TELECOM Digest     Thu, 30 Jun 2005 23:04:00 EDT    Volume 24 : Issue 303

Inside This Issue:                             Editor: Patrick A. Townson

    Congressman Lends a Helping Hand to SBC (Lisa Minter)
    SBC Voices Two Approaches to Video (Lisa Minter)
    Municipal Broadband Brouaha: Tech Firms Caught in the Middle (L Minter)
    Congressman Ensign Also Generous to SBC (Lisa Minter)
    Feds Raid Piracy and Warez Distributors (Lisa Minter)
    US Says to ICANN: We Are Not Giving up Root (Lisa Minter)
    'TimeShare Spammer' Pleads Guilty (Lisa Minter)
    Re: Protecting Your Good Name From Identity Theft (Steve Sobol)
    Re: Using Comcast to Host Web Site (Michael D. Sullivan)
    Re: Cellular Jamming? Think Again. (Carl Zwanzig)
    Re: Cellular Jamming? Think Again. (Walt Howard)

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Congressman Lends a Helping Hand to SBC
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:12:33 -0500


Special To Insider Update ---  Rep. Sessions Lends A Hand To SBC

By David Hatch

Texas-based SBC Communications has plenty at stake with its
telecommunications business these days: The Bell company is seeking
approval to merge with AT&T, and is planning to deploy a nationwide
Internet-based television service to compete with cable.

The company also is fighting efforts by cities to build their own
high-speed Internet networks. On that front, SBC has a friend in Rep.
Pete Sessions, a Texas conservative Republican with professional and
political ties to the firm.

In late May, Sessions introduced legislation that would ban municipal
broadband networks in areas where companies such as SBC offer similar
services. SBC supports the bill, but spokesman Kevin Belgrade said the
issue goes beyond any one company.

Sessions, a House Rules Committee member, does not sit on any panels
that regulate communications -- but his ties to SBC are as thick as
Texas sagebrush. He was an executive with Southwestern Bell Telephone,
SBC's precursor, for 16 years, and his wife, Juanita (Nete) Sessions,
is a vice president for billing with SBC.

During the 2003-2004 election cycle, individuals and political action
committees associated with SBC were Sessions' third largest donor,
contributing $23,750, according to the watchdog Center for Responsive
Politics.

PACs operated by Verizon Communications -- another Bell firm that
opposes most municipal networks but that has not taken a stance on
Sessions' measure -- also gave Sessions $9,000, according to the
Federal Election Commission. And the U.S. Telecom Association, whose
members include the Bells, gave another $2,000.

Sessions also revealed in a 2003 financial disclosure that he owned
between $1,001 and $15,000 in SBC assets at the end of 2003. He held
the same amount of assets in Verizon and BellSouth, and up to $1,000
in AT&T, SBC's merger partner. Sessions' calendar year 2004 disclosure
will be released Wednesday.

Juanita Sessions, meanwhile, held SBC stock options valued between
$500,001 and $1 million through the end of 2003, and additional assets
in BellSouth and SBC valued from $1,001 to $15,000 each. She also had
an investment worth up to $1,000 in WorldCom, since renamed MCI.

Supporters of government broadband say localities simply want to offer
inexpensive connectivity to low-income and inner-city residents who
cannot otherwise afford it -- or who might get bypassed by other
providers.  Harold Feld, a senior vice president at the Media Access
Project, a public-interest law firm, said municipalities make
investments "all the time" to improve citizens' lives.

"Let local people decide how to spend local dollars," he said.

Sessions spokeswoman Gina Vaughn said municipal networks discourage
competition by forcing companies to compete with the government.  She
said Sessions wants localities to spend taxpayer dollars on more
urgent needs.

Sessions' bill was referred to the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Joe Barton, another Texas
Republican.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics, PACs and
individuals associated with SBC were the fifth biggest contributor to
Barton's 2004 campaign, giving a total of $15,000.


Copyright 2005 by National Journal Group Inc.
The Watergate  600 New Hampshire Ave., NW  Washington, DC  20037
202-739-8400  fax 202-833-8069
National Journal's Insider Update is an Atlantic Media publication.

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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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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
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yaho.com>
Subject: SBC Voices Two Approaches to Video 
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:10:40 -0500


By Drew Clark

The Bell companies' entry into the video marketplace has the potential
to shake the cable, satellite and broadcasting businesses, and SBC
Communications has been aggressive on the policy questions it raises.

But SBC has been saying different things about its Internet-protocol
television (IPTV) to different audiences. As the company has suffered
policy and public-relations setbacks, it has changed its message to
suit its needs.

Company executives have offered different stances on: whether the
company will provide a la carte, or channel-by-channel, programming;
whether it must pay franchise fees to local governments; and how much
it will build out its high-speed Internet service.

The company also is defining itself as a cable provider not under
telecommunications law but under copyright law -- further tangling the
policy issues surrounding Bell entry into the video marketplace.

Some of SBC's divergent messages have been delivered at almost exactly
the same time but to different audiences. At the June SuperComm
telecommunications conference in Chicago, a company executive
dismissed the a la carte approach to a content-centered audience while
a higher-level group president promoted that model to a group of
policy officials.

On Monday, at a downstairs conference session devoted to IPTV and
heavy with officials from the movie and television industries, Vice
President Jeff Weber said SBC's technology would uniquely utilize
digital video recorders and high-definition television.

"Which is all different than saying we are going to do something crazy
like a la carte or something that is completely and totally disruptive
in the marketplace," he said. "We can't, because our content providers
won't allow it, and I'm not sure it would make sense even if they
did."

Upstairs, at a policy session the same day, SBC Group President
Forrest Miller told a different story. "We know that consumers want
more choices in video," including different packages than are
currently available from existing cable "tiers," he said. "We believe
in a consumer-driven market."

Last year, SBC executives including CEO Ed Whitacre spoke favorably of
offering consumers more choice in their television network selections,
but they have not been as vocal on the subject this year.  Companies
that provide pay television to cable and satellite, like Walt Disney's
ESPN and Time Warner's HBO, do not favor the a la carte approach.

Asked about the discrepancy, SBC spokesman Michael Balmoris said
Wednesday that pricing and features for its bundles of video
programming have yet to be determined. "Since it does use Internet
protocol, there are many more functionalities," he said, adding that
packages could encompass a la carte offerings.

It may be necessary to package programming differently in order to get
consumers to switch from cable television to Bell television. "The
first thing I would do if I were the phone company is to offer a
family-friendly tier," said Robert Clasen, CEO of the Starz cable
network.  "If you have a family-friendly tier, you would have friends
in Washington."

Copyright 2005 by National Journal Group Inc.
The Watergate  600 New Hampshire Ave., NW  Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400  fax 202-833-8069
National Journal's Insider Update is an Atlantic Media publication.

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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright
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understanding of literary, educational, political, and economic
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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
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For more information go to:
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------------------------------

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Municipal Broadband Brouhaha: Tech Firms Caught in Middle 
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:07:01 -0500


By Drew Clark

Cities and counties that want to offer high-speed, Internet-based
communications have been fighting regional Bell telecommunications and
cable companies on the state level, and now the battle is erupting on
the national stage.

For local governments, public interest groups and the technology
community, permitting such municipal broadband is a no-brainer. "It
makes no sense for us to be wasting our time and energy fighting
battles when the country has such a challenge to get broadband to
everyone," said Jim Baller, an attorney for the municipalities --
citing a call by President Bush for universal and affordable broadband
by 2007. Baller has helped to spearhead a new group called the
Community Broadband Coalition.

Until recently, the debate has occurred primarily in the states -- 14
of which have imposed some legal barriers to state-run municipal
service. Two rival pieces of federal legislation have been introduced:
In the House, H.R. 2726, which would bar states from allowing
municipal broadband in areas served by the private sector; and in the
Senate, S. 1294, which would bar states from opposing government-run
broadband if municipalities do not discriminate against private
competitors.

Some see the conflicting bills  as pressuring tech companies to choose
between some big  customers -- the Bells and cable  companies -- and a
market opportunity that may be growing, but that is not fully ripe.

Wireless Life for Municipal Movement

Early conflicts over municipal broadband centered on the availability
of fiber-optic lines to homes. But wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi
have breathed new life into the movement. Although fiber-optic cables
have far greater capacity -- including the ability to offer
multi-channel video -- stringing them to homes costs more than $1,000
on average. Philadelphia is planning a metropolitan-area Wi-Fi network
that it believes it can create for $25 per home. Once in place, the
city believes it can wholesale its service to commercial providers for
$9 a month. 

That does not sound attractive to Verizon Communications and Comcast,
which sell high-speed Internet service for prices ranging from $20 to
$45 a month. Both companies supported telecom legislation last
December in Pennsylvania barring municipal broadband projects. After
complaints from public interest groups, an exception was granted for
Philadelphia. This year, Colorado, Florida and Nebraska put
restrictions on municipal networks in their states, although similar
measures were defeated in Illinois, Iowa and Texas.

"Cable operators are not uniformly opposed to all municipal broadband
projects, but they do have serious reservations about local
governments investing increasingly scarce taxpayer dollars for
telecommunications services already being provided by the private
sector with state-of-the-art technology," said Brian Dietz, a
spokesman for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association.

"We believe there are many other ways to speed the deployment of
broadband, like creating a regulatory climate that encourages
investment and innovation," added Allison Remsen, a spokeswoman for
the U.S. Telecom Association. "With telecom networks, government
intervention could chill private investment and further delay new
services for consumers. When government-owned networks are used,
presumably as a last resort, the networks should be regulated and
taxed like private carriers."

Tech Firms Stuck in the Middle

Technology companies eager to see more widespread adoption of Internet
computing have generally favored doing something to promote
broadband. They have sought tax credits for broadband deployment, as
well as deregulation of traditional telecom rules when it comes to
broadband -- stances favored by the Bells. But the tech firms also
have promoted municipal networks. Dell, Intel, the political
fundraising group Technet and the High-Tech Broadband Coalition --
which articulated a position against state laws as recently as March
 -- are among the companies and groups supporting municipal broadband
initiatives.

In the Texas battle that peaked over the Memorial Day weekend, Intel
and Dell vigorously fought legislation supported by two Bell
companies, SBC Communications and Verizon Communications. The
unsuccessful final bill attempted to grant telecom providers the
ability to offer statewide cable television franchises and also would
have extended an existing ban on municipal telephone and cable systems
to broadband.

"Michael Dell lobbied this personally down in Texas, and was pretty
critical in stemming the tide," said Mark Uncapher, vice president of
the Information Technology Association of America. The Texas-based
Dell Corp. is an ITAA member.

ITAA, the electronics group AeA and the Fiber-to-the-Home Council were
among the 40 groups that signed onto the Community Broadband
Coalition, which released its list of signers as a means of showcasing
its support for the Senate bill (sponsored by Sens. John McCain,
R-Ariz., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.). The High-Tech Broadband
Coalition thus far has taken no position on the legislation.

"Intel will be taking a position on federal legislation shortly," said
Peter Pitsch, director of communications policy for the semiconductor
firm, which is a major supporter of Wi-Fi and a member of several of
the associations that comprise the coalition. "We will continue to
oppose state prohibitions on municipal broadband but recognize that
municipalities should operate in a non-discriminatory and completely
neutral fashion."

Pressured By Bells And Cable?

An association of several leading tech associations that includes the
Business Software Alliance, the Information Technology Industry
Council, and the Telecommunications Industry Association -- the
broadband coalition organized itself in 2002 to lobby for deregulation
at the FCC.

In 2003, it joined with the Fiber-to-the-Home Council in a
friend-of-the-court brief for the Missouri Municipal League in a
Supreme Court case about the right of municipalities to deploy
broadband networks.  The court held 8-1 in March 2004 that the 1996
Telecommunications Act does not pre-empt states from regulating the
conduct of its own municipalities.  "I think it is embarrassing that
you are publicly filing a Supreme Court brief and then stepping back
from legislation that generally supports that position," said an
industry source close to the coalition.

Baller and others believe more tech companies soon will publicly
support federal legislation promoting municipal networks. A good
percentage of revenue for telecommunications manufacturers comes from
Bell carriers, making manufacturers wary of alienating key customers.

"Municipalities are saying, 'We want no limits on our ability to offer
broadband,' and industry is saying, 'We can't prohibit you from the
market, but you are going to participate on the same terms and
conditions we are in the market,'" said William Kovacs, vice
president, of technology and regulatory affairs for the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce. As with Baller, Kovacs sees a parallel in the country's
experience with rural electrification and municipal solid waste
treatment, which are provided by both the private sector and by
municipal governments.

Supporters of community broadband also are promoting the words of an
unlikely ally: Bush. In a speech on June 24, 2004, he cited a Wi-Fi
project in Spokane, Wash., "that allows users within a hundred-block
area of the city to obtain wireless broadband access. Imagine if
you're the head of a Chamber of Commerce of a city, and you say,
'Gosh, our city is a great place to do business or to find work. We're
setting up a Wi-Fi hot zone, which means our citizens are more likely
to be more productive than the citizens from a neighboring community.'
It's a great opportunity."


Copyright 2005 by National Journal Group Inc.
The Watergate  600 New Hampshire Ave., NW  Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400  fax 202-833-8069
National Journal's Insider Update is an Atlantic Media publication.

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.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material the
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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, National Journal Group, Atlantic Media.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_miner2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Congressman Ensign Also Helping SBC
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:08:45 -0500


Ensign Measure Would Restrict Municipal Broadband Networks
By David Hatch

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is drafting restrictive language on the
creation of municipal broadband networks that might blunt efforts by
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., to allow
localities to offer low-cost wireless or wireline service.

Ensign, who favors a pro-business agenda as chairman of the Senate
Commerce Technology Subcommittee and the Senate Republican High Tech
Task Force, will insert his provisions into a comprehensive
deregulatory telecommunications bill he is drafting, aides
said. McCain and Lautenberg introduced their bill last Thursday.

The conflicting bills address one of the most heavily lobbied issues
in this year's rewrite of 1996 telecommunications law -- whether
municipalities can compete with private enterprise and offer broadband
services.

The high-stakes question -- millions of dollars in fees might be lost
by Internet providers such as SBC if local governments are given
a chance to serve some customers -- has already resulted in backroom
maneuvering and changes in loyalty.

Congressman Ensign's broadband provisions would prohibit
government-sponsored networks except in instances of a "true market
failure," said Jack Finn, his spokesman. He added that the senator
thinks "private enterprise and the free market should prevail."

Ensign said late last week he is working with the High Tech Broadband
Coalition, which represents more than 12,000 corporations, on his
provisions. That came as a surprise to some backers of the
McCain-Lautenberg bill, who said the coalition had backed their
approach and helped shape the language.

The coalition's members include the Consumer Electronics Association,
Information Technology Industry Council, Business Software Alliance,
Semiconductor Industry Association, Telecommunications Industry
Association and National Association of Manufacturers.

Sources in industry and government said tech and telecom companies are
willing to appease Ensign because they stand to gain on a bevy of
issues through his draft.

The coalition counters that it never formulated a position on the
McCain-Lautenberg bill.

"We have not seen the bill or been approached to endorse it," said ITI
spokesman Adam Kovacevich, speaking for the coalition.

"I have had zero communications with Sen. McCain and Sen.
Lautenberg," added David Peyton, spokesman for the National
Association of Manufacturers, whose members include Verizon and
SBC. "The NAM has done nothing on this issue."

But a staffer for Lautenberg said executives identifying themselves as
coalition representatives helped draft the bill and indicated they
would back it.

"As late as last Monday, members of the coalition were working with
Sen. Lautenberg's office," said Alex Formuzis, the senator's
spokesman.  He noted that the coalition was involved "from the start."

A "Dear Colleague" from Lautenberg in May also suggests the coalition
was receptive to the approach. The letter cited the High Tech
Broadband Coalition by name and urged lawmakers to support the
bill. An attached policy statement with the coalition's logo noted:
"No statewide statutory barriers to municipal participation, whether
explicit or de facto, should be erected." The sentence was underlined
for emphasis.

Coalition sources emphasized that the coalition did not explicitly say
in the letter or attachment that it endorsed the McCain-Lautenberg
bill. The statement was prepared in response to developments at the
state level, they said, adding that the coalition has not developed a
position on a federal solution.

"That was an inappropriate use of the document," said NAM's Peyton.

An industry source said representatives of companies in the coalition
"were involved with McCain and Lautenberg throughout," but did not
officially represent the coalition. The source added that some
coalition members said they were pressured by Ensign's office to back
away from the McCain-Lautenberg proposal, a contention that Ensign
flatly denied.

"I don't know where you're getting your information," the senator said
in a brief interview late last week. "You're not getting it right."

McCain and Lautenberg now must proceed without a substantial block of
industry support, a potentially huge blow for their just-introduced
measure. The developments underscore the shifting alliances and
horse-trading that is taking place as lawmakers consider a broad
rewrite of the 1996 telecommunications law.

The Community Broadband Coalition, a comparatively smaller group
representing mostly watchdogs and cities, endorses the
McCain-Lautenberg approach. "We're supporting any legislative effort
that can move broadband forward," said Jim Kohlenberger, an organizer
of the group.

McCain and Ensign insisted they are not competing with each other on
municipal broadband.

"We're working with Sen. McCain. We'll continue to do that. We
consider him a very good ally on the Commerce Committee," Ensign said.

McCain added: "I respect the leadership position that Sen.  Ensign
plays on all of these issues, including telecom reform. We work
together."

Copyright 2005 by National Journal Group Inc.
The Watergate  600 New Hampshire Ave., NW  Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400  fax 202-833-8069
National Journal's Insider Update is an Atlantic Media publication.

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.

*** 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, National Journal Group, Atlantic Media.

For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

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

From: Lisa Minter <lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com>
Subject: Feds Crack Down on Piracy Sites and Warez
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:46:06 -0500


Feds Target Internet Piracy Organizations
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

The government announced Thursday an 11-nation crackdown on Internet
piracy organizations responsible for stealing copies of the latest
"Star Wars" film and other movies, games and software programs worth
at least $50 million.

FBI agents and investigators in the other nations conducted 90
searches, starting Wednesday, arresting four people, seizing hundreds
of computers and shutting down at least eight major online
distribution servers for pirated works.

The Justice Department "is striking at the top of the copyright piracy
supply chain -- a distribution chain that provides the vast majority of
illegal digital content now available online," Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales said.

Called Operation Site Down, the crackdown involved undercover FBI
operations run out of Chicago, San Francisco and Charlotte, N.C., and
included help from authorities in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United
Kingdom.

Those arrested were Chirayu Patel, 23, of Fremont, Calif.; David Fish,
24, of Watertown, Conn.; Nate Lovell, 22, of Boulder, Colo.; and
William Veyna, 34, of Chatworth, Calif. The four were charged with
violating federal copyright protection laws. All are alleged to be
members of "warez" groups, a kind of underground Internet co-op that
is set up to trade in copyrighted materials.

Warez (pronounced "wares") groups are extraordinarily difficult to
infiltrate because users talk only in encrypted chat rooms, their
computer servers require passwords and many are located overseas.

The FBI set up its own servers and lured warez members to store
pirated material on them, according to the U.S. attorney's office in
San Francisco.

The investigations targeted "release groups," the original sources of
pirated works that can be distributed worldwide in hours. Among the
warez groups targeted are RiSCISO, Myth, TDA, LND, Goodfellaz,
Hoodlum, Vengeance, Centropy, Wasted Time, Paranoid, Corrupt, Gamerz,
AdmitONE, Hellbound, KGS, BBX, KHG, NOX, NFR, CDZ, TUN and BHP.

Those groups are believed responsible for stealing and distributing
copyrighted works, including "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the
Sith," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Autodesk's Autocad 2006 and Adobe's
Photoshop software.

The bootlegged software often is made available to popular
file-sharing networks, where it can be easily downloaded for free,
said Michael DuBose, a Justice lawyer who prosecutes cyber crimes. But
mass producers of pirated materials in Asia and elsewhere also use
warez groups as suppliers, DuBose said.

Studies of Internet piracy have estimated losses to the movie industry
alone at $3.5 billion to $5.4 billion annually.

President Bush signed a new law last month setting tough penalties of up to
10 years in prison for anyone caught distributing a movie or song or
warez to deal with same before its commercial release.

On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The
information contained in the AP News report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written
authority of 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: US Says to ICANN: We Are Not Giving up Root
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:47:52 -0500


U.S. Won't Cede Control of Net Computers
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer

The U.S. government said Thursday it would indefinitely retain
oversight of the Internet's main traffic-controlling computers,
ignoring calls by some countries to turn the function over to an
international body.

The announcement marked a departure from previously stated
U.S. policy.

Michael D. Gallagher, assistant secretary for communications and
information at the U.S. Commerce Department, shied away from terming
the declaration a reversal, calling it instead "the foundation of
U.S. policy going forward."

"The signals and words and intentions and policies need to be clear so
all of us benefiting in the world from the Internet and in the
U.S. economy can have confidence there will be continued stewardship,"
Gallagher said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Government officials had in the past indicated they would one day hand
control of the 13 "root" computer servers used to direct e-mail and
Web traffic to a private organization with international board
members, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

"It's completely an about-face if you consider the original commitment
made when ICANN was created" in 1998, said Milton Mueller, a Syracuse
University professor who has written about policies surrounding the
Internet's root servers.

ICANN officials had no immediate comment.

The announcement comes just weeks before a U.N. panel was to release a
report on Internet governance, addressing oversight of the root
servers, among other things.

Some countries have sought to move oversight to an international body,
such as the U.N. International Telecommunication Union, although the
U.S.  government has historically had that role because it funded much
of the Internet's early development.

Ambassador David Gross, the U.S. coordinator for international
communications and information policy at the State Department,
insisted the announcement was unrelated to those discussions.

But he said other countries should see the move as positive because
"uncertainty is not something that we think is in the United States'
interest or the world's interest."

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: "Timeshare Spammer' Pleads Guilty 
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 16:52:23 -0500


By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer

A man known as "The Timeshare Spammer" said Thursday he will plead
guilty to one count of violating anti-spam laws, marking one of the
first prosecutions using the federal statute.

Peter Moshou, 37, of Auburndale, Fla., could face up to three years in
prison for violating a federal anti-spam law. Prosecutors say Moshou
sent millions of unsolicited commercial e-mails using Atlanta-based
EarthLink's network.

The messages, sent throughout 2004 and 2005, were about brokerage
services for people interested in selling their timeshares.

EarthLink filed a civil lawsuit against Moshou in January after the
company detected a massive influx of spam in its system and later
handed its investigation over to federal prosecutors.

On Thursday, as Moshou awaited a first hearing with U.S. Magistrate
Gerrilyn Brill, he did not seem like a man who could face prison time
and a fine of up to $350,000 for sending the spam e-mails. Wearing a
striped shirt and tennis shoes, Moshou idly chatted with prosecutors
about spam attempts, laughing as one joked about spamming ploys.

But when the court hearing began, no one on either side of the counsel
table was laughing; Magistrate Brill spoke frankly and said 'some of
you think it is a joke, I do not think it is funny at all.'

"Internet spam is more than just an annoyance," said U.S. Attorney
David Nahmias. "It is criminal."

EarthLink says the e-mails falsify "from" addresses, use deceptive
subject lines, fail to identify the sender and fail to provide an
electronic unsubscribe option, among other violations.

Those requirements are part of the Controlling the Assault of
Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. Spammers who
violate the rules face possible prison time and criminal fines of up
to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for an organization.

Moshou's case is among the first prosecutions using the federal law,
said Larry Slovensky, EarthLink's assistant general counsel.

The first criminal conviction under the federal law was believed to be
in September 2004, when Nicholas Tombros, of Marina del Rey, Calif.,
pleaded guilty of using unprotected wireless networks to send more
than 100 unsolicited adult-themed e-mails from his car.

Moshou's case marks the second high-profile prosecution EarthLink has
helped secure. After the Internet service provider in 2003 won a $16.4
million judgment against Howard Carmack, the so-called Buffalo
Spammer, the company turned its evidence over to New York prosecutors.

In May 2004, Carmack was sentenced to up to seven years in prison for
sending 850 million junk e-mails through accounts he opened with
stolen identities.

Moshou was expected to enter his guilty plea at 4 p.m. Thursday before
U.S.  District Judge Richard Story.

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: Steve Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Protecting Your Good Name From Identity Theft 
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 15:34:33 -0700
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com


> Here's how to protect yourself without going back to a cash-only
> lifestyle:

>  -- Don't panic and don't stop using your credit card or shopping
> online.  Credit cards come with two levels of protection: Federal law
> prohibits consumers from losing more than $50 to theft or fraud, and
> the card issuers step in and cover that $50. If your card number does
> get stolen, you won't be out any money. Your issuer can give you a new
> number.

That's right, folks, you aren't liable. Only the merchant gets
screwed. The merchant is out whatever money was charged.

If I sound rather irritated about that, it's just because I am.

>  -- Control your own paperwork. Most credit card thefts do not occur
> when techies figure out how to hack your card company. They occur when
> retail employees or shoppers pull carbons out of trash cans or find
> payment stubs and the like. Keep control of your receipts and keep
> control of your cards.

Sure, but how about criminal penalties for the idiot CC processors who
have the data and aren't protecting it?

How about helping to protect the people who are accepting credit cards
from fraud?

The whole system sucks butt for anyone whose company accepts credit
cards.  Even now, nothing is being done. The processors and other
companies holding this sensitive data are dragging their feet. Why
should they care?

> If you lose the actual plastic card, check to make sure that you
> aren't being charged for gasoline you didn't buy. 

Ferchrissakes -- if you lose the card, call the bank immediately!
They'll disable the card and then NO ONE will lose money because the
thief will try to get the card processed and the transaction will be
declined.

And ... check to make sure you aren't being charged for ANYTHING you
didn't buy. I don't have a credit card right now ... but transactions
on my checking account, including Visa check card transactions, do
show up on my bank's website very, very quickly. Sometimes within
minutes! (I use Bank of America.)

>  -- Read your mail. At least one California lawyer, Ira Rothken, is
> trying to make a class-action suit out of the recent security
> breach. If you are a member of a class that has been wronged, you
> should receive notification.  Even if you're not in a position to join
> a suit, you might get notification from your bank about security
> breaches or new procedures. 

Yeah. Hm. I wonder how ideological Rothken is. He stands to make a ton
of money if the class is certified. I don't know him and don't want to
impugn him, but class actions are losing propositions for everyone
*except* the attorneys.

Sorry if I sound aggravated. This mess could have been prevented a
long time ago. No one gave a damn, least of all Visa and Mastercard
and the processors, because they could always get the money back from
someone else to give to the cardholder. Am I angry? You bet I am. I
don't currently accept credit cards using a separate merchant account
(though that may change in the near future), but I have in the
past ... and I accept credit cards right now through PayPal.

As a merchant, I've always stood to lose more than anyone else.

Personally, I *almost* hope a lot of people stop using credit
cards. That would be a wonderful thing. It would be a wake-up call to
the people running the credit card associations, the banks and the
processors.

Unfortunately, it might have some rather negative impacts on the
economy, so ... well, I did say ALMOST.

Posted to Telecom Digest. CC'd to the original author.


JustThe.net - Steve Sobol / sjsobol@JustThe.net / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Coming to you from Southern California's High Desert, where the
temperatures are as high as the gas prices! / 888.480.4NET (4638)

"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table"   --Anna Nalick, "Breathe"

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

From: Michael D. Sullivan <userid@camsul.example.invalid>
Subject: Re: Using Comcast to Host Web Site
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:50:25 GMT


Rob Stampfli wrote:

> In article <telecom24.300.15@telecom-digest.org>, William Warren
> <william_warren_nonoise@comcast.net> wrote:

>> Comcast has been blocking port 80 (HTTP) for a while now, and they've
>> recently started blocking port 25 (SMTP) as well. IMNSHO, it's only a
>> matter of time before they start blocking all syn packets and charging
>> extra for ANY incoming connection, but for now you can do it with some
>> workarounds.

> With cable's relatively limited upload speed, I can readily understand
> blocking inbound port 80, where the traffic distribution is highly
> skewed towards outbound packets.  But why inbound port 25?  It can't
> be to prevent spam from infected PCs since they don't use it.  Inbound
> port 25 can only be used to receive mail and one could argue that
> whether you receive your mail via SMTP (port 25), or POP or IMAP or
> otherwise, the bits have to eventually flow in one way or another.

> So, why block port 25?  The only answer I can come up with is "just
> for spite".

I suspect it's *outbound* port 25 that is blocked, to prevent zombie
machines and active spammers from using their own SMTP servers to send
email directly to their victims' ISPs' MTAs.  Many ISPs block outbound
port 25, requiring most users to go through the ISP's SMTP server to
send email, which can have limits imposed in an effort to deter spam.

It could also be a block of inbound port 25, to prevent zombie
machines from acting as open relay SMTP servers, but if outbound port
25 is blocked, those zombies couldn't send the mail that is sent to
them for relaying, so there is no need to block inbound port 25.

> For that matter, the whole concept of "no servers" has always seemed
> flawed to me: Technically, sshd and telnetd are servers.  Does Comcast
> really desire to have a policy of preventing one from contacting a
> home machine when they are travelling?

I suspect the "no servers" rule is like the rule against going 56 in a
55 zone, the rule against loitering, or the rule against parking too
close to or too far from the curb -- it allows selective prosecution,
so to speak.  It gives the ISP an excuse to terminate a spammer or
zombie owner without having to prove much of anything, because it
could make the same finding against anyone.

Michael D. Sullivan
Bethesda, MD (USA)
(Replace "example.invalid" with "com" in my address.)

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

From: zbang@radix.net (Carl Zwanzig)
Subject: Re: Cellular Jamming?  Think Again.
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2005 01:19:40 -0000
Organization: RadixNet Internet Services


John McHarry  <jmcharry@comcast.net> wrote:

> The law should be modestly amended to declare those using cellphones
> in theaters, churches, and other places of public assembly outlaws
> subject to pummeling by the inconvenienced other inmates of such
> assembly. Exception might be made for surviving, on duty, emergency
> personnel. ;^)

Unfortunately, it's proven difficult, if not impossible, to legistate
taste, politeness, tact, or morality. OTOH, I wouldn't mind a slide
flashing up on the screen saying "Turn your d*nm phone off!!" the
first time one rings.

z!


[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Our local movie theatre, the Independence
Cinema (actually four areas to view four different movies which are
playing at any given time stresses the 'no cell phones' rule quite
extensively before each movie starts (as part of the coming attractions,
cartoons and messages from local advertisers.) They show a movie patron  
smoking a cigarette, his feet on the seat in front of him, and talking
on a cell phone; all of which, they explain, are no-no. All three of 
these activities are inconsiderate of other patrons. "This will be your
only warning; If you do these things, we will be forced to ask you to
leave the theatre (here we see a manager/usher/whomever approach the
offensive patron and lead him away), and that would ruin the movie for
you, your friends and our other patrons. HAVE CELL PHONES TURNED OFF
OR SILENCED. If you must make/receieve an emergency call, please deal
with it in the lobby."   PAT]
 
------------------------------

From: whoward@login2.srv.ualberta.ca (W Howard)
Subject: Re: Cellular Jamming?  Think Again.
Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2005 02:48:56 UTC
Organization: University of Alberta


In article <telecom24.300.7@telecom-digest.org>, Joseph
<JoeOfSeattle@yahoo.com> wrote:

> http://www.rcrnews.com/news.cms?newsId=23199

> FCC Re-iterates Cell-Phone Jammers Are Illegal

> WASHINGTON-People who want to use cell-phone jammers to get rid of
> annoying mobile-phone use should think again.  It is against the
> law. Those found using, selling, manufacturing or distributing
> cell-phone jammers could be subject to an $11,000-per-day fine and
> seizure of their equipment by the United States Marshals, warned the
> Federal Communications Commission.

Of course they say that.  And every once in a while they dust off
their announcement that broadcasting more than 5 watts on a CB radio
is illegal and subjects the operator to fines and seizure of their
equipment too.  But they don't actually do it.  They're stretched thin
already trying to figure out where telecommunications is going so they
can stay a little ahead of it, and they just don't bother with
"crimes" that do not involve substantial amounts of money.

IMHO, the preaching without the enforcement weakens repect for
everything they do.  If you don't have enough resources to enforce a
law, better you don't have the law either.  But nobody in Washington
can imagine just removing a law, without replacing it with a more
complicated one.

>> Walt

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


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