainer with Microsoft," company
spokeswoman Ginny Terzano told The Associated Press.

The move came a month after liberal activists urged Microsoft to quit
using Reed as a political consultant, upset that the software company
had pulled its support for a gay rights bill it had backed in the
past. The company has since said it will support such legislation in
the future.

"Microsoft has a wide range of consultants on retainer, both Democrats
and Republicans, and they are brought on based on need and for various
reasons, but it's not our policy to discuss specifics about their
retainers," Terzano said.

She noted that Century Strategies, a public relations and lobbying
firm Reed founded in 1997, lobbied for Microsoft on international
trade and competition, not social issues.

While she wouldn't comment on Reed's candidacy for lieutenant
governor, Terzano said: "It would not be appropriate to have a
consultant on retainer that is seeking elective office at the same
time."

Century Strategies did not immediately return a call for comment.

Reed was executive director of the Christian Coalition from 1989 to
1997. He was credited with being the major force behind the
organization's fund-raising success. Last year, he was the southeast
regional chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign.

In the waning days of this year's legislative session in Olympia, gay
rights groups criticized Microsoft for backing away from its past
support of a bill that would have made it illegal to discriminate
against gays in housing, employment and insurance.

The bill died by a single vote in the state Senate on April 21.

Liberal bloggers called Microsoft a corporate coward, accusing the
company of caving to a boycott threat from an evangelical minister. 
Microsoft, one of the first companies to extend domestic partner
benefits to gay couples, insisted it had decided to take a neutral
stance on the bill before the legislative session began.

Two weeks ago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told employees the company
had decided to support the bill in future years, saying it was
important for the company to back legislation promoting diversity and
nondiscrimination policies.

Equal Rights Washington, a Seattle-based group that had lobbied for
the gay rights bill, called on Microsoft to fire Reed.

Asked if that influenced the company's decision fire Reed's firm,
Terzano declined to comment, saying: "Microsoft retains and lets
consultants go throughout the course of the year based on the
company's needs. And that was the case here."


On the Net:

Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/
Century Strategies: http://www.censtrat.com/
This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBJIO2X89E.html

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: Eric Friedebach <friedebach@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Indy 500 Goes Wireless
Date: 27 May 2005 16:05:16 -0700


David M. Ewalt, 05.27.05, Forbes.com

NEW YORK - Auto racing goes wireless on Sunday at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway.

Professional motor sports have never been a solo pursuit. Drivers may
be alone in their vehicles, but they're backed up by huge teams of
mechanics and experts who watch and analyze their every move. The best
racers know they can push their car to the limit because the guys in
the pits are keeping it in perfect shape.

That relationship moves to a new level on Sunday, when two cars from
the Red Bull Cheever Racing team compete in the Indianapolis 500,
armed with a cutting-edge Internet Protocol-based wireless system that
gives the entire team access to a wealth of real-time information and
communications during the race.

http://www.forbes.com/2005/05/27/cx_de_0527nascar.html

Eric Friedebach
/And now it's time for: Jaromir Weather/

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

Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 20:39:09 -0400
From: Michael Muderick <michael.muderick@verizon.net>
Subject: Corton Pay Phone???


I have come across 1/2 dozen Corton Communications payphones, WP 1000,
hearing aid compatible, brand new-boxed with keys.  I can't find
anything about the company -- they were in Yonkers NY.  If anyone has
any info on them (they don't come packed with any data sheets),
please contact me at Michael@muderick.com.  Inside there is an RJ-11
jack and connections for L1,L2 andG.  I assume that's for some sort of
power connection -- there is an LCD display on the front.  The board
that these connections are on doesn't look like it's for 110VAC- But I
have no clue as to what voltage, AC or DC it would require.  I'll
appreciate any info on them.  And, I'd be happy to sell them as well.

mm


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: If these are what I am thinking, they
are 'smart' COCOTS. 'Smart' in the sense they can be set for whatever
money value is desired to be collected (25 cents for three minutes on
a 'local call' and four quarters or one dollar for three minutes on a
'long distance domestic' call.) The LED shows what the person dialed,
the amount of money due on the call (as you choose to program it) and
when no call is in progress it displays the time and some ribbon
message promoting the service. The phone does not ring on incoming
calls, but only chirps a couple times then answers itself with a
recorded message on a chip saying 'Operator! This is a pay phone with
no collect/third party charges allowed!' Then it disconnects itself
unless you, the proprietor punch in a security code which allows you
to program the rate remotely.   I am not certain _and will not
guarentee_ that they run on a 12 volt battery eliminator with a good
size amperage, around a thousand MA.  PAT]

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Phone Outage Costs Fort Wayne Store to Lose Business
Date: 27 May 2005 14:28:04 -0700


TELECOM Digest Editor noted as a preface to a message from
Lisa Minter:

> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: The gentleman who passed this item
> along to Lisa and the Digest said, in effect, "here is another
> example of Vonage screwing up."  I dunno, it seems more like Verizon
> screwing up to me. Vonage said to Verizon, or (rather to Choice One
> Communications, which owns U.S. Exchange) to disconnect _ONE_ line.

I'm not sure Verizon was at fault here, but I would agree it
certainly isn't clear that Vonage was at fault either.  Accidental
disconnects have always happened.

The sharing of phone numbers and allowance of multiple carriers
does indeed increase the risk of confusion and service interupts.

If I order a new car but tell the dealer to have someone else
install the audio system (as many motorists do), I've increased
the chance of confusion between the car dealer and audio dealer
and risk of finger pointing.

I do want to share the experience of friend who repeatedly switched
his phone service but had no disconnect troubles:

He tried a different company that advertised lower rates, but got
upset when they added on a bunch of fees, so he switched back to
Verizon.  Then he decided the other was still a better deal so he
switched back.  Then he moved and wanted the same number serving both
locations until things settled.  The other company wouldn't do that,
but Verizon did, so he switched back to Verizon, and had service in
two locations under the same number for a month.  I think he's still
wtih Verizon.  All of this happened in a short time without problem.

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

From: hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com
Subject: Re: Very Early Modems
Date: 27 May 2005 14:34:21 -0700
Organization: http://groups.google.com


Jim Haynes wrote:

> We could have a very long discussion of why Western Union went under.

I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.


> The business press would say it was simply a matter that they had
> money going out a lot faster than it was coming in, and no prospects
> for reversing that situation.  As an engineer I would say they did a
> lot of dumb things in the engineering and marketing end of the
> business.  And it seems to have been government policy to keep
> W.U. with exactly one foot in the grave at all times.

The Oslin WU history is very critical of government policy -- he says
WU was forced to absorb at great cost the Postal Telegraph system and
constantly favored AT&T over WU.

By the late 1970s WU had recognized the classic Telegram was obsolete
and their business was focused on money transfer, which is still a big
business today.

I can understand needing AT&T for the "last mile" but for money
transfers I would think they could've used mostly their own network.
Supposedly they built microwaves and satellites in the earlier years
unless that was public relations exaggeration.  I heard they used AT&T
for their processes and it was costly.

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

From: DevilsPGD <spamsucks@crazyhat.net>
Subject: Re: Packet8 DTMF Tones Sound "Clipped"
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 19:24:12 -0600
Organization: Disorganized


In message <telecom24.236.11@telecom-digest.org> PrinceGunter
<slippymississippi@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Correction ... it appears that the customer didn't mention a piece of
> the puzzle.  He has two locations, one is served by Vonage and one is
> served by Packet8.  When we spoke,  he was on a phone connected to
> Packet8 but the number I dialed to reach him was forwarded through  his
> Vonage service.  It appears the DTMF munging is being done when he
> forwards his Vonage service to any other location.

> Is there any way to correct this?  Thanks for all your help!

I regularly forward my Vonage service to my cell phone, and from there
my cell phone transfers the call invoice voicemail.  Callers can enter
their phone numbers to get a call back, this function works fine.

I also check my own voicemail through the forwarding loop sometimes
(If I'm traveling in Texas I can dial my Texas virtual number as a
local call, rather then calling long distance to my cellphone's number
in Calgary.)

So in short, I think it's just you -- You might want to try contacting
Vonage's tech support though, they might be able to do something.  If
you do, make sure to followup in July (once Vonage gets back to you)
and let us know if you find anything interesting :)

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

From: Tim@Backhome.org
Subject: Re: Tie Lines was Re: Foreign Exchange (FX) Lines Still in Use?
Date: Fri, 27 May 2005 19:12:14 -0700
Organization: Cox Communications


Robert Bonomi wrote:

> In article <telecom24.228.14@telecom-digest.org>,

>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: City of Chicago used DC power (rather
>> than AC) -- at least in the downtown area -- until sometime around
>> 1930. That's at least one reason why there were so many WUTCO clocks
>> everywhere, instead of 'regular' wall clocks. Clocks cannot run on
>> direct current; they require alternating current at 60 cycles.

> I wonder what they did in territory where the generated A.C. power was
> at 25 cycles.

When did they deliver AC at 25 cycles?  I do recall some 50 cycle
companies around that had to change after the end of WWII.

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


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End of TELECOM Digest V24 #237
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